Beachcombing: The beach is full of amazing seafood, but my wife won't let me get out of bed!

Wu Lei took out a cigarette case, gave one to Wu Sui, and lit one for himself.

"Ah Sui, you did the right thing this morning. If the villagers knew we caught so many little green dragons with fish traps, they'd probably try to sabotage us behind our backs again."

Wu Sui exhaled a smoke ring.

"We should keep our wealth hidden. Right now, we have few ships and few people, so it's best to make a fortune quietly. Once we get bigger ships, they won't be able to resist our envy."

Chen Yongqiang leaned closer and nodded repeatedly.

"That's what my dad said too. Some people in the village can't stand seeing others do well. As long as we don't say anything, we don't care what they think."

Wu Sui was pleased that the others had this idea.

He's never been one to show off, and although he's made some money, he's still far from being a true big shot.

It was already August 2000. In about 20 days, the fishing season would open, and the big ships would set sail and nets would be cast, which would be the real time to make money.

Moreover, he has many things he wants to do, but unfortunately he doesn't have enough money right now, so he can only take it slowly.

After resting for more than half an hour, Wu Sui sat up and clapped his hands.

"Alright, now that you've eaten and drunk your fill, let's get to work."

The engine roared again, and the fishing boat turned around, heading towards the waters for longline fishing.

The sea breeze was much stronger in the afternoon than in the morning, and the waves crashed against the ship's hull, splashing up bursts of white water.

The two boats were positioned one in front of the other, and Wu Gang's voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"Second brother, when we reel in the line, shall we have another match? I won yesterday."

Wu Sui picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed the call button.

"Alright, bro, if you win again today, I'll treat you to drinks tonight."

"Okay, then let's not go home, your sister-in-law..."

Hearing Wu Sui's loud laughter, Wu Gang felt embarrassed and turned to shout at the deck.

"Xiaoyang, Yongqiang, you two hurry up! Asui said we won, and he'll treat us to drinks."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yang and Chen Yongqiang also cheered excitedly.

"Big brother, don't worry, I'll definitely beat my brother-in-law today!"

After sailing for more than half an hour, a large number of buoys with the character "吴" (Wu) appeared on the sea ahead, bobbing up and down with the waves.

After turning off the engine, Wang Dazhu rubbed his hands together, leaned out, and scooped up the buoy.

"Brother Sui, Brother Lei, I'll start this first group!"

Wang Dazhu chuckled, revealing a set of white teeth, exuding boundless energy.

Wu Sui nodded, brought over a basket, and waited to help him arrange the hooks.

Wu Lei got out of the driver's seat and joined in the commotion.

"Dazhu, give it your all and haul up some big cargo. When we get back to town tonight, Gang will treat us to drinks."

"Hehe...Alright!"

Wang Dazhu agreed and started pulling up the longline.

The main line is taut, and water splashes everywhere.

The first sub-line emerges from the water.

It was completely empty; the live shrimp that had been hanging there were gone.

"Hey, this fish is pretty cunning, it just takes the bait but doesn't bite." He didn't take it seriously and continued to pull it up.

Longline fishing is all about luck; it's normal to get a blank hook.

But when the second leader came out of the water, it was still an empty hook.

The third, the fourth, the fifth...

I pulled out more than a dozen fish, but I didn't see a single one.

Some hooks still had half a shrimp head hanging on them, while others had been bitten clean.

Wang Dazhu's smile gradually faded.

He slowed down, staring at the water, his brow furrowed in a frown.

"What's going on? There are no fish down there?"

Wu Lei leaned over and looked into the water, also feeling puzzled.

"That shouldn't be the case. Although this area of ​​the sea is flat, it shouldn't be completely devoid of fish."

"Let me try pulling it again!" Wang Dazhu gritted his teeth and quickened his movements.

The twentieth fishhook came out of the water.

Finally, there's some movement.

A small stone goby, about the size of a palm, hung on the hook, flapping its tail.

Wang Dazhu picked the fish off the shell, casually tossed it into the plastic basket next to him, and sighed.

"This thing is always causing trouble, let's keep it for soup."

What followed was utterly disastrous.

A longline fishing setup with 500 hooks was completed in just over twenty minutes.

I was exhausted and sweating profusely, and felt incredibly guilty.

In the plastic basket, a few small black sea bream, two or three yellowfin tuna, and some other miscellaneous fish that were not worth any money lay for themselves.

All told, there are no more than ten items that are worth anything.

This is nothing compared to yesterday's scene, where people were pulling on the line until their hands cramped and big fish were jumping all over the deck.

Wang Dazhu removed the last empty hook, coiled up the main line, and threw it onto the deck.

He lowered his head, rubbing his hands together on his thighs, his face flushed red.

"Brother Sui, Brother Lei... I'm so sorry." Wang Dazhu's voice was muffled, his face full of guilt.

"Alright, going out to sea is all about luck. If this group doesn't do well, we can move on to the next one," Wu Sui said, not taking it seriously and trying to comfort him.

Wang Dazhu raised his head, his face full of frustration.

"It must be because I had terrible luck that I brought bad luck onto the ship."

"Five hundred hooks, and we only caught this few worthless fish. It's not even enough to buy live shrimp."

"I should have known better than to rush to pull the first group; what a waste of all that good bait."

Seeing Dazhu on the verge of tears, Wu Sui patted him on the shoulder and laughed.

"It's no big deal."

"Fishing is entirely dependent on the weather; how can you expect to have a full catch every day?"

"The fish in the sea aren't farmed by us, yet they're lining up to run onto the hook."

Wu Lei, who was standing nearby, couldn't stand it anymore and stomped out his cigarette.

"Dazhu, don't take it to heart. It has nothing to do with luck. It's just that the fish in this area happened to swim away."

"You take a break, I'll take the second group!"

Wu Lei refused to believe it and walked to the side of the boat, using a hook to retrieve the float.

Wu Sui went to the driver's seat to take the helm, watching the two of them busy at work.

Wu Lei took a deep breath, grasped the main thread, and pulled upwards with all his might.

The main storyline emerges from the water.

The first hook is empty.

The second hook had a clump of rotten seaweed hanging from it.

The third hook, a half-dead shrimp.

His face turned green instantly.

He gritted his teeth and, alternating hands, quickly pulled the line upwards.

"Empty, empty, empty again!"

"This is fucking crazy!"

I pulled on dozens of hooks, but didn't see a single small fish.

Wu Lei was so angry that he started cursing and his actions became increasingly violent.

Suddenly, the main line dipped downwards, transmitting a considerable pulling force.

"Got it." Wu Lei perked up and quickly steadied himself.

"It's quite big, Dazhu's carrying a landing net!"

Wang Dazhu quickly grabbed a net and came over.

As Wu Lei pulled upwards with force, a bright red hue appeared beneath the water's surface.

"Red spots!" Wu Lei shouted, his voice filled with ecstasy.

A red-spotted fish weighing over two pounds was pulled out of the water and struggled desperately in mid-air.

Wang Dazhu reacted quickly, scooping up the fish with a net and lifting it onto the deck.

"Goodness, finally, we have something valuable to offer."

This one alone can sell for several hundred.

Wu Lei threw the red spot into the live water tank and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Finally, we're seeing a return on our investment."

"I knew it! Our luck can't really be that bad."