The two struck a bet, both brimming with confidence.
Ye Feng's confidence stemmed from his incredible underwater detection ability. He had surveyed the area while submerged and confirmed no tuna were nearby.
Captain Zhou's confidence, on the other hand, came from his decades of fishing experience. He had always encountered plenty of tuna in this area and rarely returned empty-handed.
However, fate was not on his side this time.
For some unknown reason, there were no tuna in the vicinity. After circling the area three times, he hadn't spotted a single one.
This left him feeling rather embarrassed. "Huh, that's strange!" he exclaimed. "This area used to have the most tuna. How come I can't find any after looking for so long!"
Ye Feng, sitting on the deck, closed his eyes and calmly replied, "The past is the past, and now is now. Just because there were tuna before doesn't mean there are any now!"
"I don't believe it! I'll circle two more times, and I'm sure I'll find them!" Captain Zhou, refusing to accept defeat, continued to steer the boat in circles.
Seeing this, Ye Feng shook his head in amusement and said nothing more.
Yet, Captain Zhou continued to maneuver the fishing boat around the area, circling several times without any sign of tuna.
"Forget it, there's nothing here. Shall we head further out?" Mr. Xiao, unable to watch any longer, said with some disappointment.
"Mr. Xiao! Wait a moment. There must be tuna around here! We found plenty of them every time we came in previous years!" Captain Zhou, clearly unwilling to accept the reality, hastily replied.
But Mr. Xiao shook his head. "Perhaps we're just unlucky. Let's try somewhere else! No need to waste time here!"
The last four words, "waste time," were spoken with a heavier tone, clearly indicating his impatience with Captain Zhou.
After all, circling seven or eight times without any success, continuing to do so would indeed be a waste of time.
"This, this... alright!" Captain Zhou reluctantly agreed to stop.
At this moment, Ye Feng stepped forward. "Captain Zhou, since that's the case, does that mean I've won?"
"Hmph! Kid, you got lucky with your dog's luck! I, I admit defeat, and I'll never go fishing again!" Captain Zhou said, taking a deep breath, his face extremely grim.
Ye Feng was slightly surprised to hear this, not expecting him to actually say it.
Mr. Xiao and Xiao Feifei rushed forward, about to say something. Ye Feng, understanding their intentions, immediately raised his hand to stop them.
He looked at Captain Zhou with a smile. "Captain Zhou, the bet just now was a joke! You make your living by fishing, and I wouldn't cut off your livelihood!"
Captain Zhou frowned. "Then what do you mean?"
"Let's change the terms. You can continue to go fishing, but today, your fishing boat and you will follow my command, how about that?" Ye Feng proposed.
Captain Zhou hesitated for a moment. "Alright! But let me make this clear, if we don't catch any tuna, it won't be entirely my responsibility!"
Although he didn't know what Ye Feng was up to, if he stopped fishing altogether, he wouldn't be able to support his family.
Mr. Xiao chuckled. "Haha! Don't worry! If we don't catch any, I won't blame any of you! Let's continue to look elsewhere now!"
Captain Zhou frowned. "But, but there are only tuna around here! Other places don't seem to have many tuna!"
Just then, Ye Feng pointed to the side. "Not necessarily. That way, there should be a school of tuna over there!"
Everyone looked at him strangely, as they had just come from that direction and hadn't seen any fish.
"Ye Feng, didn't we just come from that direction? We didn't see any tuna schools!" Xiao Feifei said.
Ye Feng replied, "I know. That's because the tuna are at a considerable depth, making them difficult to see from the surface with the naked eye!"
Captain Zhou and the others were looking for tuna that swam near the surface, to be caught with purse seines. These surface-dwelling tuna were generally smaller, weighing between five and ten kilograms, and included species like bigeye tuna and yellowfin tuna.
However, while Captain Zhou was circling, Ye Feng had used his detection ability and spotted tuna in the deeper waters in that direction. These appeared to be albacore tuna, which typically weighed over twenty kilograms and required longline fishing methods.
"You say the tuna are at a considerable depth, making them hard to see from the sea. How did you see them?" Captain Zhou asked.
Ye Feng was momentarily stumped for words. After thinking for a while, he said, "When we came from that direction, I happened to see them!"
"None of us saw them, but you did?" Captain Zhou pressed.
Ye Feng felt speechless. It was clear that Captain Zhou didn't believe him at all.
At this point, Mr. Xiao also chimed in, "Ye Feng, could you have made a mistake? We all came from that direction just now and didn't see anything. And why didn't you say anything when you saw them!"
Ye Feng scratched his head. "Well, actually, I wasn't sure if they were tuna at the time, so I didn't say anything!"
Upon hearing this, Mr. Xiao shook his head. "If you weren't sure, then let's forget it. Let's go somewhere else!"
"Alas, I... fine!" Ye Feng had no argument.
He figured it was useless to say more. He would call them back later when they failed to find any tuna. After all, with his underwater detection ability, finding tuna shouldn't be difficult.
As expected, Captain Zhou and the others spent an hour searching the area without finding any tuna, their faces etched with disappointment.
"Alas, are we going to return empty-handed today?" Mr. Xiao said dejectedly.
It was becoming increasingly difficult to catch tuna, and the mayor had specifically requested them, which was causing Mr. Xiao considerable trouble.
"It's getting late, and there's a typhoon tonight. Let's search for a little longer. If we still can't find any, we should head back. We might really have to return empty-handed! Mr. Xiao, I'm really sorry!" Captain Zhou said with deep regret.
Mr. Xiao sighed. "Alas, well, it can't be helped!"
At this moment, Ye Feng spoke up again. "Captain Zhou, Mr. Xiao, I really did see tuna over there. Since you haven't found any, why not go and take another look!"
Xiao Feifei also spoke up. "Yes, let's go to where Ye Feng mentioned!"
"Alright, let's go and take another look then!" Captain Zhou replied.
Regardless of whether they caught any tuna, Mr. Xiao would still pay them. However, they wouldn't feel right accepting the money. Therefore, they decided to go and check, just in case they actually found something. After all, returning empty-handed was unacceptable to them, especially as they felt they were letting Mr. Xiao down.
Soon, they returned to the same fishing grounds. Ye Feng activated his detection function and immediately spotted a large school of tuna swimming not far in front of them, although at a considerable depth. Not only was there one type of tuna, but several: yellowfin tuna, albacore tuna, and even a few bluefin tuna...