After dinner, with nothing else to do, Li Hao Chen took out his fishing rod to try his luck. The fish finder had indicated good fishing conditions here, so it would be a shame not to try.
He wasn't planning to use the electric reel tonight, so Li Hao Chen took out his lure rod. As he was assembling it, the two women also came out.
"Night fishing?"
"Yeah, do you guys want to join? Fishing at night is quite fun."
"No thanks, why would we fish on such a beautiful night? We'd rather look at the stars and feel the sea breeze."
Li Hao Chen smiled and enjoyed the pleasure of fishing alone.
He attached the bait, adjusted the drag, and with a slight lean and a powerful cast, the reel spun, line singing out. A few seconds later, a faint splash could be heard in the distance.
Even though he hadn't fished much recently, his skills were better than ever. His movements were fluid, and judging by the amount of line released, the cast was easily over a hundred meters.
Li Hao Chen gently twitched the rod while slowly retrieving the line.
"Whizz~"
When he had retrieved more than half the line, there was a sudden strong tug. The flexible rod bent into a deep curve. Li Hao Chen knew the fish wasn't over three jin. While playing the fish, he mused, "I'm used to stiff rods; this lure rod feels a bit unfamiliar."
In less than two minutes, he had the fish under control and was playing it with ease.
A few minutes later, a grouper weighing over two jin was pulled onto the deck, its tail slapping against the deck with a loud noise.
"Not bad, not bad. That's another thirty liters of diesel, hehe."
He changed the bait and cast again, this time even further. As Li Hao Chen was particularly pleased with this cast, a sudden, strong pull threw him off balance, and he tumbled ungracefully.
"Ouch~"
"Hao Chen, what's wrong?" Xie Baolian and Murong Yanran heard the thud and rushed over. Seeing Li Hao Chen lying on the deck near the ship's railing, they asked anxiously.
"N-nothing… I just got pulled by the fish, lost my balance, and fell. I'm fine."
Li Hao Chen winced slightly from the pain as he pushed himself up. He looked at the rod strap on his wrist and breathed a sigh of relief, "Good thing I had the rod strap on, or I would have lost a lot."
He put on a belly belt and took back the fishing rod. "Whoa~ still quite feisty, huh? This one's got some power, probably over twenty jin. Let's have some fun."
To make it more exciting, Li Hao Chen deliberately loosened the drag, letting out hundreds of meters of line. When he felt it was enough, he quickly grabbed the handle with his right hand to stop the line from spooling out and lifted the rod tip with his left.
Sensing its freedom restricted, the big fish immediately fought back ferociously, its strength surging, causing the line to hum.
Feeling the fish's fury, Li Hao Chen laughed, "Now this is interesting! Come on, let me enjoy this, hehe!"
During the few minutes of the fight, Li Hao Chen had gauged the fish's strength but didn't act immediately. Instead, he carefully felt every subtle movement of the fish. The longer the struggle, the deeper his understanding of the fish's power became.
After more than ten minutes, the big fish's strength was waning, and further stalemate would yield nothing. Li Hao Chen had to speed up the retrieval. Soon, the big fish revealed itself, and upon seeing it, his heart filled with joy.
"Hahaha, this is great, a Black Golden Drum this big!"
The Black Golden Drum, scientifically known as the Striped Porgy, is also called the Striped Drum. Its body is off-white, covered with irregular black spots. It has an elegant form and a beautiful body, appearing almost dreamlike under the blue light. Males and females are relatively easy to distinguish; as males mature, their spots fade, and the area around their mouth turns pure white, earning them the name "White-Mouthed Fish."
In natural marine environments, this fish is scarce. It is often caught through angling and rarely forms natural schools. It has no distinct peak season, yields are very small, making it expensive. Typically, it costs around 160 yuan per jin. To get a truly wild one, money isn't enough; you need luck.
"A Striped Porgy this large is also quite rare."
Looking at the porgy, which was about 60 centimeters long, Li Hao Chen showed surprise. It was so rare that 200 yuan a jin wouldn't be unreasonable.
Li Hao Chen's excited laughter also caught the attention of the two women. They walked over and exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, this fish is so big!"
"It's not small. This trip's fuel cost is half covered already, hehe."
"What? That's thousands of yuan!" Xie Baolian was clearly shocked by the price and found it hard to believe.
"Auntie Lian, this is called a Black Golden Drum. My hotel doesn't get many in a month; they're very expensive."
Upon hearing this, Xie Baolian's eyes, usually keen on money, began to gleam. She then urged Li Hao Chen, "Son, hurry up and catch a few more, fuel is expensive."
"Alright, alright, I'll catch tens of thousands of jin for you."
Xie Baolian gave Li Hao Chen a playful glare before pulling Murong Yanran inside to whisper.
Li Hao Chen glanced at his watch; it was only nine o'clock. For the first time, he felt time passing so slowly. He shook his head and smiled wryly, "Ah, I guess I'll keep fishing. Going back to sleep feels stifling."
"Whizz~"
As soon as he cast, before he could even retrieve the line, it tightened. Li Hao Chen was momentarily stunned. "Hehe, didn't expect it to be so fast."
A few minutes later, the fish was brought up. Li Hao Chen burst into laughter again, "Hahaha, didn't expect it to be another Black Golden Drum, that's great."
Looking at the seven or eight jin Black Golden Drum in his hand, Li Hao Chen couldn't stop smiling. Just as he released the fish into the live well, Xie Baolian came out. "Yanran isn't feeling well. You'll have to sleep in the tatami room tonight."
"Uh…?"
"Then I guess I'll have to sleep with the fish tonight, hehe!"
Of course, Li Hao Chen was just saying that.
The next morning, Li Hao Chen woke up early and prepared breakfast. He didn't dare let Xie Baolian cook; it wasn't that her food was bad, but she cooked far too much. The past few days had been torturous.
At three in the afternoon, with a loud and long blast of the horn, the Starlight slowly docked at the Binhai Pier. All three of them smiled, "Land is indeed reassuring."
"Isn't it? Although we had a pleasant time on the boat today, land is still more comfortable."
"Yanran, you two go back first. I'll wait for Brother Tao and the others to come and take the fish away."
"Auntie Lian and I are going for spa treatments. We've been out at sea for several days, and our skin has deteriorated significantly. We won't be back for dinner; you'll have to fend for yourself,嘻嘻."
"Uh…? Abandoned as soon as we get back? Why is my life so miserable…"
After the two women left, Li Hao Chen tidied up the cabin. Before long, Yang Tao and his crew arrived in a large truck. Their anticipation turned to surprise when they saw the catch in the live well. "Hao Chen, you always call us when your catch is overflowing. What's going on this time? It's so little?"
"Brother Tao, do you think the sea is my backyard? How can it overflow every time? It's good enough that we caught anything, hehe!"
After handing over the catch to Yang Tao, Li Hao Chen took two Black Sea Bream to the duty room. "Uncle Ming, long time no see."
"Oh, Hao Chen, you're back! You've brought honor to the country, well done, well done."
"Just lucky. These fish are still lively; please take them home to eat. I'm leaving now."
Li Hao Chen set down the fish and, with a sense of urgency, hailed a taxi home.
As soon as he returned, a familiar scent wafted towards him, instantly dispelling his fatigue from the days away.
"It's so good to be home."