Chapter 99 - 94: 300 Jin
The other two were also wealthy, and when they discovered the shop still had a large green grouper and two good-sized red snappers, they immediately bought them all.
The large green grouper weighed 7.7 jin, and at a price of 81 yuan per jin, sold for 610 yuan.
One red snapper was 4.3 jin, the other 6.2 jin. At a unit price of 65 yuan, they sold for 680 yuan.
In comparison to those two types of fish, the Ugly Country fish only sold for 160 yuan. The difference was massive.
Fortunately, all three customers were satisfied. However, the guy who had first snatched the Ugly Country fish was a bit puzzled; he had actually had his eye on that green grouper.
After the three left, Gu Nan resumed his daily morning practice for the Subject One driver’s exam.
He had briefly reviewed the theory and was now just grinding practice questions on an app. He could occasionally hit the passing score, but his performance wasn’t consistent yet. He figured after two more days of practice, he’d be ready to schedule the exam.
According to the receptionist from last time, once he passed Subject One, the subsequent parts of the driver’s test would go by much faster.
At the same time, Gu Nan had also asked Wang Junhe and Guo Xiao to help him look at boats.
He had originally planned to ask if they knew anyone who was knowledgeable about boats, but it turned out they were quite knowledgeable themselves. They might not know how to make repairs, but they could definitely help determine if a boat was worth its asking price.
They had arranged to meet tomorrow afternoon, as both of them happened to be free.
So today, Gu Nan planned to catch the last Indian Marlin. Otherwise, he was afraid he’d run out of time.
He took a good rest in the afternoon to build up his Spirit, then headed to the reefs first in the evening.
But unexpectedly, there were people there tonight. He then went to the breakwater, but that was also crowded.
’The Dragon Boat Festival is over. Are the fishing fiends all coming out of the woodwork?’
Resigned, Gu Nan could only head over to the estuary sluice gate, but it was packed with people as well.
’I don’t get what’s so special about today. The spring tide is still a few days away. Why are there so many anglers out?’
Puzzled, Gu Nan had no choice but to head for the bridge piers. Fortunately, a spot that costs money was bound to have far fewer people.
Although there were more people than the last two times he’d been here, there were still several piers with no one around.
Gu Nan didn’t head over right away. Instead, he first bought a safety rope.
With it, he could tie himself to the pier’s concrete pillar. Combined with the safety lanyard on his rod, even the biggest fish couldn’t pull him or his gear away.
Once his preparations were complete and after spending 100 yuan, Gu Nan specifically chose a spot at the other end of the bridge, near the island.
The best spots under the bridge were either near the shore or near the island.
However, the side near the island was far, so boat operators were usually reluctant to go there.
But there’s nothing a little extra money can’t solve. When Gu Nan offered to pay more, the boat operator immediately said he’d even take him onto the island itself.
That was why the few piers near Gu Nan were empty, allowing him to peacefully fish for the species of the Fengqi Coast—and the big boss.
After securing the safety rope and rod lanyard, he began to fish. His method was different now; he no longer started by chumming the water. Before, he would use up his daily attempts and then fish the baited spot normally.
Now he had nineteen attempts, and the fish he caught were bigger than before, so it naturally took longer. Because of this, he usually waited until he was almost done before chumming.
Since he could bottom-fish after catching the boss, Gu Nan removed his float and tied on only a Big Fatty lure.
He lifted his rod and cast. The Big Fatty soared through the air, flying for several seconds before splashing into the water about thirty meters away.
Then, Gu Nan slowly turned the reel handle to retrieve the line, making the Big Fatty dance enticingly on the water’s surface. At the same time, he activated one of his guaranteed-hit attempts.
Normally, when using a guaranteed hit, he would let the bait sit perfectly still. Today he was trying something new to see if it would make a difference.
A difference? There certainly was. Gu Nan watched, stunned, as a long spear erupted from the water, followed by a ferocious head and a gaping, bloody maw.
He saw a gigantic Indian Marlin leap from the water and swallow the lure, but he didn’t even have a moment to be shocked by the sight.
The next instant, the rod was ripped from his grasp. If it weren’t for the safety lanyard, the rod would have been pulled into the water before he even had a chance to react.
Gu Nan quickly grabbed the lanyard, wrenched the rod back, and then gripped it, heaving upward with all his might.
But he found he couldn’t lift it at all. Just as he’d seen, this Indian Marlin was exceptionally large.
Thank goodness for the safety rope. Using it for leverage, he braced the butt of the rod against his fighting belt and struggled to push the rod tip up.
CREAK... GROAN...
The rod groaned under the immense strain, looking as if it would snap at any moment.
But Gu Nan had no choice. The fish was running too fast. In just a dozen seconds, it had easily taken seventy or eighty meters of line. Its Power was greater than any Indian Marlin he had ever caught before—much, much greater.
’I only have five hundred meters of line! That’s not enough for this fish to run!’
Gu Nan gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his hands.
Even professional anglers would use a team of three or four, taking turns to fight a fish weighing several hundred jin. One person alone simply couldn’t handle it.
If they were using an electric reel, a single person might be able to land a three-hundred-jin monster.
Of course, this referred to fish like tuna and marlin—species known for their speed, stamina, and powerful runs. The Giant Grouper didn’t fall into this category.
A Giant Grouper was all brute strength. Compared to the other two, they were far easier to catch, as their endurance was lacking.
Gu Nan felt a wave of relief. He was thankful the fish he’d caught at the reef island hadn’t been this big. Otherwise, the only outcome would have been a snapped line.
’This one has to be at least two hundred and fifty jin, maybe even bigger. Without any help, I really can’t handle it.’
He was doing his best to keep the rod tip up, with the drag locked down to prevent the fish from easily running far. He even occasionally stopped the reel handle to break the fish’s sprinting rhythm.
This time, he had truly met his match. Gu Nan didn’t dare let his guard down for a second.
Sweat dripped into his eyes, but he didn’t dare wipe it away. His throat, raw from his ragged breathing, felt like it was about to catch fire.
Gu Nan’s face was flushed crimson with exertion, and this was even with the help of the safety rope.
Under his relentless pressure, the distant Indian Marlin was momentarily unable to run. It could only thrash wildly in place, shaking its head violently, trying to throw the hook.
But every time the line slackened from the fish’s thrashing, Gu Nan would dip the rod tip and then heave upwards again, taking the opportunity to reclaim a little line.
But this Indian Marlin’s stamina was no joke. It struggled frantically for over ten minutes, forcibly pulling out nearly two hundred more meters of line, yet it showed no signs of tiring.
Gu Nan, on the other hand, was gradually growing pale. His stamina was clearly about to run out.
He had no choice but to hug the rod tightly to his chest, relaxing his body slightly to transfer more of the strain onto the safety rope.
This caused the safety rope to grow even tauter, the knot cinching tighter.
But that little bit of force wasn’t nearly enough to snap it; his safety wasn’t an issue.
Unfortunately, this also eased the pressure on the fish, allowing it to continue stubbornly pulling the line and running farther away.
Soon, it was over three hundred meters away.
Fortunately, Gu Nan had used the opportunity to recover some stamina, so he resumed his earlier actions, putting pressure back on the fish.
Another dozen minutes passed. All told, it had been over half an hour. Only a thin layer of line remained on the spool, and the fish was now over four hundred meters away.
But Gu Nan was getting excited. The Indian Marlin was finally getting tired.
The pulling force on the rod had weakened significantly, and the line was no longer spooling out. The fish had obviously stopped to rest.
Even though Gu Nan was in bad shape, he took a deep breath and began the strenuous task of lifting the rod and turning the handle to retrieve the line.
This was no time for him to rest. The fish merely felt safe for the moment; it was only taking a short break, not completely unable to fight back.
As he pulled, he once again felt the fish struggle through the rod.
But the Indian Marlin, having suddenly stopped to catch its breath, found itself unable to get going again when it was pulled. It felt as if some strange force was draining its stamina.
After he had managed to retrieve sixty or seventy meters of line, the Indian Marlin finally found the strength to start moving again.
Seeing this, Gu Nan, who was already running on fumes, could only hug the rod and try to recover a little stamina.
The fishing line and lure were also having a considerable effect, at least in delaying the fish’s next run.
Normally, the fish would have started running again the moment Gu Nan pulled on it.
This burst was far weaker than the first. It only managed to pull back out the sixty or seventy meters of line he had just retrieved.
But the fish was in even worse shape. Gu Nan recovered a bit of strength and quickly reeled in the line, managing to get back about a hundred meters.
The fish’s condition deteriorated, and the distance of each run became shorter and shorter.
Even so, this back-and-forth battle took Gu Nan a full two hours before he finally managed to pull the fish all the way to him.
By now it was slack tide, and the water was high enough for him to reach. He grabbed the fish’s long bill with one hand, picked up his rolling pin, and forcefully knocked it unconscious.
The Big Fatty lure was still hooked in the corner of its mouth. The continuous drain on its stamina had left it with little strength to struggle.
Two hours was more than enough to fight this Indian Marlin to utter exhaustion. What did it have left to struggle with?
After knocking it out and removing the hook, Gu Nan tried to store the fish in his Fresh-Chill Storage.
The large fish vanished with a WHOOSH. ’Thank goodness,’ he thought. ’Even in this situation, the game still registers it as a successful catch.’
Otherwise, he would have had to haul the fish onto the platform by himself, and in his current state, it was questionable whether he could have even managed that.
The next moment, Gu Nan simply fell backward, collapsing onto the concrete platform, not caring in the least about how dirty it was.
Exhausted... So utterly exhausted!
At that moment, he didn’t want to move a muscle, let alone go fishing.
This was more tiring than running a 3,000-meter race. At least after that, he could still walk around slowly. Right now, he didn’t even want to lift a finger.
He checked the fish’s data in the game’s encyclopedia: length 3.08 meters.
It might have only been about a meter longer than the previous 2.1-meter one he’d caught, but its weight wasn’t just double; it could very well be three hundred jin.
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but when he felt he had recovered a bit of stamina, Gu Nan slowly sat up.
But as soon as he moved, a wave of discomfort washed over his entire body. Everything ached. It was an awful feeling.
"Hsss—"
Gu Nan sucked in a sharp breath as he slowly stood up. ’Didn’t expect the after-effects to hit so fast. I guess I’m really pushing my limits, again and again!’
’Sure enough, trying to catch a big fish without a boat is a real struggle.’
’If the rod had been mounted in a holder on a boat, I wouldn’t have ended up in this state.’
He checked the time. It was already 9:30 PM, just an hour and a half until eleven.
’Chumming? The hell with that. I’ll just use up my daily attempts and get out of here!’