260: Red-lipped croaker

Yang Qi immediately lost interest and threatened, "Little girl, how dare you tease your husband? Just wait until we get home; you'll get a taste of my family's rules."

"Come on! I love it when you serve me!"

Bai Xue gave him a flirtatious look.

"Cough, cough..."

"This fish of yours is probably worth around 15,000 to 16,000!"

Bai Xue teased him again, dropping another bombshell.

"How much? Fifteen or sixteen thousand yuan? I didn't study much, don't lie to me!"

Yang Qi found it a bit hard to believe. He knew that Mackerel Scad wasn't worth much, so why was a Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad so expensive?

"It's true, why would I lie to you? Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad is very rare and belongs to a valuable species. Its flesh is much more delicate than regular Mackerel Scad, and it has high nutritional value, especially its swim bladder, which is very valuable."

"Its swim bladder has another name that you definitely know: fish maw. A good, aged fish maw can even sell for hundreds of thousands."

Bai Xue explained.

"Ah! So this is fish maw!"

"Yes, that's right. Aged, premium fish maw not only nourishes and beautifies, tonifies the kidneys, and boosts essence, but it also stops uterine bleeding. It's especially effective for Women's postpartum recovery from bleeding. It can even save a life in critical moments. That's why fish maw has always been known as the 'ginseng of the sea'."

Bai Xue continued,

"In the Chaoshan region, when they marry off their daughters, they often use premium aged fish maw as part of the dowry. Those premium aged fish maw are very expensive and can even be passed down through generations."

"However, with this Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad of yours, pulled up so violently, I don't know if its swim bladder is broken. If it is, the price will be greatly discounted."

Bai Xue looked at the Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad in the fish box and said.

"It's fine, we'll keep it to eat ourselves. Since it's so good, we definitely can't sell it. I'll catch more, have someone dry it properly, and save it for you to eat."

Yang Qi said as a matter of course.

Because in his Golden Finger vision, there were many Mackerel Scad in the den below, all looking identical at first glance.

If he looked closely, about a third of the fish had yellowish mouths.

Undoubtedly, those with yellowish mouths were Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad.

Yang Qi and Bai Xue continued to bait their hooks and cast their rods. Yang Qi, in particular, tried to send the bait as close as possible to the mouths of the Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad.

Sure enough, the fierce Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad, before the other Mackerel Scad, quickly swallowed the Shrimp in one gulp.

Yang Qi immediately raised his rod to set the hook. By feel, he was sure the hook had deeply embedded itself in the Mackerel Scad's mouth.

This time, he no longer pulled it up roughly as he had done before. Instead, he reeled it in like he would a valuable fish he intended to keep alive, pulling for a bit, then pausing, allowing the Mackerel Scad to adapt to the water pressure.

After a while, when this Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad was pulled out of the water, it was still quite lively.

Yang Qi held the landing net in one hand and the fishing rod in the other, quickly scooping the over thirty-jin Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad onto the deck.

Looking at the lively Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad, Yang Qi smiled. He unhooked the fish and placed it in the live fish well.

Next, he caught two more regular Mackerel Scad, which made Yang Qi look annoyed. There were clearly several Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad nearby, but the ones that bit were always the common Mackerel Scad.

"Hahaha, husband, look, I caught another Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad."

Bai Xue said, somewhat boastfully.

It had to be said that Bai Xue's luck was indeed better than Yang Qi's. By now, she had already caught two Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad in a row, both appearing to be around thirty jin.

Yang Qi's next cast finally landed a Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad, and the joy in his heart was evident.

He was actually a bit frustrated. Using his Golden Finger to fish like this didn't give him the same 'mystery box' feeling as Bai Xue.

But there was nothing he could do; whose fault was it that his luck was bad? For the sake of total catch, he always had to reluctantly activate his ability.

Just like that, when he caught another Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad, he saw that there were already over twenty Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad in the live fish well.

As for the common Mackerel Scad, they were all in the several ice-filled fish boxes behind them.

Two boxes were already full, and they were filling the third.

Yang Qi noticed that the fish school seemed to be dispersing.

He quickly chopped up some fish pieces and threw them into the den. Sure enough, the Mackerel Scad, seeing the food falling from the sky, immediately swam back to snatch it.

Even fish schools a little further away gathered. More and more gathered, including Mackerel Scad and other fish.

Yang Qi, who was chumming, noticed that the fishing rod he had placed in the rod holder had another bite.

He immediately dumped all the fish pieces from the bucket, stepped forward, and picked up the rod to set the hook.

After some reeling and tugging, he was happy to find it was another Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad, weighing about twenty jin.

Next, the Mackerel Scad were caught one by one by Yang Qi and Bai Xue. Roughly one out of every three or four was a Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad.

The weight of a single fish was generally between 10 and 30 jin.

Mackerel Scad are aggressive, greedy, and not very intelligent fish. Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad are no different.

As long as the bait reaches their mouths, or within their line of sight, they will swim over to snatch it. And they will never leave until they finish the bait.

For the next few hours, Yang Qi and Bai Xue continuously reeled in fish without stopping.

Such excellent fishing conditions made them thoroughly enjoy themselves, unable to stop, forgetting time and hunger.

Although Mackerel Scad aren't very valuable, catching some Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad every now and then felt like getting good items from a mystery box, providing immense satisfaction and excitement.

Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was past six in the evening.

The Mackerel Scad had noticeably decreased. As Yang Qi continued to chum, he saw that some Grouper and Sea Bream had been attracted to the den.

After Bai Xue caught several Sea Bream in a row, she started to feel a bit hungry. She checked the time and realized it was already past six.

"Husband, let's put the fish in the freezer first. I'll go make you dinner."

Bai Xue, fearing Yang Qi was hungry, suggested.

Yang Qi looked at the dozens of boxes of fish on the deck, the dense Red-Mouth Mackerel Scad in the live fish well, and some Grouper.

He nodded in agreement.

The two placed their fishing rods in the rod holders and began transferring the fish to the freezer.

Earlier, when they were focused on fishing, they hadn't felt too hungry. But once they stopped, they felt so hungry their stomachs were growling.

Bai Xue took a common Mackerel Scad weighing about fifteen jin and said she would make Yang Qi a multi-dish meal from one fish.

The Mackerel Scad head would be made into chopped chili fish head;

The fish bones and tail would be boiled into a soup with poached eggs and shredded white radish;

Half of the fish meat would be braised in soy sauce, and the other half pan-fried;

The fish roe from inside the fish would be made into steamed egg with fish roe;

The fish maw, fish stomach, fish liver, and fish intestines would be used to make a fish offal and vermicelli hotpot.

Then, she would stir-fry some green vegetables, and they would be done.

A table full of dishes, perfect in color, aroma, and taste, left them both very satisfied.

In the past, when Bai Xue cooked, except for fish dishes, which she had learned from Chen Lanying, her other dishes weren't as good as Yang Qi's.

Later, Yang Qi didn't know where she had diligently studied, but her skills greatly improved. Now, whether it was fish or meat dishes, everything she made was delicious.