In the afternoon, at five o'clock, they finally arrived at Wuzhou Island. Seeing the familiar place, Li Haochen couldn't help but sigh. It was here that he had saved the Dai family of three last time, and had also been saved by a mysterious creature in a daze.
He felt quite emotional upon arriving here and was eager to know what had saved him.
Shaking his head, he attached a section of bait and then successively lowered the traps and longlines that had already been baited. Returning to the boat, he checked the fish finder. The situation was good, so he immediately dropped anchor and stopped the boat.
There wouldn't be any fish over fifty jin here, so Li Haochen didn't plan to use the Golden Battle Rod. The four electric fishing reels with 28kg of drag were enough.
As he just came out with a fishing rod, four local fishing boats had docked next to the Starward. Li Haochen was a little startled to see them, wondering if outsiders were not allowed to set traps and the like here.
"Mr. Li, that's great. I didn't expect to see you here."
"Yes, we didn't have a chance to thank you last time, and you had already left. We are truly grateful."
After a conversation, it turned out that the boats were all from Dai Family Village, the same large family as Dai Changrun's. Recognizing the Starward when they were going out to sea and preparing to return, they had come to express their thanks.
"That's fine then. I won't disturb you any longer. Next time you have free time, be sure to visit our Dai Family Village. We'll definitely roll out the red carpet for you."
Their simplicity deeply moved Li Haochen. These were truly the most lovable people.
Watching the Dai family fishing boats sail away, Li Haochen had an idea to build his own fleet. If it worked, Murong Yanran's hotel wouldn't have to worry about being held back by the seafood supply.
"I'll contact them after the winter fishing competition."
Putting the idea aside, Li Haochen went into the space and pried out quite a few mussels. He opened a large bowl of mussel meat and began his fishing work for the day. "Let's get to work, fish, come into my hook quickly, hehe!"
Li Haochen stopped at Wuzhou Island with a specific intention. He had caught a lot of red snapper here last time, and he was here for this fish today. This fish was festive and also sold well, making it a presentable main dish for a banquet.
Originally, Li Haochen wanted to use coral trout, but that depended on luck. The banquet required a large quantity of fish, and he couldn't gather enough, so he had to give up.
"Whoosh~"
"Whoosh whoosh~"
Just as he dozed off, all four fishing rods, as if on cue, caught fish simultaneously. The four fishing lines cut across each other on the sea surface, looking quite spectacular from a distance. Fortunately, the four fishing rods were far apart, and the lines were not cast very long, so he wasn't worried about tangling.
Li Haochen walked to the rod closest to him and pressed the button. The fish's pull wasn't strong. The powerful output of the electric fishing reel directly pulled the fish over, bringing it out of the sea in more than ten seconds.
"Alas, why isn't it a red snapper?"
Li Haochen was a little disappointed. He unhooked the yellow croaker, threw it into the live bait tank, baited with mussel meat, and cast again, then moved to the next rod.
After missing his desired red snapper on all four casts, Li Haochen's mood became somewhat restless. "Damn it, why aren't they red snappers? There were so many last time."
Within two minutes, he caught another fish. It was either a sea bass or a black seabream, which made Li Haochen even more anxious. The fluctuation in his mood also affected his movements, making him a bit temperamental. He didn't even pay much attention when baiting the hook, muttering curses at the sea.
The more he cursed, the worse his luck seemed to get. He never expected that his unfailing divine bait would be completely eaten by the fish, who then slipped away, leaving only the bare hook.
Not being able to catch the fish he wanted, coupled with this complete failure, his inner restlessness and dissatisfaction erupted. He threw the fishing rod on the ground. Not content with that, he raised his foot and stepped on it.
Unexpectedly, his foot slipped, and he lost his balance, lunging towards the side of the boat. His hands flapped like a bird's wings, but he unfortunately couldn't maintain his balance.
"Plop~"
Li Haochen fell into the sea, ending up like a drowned rat. This dunking, however, woke him up. "Hey, what's gotten into me? It's like a inner demon, I even dropped the fishing rod. This is truly inexcusable."
With a sudden realization, his mood improved. The side of the boat was too high, so he had to swim to the stern to get up. The boat was designed very humanely, with a retractable pedal step on the right side of the stern, which became a small ladder when lowered.
Soaked wet, Li Haochen didn't go inside to change and shower. Instead, he walked over and picked up the fishing rod, examining it carefully. He wiped off the dirt with his hand and saw a chip of paint on the handle, feeling a pang of regret. "I'm sorry, my friend. This will never happen again."
With this incident, Li Haochen lost the mood to continue fishing. Moreover, it was already completely dark, and he was a bit hungry.
He went in and took a cold shower to clear his head. When he came out, the meal was ready. He took out the pork belly left from lunch, steamed it, and made do with it for dinner.
Outside the boat, Li Haochen leaned back in the lounge chair, drinking iced beer and gazing at the starry sky, recalling his recent foolishness with deep regret. "That was my good helper. I really want to slap myself twice."
An hour later, Li Haochen stood up and sighed. "What is destined will come, and what is not destined cannot be forced."
He walked over, installed the electric fishing reels and fishing rods, baited with mussel meat, and stroked the fishing rod again. "My friends, I apologize for what happened earlier. I'll stay with you all night, and we'll turn the world upside down, hahaha!"
The removal of his inner demons had changed Li Haochen's state of mind, and all things began to tilt towards the positive.
And indeed, shortly after casting, the bell on the tip of the rod rang.
"Ring ring ring~"
The rod tip bells rang one after another, sounding even more pleasing to the ear in the vast and boundless sea.
He walked over, pressed the button, and held the landing net under the sea surface, waiting. The tireless and powerful output of the electric fishing reel brought the fish out of the sea before it could even react.
Upon seeing it, Li Haochen chuckled. "Heh, it came when I wasn't intentionally thinking about it."
Indeed, this was the red snapper Li Haochen had been thinking about, and it wasn't small, weighing over two jin.
This truly lived up to the saying, "What is destined will come, and what is not destined cannot be forced." It's like in our daily lives, when we misplace things, we can never find a certain item, but as soon as we stop looking for it intentionally, it pops out.
Although the other three rods didn't yield red snappers, it didn't affect Li Haochen. Where there's one success, there won't be a lack of others.
As expected, within the next hour, Li Haochen successively caught six red snappers, which was quite good.
He had said he would fight until dawn, and it had only been a little over an hour. This was hardly anything, so he naturally continued.
Li Haochen took a break to brew a pot of coffee and check the fish finder. The resources below were very abundant.
Unknowingly, the moon had reached its zenith, but Li Haochen had no sleepiness at all because the fish kept biting, which even made him bewildered.
"What's going on?"