"Boss Chen, thank you!"
With the deal successfully closed, Li Yongxin's eyes were squinted into smiling lines.
"Manager Li, I deserve some credit for this. Don't forget my commission, hehe!"
"I won't forget. I'll send you a tank of fuel for your new boat then, hehe!"
Li Haochen was also stunned. A tank of fuel was no small amount of money. This new fishing boat had two fuel tanks, each with a capacity of 500 liters, costing over 4,000 yuan per tank.
"Heh, thank you. By the way, spray 'Qian Long 1' on the new boat's name. It's already registered. Also, help me order two more identical ones."
"Order two more?"
Li Yongxin was overjoyed. He looked at Li Haochen as if he were a god of wealth, his eyes turning into the shape of Qianlong Bao Tong coins.
Li Haochen bought a boat every few days, making him Li Yongxin's personal bonus bank. Moreover, he had seen him get out of a JY700 just now. Perhaps he would soon upgrade his small car to a large one, which would allow him to upgrade his house, car, and...
"Brother Li, since you're looking out for me, I should give you the lowest price possible. Let's cut another 10,000 yuan from the original price, hehe!"
"Oh..."
The unexpected good news also brought a hint of joy to Li Haochen. After signing the contract and paying the deposit, he rode his bike home.
"Huh, why is there a period paper here? Whose is it?"
Before entering, he smelled food. Upon entering, he saw a Lava Red Explorer parked to the side. He walked in with a hint of confusion, only to find the formidable Liu Zijun there. Li Haochen's eyes couldn't help but glance at her towering figure... umm... still as striking as ever.
"Cough, cough, I was wondering who threw such a large piece of period paper in my yard. What's with the wind today, beautiful Liu?"
"Pfft~"
Liu Zijun, who was drinking water, spurted it out clean. There were still a few drops at the corner of her mouth, but they were perfectly contained, unable to escape. If there were more drops, they would surely form a deep pool.
Liu Zijun reached out to wipe her mouth and even picked out a water droplet from between her lips. This made Li Haochen flustered, and he quickly turned his gaze elsewhere.
"Yanran, look, Haochen is becoming more and more lewd. You need to discipline him."
Murong Yanran took off her apron, smiled, and said, "You know, it's quite fitting,嘻嘻!"
"It's over, it's over, my Yanran has completely changed..."
"Alright, come quickly and wash your hands for dinner."
The two women hadn't seen each other for quite some time, and they had so much to talk about that they could make girls cry for three days and three nights. As they got into the conversation, the wine flowed, and Li Haochen didn't get a single drop of the Golden Ice Valley wine.
The two women also stopped at one bottle. Even though their alcohol tolerance was good, they ended up with flushed cheeks and an alluring glow. This made Li Haochen's heart flutter. Unfortunately, Murong Yanran was occupied by Liu Zijun tonight, so he had to have a heart-to-heart with Little Meimei.
When he woke up, Li Haochen found a note and a bank card on the dining table. Upon opening it, he thought, "This Zijun is really something. She could have just given it to Yanran directly, but she had to ask me to pass it on."
After breakfast, as he walked out the door, an electric tricycle loaded with cardboard boxes of various shapes and sizes stopped beside Li Haochen.
Seeing the smiley face with a star on the man's left chest, he knew it was the inflatable tent he had ordered online. Before the delivery person could even pull out their phone to notify him, Li Haochen had already displayed his pickup code. After a check and signing, he took it into the yard.
He quickly found a knife and eagerly opened the cardboard box, unfolding the tent on the ground. He took out the complimentary foot pump and inserted it into the air nozzle.
Li Haochen stepped on it with his right foot and pressed down forcefully. Immediately, a "whoosh-whoosh" sound of air being drawn in was heard. Within a few minutes, the several support poles were filled with air, which was quite fast.
After a careful inspection revealed no quality issues, he deflated it, rolled it up, and put it back into the cardboard box.
"Still need some water shoes, harpoons, and the like. I'll go prepare these first."
He rode his bike to the city and found a labor protection store. He bought three pairs of size 38 rubber-soled water shoes. They were ugly, but safe. He still remembered the incident of being pricked by a stonefish through his shoe sole.
"Boss's wife, give me a barbecue net, a box of charcoal, and ten skewers..."
Li Haochen moved on to a general store, bought some barbecue tools, disposable bowls, chopsticks, gloves, and other items, and sent them to the boat. When he came out, he went to the adjacent fishing tackle shop and bought a few pairs of goggles, bite holders, and flippers. Thinking about it, he bought a few more fish traps and crab traps, as well as many nets. They would be useful for deeper dives later.
"Haochen, you're buying crab traps and fish traps, but why not get some fishing nets? You're not a qualified fisherman."
"Uncle Liang, supporting the family relies on fishing nets, getting rich relies on traps, and becoming wealthy relies on fishing rods, hahaha!"
"..."
There were quite a few items. Li Haochen borrowed the fishing tackle shop's trolley to transport the goods to the boat and then set sail. He didn't plan to spend the night at sea. Li Haochen went to a place not far away, just a few hundred meters outside Butterfly Bay.
After mooring the boat, he checked the fish finder. It was just average. He entered his space and swam out to the location where he had previously placed coral polyps, marking the spot. Then, he took out some mussels, smashed them, put them in the bait box, and lowered the trap.
Li Haochen didn't plan to fish. He changed into his snorkeling gear and continued to dig for coral polyps and seaweed. This was because only by forming a coral reef area could marine life be attracted. Otherwise, in such a vast ocean within his space, where would he find fish?
With a "plop," Li Haochen submerged into the water. The clarity here was quite good, and there was a large area of coral reef. However, the smaller coral polyps were difficult to find, and most of them were huge, making it impossible to start.
As he swam and searched, a few dark green fecal balls attracted Li Haochen's attention.
"Huh, sea urchins."
Sea urchins are quite common in China's waters. They are named after their resemblance to horse dung. Their spines are relatively short, and their bodies are not large, only about five to six centimeters. Their colors are mostly dark green or gray-brown. The sea urchin roe is bright orange, and the flavor is strong. They are most plump in late spring and early summer.
These things were quite prickly, so Li Haochen had to collect them with iron tongs. There weren't many, and after searching a nearby area, he found only about ten. He didn't dare to hang them from his waist, as being pricked from time to time wouldn't be pleasant. He could only throw them into the ocean within his space.
He surfaced, took a few breaths of fresh air, and dove back down.
Two hours later, Li Haochen returned to the boat with disappointment. In such a long time, he had only dug up five pieces of coral polyps and about ten scallops. He hadn't seen a single lobster in such a vast coral reef area. The scarcity of resources was almost unbelievable.
"No wonder fishermen's incomes are so low nowadays. With such scarcity, what income can they have?"
The nearshore areas have been dominated by large vessels, which have been plowing through the upper, middle, and lower layers day after day. What can the small fishing boats of the fishermen get? If they want to earn a high income, they have to go to the open sea, but without a good boat, it's not feasible, and good boats are expensive. Marine resources are gradually being controlled by a minority of people. Therefore, fishermen are now trapped in a vicious cycle, and they can only rely on the closed sea period to make a living.
He pulled up all the traps. There were seven or eight pufferfish and three small yellow croakers, as well as a few blue crabs that were hungry and eager to eat. With a sigh of helplessness, he lost the mood to continue. He threw all the catches into his space and sailed back home.