Night Fishing

"It's fine. I'll try it first."

Lu Ao had his eye on Lionhead Geese because they were relatively large, with the biggest growing to over ten kilograms. When the time came, there would be plenty of meat to enjoy.

Lu Ao had always had his own ideas, so Lin Gongshang could not persuade him much. He only said, "If you want to raise them, buy them in batches. Don't get too many at once."

Lu Ao nodded. He had not planned to buy too many at once anyway. Thirty to fifty would be enough.

If he bought too many, he would not be able to care for them all.

After saying that, Lin Gongshang added, "All right, I'm heading home for dinner. We'll talk on our phones later."

"Okay."

Lin Gongshang got on his motorcycle and quickly headed home.

Lu Ao washed his hands and feet, put the bucket, hoe, and other things into the cargo bed of the tricycle, then drove home as well.

After getting home, he ate first. Once he had filled his stomach and taken a shower, it was nearly nine-thirty.

He drove the tricycle straight to the sea near Lin Family Village, where they had agreed to meet.

He heard Lin Manzhang and the others from far away. When he got closer, he saw them carrying the boat into the sea together.

Lu Ao parked securely and went over to help. The moment he got there, he noticed an additional handsome young man among the crowd.

Even while helping carry the boat, the man did not forget to hold up a selfie stick and record a video.

Lu Ao walked over and helped lift the boat.

Lin Manzhang and the others instantly felt the weight on their shoulders lighten. Turning around and seeing him, they greeted him warmly, "Lu Ao's here?"

The handsome young man immediately turned his head, his eyes lighting up as he called out, "God Lu?!"

The moment Lu Ao heard that, he knew who this was.

This had to be Lin Qiyan, the one who made videos.

The group carried the boat into the sea, pushed it out for a while, and only then climbed aboard.

Their fishing boat was over three meters wide. With six people aboard, it was not crowded at all—just right, in fact.

Lu Ao stared thoughtfully at the fishing boat without blinking. It would be nice if he bought himself one someday.

Lin Qiyan secretly watched Lu Ao, his eyes full of amazement.

A few days ago, Tian Mingzhi had indirectly sounded him out in conversation, and that was when he learned Lu Ao had returned.

Since they were all from the same province, Lin Qiyan had been paying close attention to Tian Mingzhi's video account. He knew they had gained a wave of followers because Lu Ao had appeared in their videos.

Maybe the good fortune of gaining followers would fall to him next.

Lu Ao sensed someone watching him and looked up toward the gaze.

Noticing his gaze, Lin Qiyan immediately broke into a brilliant smile, his eyes especially bright.

Lu Ao paused, then calmly looked away. He found it a little strange but did not ask.

Lin Manzhang started the engine. Amid the puttering sound, the fishing boat slowly set off toward the vast sea.

The sky was completely dark now. Even though there were barely any fishing boats in their channel, they still had to navigate carefully, and their speed was more than half slower than it was during the day.

Lu Ao adapted well and was not seasick in the slightest. The others were the same, chatting and laughing as they headed toward their destination.

Lu Ao went to inspect the Octopus Hooks. "What bait are we using today?"

"The stuff bought from the market, plus a small bucket of earthworms." Lin Gongshang brought over the bait for him to see. "Tie them on now?"

"It'll be more convenient to tie them in advance."

Lu Ao took out the Octopus Hooks and began baiting them.

Lin Qiyan immediately picked up his camera and filmed Lu Ao's hands.

Lu Ao looked up at him.

Lin Qiyan smiled ingratiatingly. "I'll only film your hands. Is that okay?"

Lu Ao nodded. "Don't film my face."

"Sure." Lin Qiyan said, "Don't worry. Once the video is edited, I'll let you review it first. I guarantee there won't be anything that shouldn't be in it."

Lin Gongshang leaned over. "Lin Qiyan, why are you only filming him?"

Lin Guixiao casually said from the side, "What else could it be? Lu Ao looks good."

"He isn't showing his face. How can you tell whether he's good-looking or not?"

Lin Guixiao looked up. "Even if he only showed a pair of hands, they'd still look better than you."

Lu Ao could not be bothered with their bickering and focused on baiting the Octopus Hooks.

The Octopus Hook differed from other fishhooks. It consisted of eight hooks joined back-to-back, resembling a blooming flower.

The hooks were designed to better snag a squid's body. Once a squid got hooked, it basically could not escape.

A wooden shrimp lure hung in the center of the Octopus Hook. Under the light, the lure gleamed, and this kind of glowing object was especially good at attracting squid.

Lu Ao wrapped the Octopus Hook in bait. Once it was covered, the squid could only see the wooden shrimp lure and not the Octopus Hook, making each cast almost certain to land one.

The fishing boat chugged onward. After more than forty minutes, they finally reached their target waters.

There were not many fishing boats at night to begin with, and their location was fairly remote. Looking in every direction, there was nothing besides the pitch-black sea and the brilliant river of stars overhead.

It was a clear day, so before they turned on the fish-attracting lights, Lin Qiyan deliberately filmed the starry sky.

On land, it was rare to see a sight where the sky was full of stars and the sea seemed full of stars as well. Everywhere they looked, it was as though their entire boat drifted through a sea of stars, with dazzling brilliance in every direction.

Looking at the stars filling the sky, Lu Ao felt his whole heart settle into calm.

Lin Manzhang stopped the boat. To cooperate with Lin Qiyan's filming, everyone deliberately turned off the boat lights and their headlamps.

They waited beneath the starlight.

Lin Qiyan could not help whispering, "Wait a moment. Let me take another set of photos."

It was such a rare scene. If he missed it today, whether he would get another chance to photograph it depended on fate.

No one rushed him. They let him finish taking pictures before Lin Manzhang turned on the boat lights.

Lin Gongshang could hardly wait. "Hurry, hurry, hurry! Turn on the induction cooker and boil some water."

Lin Guixiao yawned. "There isn't even a sign of squid yet. Boiling it now would be pointless."

Lu Ao looked over the sea, chose a direction, and lowered the fish-attracting lights into the water.

They had brought red fish-attracting lights today—one for above the water and one for underwater, two in total. Connected to a large battery, they could last all night.

Once the lights were in place, they waited for the squid to slowly gather. Lu Ao signaled for them to start fishing.