"Heh, what a stroke of luck!" A Guang huffed, lips pouting.
"Dongzi, where do you think I should look? Point me in the right direction."
Ye Yaodong looked at him speechlessly.
"Do you think I'm some kind of fortune teller? If I knew, would I even tell you? I’m in the same boat, struggling!"
"Come on, just use your lucky charm to point me to something, your luck is better than mine."
"Quit bothering me. I’m here to make money, so go find it yourself."
"Hurry up, just give me one clear direction..."
A Guang recalled having found two large crabs on Ye Yaodong's suggestion last time and was somewhat convinced of his luck.
"I can't..."
"Just point somewhere."
"Are you irritating me...? Alright, whatever, just go over there... get away from me..."
Annoyed, Ye Yaodong pointed at a spot farther out, wanting A Guang to scram away.
They didn’t know if it was just luck, but A Guang scurried over, and to his surprise, he found a big fish stranded on the shore.
"Huh? No way, Dongzi, you really are lucky! What kind of fish is this?"
Hearing A Guang's shout, Ye Yaodong's heart skipped a beat.
He hurried over, wondering if he had accidentally led A Guang to something valuable.
The other two rushed over at the sound of excitement.
"What kind of fish is it?"
“Is there a big catch?”
Once Ye Yaodong got closer and had a good look, his eyes widened.
"Sea Wolf Fish?"
Its body was long and cylindrical, with a sharp mouth and a broad jaw.
Its head was shaped like a shuttle, sporting prominent canine-like teeth.
The color around its eyes was a slightly reddish yellow—there was no doubt it was a Sea Wolf Fish.
"Huh? So this is a Sea Wolf? It’s that big?"
"Dang, you actually recognized it? A Guang found a Sea Wolf! This one is over a meter long, right?"
Except for Ye Yaodong, the other three had only heard the name and had never seen the real fish.
This was indeed a rare sight for them.
A Guang rubbed his hands together excitedly.
"This must be over a meter long, right? But it's long and skinny, probably only around thirty catties."
"I heard they can grow up to 1.8 meters."
"Then this one is a bit small..."
"Be grateful; even at fifty cents a catty, it’s worth about ten bucks. This catch alone covers today’s trip—it wasn’t a waste to come out."
Ye Yaodong felt regret wash over him; why did he help A Guang? Next time, he wouldn’t do anything like this again—he should be saving all the good spots for himself!
Xiao Xiao leaned in and nudged Ye Yaodong with his elbow.
"You point me to a spot too, let me go look?"
"I want one too..."
"Get lost! Do you really think I'm a fortune teller? I’m finding my own way!"
A Guang happily shook his sack, stuffing the still-wriggling Sea Wolf fish inside.
"I heard these Sea Wolf Fish live in groups and can cause Sea Wolf storms. Should we take a boat out and toss a net while the tide is still high?"
Otherwise, when the tide goes out and the boat gets stranded, they would have to wait for the tide to come back in to get out.
Xiao Xiao's eyes lit up as he glanced at A Zheng.
"Great idea, Dongzi! Let’s toss a net and see if we catch anything. If not, we can always return to the island; we have the whole day ahead of us."
Ye Yaodong was tempted.
"Sure, let’s toss a net and see what we can catch—maybe some sea turtles or Sea Wolf fish."
"Yes, yes! Maybe even a sea turtle!"
With excitement brewing, the four of them quickly got to work, untying ropes and pushing the small boat to set it afloat.
The water was a bit shallow now.
Once on board, Ye Yaodong began to row, guiding the boat away from the shore towards the open sea.
After reaching a spot he felt was good enough, he stopped and looked at A Zheng.
"This seems right; you toss the net."
"Alright, watch me!"
A Zheng had been waiting for this.
When he heard Ye Yaodong say it was time, he folded the rope in his left hand and held the net's base with his right, letting it hang down.
He kept the hand holding the rope steady while he shortened the net with the other hand, bending forward slightly with one leg stretched out behind him to gather strength.
Then with a powerful forward thrust, he launched the net, ensuring to keep the rope tightly in his grip.
With a spin of his body, the net flew out in a wide cast.
He knew how to handle his own net, and this was just a simple hand-thrown net.
Once the net was cast, it could be pulled back easily by tugging on the rope.
"Ah, there are so many pomfret!"
"Quick, help pull it in!"
All four of them were thrilled as they worked together to pull in a net full of pomfret fish, unexpectedly delighted by the catch.
"The plan was to catch Sea Wolves or turtles, but look at this net full of pomfret. They're all decent-sized, each over five taels, this must be decades of weight, right?"
"Definitely around seventy to eighty catties!"
"This pomfret looks good!"
"Quick, let’s dump them out and toss a net again—we can see if there are any fish we missed since they’re all grouped together."
"Hurry up."
The four of them were incredibly excited; so many fish meant more money to share.
Even though there were several of them, each would get a nice chunk, and they quickly poured the fish from the net onto the boat.
"Stand back! I’m going to toss the net over here. I want to throw better, so we catch even more fish!"
"Come on, hurry! If you delay, the fish will swim away!"
Just as A Zheng prepared to cast the net, Ye Yaodong interrupted.
"Wait, wait! I think it’d be better to shift the boat a little."
"What are you doing? I’m not even throwing in the same spot!"
"Listen to Dongzi! He's been really lucky lately!"
Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes—fine, his luck was good, but why did they have to exaggerate?
"Alright, let’s settle for this."
"Are you sure? Once I throw, there’s no taking it back."
A Guang was growing impatient.
"Hurry up! Keep talking, and I’ll kick you off to feed the fish!"
A Zheng felt a little wronged.
"When Dongzi talks, you don’t complain, yet you’re counting on me to throw the net. We haven’t even crossed the river, and you want to burn bridges."
“Do you think hand-netting is something anyone can’t do?”
"Hmph..."
After a few grumbles, A Zheng tossed the net and soon called out, “Ah, come help! So heavy, we’ve got more!”
“Dongzi is truly amazing!”
"Wasn’t it me who threw it well?"
"Cut the chatter and pull it in. No more wasting breath!" Ye Yaodong felt his head spin; too many people meant too much chatter, and they couldn’t stop talking.
"Ah, this net has Sea Wolf Fish! No wonder it's so heavy."
"There are other small fish too, quickly pull them up!"
The four struggled a little as they dragged the net full of Sea Wolf Fish onboard.
"I feel like it’s over two hundred catties; my arms are aching. If we catch any more, we won't be able to pull them in. A Guang’s aunt has a boat with a net-pulling machine that’s much easier."
"Quick, dump and continue; don’t dawdle."
“Go, go!”
“If there’s more, let’s put in all our strength to pull them up!”
Everyone felt invigorated, brimming with excitement.
(The End of this Chapter)