I Can Fish Up Everything!

"I tried to set you up during the New Year, and you said you were busy. Now I’m trying again during the fishing off-season, and you still say you’re busy. Your father isn’t even as busy as you! I have no idea what you’re running around for all day."

"You won’t go on blind dates, and you won’t find a girlfriend yourself. It would be better if you were at least like An Jun, who knows how to sweet-talk the girls! Maybe one day a girl will show up at our door with a baby bump, and Mom can finally have a grandchild to hold."

Sure enough, his mom’s lecture started up in the next moment, and Gu Nan couldn’t help but hold his phone a little farther away from his ear.

But after hearing that last sentence, he couldn’t help but retort.

"Mom, isn’t that just ruining some poor girl’s life?"

"Ruining someone’s life is better than you being a rooster that only knows how to crow!"

"..."

His mom, now in full-on battle mode, was a bit much for Gu Nan to handle. He quickly replied, "Mom, I’m a pretty shallow guy. I like pretty girls with good figures, they can’t be older than me, and preferably two or three years younger. Why don’t you try and find someone like that for me?"

’He had no other choice but to raise his standards to stall for time.’

’With these requirements, he was sure his mom would never find anyone.’

After he laid out his requirements, the WeChat conversation went silent. There was no response for a moment.

Gu Nan blinked in surprise. ’His mom didn’t fly into a rage over his demands? That’s not right!’

’But in any case, if his mom was actually looking for someone who met those criteria, it would definitely be difficult. So this should buy him a lot of time!’

’There might be plenty of pretty girls with good figures on the blind-dating scene, but one who’s younger than him and still willing to go on blind dates? Surely not, right?’

By the time the chat was over, his self-heating rice was ready. Gu Nan started eating and, while he was at it, started heating up a second box. ’One box of rice is nowhere near enough for me!’

After lunch, he put the trash in a bag to take with him when he left in the afternoon.

Leaning against the stone pillar behind him, Gu Nan watched the undulating surface of the sea and felt the cool breeze under the bridge. He started to feel a little drowsy.

He drifted off, his eyes closing, until a sudden vibration startled him awake from his nap.

A massive, predominantly red-painted sand transport ship was slowly approaching, seemingly headed for the channel in the middle of the bridge.

The bow cut through the water, creating tide-like waves that spread out to either side of the ship.

The few anglers who were fishing all stopped what they were doing. One of them, in particular, was cursing nonstop.

The vibration from the ship’s engine would travel through the water, scaring away all the fish that had been attracted to their chummed spots.

Only after the transport ship had completely passed and moved a good distance away did the anglers start fishing again.

Gu Nan stretched, picked up the fishing rod from on top of his livewell, and began his afternoon fishing session.

’In the morning, fish might come to the surface to feed, but in the afternoon, there’s basically no point in float fishing. Time to fish the bottom!’

He was already set up for bottom fishing, so he didn’t need to change his rig.

The water level had dropped quite a bit by now; it was probably low tide.

Gu Nan flicked his rod, and the attached metal jig swung through the air in an arc before landing in the water with a PLOP.

The line spooled out rapidly. Once it hit the bottom, he flipped the bail, reeled the lure in a little, and began tapping the rod tip to bounce it off the bottom.

The metal jig knocked against the rocks on the seabed, creating a constant tapping sound to attract fish from the depths.

Meanwhile, the Antarctica shrimp in the chum cage continuously released its enticing scent. This dual attraction quickly gathered a school of fish.

The rod tip twitched lightly. A fish was biting.

Gu Nan slowly turned the handle, trying to entice the fish into a harder bite. It was the same tactic as this morning.

Just then, a pink fish with fine spots darted over and bit down hard on the lure.

The clear seawater and magnificent coral scenery around it instantly vanished, as if it had crossed through time and space to suddenly appear in a world of murky, yellow water.

The abrupt change in environment was extremely distressing, and the sharp pain in its mouth drove it into a frenzy.

Seeing the fish was hooked, Gu Nan jerked the rod upward forcefully.

The rod tip let out a SWISH as it cut through the air, a sound both piercing and wonderful.

He felt the force transmitted through the rod. ’Nice! It’s a big one. Looks like the first cast of the afternoon is another good start!’

The fish put up a fight, trying to find a place to hide on the bottom. Sensing its intention, Gu Nan lifted the rod high and cranked the handle with his other hand.

He couldn’t let it dive for the bottom; he had to pull it up.

Crank a few turns, lift the rod overhead, and repeat.

It sounds like it took a long time, but it was actually a race against the clock. He had retrieved ten-odd meters of line in just over ten seconds.

At this height, he could ease up a bit. Gu Nan took the opportunity to catch his breath.

The fish felt like it weighed five or six *jin*. It was a struggle to reel in, but manageable.

He didn’t keep trying to muscle it in after that. Instead, he played the fish, reeling in line bit by bit. It took a total of four or five minutes to bring it from the bottom to the surface and get a look at it.

"Holy shit, a Leopard Coral Grouper?" Gu Nan was stunned. ’How can there be a Leopard Coral Grouper here?’

This thing is a protected species in China.

’But if it’s an imported fish, then it’s fine. The game would help him obtain all the necessary import certificates and whatnot, so he wouldn’t be afraid even if someone came to investigate.’

He quickly checked the game’s encyclopedia. Seeing the one thousand Gold Coins reward, Gu Nan breathed a sigh of relief and resumed reeling to get the fish landed quickly.

With the water level lower after the tide went out, he couldn’t use his fish gripper. He’d have to use a landing net.

After getting the roughly five-to-six-*jin* Leopard Coral Grouper into his livewell, Gu Nan thought back to his nervousness and found his own reaction quite funny.

’It’s rare to even see a green grouper along the coast of Yangjiang Port, so how could there be a Leopard Coral Grouper? It must have been spawned by the game. Besides, Leopard Coral Groupers aren’t even in these waters; you’d have to take a boat out near Dongsha Island to have a chance of catching one.’

’But even if you caught one, you’d have to release it. It’s illegal in China.’

Then, Gu Nan opened the game encyclopedia again and started reading the description for this fish.

When he caught the Blue Star Nine-spine Sea Perch, there were still three fish blacked out in the encyclopedia. The entry for this "Leopard Coral Grouper" was right in the middle of them.

He collected one thousand Gold Coins, bringing his total to 4,460.

But when he saw the fish’s name, Gu Nan was a bit surprised.

Plectropomus laevis, also known as Tai Star Garoupa.

As everyone knows, the scientific name for the Leopard Coral Grouper is *Plectropomus leopardus*. Clearly, what Gu Nan had caught was not a true Leopard Coral Grouper, but a subspecies from the same genus and family.

Its main habitat is in Southeast Asia, and it can grow up to one meter in length.

Flavor Rating: Seven Stars (Max Level). Seeing this, Gu Nan had a moment of realization. No wonder some of the rarer groupers were only rated at six stars.

’He had been wondering how delicious a ten-star seafood item would be, but it turned out the maximum was only seven stars.’

As for preparation methods, it went without saying. Just like the Leopard Coral Groupers on the market, it was delicious no matter how you cooked it.

Suggested starting price: 260. Based on the fish’s size, the price can be increased by twenty for every two *jin* of weight.

It doesn’t specify an increase of ten for every one *jin* because there is no price increase for just a single *jin*.

Seeing the price, Gu Nan had a good idea of its value. Wild, imported Leopard Coral Groupers on the market started at around the same price.

Of course, this was the price for a live fish. A dead, chilled fish wouldn’t be worth this much. The longer it was on ice, the lower the price, with frozen being the cheapest.

There was also the fact that seafood prices generally rise during the fishing off-season. Once the season opened, the price would likely need to be adjusted based on the market.

However, those Leopard Coral Groupers weren’t imported from Southeast Asia, but from the much closer Taiwan.