I Can Fish Up Everything!

By the time the seafood shop closed for the night, An Jun still hadn’t left.

He waited until Yi Chen had left with her small handbag before clapping Gu Nan on the shoulder. "Hey, wanna go for a massage tonight?"

Gu Nan didn’t want to go, but he couldn’t help asking, "Didn’t you just get a girlfriend? Why are you still going for massages?"

An Jun looked nonchalant. "We’re just having fun, and we both know the score. You’ll notice I never get involved with the clingy types; in fact, I stay far away from them. So what does having a girlfriend have to do with me going for a relaxing massage?"

"Emptiness! Such utter emptiness!" Gu Nan declared, grief-stricken. He felt he had neglected his brother’s inner world for far too long. "Come on, I’ll take you to do something really fun. I guarantee it will satisfy your Spirit."

"What is it?" An Jun’s expression was curious, and a hint of anticipation began to build.

"First, help me move some stuff, then follow me..."

Watching Gu Nan load a water tank, an aerator, and fishing rods onto his tricycle, An Jun looked hesitant. "This ’really fun thing’ you mentioned... it’s not fishing, is it?"

"How could it possibly be fishing!" Gu Nan laughed heartily...

「Cut to a familiar coastal reef, where two men were standing.」

One was fishing, the other was holding a rod and staring blankly into space.

"I thought you said we weren’t going fishing?" An Jun’s face was expressionless, but his tone was tinged with resentment.

"Have you caught anything? It’s only ’fishing’ if you catch a fish. If you don’t, it’s called ’getting skunked.’ I brought you out to get skunked. The sport of fishing is too deep for you; you can’t handle it."

Gu Nan argued with some twisted logic.

In reality, he was doing it for An Jun’s own good. Hanging around clubs, massage parlors, and bars every day would ruin a person.

The ’sport’ of getting skunked, at the very least, could make a restless soul even more... agitated. It would drive one to a state of vowing not to stop until a fish was caught. This was healthier and more wholesome than clubs and massage parlors, and it was good exercise too.

For An Jun’s sake, Gu Nan was even willing to waste time fishing with him, pushing back his own mandatory daily fishing tasks.

Luckily, with Yi Chen at the shop now, he wasn’t afraid of pulling an all-nighter.

"The hell I’m ’getting skunked’! I’m a beginner! With my newbie buff, just watch me catch a huge fish for you!" An Jun, who had been about to retreat, was immediately fired up by Gu Nan’s words. Feeling defiant, he resolved to catch a big fish that night to show him.

He was using one of Gu Nan’s old fishing rods, which was more than enough for fishing in a reef area like this.

"Then good luck with that!"

Gu Nan smiled at his words. ’Newbie buff?’

That thing was a matter of metaphysics. Some people had it, some didn’t. Those destined to get skunked would still get skunked.

Still, he hoped An Jun would catch a fish. It might spark his interest in fishing, which was better than him hanging around those other places all the time.

So, he had deliberately given him some sea centipedes he’d bought at the market. Even though the artificial lures for the Fengqi Coast were almost as attractive as live bait, there was still a difference.

Live bait was naturally more effective than artificial lures. If live shrimp and loaches weren’t banned during the closed season, he would have used those.

Of course, Gu Nan didn’t think there was anything wrong with going to a massage parlor. A little relaxation was fine, but you couldn’t get addicted!

Without activating the Fengqi Coast map, whether he caught a fish or not was purely up to whether the sea decided to show him some mercy.

But today, An Jun, using live bait, was clearly getting more "face." After the chum had time to work, the tip of his rod suddenly bent down. He had a bite.

"Quick, lift the rod and set the hook," Gu Nan quickly reminded him.

"Hey, hey, hey, how do I set it?" An Jun gripped the rod, a little flustered. Fortunately, the fish seemed to have taken the hook deep and hadn’t managed to get away yet.

Gu Nan stepped forward, grabbed his rod, and gave it a sharp lift. "This is called setting the hook. After you get a bite, you jerk the rod upward to drive the hook in deeper, so the fish can’t escape."

"If the fish isn’t too big, you can just turn this handle and reel it in."

"HOLY CRAP, wrong way! I’m fucking letting out line!"

"Oh, oh, oh..." Feeling the rod tremble and the fish struggle in the water, An Jun felt a thrill he had never experienced before.

Following Gu Nan’s instructions, he quickly turned the handle, and a Yellowfin Gidai of about half a jin flew out of the water.

’Is the newbie buff fucking real?’

Gu Nan couldn’t help but wonder this when he saw the Yellowfin Gidai.

For his first-ever catch, it wasn’t some sea crucian carp, tilapia, or other trash fish, nor was it a common scorpionfish or black porgy. Instead, he’d landed a Yellowfin Gidai.

That was definitely some great luck. After all, Yellowfin Gidai were rare and expensive!

"Ah Nan, what kind of fish is this? A black porgy?"

The Yellowfin Gidai had only appeared twice in Gu Nan’s shop, and in small numbers, so An Jun had never seen one and didn’t recognize it.

He didn’t know many types of seafood, aside from the common ones in the market and a few famous ones. The rest he only knew from Gu Nan’s shop.

"It’s a Yellowfin Gidai. It’s a bit more expensive than a black porgy. Your luck’s pretty good."

"Really? Then I’ll film this fish tomorrow. And you said I’d get skunked! Look, I caught the first fish. Now look at you—not even a nibble."

Having successfully landed a fish, the cheerful An Jun started to get cocky.

"Don’t be hasty, take your time." Gu Nan smiled, unconcerned. Before, he might really have been unable to compete with a newbie’s buff.

But since binding with the game, his luck had turned!

First, a jin-class black porgy as an appetizer.

Then a Sea Bass for a DOUBLE KILL.

Three black porgies in a row for a TRIPLE KILL.

A four-jin red snapper for a QUADRA KILL.

An ten-jin Ugly American that appeared out of nowhere for a PENTA KILL.

About an hour and a half later, seeing that Gu Nan’s tank was full of fish while his own still contained just one small Yellowfin Gidai, An Jun threw down his rod on the spot. "DAMN IT! Did all the fish swim over to your side? I’m done fishing!"

"Why don’t we switch spots?" Gu Nan suggested.

’How can he just go on strike? I haven’t even let him experience the true joy of being an angler yet!’

"Okay!" An Jun’s face immediately lit up, and he picked up his rod.

After they switched, Gu Nan tossed two scoops of Antarctic krill into the water where the fish were gathering, immediately attracting some from nearby.

This way, there were bites to be had in front of both of them.

However, it was the eighth day of the lunar month, a neap tide, so the bite was just average for Gu Nan.

He caught a few more scorpionfish and black porgies. Seeing that it was almost ten o’clock, he said, "Why don’t we call it a night and head back for now?"

An Jun actually wasn’t quite ready to stop. After switching spots, he had caught a few more fish and was finally experiencing the joy of fishing.

But it was indeed getting late. Besides, he had to go back and edit the video he shot today, and maybe do some research on fishing.

Fishing wasn’t going to get him addicted, but it was certainly a good way to kill time when he was bored.

The two of them returned to the seafood shop first. Gu Nan tended to his fish for a bit before putting them in the display tank.

The fish An Jun had caught were kept in a separate water tank for now, with the aerator running continuously.

There were three types of fish inside: one Yellowfin Gidai, two black porgies, and five scorpionfish.

He had thrown back the other, worthless miscellaneous fish. He planned to record and film videos of these three types over the next few days, so he left them to be kept at Gu Nan’s shop for the time being.

An Jun had come on his own electric scooter, so he left first.

Gu Nan finished putting his fish into the display tanks, placing the ten-jin Ugly American in the pool. Then he rode his tricycle back to the fishing spot to use up his daily attempts for the day.

Pulling an all-nighter yesterday was exhausting, and even a nap during the day hadn’t been enough to recover. After catching nineteen fish, he was yawning nonstop, so he decided to just head back and rest.

The next day, at a little after eight in the morning, Gu Nan arrived at the shop.

Two days had passed since the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, and business at the shop had returned to normal.

Business at the seafood market was highly dependent on foot traffic and holidays.

During the three days of the Dragon Boat Festival, excluding the extra fish bought by Gu Nan’s regulars, the shop’s normal business could bring in over 6,000 yuan a day in revenue.

Yesterday had been much worse, just over 3,000. Today was the same. It seemed busy, but there were no big sales!

When Gu Nan got to the shop, he took a picture of a large green crab and posted it to his social media Moments to see if anyone was interested. Then he took a picture of the Ugly American and sent it to the group chat.

"Come one, come all, take a look! A freshly caught Ugly American. A full ten jin and seven liang! This is a lost god, a divine tool for asking directions!"

"Carry this thing to the supermarket to buy a bottle of water, and the owner will have to offer you a cigarette."

"Walk past a chicken farm and ask for directions, and you could trade it for two local free-range chickens! Bosses, first come, first served!"

The group chat blew up once again.

Baldy of the Fishing World: "Benefactor, this old monk has a precious, noble lady with long legs and jade feet at home, holding two cartons of ’He Tian Xia’ cigarettes. Now that I have converted to Buddhism, I still have these worldly attachments, and I feel ashamed before the Buddha. I can see that you, Benefactor, are a kind-hearted person. This old monk would like to ask you to take care of my wife and the two cartons of He Tian Xia."

"However, what a coincidence, this old monk knew this fish was destined to be with me the moment I saw it. We monks are merciful and cannot bear to kill. May I ask where you met it, Benefactor, so that I may send it home?"

Old Wang the Fisherman Next Door: "You bald donkey, what ’noble lady with long legs and jade feet’? Stop bullshitting! The He Tian Xia cigarettes, on the other hand, are real..."

Angler No. 1: "Holy crap, that’s a lot of information to unpack."

Baldy of the Fishing World: "This old monk has now transformed into a wrathful Vajra! Old Wang the Fisherman Next Door, you just wait, this old monk is coming to send you to your salvation!"

The Iso-Fisherman Who Chums With His Own Body: "Bro, ignore all the crap upstairs. Next time you go fishing, remember to call me. I’ll personally chum the waters for you, so you can fish to your heart’s content!"

Fishing Newbie: "Is ’personally chumming the waters’ what I think it is?"

Tsk, tsk, tsk...

’Anglers, sure enough,’ Gu Nan thought. ’They’re so eloquent and funny.’ After enjoying the show for a while, he replied one by one to a few of the fishing enthusiasts in the group who had previously added him as a friend.

These guys were all regulars who would come by his shop to look for suitable "props" whenever they got skunked.

But now, three of them were interested in the Ugly American and wanted to reserve it.

In that case, Gu Nan could only tell them to come over themselves. First come, first served. It was one fish; he couldn’t just chop it into three pieces and sell it, right?

The Ugly American might be cheap, but it tasted quite good. According to the game’s flavor rating system, it should reach four stars, even better than the Star Chicken Fish.

A ten-jin fish would certainly have slightly tough meat, but it would be excellent for a grilled fish family dinner.

So, all three of the anglers who had asked about the fish came to the shop. Unfortunately, he had said first come, first served, so in the end, he could only sell it to the one who arrived first.