309: Everyone got ashore

The smallest of this group of Yellowfin Tuna weighed only ten-odd catties, while the largest exceeded a hundred catties. However, due to their sheer numbers, the people on those nearby fishing boats all managed to catch a few.

"It's better than those Mahi-Mahi and Sea Bass, right! Catching ones weighing fifty or sixty catties to give away or eat ourselves is pretty good."

He walked over to the door of the rest cabin and knocked a few times.

"Bai Xue, Shanshan, come out and fish."

"Okay, okay, we'll be right there."

Yang Qi quickly ran back to his fishing spot and reinstalled the three electric reels onto the rod holders.

He also baited his boat rod with a live Squid and cast it toward the Tuna's route of advance.

The sinker carrying the live Squid had just sunk to about twenty meters when it was swallowed whole by a passing Tuna.

Feeling a sudden weight in his hand, Yang Qi instinctively raised the rod to set the hook, followed immediately by a fierce struggle.

"You hooked one? Is it big?"

Bai Xue and Yao Shanshan asked while putting on their sun-protective clothing.

"It's decent, maybe seventy or eighty catties! Get your gear on first; the sun will be rising soon. Be careful not to get sunburned."

Yang Qi looked at the two women and said.

"Mhm, we know, Hubby."

The two quickly sorted out their gear and ran to their fishing spots.

"Bai Xue, use the frozen bait for chumming, and fish with live Squid."

Yang Qi said to Bai Xue while reeling in.

"I'll go! Bai Xue, watch the rods."

Yao Shanshan volunteered and ran toward the freezer hold, pulling out a box of frozen fish. She took a knife and started chopping the fish into chunks with a "clang, clang, clang," quickly filling an entire bucket.

At this time, Bai Xue taught her how to create a bait chain. Meanwhile, Yang Qi had already pulled an eighty-odd catty Yellowfin Tuna close to the ship's side.

He picked up the Gaff and plunged it into the Tuna's head. Four or five seconds later, the Tuna breathed its last.

Yang Qi gripped the Gaff and forcefully dragged the Yellowfin Tuna, weighing about eighty catties, onto the deck.

Yao Shanshan, who had just finished chumming the spot next to him, hurriedly grabbed a knife to bleed the Tuna and remove the lactic acid.

The three of them successively caught seven or eight Yellowfin Tuna, none of which exceeded a hundred catties. The smallest one, which was only twenty-odd catties, was released back into the sea by Bai Xue.

In the middle of this, Yang Qi ran to the wheelhouse and called the Duty Captain of the vast sea, asking him to wake up the young masters to fish for Tuna.

After Yang Qi and the two women had caught a total of twelve Yellowfin Tuna, the bite stopped.

Just as they thought the school of Tuna had passed, Yang Qi suddenly felt his fishing rod being pulled by an immense force, nearly slipping from his grasp.

"This fish isn't small!"

Yang Qi instantly became invigorated, gripping the rod tightly with both hands and beginning to reel in with difficulty.

The fish struggled with extreme force, and the electric reel emitted a "zzzz" sound.

"Hubby, this fish must be over a hundred catties!"

Bai Xue said, sounding slightly nervous.

"More than that, I estimate two hundred catties or more!"

Yang Qi gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.

Yao Shanshan also put down what she was doing and came over to help. Yang Qi remained in a stalemate with the large fish, and after a good while, the fish's strength seemed to diminish slightly.

Yang Qi seized the opportunity, exerted force suddenly, and finally pulled the giant Tuna to the side of the boat.

Catching a fish this large posed no pressure for him; the entire process was completed in less than thirty minutes.

He took a deep breath, picked up the Gaff, and plunged it hard into the fish's head. The Yellowfin Tuna, weighing a full two hundred and eighty catties, became completely motionless.

Bai Xue brought over the crane, and the three of them worked together to hoist the fish onto the deck. Looking at the massive fish, smiles of excitement appeared on all their faces.

Immediately afterward, Yao Shanshan bled the Yellowfin Tuna to remove lactic acid, slit its belly, and removed the internal organs.

From morning until noon, they caught a total of fourteen Yellowfin Tuna of various sizes—a truly abundant harvest.

"Yang Qi! How many Yellowfin Tuna did you guys catch this morning?"

Zhang Jun and Yang Qi were chatting again in the wheelhouse.

"Excluding the ones under forty catties that we released, we have fourteen Yellowfin Tuna left."

"That's really good. We basically averaged one per person here, and only I and Old Wang caught two each, both around eighty catties."

"It's a pity we woke up too late, otherwise we definitely would have caught more. If you hadn't called us to wake up, we wouldn't even have this many. That would have been a real shame."

Zhang Jun said, somewhat helplessly.

"Hehehe, there's nothing we can do about that. After all, who knows when the school of fish will arrive? Anyway, I'm going to retrieve the Crab Traps now. We'll change locations in a little while."

Yang Qi hung up the call after speaking.

Following this, the three began retrieving the Crab Traps. It was another great harvest; each trap contained over ten catties of bottom-dwelling seafood like Crab, Prawns, and Mantis Shrimp.

"Oh yeah, Mantis Shrimp freedom!"

Yao Shanshan shouted happily.

"You're certainly easy to please, liking cheap stuff like Mantis Shrimp. Aren't Lobster and big Crab more appealing?"

Bai Xue teased her loudly.

"You wouldn't know, but Mantis Shrimp isn't cheap at all where I grew up; it sells for eighty or ninety yuan per catty!"

"I usually can't afford to buy it!"

Yao Shanshan said defensively.

"How is that possible? We only wholesale it for ten-odd yuan per catty!"

Bai Xue said in surprise.

"It's really true. Around the Lunar New Year in my hometown, it also sells for eighty or ninety yuan per catty, and usually costs fifty-odd yuan."

Yang Qi, who also came from inland, said.

"What about this kind of Lobster?"

"I wouldn't even dare to ask about this Lobster back home."

Yao Shanshan rolled her eyes.

"Even smaller ones than this cost two or three hundred yuan per catty," Yang Qi said.

"..."

"Hubby, why do I suddenly feel like we're selling at a huge loss!"

Bai Xue felt a little indignant.

"It's nothing strange. We are the source. After several rounds of middlemen making a profit, the price is naturally high when it reaches the hands of the citizens."

The three complained while they worked. Finally, they finished processing all the Crab and Lobster.

Bai Xue and Yao Shanshan cleaned the deck while Yang Qi piloted the setting sail away from this sea area, with the vast sea following closely behind.

Over the next day and night, the two fishing boats stopped and started, catching many beautiful catches like Grouper and Pomfret.

However, the two fishing boats returned to Qingshan Town half a day later than expected.

The reason was that on the way back, they encountered a large school of Sea Bass, and almost everyone caught over a thousand catties.

This was great; just this wave of Sea Bass alone allowed the few people on the vast sea to earn enough to cover the boat rental fee.

Everything else was profit. In other words, everyone made a profit from this fishing trip to the Diaoyu Islands sea area. This phenomenon is quite rare.

As for the three people on the setting sail, they were once again fully stocked.

This time, Bai Xue remembered to post some photos of the seafood in the Sea View Villa owner group, accepting reservations for two hours. The price remained 25–30% higher than the wholesale purchase price.

This time, besides the six hundred-odd catties of Sea Bass and two hundred-odd catties of Crab and Lobster reserved by the Sea View Villa owners.

He also allocated a portion of the highest quality seafood to Yu Dafu, and the rest was given entirely to Chen Tianming.