After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood – CH72

Chapter 72

Mackerel was not expensive, but it contained a great deal of unsaturated fatty acids and was very prone to spoilage and autolysis under the action of enzymes. Because of that, the mackerel people ate ashore was usually not very fresh.

Once it spoiled, the histidine in its body would interact with bacteria and form histamine, which made it very easy for people to get food poisoning after eating it. The risk of eating it was fairly high.

Because of this trait, mackerel was not a particularly popular seafood among humans. It was not easy for people to eat truly fresh, delicious mackerel.

Lin Qiyan actually quite liked mackerel, but he had not eaten it in years, mainly because he could not get it fresh. Stale mackerel tasted very fishy and even a little foul, which was not to his taste.

As soon as the mackerel came out of the water, he excitedly went over to remove the hook. “Should I take it and pan-fry it?”

The mackerel Lu Ao caught was fairly large, nearly half a jin. It was enough for one dish.

Lu Ao nodded, indicating that he could take it.

Lin Qiyan took the mackerel away to clean it, marinated it with ginger, and prepared to fry it.

Lu Ao thought for a moment. “One fish won’t be enough. Take a black porgy from the fish I caught and fry it too.”

Lin Qiyan answered, “Pan-fried black porgy is delicious too. Perfect with rice.”

Lin Manzhang sat nearby and said, “Since we’re all eating together, we can’t let Lu Ao provide all the ingredients alone. Go take a fish from my storage too.”

Once Lin Manzhang said that, everyone wanted to take out fish for lunch.

Lu Ao did not object.

He sat on a small stool and continued fishing.

The sun was blazing, so now was not a good time to fish. Even so, fish still came up one after another on his rod.

Before long, seven or eight fish were already in the small bucket beside him, ranging from white seabream to barracuda. There were all kinds.

Since lunch was not ready yet, these fish were delivered straight to Lin Qiyan.

They were not especially precious fish, but they were freshly caught and eaten right away. No matter the type, the texture was not bad.

Lin Qiyan carried the fish over, then fried, steamed, boiled, and made soup with them. All sorts of fish dishes came out of the pot, filling the entire boat with fragrance.

Seeing that they had caught about enough fish, Lin Manzhang said, “Take a break first. If we want more this afternoon, we can fish again.”

Lu Ao glanced at the dishes Lin Qiyan had made. “I’ll fish a little longer. If we can’t finish them at noon, we can eat them this afternoon.”

He caught a lot of fish, but he also ate a lot. If he did not catch a few more, there might not be enough.

Lin Manzhang did not object. He patted Lu Ao on the shoulder and called everyone to eat.

There was nothing particular about eating at sea. Everyone held a large stainless-steel plate, filled it with rice and food, and could start eating while facing the ocean.

There were many fish for lunch today. Lin Qiyan’s cooking could not exactly be called excellent, but the fish were fresh. Once put into the pot and cooked simply, they did not need any seasoning at all. Even with just a little salt, they tasted extremely delicious.

Historically, fishermen had a tradition of eating fish as their staple food. Once the fish were caught, they were boiled in water and could serve as both rice and dish, which showed just how suitable fish was for everyday eating.

Lu Ao held his rice and ate while continuing to guard the fishing rod.

The rod was placed beside him. From time to time, a fish would bite. He would lift the rod, remove the fish, and toss it into the bucket beside him.

Lin Guixiao watched him pull up one fish after another and was terribly envious. “If every fisherman had luck like yours, nobody would ever have to worry about making a living.”

“It’s all right.” Lu Ao said, “If everyone had an appetite as big as mine, they’d probably still have to worry.”

“Hahahaha, that’s true too. With that appetite of yours, anyone without some real ability wouldn’t even be able to feed himself.”

Lu Ao quickly finished a bowl of rice and went to fill another.

Sea fish did not have many small bones, so everyone ate very quickly. Aside from Lu Ao, everyone else finished within ten minutes.

After eating, Lin Manzhang and the others returned to the cabin for a nap. Lu Ao remained outside, eating while fishing. Lin Qiyan stayed outside with him, helping clean up the fish.

Lu Ao looked at him. “Go sleep for a bit. I’ll wake you at two-thirty for diving.”

Lin Qiyan hurriedly said, “No need. I didn’t do much today, so I’m not sleepy.”

Lu Ao did not force him. “Suit yourself.”

Lin Qiyan was a little nervous, so he simply moved a small stool over and sat beside him to talk. “What should I pay attention to when diving later?”

“Not that much.” Lu Ao thought for a moment. “The water here is fairly deep. When you dive, make sure you go down slowly. Especially remember to equalize your ear pressure, or you’ll feel uncomfortable.”

Their group of fishermen all learned diving the rough way. There was not much summarized theory.

Everyone dived by instinct. Many problems would not threaten their lives, but they could indeed cause minor trouble.

Lu Ao thought again, then said, “Also, because the water here is deep, when you dive to around four or five meters, the air in your chest cavity will be compressed and its volume will shrink. You’ll feel a clear sinking sensation. Don’t panic then. Keep your movements steady.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll note that down.” Lin Qiyan quickly took out his phone to use as a memo. “What else?”

“What else?” Lu Ao pondered. “It’s hot today, and the temperature difference above and below the water is quite large. You need to warm up properly to avoid cramping underwater.”

“I’ll definitely warm up properly later.”

Seeing that Lin Qiyan’s expression had changed, Lu Ao comforted him. “No need to be too nervous. My diving skills are decent. If I can haul up a big fish over a hundred jin, hauling you up won’t be a problem either.”

Lin Qiyan smiled, but his hands still took notes seriously.

Lin Qiyan could swim, and his swimming skills were not bad.

He had simply never gone spearfishing before, so he was subconsciously nervous.

Seeing how eager he was, Lu Ao skipped his afternoon nap. After lunch and a short rest, he took him into the water.

The light at noon was excellent. After they entered the sea, the water was a brilliant blue, like a huge, pure sapphire.

Floating inside it, a person seemed especially small.

Lin Qiyan had a safety rope tied around his waist. After he entered the water, all the summer heat vanished. The buoyancy of the water seemed to gently hold him up.

In the sea, moving seemed easy, yet also difficult.

Water was buoyancy, but it was also resistance. It was not easy to control one’s body freely underwater.

Lin Qiyan slowly swam downward. Before long, he saw the reefs on the seabed, as well as all kinds of seaweed and small fish.

They were still some distance from the small fish, so the fish were not afraid of them. A whole string of them swayed their heads and tails as they swam around, occasionally opening their mouths to swallow something.

Lin Qiyan widened his eyes and quickly lifted the underwater camera to capture these rare scenes.

Lu Ao followed him from a moderate distance.

They had not fished in this area in the morning.

It was also Lu Ao’s first time seeing this stretch of sea. His eyesight was good, and he soon discovered a patch of sea snails on the seabed.

He gestured to Lin Qiyan.

Lin Qiyan immediately knew there was something below and clumsily moved over to look.

His eyesight was average. After staring for quite some time, he still could not see anything, so he turned back and looked at Lu Ao in confusion.

Lu Ao shook his head and led him back toward the surface.

Today, they were free-diving without equipment. After staying in the sea for a while, they had to return to the surface to breathe.

Lin Qiyan was not used to diving and did not have a very good grasp of breathing. Only when Lu Ao brought him to the surface did he realize he was somewhat short of air. If he had not gone up, he probably would have started feeling suffocated.

He breathed in great gulps, one hand braced against Lu Ao’s shoulder, the other pulling on the safety rope around his waist for support as he floated. He asked, “What did you want me to look at just now?”

“There are snails down there. I wanted to gather some.” Lu Ao said, “Wait here. I’ll get a net bag.”

“You’re going down to the seabed to collect them?” Lin Qiyan was nervous. “Isn’t the seabed more than ten meters from the surface?”

“About that.”

“Will you have time to come back up for air?”

“Yes.”

Seeing a little anticipation on Lin Qiyan’s face, Lu Ao immediately said, “But you can’t. Don’t go to the seabed. Just stay at around three or four meters underwater and look around. If anything feels wrong, pull yourself up with the safety rope right away.”

“Got it.” Lin Qiyan swallowed. “Should we call Zhang-ge and the others?”

“No need. It’ll be quick.”

Lu Ao went back to the boat to get a net bag. Everyone on the boat was still sound asleep and did not hear their conversation.

Lu Ao took Lin Qiyan back into the water.

Lin Qiyan’s camera hung around his neck. Because he was going underwater, the camera was fairly compact and did not look heavy, though it was in a waterproof case and looked like a large block.

Lu Ao specially adjusted his safety rope for him. After confirming there was no problem, he gestured for Lin Qiyan to stay where he was, then swam downward himself.

The farther down he went, the darker the light became. The transition between light and shadow was visible to the naked eye.

By the time he reached the seabed, the surroundings looked like an overcast day, carrying a dimness that was not very comfortable.

Lu Ao held a flashlight in one hand and picked snails with the other.

Many snails were attached to the reefs. Turban shells, triton shells, spicy snails, piglet snails—there were all kinds, known and unknown.

Lu Ao did not stand on ceremony. He pried them off and tossed them into the net bag.

His target was not these snails, but the conch he had seen earlier from three or four meters underwater.

The conch were very large, and this nest he had found was especially big. Lu Ao worked swiftly and tossed the conch into the net bag.

Seven or eight large conch nearly filled half the net bag.

There was still some distance between the seabed and the surface.

Lin Qiyan could not judge time underwater. He only felt that Lu Ao had been down for a long time, and his heart grew tense. Seeing Lu Ao look up, he hurriedly gestured desperately for him to go up.

They had only been in the water for a few minutes, nowhere near Lu Ao’s limit.

Seeing how nervous he was, Lu Ao had no choice but to swim upward.

Lin Qiyan also swam up. As soon as he reached the surface, he spat out the snorkel and took several deep breaths before asking, “Why did you stay underwater for so long?”

“It wasn’t that long.” Lu Ao said, “I can hold my breath underwater for five to eight minutes.”

Lin Qiyan wiped the water from his face, still shaken. “I felt like I was running out of breath.”

“You don’t have experience. That’s normal. If I reach my limit, I’ll come up myself. Don’t worry.” Lu Ao said, “There are still snails below. I’ll go down and gather some more.”

“Okay. Then I’ll keep going down to film for a while too. If I feel suffocated, I’ll come up.”

Lu Ao nodded.

The two entered the water again. Lu Ao headed straight for the seabed. A moment later, more than twenty conch had been added to his net bag.

Today, he had truly stumbled upon a conch nest.

Conch sold for a high price in their area, more than two hundred per jin. This single net bag alone could sell for one or two thousand yuan.

Lu Ao took stock at the seabed and picked out a few smaller conch, hiding them in the crevices between rocks.

He had already harvested so much. There was no need to wipe them all out.

Lu Ao looked up at Lin Qiyan swimming above and went up once midway to take a breath.

Even though he did not actually need to breathe, he did not want to appear too unusual.

After searching the surrounding waters within a radius of over a hundred meters, Lu Ao surfaced with the bulging net bag.

He and Lin Qiyan had spent quite some time underwater, and Lin Manzhang and the others had already woken up.

Seeing Lu Ao come up with a large bag of snails, they gathered around with interest. “There are that many snails down there?”

“There are quite a lot. Maybe not many people come to this area.” After helping Lin Qiyan climb onto the deck, Lu Ao climbed up himself. “There are plenty of fish below too.”

Lin Manzhang gave him a hand. “Then we won’t sail the boat back. We’ll spearfish around here?”

Lu Ao wiped his face. “You guys go. I’ve finished my quota for today, so I’m not going.”

Everyone immediately realized that this bag of snails was probably not ordinary.

Lin Gongshang opened the net bag and took a look. A “holy crap” escaped his mouth. “Are all the ones underneath conch?”

“It’s not that exaggerated.” Lu Ao said, “There are more other snails. I found a dozen or so conch.”

“And you say only a dozen—one, two, three, four… seventeen!” Lin Guixiao was full of envy. “A full seventeen, and every one of them is so big. Just the conch alone must be nearly twenty jin, right?”

Lu Ao weighed it in his hand. “Seems about right.”

“That’s way too profitable. No, I have to go down and see if there are any more conch.” Lin Guixiao hurried to get his gear. “I don’t even ask for much. If I can catch three or five, I’ll be satisfied.”

“Three or five still isn’t much?” Lin Gongshang also rushed back to get his gear. “I’m going too!”

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