Chapter 343: Chapter 228: The Next One Is Better

Even making this much just once a week would be way more profitable than what he used to make.

Of course, Ye Jing knew this was the case before buying a boat. Once he bought one, the pressure would be immense.

But he wasn’t worried. He had already learned a few good fishing spots from Gu Nan, and he also knew that Gu Nan’s club occasionally shared inside information.

If he just asked every time he went out to sea, he might not make a fortune, but it would at least be a lot better than before.

Gu Nan lifted the fish to examine it. A high-quality large yellow croaker, close to half a kilogram, its body a brilliant, beautiful gold.

Just as he was putting the croaker away, Ye Jing, who was next to him, successfully hooked a fish.

Excited, he reeled in the line quickly and soon pulled up an eel.

"No way, where’s my large yellow croaker?"

"Not bad. It’s a sand eel. You can sell it for a few dozen yuan."

Gu Nan laughed. To catch a lone sand eel that swam up from a school of fish... what kind of luck was that?

Ye Jing’s face fell. The eel wasn’t even big, looking to be just over half a kilogram at most. Not getting a large yellow croaker was a huge loss.

He dared to handle sandworms with his bare hands, so this wriggling eel didn’t scare him. He grabbed it by the "neck," removed the hook with a disgorger, and tossed the eel into the livewell before continuing to fish.

But the next moment, Gu Nan, rapidly turning his reel’s handle, pulled up another shimmering gold fish. This one was even bigger than the last—definitely a full half-kilogram.

’This is a great sign. There are clearly a lot of large yellow croakers tonight, and they’re bigger on average.’

Ye Jing watched with envy. Fortunately, after a short while, he finally landed a large yellow croaker of his own.

"Haha, tonight’s haul is definitely going to be good."

It was also over half a kilogram, with bright coloring and neat, fine scales—a large yellow croaker of excellent quality.

’Pure bliss.’

Gu Nan shot him a speechless glance. ’Where did that composed man go? It’s just one large yellow croaker. Is it really worth getting this excited?’

Just as he mocked him internally, his rod started to tremble. A pull, much stronger than the last two times, came through the line.

Gu Nan’s eyes lit up, and he quickly jerked the rod up to set the hook.

ZIIIIP—

The pull was indeed much stronger than before. To Gu Nan, it was just okay, but based on his experience fishing for large yellow croakers, this one could be one and a half to two kilograms.

’If what I hooked really is a large yellow croaker, this is going to be awesome.’

’Even for someone like me, who was used to seeing good fish, a croaker of one and a half to two kilograms was nothing to scoff at.’

Filled with a bit of anticipation, Gu Nan reeled in his line at top speed.

After a short while, a large yellow croaker with a long, slender body, almost the same size as the one Yi Chen caught last time, appeared on the surface.

Ye Jing’s mouth hung slightly open, unable to form a coherent word.

Gu Nan was amused by his stunned expression. As he picked up the landing net to scoop up the fish, he chuckled, "Envious?"

"Obviously!"

"Want it?"

Ye Jing’s eyes lit up. He pointed at himself. "You’re going to give it to me?"

"Heh, if you want one, catch it yourself!" With that, Gu Nan successfully brought the fish onto the deck. He removed the hook, lifted the fish with a gripper, and said, "Tsk, tsk. As expected of a large yellow croaker. Truly beautiful."

"Screw you." Ye Jing rolled his eyes, then leaned over to look at the weight. The scale read 1,867 grams—a little over 4.1 pounds—making it even bigger than the one Yi Chen had caught.

"You lucky bastard, how come all the good fish get caught by you?" Ye Jing was sour with envy. ’This one fish is worth over ten thousand yuan!’

"If you’re so envious, then hurry up and fish. Don’t you understand the principle of ’the next one is always better, the next one is always bigger’?" Gu Nan said irritably, noticing that this guy was starting to show signs of turning into An Jun.

He then placed the fish in a separate box and packed it carefully with crushed ice.

Ye Jing pouted and turned his attention back to his own fishing rod, hoping for a better catch next.

However, fish over one and a half kilograms were a rarity. His "better next one" was only 350 grams, barely a fraction of Gu Nan’s prize catch.

Ye Jing sighed and tossed the fish into the box. Meanwhile, Gu Nan’s heart skipped a beat as he felt another distinct pull on his line.

’It feels even bigger than the last one. Or is that just my imagination?’

His heart began to beat faster unconsciously. He hadn’t even been this nervous when he used his cheat to catch that Legendary large yellow croaker.

Cheating lacked any sense of anticipation. He knew exactly what he was catching, so it was just a matter of showing off, looking cool, and making a quick buck. There was nothing more to it.

But this kind of anticipation was something his cheat couldn’t provide, which was why Gu Nan was, for once, a little nervous.

As he slowly reeled the line in, a large yellow croaker, definitely over half a meter and estimated to be more than sixty centimeters long, broke the surface.

It was especially conspicuous under the lights. The sight made Ye Jing’s hand go slack. His rod hit the side of the boat and started to slip outward, but luckily he had attached a safety lanyard, so it didn’t fall into the water.

"Holy crap, so the next one really is better?"

Gu Nan grinned from ear to ear, absolutely ecstatic.

’To catch a large yellow croaker this big without cheating... even I can’t help but be thrilled!’

’It’s not about the money. No matter how much a large yellow croaker sells for, this is a life achievement!’

’If I didn’t cheat, I wasn’t sure if I could ever catch a bigger one in this lifetime.’

’So many people fish for large yellow croakers every year; for one to grow this big is incredibly rare.’

He quickly locked the drag, lifted the rod to control the croaker’s movements, then grabbed the landing net and successfully scooped it up.

"Quick, quick, let’s see how big this one is," Ye Jing urged, seeing him bring the fish aboard.

Although he was envious, he was more curious about the size of this massive croaker.

Gu Nan removed the hook and lifted the fish with the gripper. "Haha, 2.8 kilograms! I’ll have to save this one to sell during the Mid-Autumn Festival. I estimate the price will be at least fifty percent higher by then, if not double. Selling it for 6,000 yuan per half-kilo won’t be a problem at all."

Ye Jing gasped, his eyes wide. "Doesn’t that mean it’s worth over thirty-three thousand yuan?"

Gu Nan nodded. "The Mid-Autumn Festival is right around the corner. I can guarantee this fish stays fresh, and since it was line-caught, its body isn’t damaged like a net-caught one. A high price is normal."

"Even if someone were scrambling to buy it right now, I’d still sell it at the Mid-Autumn Festival day-of price. Otherwise, I’d be taking a huge loss."

Ye Jing wasn’t even listening to the rest. His mind was just filled with the number: thirty-three thousand.

’How many of these small large yellow croakers would he have to catch to make thirty-three thousand?!’

Gu Nan bled the fish before packing it in ice. Even with a high unit price, he wasn’t worried about selling this large yellow croaker.

He didn’t know many wealthy people, but there would definitely be someone willing to buy this fish at a high price.

Besides, Wang Junhe and the others had told him to let them know if he caught a big one. He had originally planned on using a Seafood Selection Card, but clearly, one over 2.5 kilograms was more than enough to deliver.

Tonight’s fishing spot was clearly a good one. The bite rate wasn’t that fast—nowhere near non-stop—but the croakers were on the larger side, much better than last time.

On average, they were all over half a kilogram. In the second half of the night, a school of even bigger ones arrived. Gu Nan successfully caught five that were over two kilograms, six over one and a half kilograms, and more than a dozen that were over one kilogram.

While he had such a great haul, Ye Jing, though he caught far less, also did better than last time.

He caught one two-kilogram fish and one one-and-a-half-kilogram fish, but he also landed quite a few that were between half a kilo and a full kilo.

Gu Nan guessed that all the fishing boats in this area probably had a good haul tonight. Some might have even done as well as him, if not better.

Thinking back to a couple of years ago when fishermen would average two- to two-and-a-half-kilogram fish in a single net haul, he wasn’t too surprised by tonight’s catch.

They fished until past four in the morning, when both of them started dozing off. Only then did they pack up their rods and head back.

Though they were sleepy, Ye Jing was suddenly full of energy and showed no signs of fatigue when he started counting his spoils for the night.

About half an hour later, he walked into the cabin with a chuckle, shivering and rubbing his hands together as he exhaled. "It gets pretty cold out here late at night."

"Of course. Next time you go out to sea, remember to bring an extra set of thicker clothes. The temperature difference between day and night on the ocean is huge, so don’t catch a cold."

After giving the advice, Gu Nan asked, "So, how was the haul tonight?"

Ye Jing said with a grin, "Hehe, I caught forty-nine fish in total, weighing 33.5 kilograms. I made a killing tonight. I’ll treat you in a few days, depending on how things go."

"That’s not bad! You must have earned at least fifty thousand yuan tonight!" Gu Nan was talking about the wholesale price.

At market price, it would naturally be even more.

Hearing that figure, the smile on Ye Jing’s face grew even brighter. That was almost half a year’s income for him!

’After a few more busy trips like this,’ he estimated, ’I could probably buy this little boat from Gu Nan without even touching my savings.’

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