After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood – CH85

Chapter 85

The fish Lin Qiyan had hooked was not especially large.

Lu Ao held the fishing rod steadily with both hands. Judging by the force coming from the fish below, he estimated that it was probably a little over a hundred jin.

Even though he had just exhausted himself once, pulling in a fish like this was not too difficult for him.

His hands were very steady. When the fish still had strength, he let out the fishing line and played it. When the fish grew tired, he used both hands to pull it hard toward the boat.

After several rounds, the fish had been worn down until it no longer had much strength. It looked like it was about to be pulled to the side of the boat.

Captain Chen stood beside him, smoking as he watched him fish. Seeing this, he could not help saying, “Your fishing skill is getting closer and closer to perfection.”

Lin Qiyan was still catching his breath. Hearing this, he laughed from the side. “That idiom is perfect.”

“That’s exactly how it should be said. Back when we read martial arts novels, this was how they described a master who had reached the peak of his craft. Looking at Lu Ao’s skill, his fishing technique can also be considered fully mastered.”

Lu Ao said, “There’s no technique. I’m just strong, so I pull hard.”

“Strength isn’t part of skill?” Captain Chen said. Just then, he saw the fish below slowly break the surface and could not help exclaiming, “Eh, isn’t your fish about to come up?”

“Not yet. I’ll play it a little longer. Safer that way.”

They had not planned to catch too many fish today, so there was no hurry with this one.

Lu Ao was not anxious, and Lin Qiyan was even less anxious. He sat obediently at the side and rested, leaving everything to Lu Ao.

Things on their side were gradually going smoothly, but Zhong Honghai’s side was not in such good shape.

That fish was huge, and the strength required to pull it was also enormous. They were almost unable to hold on.

Their people had already changed hands several times. When they turned and saw Lu Ao’s side looking so relaxed, they felt even more stifled.

Seeing morale drop, Zhong Honghai raised his voice and shouted, “Come on! Hold on a little longer!”

“I can’t do it.” The fish owner’s voice was hoarse as he gritted his teeth and shouted, “Damn it, I’m out of strength!”

“Don’t give up. We’ll have it up soon!”

“No way. This fish is too big. We can’t pull it up at all!”

The fish underneath was truly too large. The person pulling it felt in his heart that hope was extremely slim.

They had persisted for so long, yet the fish still showed no sign of exhaustion. Everyone was almost out of strength.

“We still have to pull even if we can’t!” Zhong Honghai shouted at the idle team members. “Go get the crane!”

A team member hurried over to communicate with the crew and ask them to move the crane over.

The crew followed their request.

After more than ten minutes of work, Zhong Honghai finally fixed the fishing line to the crane.

The crew operated the crane to hold the fish.

Someone looked at the taut fishing line and said in fear, “This won’t work. It’ll snap the line!”

The reason they had not used machinery before was precisely because they were afraid it would snap the fishing line.

A giant bluefin tuna like this had far too much strength, and the machinery was powerful too. When the two sides pulled against each other, the first thing to give out would usually be the fishing line.

When a person fished manually, if the angler felt the fish pulling the line tight, he had to let out some line. Once the fish stopped struggling, he reeled it in again. Only by repeating this process could the fish be pulled to the side of the boat when it was exhausted, then hooked with an iron hook.

No matter how thick fishing line was, it was still fishing line, not rope. If the fish and the machine pulled against each other, the line simply could not bear several hundred kilograms of force.

Everyone knew this very well.

Zhong Honghai knew it too. But all of them had exhausted their strength. They truly had no power left to keep fighting the fish.

This method was risky, but if they tried, there was still a chance. If they did not try, there would be no chance at all.

Zhong Honghai planned to gamble.

The crew were afraid the line would break and did not dare operate the crane, so Zhong Honghai personally stepped in.

Under the immense mechanical force, the enormous tuna was finally slowly pulled out of the water and toward the side of the boat.

Zhong Honghai roared, “Get the rope ready! And the iron hooks!”

“Yes!”

His team members hurried into action, looking for rope and iron hooks. Very soon, they gathered by the side of the boat with all the tools ready.

The fish was being dragged closer and closer to the boat.

It was about to surface!

It was a huge fish!

Zhong Honghai’s team members held their breath, not even daring to breathe loudly, afraid that one heavy breath might blow the fishing line apart.

Five meters, four meters, three meters… The fish drew closer and closer to the boat. Zhong Honghai’s team members stood ready at the side with iron hooks and ropes.

When the fish was finally pulled near the surface, its enormous body slowly appeared before everyone’s eyes.

This bluefin tuna was simply too large. It was probably over a thousand jin, so large it seemed almost like the boat itself.

Its body slowly approached the fishing boat, bringing the people on board no small amount of psychological pressure.

Lu Ao even found it difficult to focus on the fish he was pulling. His eyes kept staring at the bluefin tuna that was getting closer and closer, and a trace of dark green flashed through his pupils.

Instinctively, he felt uncomfortable.

It was the discomfort of having something that belonged to him snatched away by someone else.

The bluefin tuna came closer and closer to the side of the boat.

Zhong Honghai’s heart was completely suspended. If they caught this giant bluefin tuna, their team would earn several million. If they failed, all the labor of the past hour would go down the drain.

He swallowed and gave the order, “Hook it!”

Zhong Honghai’s voice was indescribably hoarse. He repeated, “Quick, hook it.”

The team members snapped back to themselves and hurried to the side of the boat, doing their best to hook that huge fish with the iron hooks.

The side of their boat was rather high. Several team members leaned out and desperately tried to hook the fish.

Unfortunately, the fish was too large and too cunning. No matter how much the fishing hook hurt it, it refused to come close to the boat.

After several attempts, the team members were at a loss and shouted, “Brother Zhong, just a little more!”

“Keep circling it!” Zhong Honghai shouted too. “Be patient—”

Before he could finish speaking, there was a pop, and the fishing line suddenly snapped.

The scene seemed to unfold in slow motion before everyone’s eyes.

The bluefin tuna under the water gave a powerful flick of its tail and swam away, leaving only the crane’s rope swaying in midair.

Zhong Honghai and the person who had hooked the fish went completely blank.

The other team members looked at one another, not daring to breathe, afraid the fire would burn onto them.

For some reason, Lu Ao quietly let out a breath of relief. He watched for a few more seconds, then withdrew his gaze and continued pulling the tuna on his own rod.

Judging from the force transmitted through the rod, the large tuna below had completely run out of strength.

He slowly pulled the fish closer to the side of the boat. When crewman Old Zhang saw this, he silently came over with an iron hook and waited at the side.

As soon as the tuna approached the boat, Old Zhang lowered the iron hook and tried to hook the tuna’s body.

Seeing this, Lu Ao pulled the tuna a little farther forward.

Old Zhang was quick-eyed and quick-handed. He hurriedly reached the iron hook forward and successfully hooked the large bluefin tuna.

Old Zhang strained to lift the fish upward. Lin Qiyan hurried over to help.

A moment later, the large bluefin tuna was hauled up. Its round, cannonball-like body was placed on the deck, and it looked extremely pleasing.

Lu Ao estimated that this fish should be around one hundred twenty or one hundred thirty jin. Its size was quite good.

Zhong Honghai’s side had just lost one, and their side had just caught one. The contrast was far too obvious.

To avoid touching a sore spot, no one dared cheer. Even Lin Qiyan pressed down the joy on his face and did not show much of it.

The man who had hooked the huge tuna only to lose it saw that they had hauled up their fish. His expression darkened, and he suddenly threw the fishing rod in his hand hard toward Lu Ao and the others.

The rod, already broken into four or five pieces, scattered through the air and nearly hit someone.

Lu Ao narrowed his eyes and took two steps forward.

Just as a fight seemed on the verge of breaking out, Zhong Honghai shouted, “Old Li!”

The man said nothing and walked back into the cabin without turning his head.

Old Chen took a drag from his cigarette. “What are you acting so high and mighty for? If you’re not capable, can you blame others?”

The man suddenly turned his head. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Old Chen.

Old Chen lifted his head and met his gaze. “What? Did I say something wrong? If I’d known earlier you were like this, I would’ve kicked you off the boat long ago.”

The crew beside him all gathered around, their gazes extremely unfriendly.

Zhong Honghai quickly gave his team members a look, signaling them to go persuade Old Li. Then he personally came over to apologize to Old Chen and Lu Ao. “Come, have a smoke. We were hit too hard today. Give us a moment to calm down.”

Old Chen smoked and said, “What’s there to be hit hard by? Fish grow in the sea, not in your backyard. If it slips away, it slips away. Does it have to become food on your plate?”

Zhong Honghai said, “Sigh, that’s true, but it’s just hard to accept in the moment.”

Old Chen said, “What fish you can catch and how many you can catch are all a matter of fate. If you don’t have that awareness, leave the trade early. Why come to sea to make a living?”

“This time, our mentality was unbalanced. Sorry about that. Don’t take it to heart.”

When Zhong Honghai spoke, his voice was still hoarse. He looked very unwilling, but there was no resentment.

Old Chen only scolded him a little and then stopped. They had been friends for many years; it was not worth tearing their relationship apart over such a thing.

After Zhong Honghai apologized to Old Chen and Lu Ao, he came over to Lin Qiyan. “What happened just now was our fault. We were blinded by greed for a moment and lost our heads. I’m apologizing to you here. I’m truly sorry.”

Lin Qiyan nodded. “I accept your apology.”

A bitter smile appeared on Zhong Honghai’s face.

He was the client, so Lin Qiyan could not say much either.

Two more members on Zhong Honghai’s side had hooked fish, and he hurried over to help.

Old Chen helped bleed and rest Lin Qiyan’s bluefin tuna. After making two cuts, he asked, “Want to weigh it?”

Lin Qiyan nodded readily. “Weigh it!”

This bluefin tuna was half the size of the one Lu Ao had caught, so the crew were not as excited. They reached out and lifted it, easily placing the fish onto the basket.

The reading on the floor scale soon appeared. Old Chen squinted at the scale. “One hundred seven jin. That’s a very good size.”

“Hehe, it is good.” Lin Qiyan rubbed his hands together. “It’s all thanks to Lu Ao’s help. If it were just me, I definitely couldn’t have pulled up such a big fish. This fish counts as something we caught together.”

When he said it counted as a joint catch, he meant he would split half the money with Lu Ao.

Lu Ao did not object.

Between friends, one had to keep a proper sense of proportion for the friendship to last.

By the rules, this fish should indeed count as a joint catch.

Lin Qiyan had originally only wanted to get a feel for fishing. He had not expected to actually catch a large bluefin tuna.

After this bluefin tuna was sent into cold storage, he did not get greedy. He directly put away the fishing rod and started filming again.

Zhong Honghai’s team members had more experience after all.

They soon hooked fish as well.

The boat stayed in this sea area for the entire day.

By evening, Captain Chen and Zhong Honghai counted the number of large bluefin tuna.

A total of five bluefin tuna had been caught on the boat today.

Lu Ao caught one, Lin Qiyan caught one, and Zhong Honghai’s team members caught three.

Bluefin tuna were precious fish.

After discussing it, Zhong Honghai and Captain Chen decided to return early and sell the fish as soon as possible.

After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood [Farming]