Chapter Summaries

Qi Yan, Lu Ao, and Song Zhou traveled with Man Zhang to visit a breeder of non-toxic pufferfish, hoping to try the fish and film a cuisine episode. During the long journey, Song Zhou quietly comforted hungry Lu Ao by sharing chocolate with him.

• Qi Yan learned from Man Zhang that someone in the county raised non-toxic pufferfish, and arranged to visit and film a meal.
• Lu Ao invited Song Zhou to join the trip, and they arrived at Man Zhang's house the next morning.
• After Man Zhang returned from the fields, he led the group on a lengthy trip to the county outskirts.
• Song Zhou noticed Lu Ao was hungry and gave him chocolate, which Lu Ao enjoyed as Song Zhou offered him more.

Lin Qi Yan filmed Lu Ao and Song Zhou sharing a subtly affectionate moment before the group visited Old Tian's pufferfish farming base. Old Tian explained the farm's nontoxic and toxic pufferfish, their markets, and the experimental effort to produce tetrodotoxin, leaving the group at the fish rafts.

• Lin Qi Yan filmed Lu Ao offering to help Song Zhou out of the car and noticed the intimate atmosphere between them.
• Lin Man Zhang reunited with Old Tian, who welcomed the group to his seaside pufferfish farming base.
• Old Tian explained that Redfin Tiger Puffer were raised in seawater for overseas markets, while Dark-patterned Tiger Puffer were raised in freshwater for China.
• Old Tian showed the group his 78 fish rafts and said they held nontoxic Redfin Tiger Puffer, kept separate from toxic fish.
• Old Tian explained that tetrodotoxin had medical uses and cost over a million per gram, while his toxic-pufferfish project remained experimental.

Lu Ao, Song Zhou, and their companions enjoyed a pufferfish feast at Old Tian’s courtyard, then Lu Ao confirmed he would lease the mountains in Tanwu Village. After preparing a contract template with Song Zhou, Lu Ao agreed to meet the village committee the next day to discuss the lease.

• Old Tian cooked clear-soup and braised pufferfish for Lu Ao, Song Zhou, Qi Yan, and Lin Man Zhang.
• Lu Ao enjoyed the meal and bought twenty pufferfish to take home, while Qi Yan gathered material for his next update.
• Lin Dawu confirmed the mountain lease terms with Lu Ao, who said he would discuss the lease the next day.
• The village committee head called Lu Ao to arrange a meeting, and Lu Ao agreed to attend.
• Lu Ao and Song Zhou reviewed mountain-lease laws and prepared a contract template before Lu Ao walked Song Zhou out.

Lu Ao secured a five-year lease on Haining Mountain and prepared for a typhoon that would temporarily halt fishing. His boat was being refurbished at Qinyin Shipyard, and Yu Hongshen said it would be finished later in the month.

• Lu Ao met with Lin Yu and the village representatives to discuss leasing Haining Mountain, including its boundaries, rent, and permitted uses.
• Lin Yu accompanied Lu Ao to the county, where Lu Ao signed the lease and paid 449,730 yuan for five years of rent.
• Lu Ao went sea fishing with Lin Man Zhang, who warned that Typhoon Fairy Deer was expected to arrive in two days.
• Lu Ao called Yu Hongshen at Qinyin Shipyard to check on his boat and warn him about the typhoon.
• Yu Hongshen told Lu Ao that the boat was protected and nearly repaired, with its engine replacement planned after the typhoon.

During the typhoon, Lu Ao stayed off the water and tended his fields before agreeing to dig Blood Eels with Lin Gongshang and Lin Qi Yan. Lin Qi Yan also invited Lu Ao on a sponsored offshore fishing trip, and the chapter ended with the three men and Luo Xiaohui heading toward a distant mudflat.

• Lu Ao told the captains about the typhoon, and they decided to keep their boats ashore for repairs.
• Lu Ao worked in his fields while Lin Gongshang suggested they dig Blood Eels near Luo Xiaohui's village the next day.
• Lin Qi Yan joined the outing and invited Lu Ao to accompany him on an offshore fishing trip near the Eastern Ocean from August 24th to September 1st.
• Lu Ao drove Lin Gongshang and Lin Qi Yan to Luowu Village, where Luo Xiaohui met them.
• Lin Gongshang and Luo Xiaohui led the group on foot toward a distant mudflat to dig Blood Eels.

Lu Ao and Qi Yan went to the mudflats with Lin Gongshang and Luo Xiaohui to dig for Blood Eels. Lu Ao proved exceptionally skilled, while Qi Yan struggled when he took a turn with the hoe and began searching for another hole.

• Lin Gongshang showed Lu Ao and Qi Yan how to spot and dig up Blood Eels, while Luo Xiaohui caught the first one.
• Lin Gongshang and Luo Xiaohui paired off to dig together, and Qi Yan filmed them from a distance.
• Lu Ao quickly dug up more than a dozen Blood Eels while Qi Yan collected them.
• Qi Yan took the hoe and asked Lu Ao to record him, but he dug slowly and missed a Blood Eel that escaped during his fifteenth swing.
• Qi Yan found another likely Blood Eel hole and asked Lu Ao if it was the right one.

Qi Yan struggled to dig for Blood Eels while Lu Ao harvested enough for them to eat. At a village shop, Lu Ao traded some of the catch for a bottle of yellow wine, and Qi Yan filmed the exchange.

• Qi Yan dug for Blood Eels, caught his first one, and asked Lu Ao to film the moment.
• After Qi Yan gave up from exhaustion, Lu Ao continued digging until their basket was full, then stopped harvesting.
• Lu Ao and Qi Yan headed to Luowu Village for clam noodle soup while Lin Gongshang stayed behind to dig longer.
• The shop owner asked to buy Blood Eels for his elderly mother, but Lu Ao declined to sell them.
• The owner offered a bottle of aged yellow wine in exchange, and Lu Ao traded him more than a jin of Blood Eels.

Lu Ao returned from digging up Blood Eels, shared some with Lin Qiyan for his grandmother, and cooked two dishes from the rest with Song Zhou. As they ate, Lu Ao offered Song Zhou yellow rice wine, while Song Zhou teased him about switching to Coke.

• Lu Ao ate six bowls of clam rice noodles, and Lin Gongshang returned after spending the morning with Luo Xiaohui, amazed that Lu Ao had dug up more than ten jin of Blood Eels.
• Lu Ao gave Lin Qiyan more than three jin of Blood Eels to take home for his grandmother.
• Lu Ao returned home, told Song Zhou they would eat Blood Eels, and the two cleaned and cooked them in a casserole and by frying them with chilies.
• Lu Ao brought out yellow rice wine he had traded for and admitted he had thought of Song Zhou when he got it.
• Lu Ao tried the spicy fried Blood Eels and gulped down the bitter yellow rice wine, prompting Song Zhou to offer him Coke.

Lu Ao prepared for a deep-sea fishing trip with Lin Qi Yan, and Song Zhou gave him a satellite phone so they could stay in touch. On August twenty-fourth, Lu Ao and Lin Qi Yan boarded a rented ship in New Luzhou and began their trip.

• Lu Ao switched his dinner drink to Coke, then told Song Zhou he planned to join Lin Qi Yan on a deep-sea fishing trip from August twenty-fourth to September first.
• Lu Ao confirmed the trip details, packed his own fishing rods and plenty of jerky, and prepared to leave.
• Song Zhou gave Lu Ao a topped-up satellite phone as a three-month acquaintance gift and asked him to call every day at sea.
• Lu Ao and Lin Qi Yan drove to New Luzhou and boarded their rented ship at two in the afternoon.
• Lin Qi Yan admired the ship, asked to film its details, and discussed the demanding lives of maritime workers with Lu Ao.

Lu Ao and Qi Yan settled in aboard Boss Chen’s ship, where a huge school of Herring brought the crew an unexpectedly profitable catch. Qi Yan got permission to film life aboard the vessel, and the group prepared to begin fishing for tuna the next morning.

• Lu Ao woke and watched the crew haul a huge school of Herring aboard the ship.
• Boss Chen inspected the catch, sent most of it to cold storage, and invited Lu Ao to eat freshly caught fish.
• Lu Ao introduced Qi Yan to Boss Chen, and Qi Yan asked permission to film life and equipment aboard the ship.
• Boss Chen agreed to Qi Yan’s filming plans, with restrictions on what he could record and publish.
• Zhong Honghai told Lu Ao that the group would reach its destination the next morning and planned to fish for Bluefin Tuna or Yellowfin Tuna.

Lu Ao ate a huge fish feast aboard the boat, then called Song Zhou and learned more about Monster crime and law enforcement. After discovering the call had cost 824 yuan, he headed to the deck the next morning to fish.

• Lu Ao ate more than twenty Green Stripe fish while Boss Chen told old seafaring stories to an eager Qi Yan.
• Lu Ao called Song Zhou as promised, and they chatted about their day and a plant-type Monster caught for making drugs from its bodily fluids.
• Song Zhou explained that Monsters committed crimes at rates comparable to humans and that most had integrated into society.
• Lu Ao learned that their 103-minute call had cost 824 yuan and that Song Zhou had topped up his phone credit by 10,000 yuan.
• Lu Ao went to the deck the next morning, greeted the other fishers, and asked what they had caught.

Lu Ao caught a large, live Hairtail, which Zhong Honghai took to prepare as sashimi and fried fish. Lu Ao tried the sashimi and listened as Zhong Honghai and Boss Chen reminisced about bringing Hairtail and other preserved seafood to school.

• Lu Ao caught a meter-long Hairtail, and the people on the boat gathered to admire it.
• Zhong Honghai filmed the fish and offered to take it to the kitchen to prepare sashimi and fried Hairtail.
• Lu Ao tried the fresh Hairtail sashimi and was surprised by its tender texture and distinctive flavor.
• Zhong Honghai and Boss Chen recalled eating salted Hairtail and other seafood with rice at school.
• Lu Ao reflected that he had never lacked fish growing up in a fishing village.

After a slow morning of fishing, Zhong Honghai changed the boat’s route to visit a nearby Giant Kelp Sea. The group reached the vivid, kelp-covered waters and watched colorful fish move through the floating algae.

• Lu Ao and the others caught few fish during the morning, so Zhong Honghai decided they should move to another fishing ground.
• Zhong Honghai chose to divert north toward a nearby Giant Kelp Sea, and the fishing team cheered at the chance to see it.
• Qi Yan explained the rare algae to Lu Ao as the boat sailed through clear blue water toward the Giant Kelp Sea.
• The group spotted hundreds of square meters of yellow-green Giant Kelp floating on the surface and colorful fish swimming among its strands.

Lu Ao fished at the Giant Kelp Sea with Lin Qiyan’s group and hooked a powerful fish that the anglers identified as a Moonfish. Zhong Honghai helped Lu Ao put on a Belly Harness as he continued fighting the fish.

• Lu Ao and the other anglers baited the water and began catching fish among the Giant Kelp.
• Lu Ao caught several fish, then hooked something strong enough to strain his rod.
• The anglers gathered as Lu Ao battled the fish, and it surfaced after seven minutes.
• Zhong Honghai identified the fish as a Moonfish weighing around two hundred jin and called for a Belly Harness.
• Zhong Honghai fastened the Belly Harness on Lu Ao, who said he could handle the fish himself.

Lu Ao battled a Moonfish for nearly an hour before Boss Chen and the deckhands helped haul it aboard. Exhausted, Lu Ao recovered with a drink as Boss Chen estimated the fish weighed at least two hundred jin.

• Zhong Honghai fitted Lu Ao with a Belly Harness, and Lu Ao braced his fishing rod to fight the Moonfish.
• Lin Qiyan and the people aboard gathered to film as Lu Ao struggled to keep the stubborn fish near the boat.
• After nearly an hour, the Moonfish weakened, and Zhong Honghai urged Lu Ao to keep pulling it toward the boat.
• Boss Chen hooked the surfaced Moonfish, and several men hauled it onto the deck.
• Lu Ao drank a sports drink to recover, and Boss Chen estimated the Moonfish weighed at least two hundred jin.

Lu Ao and the fishing crew weighed the rare Moonfish he had caught, discovering it weighed 235 jin and could be worth more than 100,000 yuan. After the catch inspired the crew to fish more seriously, Lu Ao rested and watched the vast Giant Kelp Sea.

• The crew recoiled when they touched the Moonfish and found it warm, and Zhong Honghai explained that it was the sea’s only warm-blooded fish and was also known as the Lottery Fish.
• The crew members and Lin Qiyan made wishes to the Moonfish before lifting it onto a scale and weighing it at 235 jin.
• Zhong Honghai and Boss Chen estimated that the Moonfish might sell for over 100,000 yuan if Lu Ao found the right buyer, and Lu Ao was confident he could sell it through his wealthy contacts.
• Inspired by Lu Ao’s valuable catch, the crew focused on fishing, but they caught only small fish while the Moonfish was stored in the boat’s freezer.
• Exhausted, Lu Ao rested by the railing and watched the Giant Kelp Sea, whose floating kelp reminded him of enormous Dragons.

After catching an enormous Moonfish, Lu Ao worried that his fishing was excessive, but Song Zhou reassured him, and he spent the next three days fishing only a little. As his friendship with Boss Chen grew, the crew spotted what they believed was a school of Tuna and prepared to fish for them.

• Lu Ao told Song Zhou about catching a Moonfish weighing over two hundred jin and worried about using his advantages to catch so many fish, but Song Zhou reassured him that fishing was natural for a Dragon.
• Lu Ao learned from Song Zhou that early watermelons were nearly ripe and that Old Chen's wife would soon be discharged from the hospital.
• For three days, Lu Ao fished only briefly before meals and sent his catch to the kitchen, while the other anglers wondered why he had stopped.
• Boss Chen grew fond of Lu Ao and drank with him over several days, deciding he wanted to invite him home and introduce him to his son.
• The captain told Lu Ao that the fish finder had detected a likely school of Tuna, and Zhong Honghai agreed that the fish were Tuna.

Lu Ao joined the crew of Zhong Honghai’s boat as they tried to catch tuna, first using live-bait drifting. After hours without a tuna bite, Zhong Honghai switched to using dead fish to lure them, while Lu Ao had no stored fish to contribute.

• Boss Chen served Lu Ao a large pot of noodles and discussed Lu Ao’s boat, license, and plans to sail.
• Lu Ao joined the fishing team on deck, caught a small fish for bait, and set it drifting for tuna.
• The crew fished through the hot morning, but no one caught a tuna.
• Zhong Honghai ordered the crew to use fish from the hold as dead bait, but Lu Ao had no bait fish stored there.

Lu Ao and the crew used bait to draw a school of Bluefin Tuna to their boat, then switched to the Kite Fishing Method when the tuna avoided hooked bait. Lu Ao was the first to get his kite positioned and hooked a powerful Bluefin Tuna, whose size became clear as it pulled against his line.

• Boss Chen stopped the boat while the crew scattered bait and cast hooks toward a school of Bluefin Tuna.
• The tuna ate bait without hooks, so Zhong Honghai suggested using the Kite Fishing Method to hide the fishing line above the water.
• Lin Qiyan got Boss Chen to provide Lu Ao with a kite, and Lu Ao successfully adjusted his bait's position first.
• A fish took Lu Ao's bait, and he recognized its powerful pull as that of a large Bluefin Tuna.
• Lu Ao braced his rod in his Belly Harness and let out line as the tuna struggled.

Lu Ao fought to tire out a hooked Bluefin Tuna while other anglers caught and lost fish around him. As his strength faded after more than an hour, Lin Qiyan fed him meat and drinks, but Lu Ao still had not brought the tuna aboard.

• Lu Ao calmly battled a Bluefin Tuna as Boss Chen stood by, ready to help.
• Several crew members hooked Bluefin Tuna, but multiple lines snapped and the school grew wary.
• Zhong Honghai urged everyone to keep baiting and fishing until more anglers began hooking tuna again.
• Lu Ao refused to hand over his rod, and Lin Qiyan brought food and fed him while he continued fighting the fish.
• Lu Ao's hands trembled from exhaustion, and the tuna remained unlanded.