Looking at the sea bass, weighing roughly three to four catties, being directly hauled ashore by his own hand, he couldn't be happier.
In truth, he had also loved fishing and catching shrimp in his past life, but after entering the workforce, where would one find the time and energy for fishing? With only four days of rest a month, every single day off was spent simply wanting to sleep in.
He shook his head, putting these idle thoughts out of his mind, and quickly scooped some water into the bucket, getting ready to keep the fish alive inside it. Only then did he notice that the fishhook hadn't caught the fish's lip at all, but rather hooked into its back. If not for the effect of his skill, the fish most likely would have escaped long ago.
After settling the fish properly, he activated Scan once more and found that the situation hadn't changed much from the previous scan.
He turned off the passive skill first, then targeted another light spot roughly the same size as the last one.
*Snap—*
With the sound of the hook hitting the water, the fish was hooked instantly. He pulled the fish toward the shore first, and the moment it started struggling, he activated his passive skill again.
With a hard yank, feeling that the fish was no longer moving, he hauled it straight up into the air.
This was a green grouper weighing about five catties. Instead of putting it in the water bucket, he stored the fish directly inside his Space.
The main reason was that since everyone else was catching nothing, landing fish one after another made it hard not to arouse suspicion. Although these people hadn't been shaped by the baptism of later-generation short videos and various novels, most of them would probably attribute it to good luck or the blessing of Mazu.
Still, clever people were never lacking in any era, and caution is the best policy. Besides, even if they found out that he had caught a lot of fish, it served no purpose other than showing off.
As for what to do with all these seafood catches?
How simple. These years hadn't been lived in vain either; he knew quite a few people. Back when he used to follow his eldest uncle, he had gotten to know some chefs and learned a thing or two.
Some skilled cooks operated out of their own homes or rented houses, setting up a few private dining rooms for guests—much like the private-kitchen restaurants of later generations.
In the past, whenever their family's boat went out to sea and brought back good seafood, they would take it to these private little eateries to sell.
Through this constant back-and-forth, everyone became well-acquainted, and sometimes the chefs would even ask him to help source more top-tier catches.
After all, plenty of people had made fortunes through smuggling a few years ago. Even though the previous year's crackdown had reduced the number of people daring enough to work this trade, as long as the profit margin was large enough, there were always those who didn't fear death. Naturally, these people with money wanted to eat and drink the finest things.
Moreover, if he went out to cater banquets for others in the future, he could also sell these seafood catches through those channels.
Right now, his skill could only be used a limited number of times each day, so there wouldn't be an overwhelming amount of seafood anyway, and seafood kept inside the Space wouldn't die.
If push came to shove, he could open a seafood shop in the future specifically to sell these items.
He resumed fishing, and before long, he had used up his scanning chances for the day, leaving only one remaining.
Among these seventeen scanning opportunities, Wang Chu'an had reeled in a total of ten sea bass, three green groupers, three red snappers, and one conger eel. Aside from the single sea bass left in the bucket, all the other fish had been stowed away in his Space.
For this final chance, he decided to hook something big. Earlier, he had been afraid of shattering his rod and ruining his chances to continue fishing.
Now, with only one chance left, even if he didn't catch anything, the loss wouldn't be great since this fishing rod wasn't worth much anyway; and if he did hook something, it would be pure profit.
Through previous scans, he knew there was a big fish down below. Judging by a comparison with the fish he had landed earlier, it had to weigh at least fifty catties.
He took a deep breath, gripped his fishing rod tightly, and walked over to the spot where he had been fishing earlier.
He silently chanted, "Activate Scan."
He discovered that the big fish was no longer in its previous spot, but fortunately, it hadn't moved beyond the scanning range, which meant all his skills could still be used.
With just three seconds left on the scan, he timed it carefully, targeted the big fish's lips, and used "Dredge the Channel". The hook struck the bullseye dead-on.
Feeling the pain, the big fish began to struggle frantically.
He almost lost his grip on the rod, so he quickly arched his back and began a tug-of-war with the big fish.
At the same time, he didn't forget to cast "Retribution" on the monster. Following the "Retribution", he could clearly feel that the fish's struggling strength had diminished significantly. He continued to exert force and wrestled with the catch.
Big fish: *Why do I suddenly feel completely hollowed out inside?!*
……
Under the dual blessings of the passive "Titan's Wrath" and "Retribution", it still took him over half an hour to haul this fish up to the water's surface.
At that moment, the fish was frantically blowing bubbles and shaking its gills in the sea, but little did it know that under the influence of his skills, unless it shattered the rod or snapped the fishing line, there was simply no way for it to escape.
Now he could see clearly—it was actually a Bahaba fish. At this time, the Bahaba fish was not yet a state-protected animal of the first class and could still be bought and sold; otherwise, he would have no choice but to release it.
Looking at this Bahaba fish, he understood in his heart that once this fish was sold, it would cause a sensation no matter where it went, as such a massive Bahaba fish was a rare sight indeed.
Therefore, storing it inside the Space would serve no purpose. Right now, he just wanted to land the fish as quickly as possible, fearing that the rod wouldn't hold out and would shatter, letting the fish get away.
So he quickly turned toward the direction where Li Zhengwen and the others were and shouted at the top of his lungs, "A-Wen, A-Wu, hurry over here! Bring the landing net with you—I've hooked a big one!"
Hearing his shouts, the Li Zhengwen brothers picked up the landing net and sprinted toward him, not forgetting to call out as they ran, "What kind of fish? How big is it?"
"It's a Bahaba fish! As for how big, you'll see when you get here."
He answered their questions while playing the fish.
The spot where they fished wasn't far away to begin with, but a bend in the coastline had kept them hidden from each other's view.
Li Zhengwen arrived running first, carrying the landing net. Seeing the Bahaba fish in the water, he gasped in astonishment, "Holy crap, this fish has got to be over fifty catties, right? A'an, you've got incredible luck!"
"Stop talking nonsense and get the fish in the net quickly! I'm afraid the rod won't hold out much longer."
"Oh—right, right!"
Li Zhengwen stopped talking, hurried to the edge of the rocks, and with practiced skill, scooped the landing net down over the big fish's head, successfully bagging it.
Seeing the fish safely inside the net, the heart that had been hanging in his chest finally settled, and he let out a long breath of turbid air.
Seeing that his older brother had already netted the fish, Li Zhengwu hurried forward to help as well, and the two brothers exerted their strength together to haul the Bahaba fish ashore.
Dropping the fish onto the ground, the two brothers panted heavily. Looking at the creature lying before them, their faces were filled with excitement.
Glancing back at Wang Chu'an, who was sitting on the ground, Li Zhengwen said, "A'an, your luck is truly unmatched. You actually managed to reel in a Bahaba fish this huge."
Even though he had used "Retribution" to reduce the fish's strength by 30%, wrestling such a massive creature had still worn him out considerably. He panted for a long time before replying, "I didn't expect it either! When it first took the bait, it almost dragged me straight into the sea!"
Because his face was flushed red from the exertion of fishing, Li Zhengwen didn't notice the slightest hint of unnaturalness in his expression.
Li Zhengwu turned to him and said, "Brother An, you're amazing! To be able to tire out and land a fish this big using just that little fishing rod—you are seriously awesome!"
He waved a hand, chuckled, and said to them, "Haha, I didn't expect it myself either. I was terrified the rod would snap, but thankfully we still managed to land it."