He forced me to sever ties with my family and sleep on a dilapidated boat, then turned around and be

He picked up a chopstick and poked the fish skin; it was still a bit hard, the skin had been fried until it was firm.

With a little force, the chopsticks pierced through.

Niu Bayi picked up a small piece of snow-white fish meat, took a bite, and found it cooked, tender and fragrant.

He picked up the fried mackerel, placed it on a plate, and blew on it.

Once it had cooled down enough, I stretched out both hands, grabbed the fish head with one hand and the fish tail with the other, and lifted the whole fried mackerel up.

He first took a big bite into the fish's belly.

It's so delicious, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside!

Fish in the sea naturally have a salty and savory flavor, so there's no need to add a lot of salt or other seasonings.

This bite is truly delicious.

Another advantage of mackerel is that it doesn't have many small bones, just one large bone in the middle.

The meat was still sliced, and it was quite chewy.

The more you chew, the more fragrant Niu Bayi becomes.

Soon, he had gnawed a mackerel down to just the head, tail, and a large bone in the middle.

The fish tail and head were also fried until golden brown.

Take a bite of the fish head, and it's crunchy and crisp, just like eating a biscuit.

After Niu Bayi finished gnawing on the fish head, he ate the fish tail and then threw the big bone into the sea.

He sucked his fingers and patted his bloated belly.

He single-handedly processed the three-pound mackerel.

It's so delicious!

After filling his stomach, Niu Bayi started the engine.

Thump thump thump—

The fishing boat sped towards the dock.

……

It was almost five o'clock, and the sky was beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

Most of the fishing boats that went out to sea have returned and are moored around the breakwater.

The shouts of fishermen rose and fell as they carried buckets of fish to the dock.

Old Wu, who bought all the abalone from Niu Bayi last night, also came. He swaggered over and inspected them, but he didn't want all the fish. They had to be big fish and of higher value.

Chen Dagui and Niu Dazhu returned first, their faces beaming with pride.

As soon as Chen Dagui jumped onto the embankment, he shouted to Old Wu, "Boss Wu, come and see the fish we caught today! The fish hold is overflowing with good fish, I guarantee you'll love them!"

Niu Dazhuang chuckled and said, "That's right, we caught three or four hundred catties, and they were all big fish weighing two or three catties each. If you take them, you can make a lot of money by reselling them."

Upon hearing this, Old Wu became interested and jumped onto their boat.

"Come on, let me see what kind of fish you caught."

Other fishermen also curiously gathered around to take a closer look.

This is also a major hobby for fishermen.

The fishing boats returned, and everyone looked at each other, wondering who had caught what kind of fish.

Seeing others who are not as good as oneself fills one with a sense of pride.

When they see that they are not as good as others, they sigh and lament, then clench their fists and swear—

Next time I'll catch more and more valuable fish than you!

Chen Dagui quickly opened the fish hold lid and arrogantly pointed downwards.

"Mr. Wu, look at these fish, do you like them?"

The fish hold was full of fish, which shimmered with a silvery-white light.

It was silvery-white with streaks of bluish-gray, constantly twisting and turning as if it were glowing.

Old Wu looked at it, rubbed the back of his head, slightly disappointed, but still nodded.

"Wow, that's great, so many ribbonfish! You guys have raided their nest!"

Indeed, the fish hold was full of ribbonfish, which looked quite appealing.

Chen Dagui said proudly, "That's right, my dad and I are pretty good. We ran more than 20 kilometers away, took a look, and spotted a school of ribbonfish. We immediately cast our nets, and look!"

"These ribbonfish, I dare not say more, but they must weigh at least 350 jin (125 kg), maybe even 400 jin (200 kg)!"

"Boss Wu, take them all, and give me a good price."

Old Wu said, "These ribbonfish sell quite well in the market, but the price isn't particularly high. I'll only pay 5 cents per pound at most."

Niu Dazhuang and Chen Dagui were both somewhat disappointed.

After much pleading and cajoling, they finally managed to get Old Wu to add a little more, bringing the price down to 55 cents per pound.

Get on the scale quickly.

The boat was filled with 5 catties of ribbonfish, at 5 cents per catty, which is 209 yuan.

Chen Dagui said, "Boss Wu, let's round it up to 210 yuan. It's just one yuan more."

Old Wu readily pulled out a stack of banknotes, counted out twenty-one large bills, and handed them over.

Chen Dagui was so excited he was practically going crazy. He grabbed a fairly thick wad of banknotes, put it to his lips, and kissed it hard.

Then, it was raised high and waved vigorously.

"I made money! Look at my family, we earned a whole 210 yuan in one night, could you do that?"

The surrounding fishermen all looked on with envy and shook their heads.

Fishing conditions aren't great; if you can earn a hundred or eighty yuan on a single trip out to sea, that's considered quite a lot.

A score above two hundred is like a dream.

Suddenly, a fisherman shouted, "That's nothing! Niu Bayi caught so many abalone last night, he made over three thousand!"

Old Wu's eyes lit up, and he quickly looked around before shouting.

"Where's Niu Bayi? He caught so many abalone last night, he should be back with a full haul tonight, right?"

Immediately, both Niu Dazhuang and Chen Dagui's faces darkened.

Chen Dagui spat out a harsh "Pah!"

"He was able to catch so many abalone last night, it was all luck. Who can be so lucky all the time?"

As he spoke, he became even more vicious.

"Maybe the Dragon King saw he was about to die and wanted to give him a moment of joy before he died. He won't be back tonight. Or should we all go back? Where is he? Where's his ship?"

He even deliberately looked left and right.

That's right, Niu Bayi hasn't come back yet.

Niu Dazhuang let out a cold laugh, and his words were equally cold-blooded.

"Maybe he really did die in the sea."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a fisherman shouted.

"Niu Bayi is back!"

Everyone turned their heads and looked out to sea, where they saw the He family's ship sailing towards them.

The one who steers the boat is Niu Bayi.

Soon, the boat docked.

Niu Bayi tied up the boat, jumped onto the long dike, and clapped his hands.

Chen Dagui immediately looked up and peered into the cabin. Through the hatch, he saw that there were hardly any abalone inside.

Several wooden barrels were empty.

He felt comfortable, and he smiled.

"Niu Bayi, where are your abalone? We caught so many abalone last night, but we can't find a single one today. Boss Wu was hoping to ask you for some abalone, but it looks like that's not going to happen."

Old Wu looked into the cabin and was also somewhat disappointed.

Niu Bayi really didn't catch any abalone this time.

Niu Dazhuang said coldly, "It's good enough that he came back, let alone brought back abalone. The Dragon King wouldn't be so blind. This rebellious son who doesn't recognize his own family is lucky he didn't die in the sea."

Niu Bayi said casually, "I didn't catch any abalone, but I did catch other fish."

Chen Dagui smiled dismissively.

"So how many did you retaliate with? Did you retaliate with more than me? Look! Look!"

He pointed eagerly at his fish hold, as if presenting a treasure.

A large number of ribbonfish were still swimming around there, shimmering with a silvery-white light.

Niu Bayi curled his lip: "Wow, you caught so many ribbonfish."

"Of course! Don't think you're the only one who can fish. I, Chen Dagui, can't. These big fish I caught weigh a full 380 jin (140 kg). None of the fishermen who went out to sea tonight have as many as me!"

Chen Dagui said proudly.