"The little punk's got some decent luck, actually coming back alive. Must be pretty rough begging for a living out on the ocean, huh?"
While Feng Xiaodong noticed Liu Deshui returning from the sea, Liu Deshui, who was busy showing off his catch to the villagers, spotted Shen Lang's fishing boat pulling up to the dock as well.
"Rough? Liu Deshui, you're talking about yourself, aren't you? Brother Lang and I hauled in a full load this time, unlike certain people who make a living off their daughter's dirty money."
Feng Xiaodong leaped down from the fishing boat.
He was mocking other men for being kept, living off the earnings of mistresses and paramours.
And mocking certain old men who acted like veterans while living off their own daughters.
Seeing that another good show was about to unfold.
The villagers near the dock unanimously transformed into spectators.
Some gossipy villagers who just wanted to see chaos directly stepped in to fan the flames.
Liu Deshui had gone out early in the morning and brought back a small half-bucket of abalone.
Shen Lang and Feng Xiaodong had been out at sea for a day and a night—just how much of a haul did they have?
"I must say, you guys really love asking obvious questions. If they actually caught anything, why would they have stayed out on the ocean overnight? Boasting before they left and coming back empty-handed—they're bound to be the laughingstock of the town."
Liu Deshui bent down and reached into the bucket, pulling out a few abalones.
"Shen Lang, see this? I went out a little past five this morning, and in just over two hours, I scooped up a dozen abalones. Do the math on their weight—at least ten pounds."
Seeing the abalones Liu Deshui was deliberately showing off, Shen Lang had a cigarette dangling from his lips and looked down from above. "Oh, abalones? From the way you were beaming, I thought you'd reeled in a large yellow croaker."
"You wouldn't happen to be telling me that you and two good-for-nothings caught wild yellow croakers, would you? Hahaha, villagers, do you believe that?"
Seeing that Shen Lang was still bringing up yellow croakers, Liu Deshui seized the opening and switched to mocking mode.
Yesterday, Liu Deshui had already lectured everyone on the key reasons why wild yellow croakers were becoming increasingly rare.
Not only could you not catch a glimpse of large yellow croakers in these waters.
You couldn't find wild yellow croakers in any of the other nearby fishing grounds, either.
Waking up in the morning and learning that Shen Lang hadn't returned all night, Liu Deshui immediately took his boat out to sea.
He was ready to deliver another blow to Shen Lang for not knowing when to quit.
Not returning all night meant either the two of them had met with misfortune.
Or they had come up empty-handed during the day and intended to try their luck at night.
"Those bastards come here every year to poach our fish. Even the state's diesel-powered fleet can't catch wild yellow croakers—how could those two possibly be better than the state?"
"Young people always just want to run their mouths for the thrill of it, never considering the consequences."
"He's still an old fisherman after all. Even if he hasn't been out on the water for years, whenever he takes a shot, his skills are just as sharp as they used to be."
The villagers shook their heads and murmured among themselves.
Liu Deshui's character was trash, but there was no denying his fishing skills were top-notch.
He hadn't been out to sea in years.
Yet the moment he went out, he managed to pull up over a dozen fine abalones.
It just went to show that he hadn't lost his touch.
"Shen Lang, admitting you talked big is nothing to be ashamed of. Give me a sincere apology, and I'll be the magnanimous one—not only will I let this go, but next time I go out fishing, I might even consider taking you along and teaching you what real skill looks like."
Liu Deshui felt an indescribable sense of smugness.
The gloom of being slapped in the face by both Shen Lang and Feng Xiaodong yesterday was gradually fading away.
"Liu Deshui, do you even want any face? Going fishing with you would be like playing chess with a rotten player—the more you play, the worse you get."
At a signal from Shen Lang, Feng Xiaodong fired back, mocking Liu Deshui for catching a dozen abalones and acting like he was number one under heaven.
To think he was old enough to have lived his life in vain.
"If catching a few abalones makes you number one under heaven, what number should Brother Lang be after hitting a dozen wild large yellow croakers?"
Before Liu Deshui could question it, Feng Xiaodong took three steps in two and jumped back onto the boat.
He lowered his head, scooped a lively, flapping large yellow croaker out of the bucket, and held it in his hands.
Beneath the sunlight.
The scales on the yellow croaker emitted a dazzling golden glow.
"It really is a wild large yellow croaker!"
"My god, what a huge yellow croaker! Must be at least three or four pounds, right?"
"They just said they caught over a dozen large yellow croakers in total! If every single one is this big—good lord, that's a solid seventy or eighty pounds! Wild large yellow croakers go for over four yuan a pound, right? That adds up to several hundred yuan!"
At that moment, Liu Deshui froze as if pinned in place.
His mind went completely blank.
He wouldn't even dare to dream.
That an individual could catch over a dozen wild large yellow croakers all at once.
"Impossible! You're lying! At the absolute most you caught one large yellow croaker. I don't believe you could catch a dozen. You two good-for-nothings are just blowing hot air!"
With that, Liu Deshui scrambled onto Shen Lang's fishing boat like a gust of wind.
He was ready to expose their lies on the spot.
"This!"
Immediately, Liu Deshui stumbled backward several paces.
Losing his footing, he crashed hard onto the deck.
The several buckets on the deck were filled entirely with lively, thrashing wild yellow croakers.
And these weren't just ordinary yellow croakers.
That four-yuan-per-pound acquisition price mentioned by those blockheads on the shore.
That was ancient history from ten years ago.
The reality of the situation was.
Because wild yellow croakers were becoming increasingly rare, the purchasing price had already multiplied several times over.
A few years ago, the fisheries department had categorized wild yellow croakers into grades.
Wild yellow croakers weighing under two pounds were classified as ordinary wild yellow croakers.
The purchasing price was around five yuan per pound.
Fish weighing between two and three pounds were classified as first-grade yellow croakers.
The price had already exceeded ten yuan per pound.
As for fish over four pounds, they belonged to the top-tier grade, and the fisheries department's acquisition price had reached a staggering twenty yuan per pound.
The official acquisition price was one thing.
The free-market trading price was even higher than that!
Shen Lang spat out his cigarette butt, walked over, and nudged the stunned Liu Deshui with his foot.
"Old Liu, didn't you want to be my master and take me along fishing? As long as you can catch the same quantity of yellow croakers I did in a single trip, I'll drop to my knees right now and kowtow to acknowledge you as my master."
"I... I..."
Liu Deshui stammered, feeling his face burn as if scorched by fire.
In all his life.
Liu Deshui had never seen so many yellow croakers at once.
Even when he had caught wild yellow croakers in his youth, they were only ordinary ones weighing one or two pounds.
"How about this? Brother Lang here has a magnanimous heart and never holds a grudge against petty people jumping around. You kneel down and take me as your master, and Brother Lang will take you out to sea to learn some real skills. How's that? Generous enough, right?"
Liu Deshui's old face twisted into a knot.
Feng Xiaodong seized the opportunity to twist the knife: "Liu Deshui, since you aren't saying anything, we'll take that as your consent. From now on, Brother Lang is your master. Villagers, don't you all agree?"
"Agreed!"
Several young men sprinted down to the boat, the lead one shouting boisterously and declaring himself willing to act as a witness.
From now on, Shen Lang was Liu Deshui's master.
Glancing at the newcomer's appearance, the smile vanished abruptly from Shen Lang's face.
"Big Brother, your fortune is shining bright now that you've been blessed with a disciple like Liu Deshui. Why don't you take me in as well? I want to be your second disciple in front of everyone."
Li Xiangqian shamelessly shouted that he too wanted to become Shen Lang's apprentice.
The young men behind him joined in the uproar.