The captain of the Shanfeng Hao was named Liu Yufeng, hailing from Yangcheng.
They were all here for the 15 million, but why they were here instead of fishing for big game in the outer seas was unknown.
“Captain, I just checked the Star Chaser and it only has that young man. Is he entering the sea fishing competition by himself?”
“He’s probably here for the experience. Look at his boat, it’s nearly two million. He must be a rich young master playing around,” Liu Yufeng said with some certainty.
Before the crew member could say more, Liu Yufeng interrupted him, “Alright, why bother with them? Go prepare the bait quickly.”
Li Haochen chatted with them for a while before hanging up the radio and preparing to fish.
After getting his gear ready, he walked to the fishing spot on the side of the bow with his bait and fishing rods. The water here was deeper than before, so he switched to a heavier lead sinker. He baited both fishing rods, cast them lightly, and stuck them into the rod holders.
“Whoosh whoosh~”
Not long after casting, both rods got a bite simultaneously. The fishing lines were pulled taut, but the struggle wasn’t strong, and he easily reeled them in. Their reddish-brown bodies had small yellow spots, sharp dorsal fins, and wide-staring eyes. They could only be rockfish.
These two rockfish were definitely at least half a kilogram each, which was uncommon in shallow waters.
After unhooking the fish and putting them into the live bait tank, he continued. In less than a minute, he got another double bite. When he pulled them up, they were rockfish again, and their sizes were no smaller than the ones he just caught.
On the third cast, he still caught rockfish. “Could it be a school of rockfish?”
The more he thought about it, the more it seemed possible. “Rockfish aren’t cheap. Live ones go for at least 120 yuan each. If we’ve really encountered a school, we can’t miss this!”
Li Haochen’s eyes lit up, and he quickly ran into the cabin to get the other two fishing rods. Less than a minute later, he came out and saw that they had caught fish again.
He quickly walked over and reeled them in, still rockfish. This made Li Haochen very sure that there was a school of rockfish below.
He nimbly re-baited and cast, operating four rods at once, which was no small feat. As soon as one was reeled in, another got a bite, like a Ferris wheel, repeating continuously.
Liu Yufeng of the Shanfeng Hao, while scanning Li Haochen with binoculars, was also startled and shouted, “Damn, hurry up! Some of the rockfish school has moved towards the Star Chaser. Don’t let them get all the good stuff, use your spare rods too.”
The crew members responded verbally but felt disdain in their hearts. It’s just one person, how much can he catch? And the sea isn’t yours, can you control where the fish go? He’s already exhausted, and now he wants to add more rods?
The continuous casting and reeling, plus the request to add more fishing rods, naturally made the crew members unhappy. But it quickly disappeared, as more fish caught meant more commission for them. They were here for money, so they had to persevere no matter how hard it was.
If they won the prize money, it would be divided equally. If they accidentally took first place, each of them could retire ashore.
Li Haochen didn’t know that the rockfish were coming from the Shanfeng Hao’s side. Even if he did, what of it? Should he not fish? Wouldn’t that be foolish?
Li Haochen didn’t count how many fish he caught, but he guessed it was at least fifteen kilograms, and it was still increasing. The four fishing rods kept him so busy that he didn’t even have time to drink water.
The continuous catching of fish was indeed exciting, but it was followed by heavy shoulders and numb hands.
Soon, Li Haochen’s laziness kicked in. He clearly saw the fishing line tighten but just didn’t want to reel it in.
“Ah, I can’t take it anymore, I’m about to die.”
Li Haochen persisted until he reeled in the fish from all four rods, unhooked them, and threw them into the live bait tank. He didn’t clean up, gulped down several mouthfuls of tea, and then ran to take a hot shower for more than ten minutes. Fortunately, there was a desalination device, otherwise, the 500 liters of fresh water wouldn’t have been enough for two showers.
After coming out, he ate a few Clif bars and collapsed onto the bed. The high-intensity work had severely depleted his physical and mental strength, and he fell asleep in no time.
The Shanfeng Hao soon reeled in all their fishing rods because they hadn’t had a bite for a long time and decided to rest and change fishing spots.
Liu Yufeng went to check the fish containment in the live bait tank. The tank full of rockfish made him breathe a sigh of relief. “Not bad, at least four hundred pounds. The cost is covered this time. From now on, every extra fish caught is profit.
Back in the cockpit, as he was preparing to set sail for a new fishing spot, he glanced at the Star Chaser. He picked up the radio and called Li Haochen several times but got no response. “Damn, you greedy brat, you’re stealing my leftovers.”
Li Haochen was already chatting with Duke of Zhou, so he had no time to pay attention to him.
When he woke up, it was already past 8 p.m. He had slept for a few hours, and his spirit had recovered, but his body was still weak. He went into the kitchen, took out a large piece of beef, cut it into cubes, and stir-fried it with bell peppers and carrots to make beef and bell pepper stir-fry.
He didn’t cook anything else. As soon as the rice was ready, he took a large basin, mixed the rice with the beef stir-fry, and ate heartily.
Then he had a frozen coconut, which felt incredibly refreshing.
After eating and drinking his fill, he went out to tidy up his fishing gear and checked the live bait tank. He was very satisfied. The live bait tank was almost full. The rockfish caught at noon were at least twenty-five kilograms, which would earn several thousand yuan even if he returned to port now.
Li Haochen brought out his Gongfu tea set from the cabin, sat on a stool, and drank tea, enjoying the leisure. It was just that his lower back was a bit uncomfortable from sitting on the stool for too long.
“Next time I should buy a reclining chair.”
Eating peanuts and drinking tea, gazing at the starry sky, although it was pitch black all around, the occasional sound of a ship’s horn in the distance made Li Haochen feel at ease.
Seeing the small miscellaneous fish attracted by the light under the ship’s hull, the sweet taste of the small squid again whetted Li Haochen’s appetite.
He turned on the fish attractant light and lowered a large scoop net into the sea. After a few minutes, he scooped it up, and Li Haochen was a bit surprised. “Rice squid? This is a good thing!”
Rice squid are actually squid with eggs. It’s rare to encounter them in autumn; squid usually have eggs in the summer. If you turn over the squid’s white belly and see a yellowish substance, it means it has eggs.
This scoop contained over twenty small squid, six of which were rice squid. Squid die quickly after being taken out of the water, so Li Haochen quickly selected the rice squid and put them into the sea within his spatial dimension. Don’t underestimate these six squid with eggs; each can lay hundreds to tens of thousands of eggs, with a hatching rate as high as 70-80%. Moreover, it only takes half a year for them to hatch and mature. In essence, these six rice squid can generate very high value.
Following the same method, he repeated the process. In one night, Li Haochen caught over ten kilograms of small squid, and dozens of rice squid were also thrown into the spatial dimension.