Thrilling

As the sun rose and the temperature gradually climbed, it became harder and harder to catch yellow croaker. Everyone started packing up to head home.

They had to sell the fish first, then come back to fish again in the evening.

Just as they were about to leave, Hu Xingjin's rod suddenly dipped. A fish had taken the bait.

Hu Xingjin was thrilled. "Wait, I caught one too!"

Everyone hurriedly stopped and turned back to look.

"Easy." Lin Manzhang grabbed the landing net and hurriedly said, "Careful, bring it up slowly."

"Hey!" Hu Xingjin slowly reeled the fish in. Halfway through, he got a clear look at it and shouted excitedly, "Yellow croaker! It's a yellow croaker! At least two jin!"

People on the nearby fishing boats all heard him. The looks they cast over were full of envy, jealousy, and resentment.

How strange. Same spot, same rods, same bait—why did these yellow croaker only bite the bait on that boat?

Thrilling

Tian Mingzhi and the others had been about to leave, but Hu Xingjin had managed to haul up a Large Yellow Croaker weighing over two jin at the very last moment.

The Large Yellow Croaker's sleek body and glittering golden color thrilled Hu Xingjin from the bottom of his heart.

He couldn't help letting out an "Awoo!" drawing plenty of attention.

Many sea anglers had been waiting there all morning. They had watched others reel in fish while their own lines remained empty. Forget Large Yellow Croaker—even cheap chunzi fish had refused to bite, leaving them utterly dejected.

Fuel cost money, bait cost money, labor cost money... fishing had costs too, and all sorts of costs added up to quite a sum.

Thinking of the pressure of supporting their families, many people found their mouths bitter. Quite a few of those who had packed up to leave silently sat back down.

Large Yellow Croaker usually did not come out much once the water warmed up, but exceptions happened, didn't they? Maybe they would be the lucky exception.

Hu Xingjin took the Large Yellow Croaker off the hook, excitedly wrapped it in a plastic bag, and buried it in ice. "Come on, come on, let's go back and sell the fish."

Lin Manzhang smiled. "Let's go."

It was getting late. They had to get back and sell the fish; otherwise, if they kept them too long and their eyes turned cloudy, they would be harder to sell.

By the time the boat returned to the dock, it was already past ten in the morning.

Everyone was wilted from the sun.

Tian Mingzhi wiped away his sweat. "Should we sell them at the fish shop we usually go to, or look around first?"

Hu Xingjin was brimming with confidence. "Let's look around first. We'll sell to whichever fish shop offers the highest price!"

No one else objected.

Very quickly, they discovered that the market price for wild Large Yellow Croaker was actually standardized.

For yellow croaker weighing between one and two jin, shops offered 1,100 yuan for fish weighing from one jin to one jin and one liang. The price increased by 200 yuan for every additional liang.

For fish in the two-to-three-jin range, shops offered 3,500 yuan for fish weighing from two jin to two jin and one liang. The price increased by 500 yuan for every additional liang.

Once they reached three jin, the starting purchase price was 9,000 yuan, with another 1,000 yuan added for every extra liang.

As for fish over four jin, there was no fixed price. Buyers competed for them, and the highest bidder won.

Only three people had caught Large Yellow Croaker that morning.

Lu Ao had caught five: one jin six liang, one jin eight liang, two jin one liang, two jin three liang, and two jin six liang. His total income came to 18,600 yuan. After 8,370 yuan in taxes, he was left with 10,230 yuan.

That was a single morning's income.

No wonder people said that when yellow croaker started biting, gold came rolling in by the tens of thousands.

And no wonder sea anglers willing to wait out on the water for Large Yellow Croaker stayed there even though they knew the odds of catching one were low.

Lu Ao looked at the payment notification on his phone, his feelings impossible to describe.

Lin Qiyan and Hu Xingjin did not have such complicated feelings.

The two of them were overjoyed as they happily took their yellow croaker to be weighed.

The Large Yellow Croaker Lin Qiyan had caught weighed one jin six liang. The fish shop offered 2,100 yuan, and after the 45 percent fisheries tax, he received 1,155 yuan.

Hu Xingjin's Large Yellow Croaker weighed two jin six liang. The fish shop offered 6,000 yuan, leaving him with 3,300 yuan after taxes.

The moment Hu Xingjin stepped out of the fish shop, he let out a delighted howl. He bounced around in place before patting everyone on the shoulder one by one. "Brothers, let's find a restaurant. My treat!"

Lin Qiyan said happily, "I'm in too!"

Lu Ao did not compete with them. "You two go first. I'll treat everyone tonight."

"Come on, come on! Let's eat a feast and have drinks! Here's to catching even more fish this evening!"

It was only the first morning, and they still had more than two days of fishing opportunities ahead. Everyone was happy, with no sign of anxiety.

Lu Ao did not sell his two Black Seabream. Once they found a restaurant, he had the server send them to the kitchen as an extra dish.

Hu Xingjin and Lin Qiyan were both generous. The two of them ordered fifteen dishes in one go. Hu Xingjin even wanted to order alcohol, but Chen Shengrong stopped him with a glare. "Aren't we fishing this evening?"

"We are, we are!" Hu Xingjin was glowing with happiness. "I'm going to have another lucky streak this evening and catch fish worth tens of thousands!"

"Who wouldn't want that?" Lin Qiyan poured coconut juice for everyone. "Come on, let's use coconut juice instead of alcohol and make a toast."

The two of them usually had average luck. It was rare for them to catch fish worth so much, and both felt the joy of finally becoming lucky winners.

They nearly got drunk just from drinking beverages.

Seeing how deliriously happy they were, Tian Mingzhi simply filmed them with his camera to save as reaction memes.

After happily finishing lunch, they headed out while it was still early to buy ground bait and fishing bait, along with several extra sets of hooks.

Some fish swallowed the hooks. If the hooks could not be removed, it was easier to simply cut the line and tie on a new one.

Tian Mingzhi and the others went back to their own homes, while Lu Ao took Lin Qiyan and Lin Manzhang home to rest.

When he got home, the neighbors who saw him all greeted him warmly.

As he passed the dumpling shop next door, Old Zhang and his wife grabbed him and insisted on giving him dumplings, thanking him for the fish he had sent them.

Even the owner of the supermarket next door said he wanted to treat Lu Ao to something and told him to take whatever he liked.

Lin Qiyan stared at Lu Ao's enthusiastic neighbors in stunned amazement. "I never expected you to be so popular. I thought your neighbors would be a little scared of you."