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

It was a little past four in the morning, and the sky was still completely dark.

As soon as the gale warning was lifted, all the fishing boats in Taoyuan Town, like wild horses that had been held back for half a month, started their engines and got going.

On the deck of Wu's large ship, Chen Yang and Wang Dazhu were filling the ship with fresh water, while Chen Yongqiang was tidying up baskets on the deck.

"Brother-in-law, why did you come up here today?" Chen Yang asked in surprise as he looked at Wu Sui, who had just jumped onto the deck.

"Boss Su and the others were there the other day, and I couldn't leave."

"We finally get to go out to sea today, how can I possibly stay on shore?"

Wu Lei poked his head out of the driver's seat: "Ah Sui, you're here. We've filled up the water and gas tanks, so we can leave anytime."

"Let's go then!" Wu Sui waved.

With the roar of the diesel engine, the large ship slowly sailed out of the port.

The sea breeze was still a bit chilly on their faces, but everyone on the deck was full of energy.

Chen Yang leaned against the ship's railing, smoking and chatting with Wang Dazhu.

"Brother Dazhu, do you think Aunt Li has gone mad? She keeps saying that it's unlucky for women to get on the boat, and that the strong winds are a manifestation of Mazu, and she absolutely refuses to let Boss Su get on the boat."

Wang Dazhu adjusted the float without looking up.

"That's how the older generation is. You don't know because your family isn't by the sea, but it's even more extreme where we're from."

"But times have changed now, so there's no need to be so particular."

Wu Sui walked over and kicked one of them.

"Alright, stop talking about my mom behind her back."

"She's doing it for everyone's own good. Going to sea is a dangerous job, and the old lady just wants peace of mind. So stop gossiping."

Chen Yang chuckled and quickly stubbed out his cigarette: "We were just chatting idly because we had nothing else to do."

After the boat had sailed some distance, Wu Sui walked up to Wu Gang and offered him a cigarette.

"Brother, are we planning to drag down the bottom layer or the middle layer of the net today?"

Wu Gang took the cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag.

"I'm thinking of starting with the middle management today."

He pointed towards the open sea, "There was a strong wind just now, the seabed must be muddy, and the trawl net will easily bring up a bunch of garbage and mud."

"Although the middle layer of the mesh uses more oil, at least the mesh is clean."

Wu Sui nodded.

There are two main categories of offshore trawls.

Bottom trawls run close to the seabed, specifically targeting fish, shrimp, and crabs that live at the bottom. In good spots, they can be very profitable, but they are also risky, as the nets can easily get snagged and destroyed.

If you're unlucky, you might pull up a bunch of trash or dead coral, breaking the net and wasting all your effort.

Mid-level trawl nets are supported by buoys and sinkers, and the speed of the boat is controlled to stay in the middle layer of the sea.

"Okay, let's start by dragging down the middle management." Wu Sui had no objections.

After driving for more than three hours, it was already broad daylight.

There were fewer and fewer fishing boats around.

Wu Gang glanced at his watch, then turned to Wu Sui and asked, "Second brother, we've caught mackerel in this area before. Shall we set up the nets now?"

Wu Sui didn't rush to turn on the system radar.

He also wanted to see if the spots his older brothers found based on their experience, without using cheats, would actually work.

"Let's go down and test the waters."

Wu Gang immediately shouted onto the deck, "Get ready to cast the net!"

Chen Yang and Wang Dazhu had been waiting for a while, and the two quickly pushed the net into the sea.

As the winch rotates, the wire rope is slowly released.

In the wheelhouse, Wu Lei stared intently at the instrument panel, his hands gripping the helm.

"Lei, keep up the pace!" Wu Gang said, watching from the side.

"Don't worry, Gang-ge, I'm keeping an eye on things." Wu Lei didn't even turn his head.

Towing the middle deck requires a certain level of skill; the boat speed cannot be too fast, otherwise the cargo cannot be towed.

It can't be too slow either, otherwise the network port will collapse, and it will get tangled up, which is even more troublesome.

Wu Sui walked over and glanced at the dial.

The fuel consumption indicator remained high, and the engine noise was much more muffled than usual.

Seeing Wu Sui staring at the dial, Wu Lei couldn't help but start calculating the accounts.

"Sui, look how fast this oil meter is spinning, doesn't it break your heart?"

"Mid-level trawls are a money-burning business," he said, pointing to the sea ahead.

"From the moment the net is lowered to the moment it is lifted, the engine cannot be allowed to slow down at all; it must maintain high power operation."

"If the boat slows down, the water pressure at the front is not enough, and the net opening immediately collapses, making it easy for the fish inside to escape from the top and bottom."

"If we stop the boat, it'll be even worse; the nets will get tangled up."

"Then you'd better keep up the speed and save me some money," Wu Sui teased him with a smile.

"Hahaha..." Wu Lei nodded with a smile, "Don't worry, I want to make money too."

Not only is dredging in the middle layer fuel-intensive, but it also has a fatal drawback: the catch is limited.

If you're unlucky and don't encounter any fish, then the gas money you spent on those few hours will be wasted.

Even if you catch several hundred kilograms of miscellaneous fish, the money you make might not even cover the cost of oil; it's entirely dependent on the weather.

Wu Sui didn't reply, but he felt very at ease.

While others rely on the weather at sea, he has a reliable radar system to protect him.

Even if the net is empty, he can make up for it with the next net, so there's no such thing as losing money on fuel.

The net dragged on for two hours.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, Wu Sui quietly activated the system radar.

The situation of the sea within a 500-meter radius around me came to mind.

There were quite a few points of light, densely packed together.

Unfortunately, they were all white dots representing low value.

There wasn't even a green dot, let alone the gold that represents high-value goods.

It seems that my brother's luck was indeed not so good this time.

"Big brother, we've dragged it out enough, let's set up the internet cafe." Wu Sui spoke decisively, not wanting to waste any more diesel fuel.

Wu Gang was stunned for a moment. Usually, trawling takes 3 to 4 hours, but it has only been 2 hours since the net was set. Is there any harvest?

But seeing Wu Sui's confident expression, he didn't hesitate and shouted to Wang Dazhu and the other man at the stern of the boat to start the net.

The deck immediately became bustling with activity.

Not long after, the net bag was lifted out of the water.

The group looked at the bulging net and were all somewhat excited.

"Whose turn is it to untangle the net?"

"I, I..." Chen Yang, who had been excitedly raising his hand, walked to the bottom of the net bag.

As he untied the knot, the fish in the net tumbled down.

When Chen Yang saw what was on the deck, his face immediately fell.

"Oh my, what are all these?"

He kicked the fish on the ground.

A bunch of mackerel, interspersed with a few small Spanish mackerel.

Although the quantity looks large, there's really nothing of real value to be found.

Wang Dazhu was also somewhat disappointed, and squatted down to rummage around a bit.

"This net probably weighs over a ton, but unfortunately it's all mackerel; at most, it'll sell for a few hundred dollars."

Chen Yongqiang walked over with a sorting basket and sighed, "We barely managed to save on fuel costs."

The group's enthusiasm was noticeably lower than when they first set sail.

There is indeed no one who wants mackerel in the local area.

The main problem is that not only are wild-caught these things easy to catch, but they also don't taste as good as farmed ones.

The Chinese scientific name for the mackerel is Blue scad. It is a warm-water, mid-to-upper-level fish that is abundant along the coast of my country, especially in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

Wild mackerel are fast swimmers and consume a lot of energy, resulting in tougher flesh. They are usually only brought back to be dried.

"Alright, don't be discouraged." He kicked Chen Yang. "When you're out fishing, you don't expect to get your nets wrecked every day!"

"That's how mid-level fishing works. If you run into a big school of fish, you can make a fortune. If you don't, you just let the boat go."

"Hurry up, sort and pack the fish into baskets, and spread ice on them so they don't go bad."

Wu Sui also stepped forward and patted Chen Yang on the shoulder.

"Big brother is right, this is only the first net, what's the rush? Let's get to work, and after we're done we'll move on to another spot."

The group then perked up and quickly began sorting.

In less than half an hour, the deck was cleaned up.

There's really no need to sort this stuff.

The catch was all stored in the cold storage. After rinsing the deck, Wu Sui was preparing to turn on the system radar again.

Then Chen Yang pointed to the sea to his right and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Brother-in-law, look!"

"Is that a baby sperm whale over there?"