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"Nine thousand eight hundred," the vehicle shop owner said. "You're Brother Pan's friend, so I won't bullshit you. For this brand and quality, 9,800 is the lowest price. You won't get this price anywhere else. If you want cheaper, you'll have to look at other brands."

Lu Ao studied his expression and saw that he truly had no intention of budging. "9,800 it is. No need to add a seat. Throw in an extra pair of gloves and knee pads."

The owner was delighted. "Sure. I'll add a reinforced rain canopy and give you a pair of leather gloves and leather knee pads. With those, you won't be cold driving in winter."

Lu Ao nodded. "I'll pay the deposit first. I'll pay the rest once the vehicle is finished."

"Sounds good. Five hundred or a thousand for the deposit is fine. The canopy's easy to install; it'll be ready in three to five days. You can just drive it home when you pick it up. Hey, little brother, you know how to drive a tricycle, right?"

"More or less."

"Hahaha, then you might need to practice a little these next few days."

Lu Ao agreed.

Once they had settled the deal, Lu Ao paid the deposit. They agreed that the owner would finish the modifications within five days, and Lu Ao would come collect the vehicle and pay the remaining balance then.

The next day, after finishing his fishing and selling his catch, Lu Ao specifically went to find Lin Manzhang and borrow his tricycle to practice.

Lin Manzhang and the others had just come back from fishing. They were all so exhausted that they lay around without wanting to move, so they let Lu Ao practice slowly on the grain-drying ground while they watched nearby.

After making two laps and coming back, Lu Ao felt that he had adapted pretty well.

Tricycles were actually easy to drive. There was not much skill involved.

Standing in front of the vehicle with a cigarette between his fingers, Lin Manzhang asked, "How much fish did you catch today?"

Lu Ao parked the tricycle, pulled out the key, and said, "Not much. Forty or fifty jin."

Hearing this, Lin Gongshang angrily blew out a puff of smoke. "Fuck, you caught forty or fifty jin in one day and still think that's little? We only catch twenty-something jin a day!"

"I eat a lot," Lu Ao said. "And I'm strong."

Lin Manzhang and the others had all seen just how much he could eat.

Lu Ao spent one or two hundred yuan on groceries every day.

People usually bought chicken and duck by the jin, but Lu Ao bought them by the whole bird. Three to five birds were not even enough to last him two days.

The day before yesterday, Lin Gongshang had bought several bags of rice for him after selling fish.

To be honest, it was the first time in Lin Gongshang's life that he had seen a single man buy rice by the bag, grabbing three to five bags in one go and piling them in the cargo bed as though he had bought a truckload of cement.

With a cigarette between his fingers, Lin Gongshang sighed. "I think you should forget about fishing and go make videos like Lin Qiyan. Make those food videos. No wind or rain to deal with, and once you get famous, restaurants will invite you to eat every day. Then you won't have to worry about fishing to support yourself."

Without even thinking about it, Lu Ao shook his head and refused. He did not want to make money by currying favor with people.

Seeing that he was uninterested, Lin Manzhang changed the subject. "Have you seen any Giant Groupers these past two days?"

Lu Ao frowned. "I did. The small ones weren't worth shooting, and I missed the big ones."

His aim had not been honed yet.

Lin Gongshang chuckled, looking rather smug. "Then you'd better hurry. I've already caught three Giant Groupers these past two days."

Lin Gongshang had sent those three Giant Groupers to Niu Deyu and traded them for over two thousand yuan. He had been proud of it for days.

Lin Manzhang reminded him from the side, "Lu Ao, if you want to catch Giant Groupers, do it soon. Brother Niu said the hotels have already bought almost enough."

"Mm."

"Why not go fishing with us? With a group, we can look out for each other."

Lu Ao shook his head. "Forget it. I'm used to being alone."

"What's so good about being alone? Besides, the place you picked is completely wrong." Lin Gongshang complained, "There may be quite a lot of fish there, but the currents are too fast and the water's pretty murky. Unless you get incredibly lucky, it's hard to catch fish there normally."

Lu Ao said, "I think it's fine. If I can't catch anything, I can switch places then."

"If you can catch more, then catch more. The waters we usually go to are great for fishing—Black Seabream, White Seabream, Stone Grouper, Golden Eel, pomfret, Barracuda, Giant Grouper... You can barely even see fish in the area you go to. Catch my ass!"

"Thanks. I'll try a little longer." Lu Ao returned the tricycle to Lin Manzhang. "I'm going home to cook."

Lin Manzhang hurriedly nodded. "Go on, go on. If you need us to bring back vegetables, just message us on WeChat. We go into town to sell fish every day anyway."

Lu Ao waved, indicating that he understood.

Lu Ao actually already had a target.

For the past few days, he had been tracking a large Giant Grouper that he estimated weighed seventy or eighty jin.

There was no need to shoot the smaller Giant Groupers. He only needed to catch that one.

Early that morning, while the sky was still barely light, Lu Ao arrived at the shore.

The sea at dawn was different from the sea in the morning or afternoon. The temperature had dropped considerably, and the sea wind was strong enough to make his clothes flap loudly.

Lu Ao took a deep breath and instantly felt fully awake.

After changing clothes, putting on his mask, and biting down on his snorkel, he jumped into the water.

The current gurgled. Beneath the surface, it was far quieter than on land.

Lu Ao stretched his limbs and lightly swam toward the place where he had seen the Giant Grouper yesterday.

As he swam forward, he saw quite a few Red Snappers and Golden Eels, but he did not shoot any of them. His target that morning was the Giant Grouper, and Lu Ao did not want to be distracted.

After searching the waters for over half an hour, Lu Ao finally spotted the Giant Grouper he had been tracking for days.

Old fish became cunning.

A Giant Grouper this large had weathered countless storms and was extremely cautious.

Even though Lu Ao moved so quietly, he had not managed to get within five meters of it these past few days.

Only someone inhuman like Lu Ao, who could hold his breath for over ten minutes, could track this Giant Grouper.

If it had been anyone else, the Giant Grouper would have shaken them off long ago.

Lu Ao followed behind the Giant Grouper at a measured distance.

The Giant Grouper had not noticed him and was leisurely hunting small fish and shrimp along the seabed.

Lu Ao quietly surfaced for a breath, then returned.

His movements were incredibly light. The large Giant Grouper had yet to sense the danger and continued hiding beside the rocks to hunt.