I Can Fish Up Everything!

However, it was clear Guo Xiao wasn’t going to catch any more big fish for now. Their wives were already up, and after discovering the two men had skipped breakfast to keep fishing, they dragged them into the cabin by the ear.

Gu Nan found the scene both hilarious and absurd. He made a couple more casts, and just as he was about to switch to the electric reel rod, Yi Chen came out.

"Figure it all out?"

"Uh-huh! I’ll make it for you when we get back!"

"Sounds good!" Gu Nan readily agreed. Yi Chen was a good cook, so he didn’t mind being the first to taste-test. ’At worst, it’ll just taste average. It’s not like it’ll be poisonous.’

Seeing him agree so readily, Yi Chen’s big eyes curved into crescents.

She glanced at the electric reel rod. ’Time to restock,’ she thought. "I’m going to put on some sunscreen," she said. "I’ll come fish with you in a bit."

"Can you reach your back? Want me to help?"

"In your dreams! Besides, I’m wearing a sun shirt, so I don’t need to put any on my back!"

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Seeing the mischievous grin on his face, Yi Chen’s face flushed red, and she quickly ran off, as if afraid he would chase after her.

A little while later, she returned, fully geared up. She had put on not only cooling sleeves but also a sun shirt.

On her head was a sun hat, and her face was covered with a gaiter. She was armed to the teeth against the sun.

"Aren’t you hot?" Gu Nan asked with an amused laugh when he saw her getup.

"I don’t want to get a tan!"

"Then go hang out inside the cabin!"

"No way! It’s not every day I get to go out to sea. I want to fish and make money."

"You little money-grubber!" Gu Nan teased, then scooped up some live shrimp and placed the bucket between them.

He secured his rod in the holder, swapped out the jig, and tied on a bait cage with a large hook. He baited it with a thawed mackerel, preparing to fish for grouper.

He had caught a few groupers earlier while bottom-jigging, which made him think the grouper population here was excellent.

Jigging off the bottom could be tiring, even for him, after a while. Fishing like this would be much more relaxing.

Yi Chen was faster than him. She didn’t need to change her rig; she just had to bait her hook with a live shrimp to start fishing.

Just as Gu Nan’s baited hook hit the bottom, she was already pulling a fish to the surface on her side.

He was about to grab the landing net to help her, but then his own rod suddenly went wild. A big fish was on the hook.

The tip of the rod, secured in its holder, was yanked straight down to the water’s surface, almost plunging in.

Yi Chen pouted. "We’re only three meters apart. How come the big fish only bite your hook?"

"Maybe because I’m better looking?" Gu Nan said, grabbing the rod with both hands to set the hook while casually answering her question.

Yi Chen rolled her eyes. "Fine, if I can’t get a big one, I’ll just win with quantity."

The two of them quieted down, each focusing on their own task.

Gu Nan was now completely focused on the fish. ’Another big one.’ It felt as strong as the Dog-toothed Tuna from the morning. If not for the different way it was fighting, he would have suspected he’d hooked another one.

A short while later, exclamations of surprise came from behind them—it was Wang Junhe and Guo Xiao.

"Holy shit, Ah Nan hooked a big one *again*?"

"Damn it! If I’d known, I would’ve kept fishing, even if it meant getting my ear twisted off! My big fish... Ah Nan caught it instead."

Guo Xiao was filled with bitter regret. He was convinced that big fish should have been his, but his wife had dragged him away, letting someone else reap the benefit.

Gu Nan and Wang Junhe both laughed at the same time. "Heh."

The mockery in their laughter was undisguised, prompting Guo Xiao to immediately run to his fishing spot and start jigging. He swore he wouldn’t stop until he caught a big fish.

Yi Chen pressed her lips together to hide a smile, then turned her attention back to her rod. She had another fish on.

This time it was an alfonsino, and a relatively large one at that. It was half a meter long with a wide back and a fat belly, probably weighing seven or eight pounds. It could sell for eight or nine hundred yuan.

’This is such a fast way to make money. If it didn’t mean getting as tanned as Gu Nan, I’d want to become a fishing fanatic too.’

Seeing that he still hadn’t landed his fish, Yi Chen baited her hook with a shrimp, let it sink, and then walked over. "Ah Nan, can I give it a try?"

She only dared to try because the rod was braced against the gunwale; otherwise, she would never have the courage to fight a big fish.

"Sure!" Gu Nan readily agreed, stepping aside to teach her how to fight it.

’In reality, letting an inexperienced person take over with a big fish on the line is an easy way to lose it. But what can I do? This is my future wife. I have to spoil her.’

Following Gu Nan’s instructions, Yi Chen grabbed the rod with one hand and pulled up with all her might... It didn’t budge!

She put her other hand on the handle to reel in the line... but she couldn’t turn it at all!

Yi Chen: O.O!

The deckhands, who had come over to help, all laughed, finding her struggle incredibly amusing.

Even using every ounce of her strength, she couldn’t lift the rod the slightest bit. She couldn’t reel in a single inch of line either; in fact, the fish just kept pulling more out.

Yi Chen had no choice but to give up, muttering, "Just how big is this fish? It won’t budge no matter how hard I pull!"

Amused, Gu Nan reached out to pat her head, but she quickly dodged.

"Don’t get that fishy smell all over me again!" Yi Chen said with a look of disgust.

"My bad, my bad... force of habit!" Gu Nan grinned sheepishly as he took back the rod. ’Good, the fish hasn’t gotten away yet.’

Worried the fish might have used the slack to try and shake the hook, he gave the rod a hard yank to set it firmly again.

Since she couldn’t make the big fish budge at all, Yi Chen obediently returned to her electric reel rod.

Using live shrimp was proving to be very effective. This time, she caught a crimson jobfish weighing seven or eight pounds. ’Excellent!’

And she no longer had to net the fish herself; a nearby deckhand did it for her. All she had to do was focus on fishing.

Just as she was baiting her hook with another live shrimp, a colorful string of curses suddenly erupted from one of the nearby deckhands.

She turned to look and, with a delighted gasp, rushed over to Gu Nan’s side.

The big fish was about to break the surface, and they could faintly make out its color. It was a giant red fish, and it looked even longer than the Dog-toothed Tuna.

Wang Junhe and Guo Xiao also heard the commotion and, knowing the big fish was about to be landed, immediately put down their rods and hurried over.

Just then, the fish broke the surface, revealing its true form. Wang Junhe exclaimed in surprise, "Red Diamond Fish can get this big?"

Although Gu Nan was surprised, he didn’t share his friend’s confusion. He knew that a subspecies of Red Diamond Fish from Seven-Star Rock could indeed grow this large.

The fish was likely a meter and a half long, with its weight perhaps reaching fifty kilograms.

The deckhands sprang into action, using the crane to hoist the huge Red Diamond Fish aboard.

Standing next to the massive fish, Yi Chen was completely dwarfed, looking exceptionally petite.

Such a massive fish also attracted Su Qing and Cheng Jing out from the cabin. The two women rarely saw fish this big and clicked their tongues in amazement.

"When it comes to fishing, Ah Nan is the real expert," Su Qing said. "My Old Wang... forget a meter-long fish, if he caught one half a meter long, he’d be showing it off around our apartment complex until sundown."

Hearing this, Cheng Jing chimed in with her own complaint. "At least Old Wang actually catches something. When does my Old Guo ever come back without a detour to the fish market? He’s always showing off store-bought fish in front of me. The only reason I don’t call him out is that I don’t want to be a bad influence on our son."

Wang Junhe’s face darkened upon hearing his wife’s complaint, and he was about to retort when he heard what Cheng Jing said. He immediately broke into a gloating smile, because Guo Xiao’s expression was now even blacker than his.

Su Qing knew perfectly well that the big fish Wang Junhe had brought home recently were all caught by Gu Nan. At this, she couldn’t help but quip, "If all the fishing luck in the country amounts to eight bushels, then Gu Nan alone has twenty-eight, while you two are running a twenty-bushel deficit."

Cheng Jing nodded vigorously. "Exactly!"

Wang Junhe and Guo Xiao were instantly "drowned in tears." ’Don’t we get to save any face here?’ they thought.

These two were, after all, the senior friends who had brought them out to sea for free. Yi Chen secretly tugged on her boyfriend’s shirt to change the subject. "Ah Nan, can you take a few pictures of me?"

"Sure!" Gu Nan took off his gloves and used his phone to take pictures of her from several different angles.

’The petite girl next to the giant fish. A great shot.’

Su Qing’s and Cheng Jing’s attention was successfully diverted. They grew interested and also wanted to take a photo with the big fish.

With husbands who were fishing fanatics, they knew that a red fish this large was an even rarer catch than a big tuna.

After the photoshoot, the deckhands placed the Red Diamond Fish into the refrigerated hold. In this heat, the fish couldn’t be left out for long.

Wang Junhe and Guo Xiao were no longer hung up on catching a monster fish. Sometimes, you just have to accept your fate. They changed their bait and went back to dutifully fishing for normal-sized deep-sea fish.

They fished until around ten in the morning, but by then the sun was blazing and the bite had slowed, so everyone reeled in their lines and retreated into the cabin.

The fishing boat’s engine started, and it began heading toward the next destination: a large atoll.

Fishing at the oil rig was just an intermediate stop. The real fun lay ahead at the large atoll and, after that, the uninhabited archipelago.

They rested for a while after lunch, and the women went to take a beauty nap.

The deckhands, however, were busy. They brought out three boxes of mackerel, cut them in half, and put them into a fine-mesh net bag.

One box of fish went into each bag. Gu Nan watched, completely bewildered.

"Brother Wang, what’s this for?"

Wang Junhe had a mysterious smile on his face. "You’ll see when we get to the atoll."

"What’s with the mystery? It’s just for pumping a tide pool!" Guo Xiao mercilessly ruined the surprise. His catch had been the worst that morning, putting him in a foul mood and making him eager to argue with someone.

But almost everyone else on the boat was hard to pick a fight with, leaving only Wang Junhe as a target.

"..." Wang Junhe shot him a look, deciding not to bicker with a certain unlucky bastard.

’That’s right. In his mind, he only owed five bushels of the debt; the other guy owed fifteen.’

’Ah, pumping a tide pool!’

It dawned on Gu Nan. This was a fun activity, one that Su Qing and Cheng Jing could participate in as well.

’They might not be interested in fishing, but who wouldn’t be interested in simply picking up fish?’

But pumping the tide pool had to wait for low tide around three in the morning. The deckhands would handle the setup. The pumping would likely finish around six or seven in the morning, which was perfect timing for everyone else to wake up for an early breakfast.

They reached their destination a little after three in the afternoon. Gu Nan stood in the wheelhouse, looking through a pair of binoculars.

He had spotted a large flock of seabirds circling on the eastern side of the atoll, which almost certainly indicated a school of fish.

The captain agreed. The deckhands used the crane to lower the two small trolling boats into the sea. They then took the prepared bait bags over to the largest tide pool on the atoll—a pool nearly the size of a basketball court—and tossed them in.

If they hadn’t prepared enough water pumps on the boat, even three or four hours might not have been enough to empty it.

The small boats headed for the atoll, but the main vessel didn’t wait for them. It motored directly toward the circling seabirds on the atoll’s eastern side.