350: Dongsha Island Lagoon Overstock

As Yang Qi pulled, a large net was hauled to the surface, packed densely with fish.

This was a new net Yang Qi had bought later, with three-finger wide mesh; basically, any fish under half a catty would escape through the holes.

"So many fish!"

"Yeah! It's a good start!"

Yao Shanshan and Wang Yan pulled the ropes with Yang Qi, beaming with joy.

By this time, Bai Xue had already pulled out the Crane arm from the Freezer Hold. With everyone working together, the Cast Net was soon hoisted onto the deck.

"Four hundred and thirty catties, very nice!"

Several fish crates had already been placed on the deck. As the Cast Net descended, most of the fish were unloaded into them.

Yang Qi shook off the fish stuck to the Cast Net, straightened the net, and walked toward the chumming spot on the aft deck.

Bai Xue and the other two quickly sorted the catch. All the valuable ones were thrown into the Live Well, while those less valuable than Black Sea Bream were tossed into the side crates to be moved to the Freezer Hold later.

The first net was very lucky, catching twelve East Star Groupers, fifteen Red Groupers, fourteen Porcupinefish, ten Grouper Fish, and many other high-quality items like Wrasse and oriental pepper seabream.

The relatively less valuable fish also weighed about a hundred and sixty or seventy catties.

"Wow, this is great, so many fish. Is this a Porcupinefish? This guy is so cute, tee-hee."

Wang Yan said, holding a puffed-up Porcupinefish in her hand.

"These Porcupinefish are not only cute but also delicious and incredibly fresh. I'll prepare some for you to try at lunch."

Bai Xue said with a smile.

Just as they were finishing up here, Yang Qi pulled the second net out of the water, so the group hurriedly hoisted the second net onto the deck together.

Yang Qi then moved the "setting sail" forward about twenty meters and continued chumming with fish chunks.

"Hahaha! How did we end up catching one of these?"

"This guy is too 'criminal'."

"I don't want to end up behind bars; I still have to teach classes, you know?"

Yang Qi poked his head over to look; it turned out to be a Hawksbill Turtle weighing fifty or sixty catties. It was currently being ignored by the others, as everyone was busy picking out fish!

"Sigh! This net has to be reduced by sixty catties, so it's exactly four hundred catties!"

Yao Shanshan's voice sounded a bit helpless.

Yang Qi looked at the hawksbill and found the fellow staring back at him with its beady little eyes.

"Damn, did we just lock eyes?"

"I'll release you in a bit. I've just started chumming, so don't scare away the fish in the spot,"

Yang Qi said to the Hawksbill Turtle.

It was unclear if the fellow actually understood, but it crawled a meter or two toward an empty space and lay there motionless.

It was as if it were telling Yang Qi: "I'm not disturbing your work. You'd better keep your word and release me later. Otherwise, watch out or I'll peck you!"

Of course, Yang Qi and the others couldn't understand its turtle-speak.

In the end, Yang Qi kept his word. After finishing those two nets and before moving the boat, he threw the fellow back into the sea.

"The results are good. Every net has over four hundred catties, and there are plenty of high-quality items like East Star Groupers, Red Groupers, and Grouper Fish."

While helping to lift the Hawksbill Turtle, Bai Xue reported the results to Yang Qi.

"Then let's keep it up and get a big haul."

Time passed unnoticed, and the sky grew brighter. Although the sunrise at sea was beautiful, the group had no heart to appreciate it.

Who could refuse the temptation of tens of thousands of yuan per net? From the middle of the night until dawn, no one stopped for a single moment.

Time slipped away quietly amidst the constant process of casting nets, hauling them in, and picking through fish.

They had used several boxes of fish chunks for chumming. Sometimes, to save time, Yang Qi would simply take the less valuable fish they had sorted out, chop them up, and use them as chum.

Yang Qi checked the time; it was already past eight in the morning, and the women were exhausted, with aching backs and drenched in sweat.

"That's enough. Let's go retrieve the Longline Fishing!"

With the help of the Crane arm, the Longline Fishing was soon hauled up.

Out of three hundred hooks, they caught a total of 254 fish. Among them, there were eighty-five East Star Groupers and Porcupinefish combined. Wrasse were the most numerous, with sixty-two.

Other fish like ruby fish, Sesame Grouper, Sea Bream, and so on added up to over a hundred. Moreover, none of the fish weighed less than six catties.

"Hubby, hubby, two Live Wells are full. Only two small Live Wells are left."

"Oh? That fast?"

"Hahaha, another harvest trip. This is truly a treasure trove! Ladies, let's go!"

Seeing that they were about to leave the Pratas Island, Wang Yan took out her phone to take photos, wanting to record this pearl of the South China Sea.

"Beauty Wang, let me take a few photos for you. Beauty Wang Yan's trip to Pratas Island!"

Wang Yan and Yao Shanshan thought it was indeed a very meaningful souvenir. Despite their exhaustion, they took some photos while trying to look their best.

Actually, since entering, Yang Qi had been keeping an eye on the situation at Pratas Island, fearing a patrol boat might come. He was also ready to make a run for it at any time.

Fortunately, they weren't discovered. Maybe those people were sleeping too soundly—who cares!

As long as these fish were on his boat, they were his.

Yang Qi immediately turned the helm and headed toward the open sea. Fifteen minutes later, the "setting sail" crossed the shallow reef flats and appeared safely outside the atoll.

Bai Xue, Yao Shanshan, and the other woman had been gritting their teeth and persevering. Once they stopped after taking the photos, even Bai Xue couldn't straighten her back.

The three of them lay flat on the deck like the character "Da", hungry, tired, and not wanting to move at all.

But this was just as well; they didn't see Yang Qi maneuvering the boat through the shallow reef flats, sparing them the fear they had felt last time.

The "setting sail" continued without stopping, passing North Vereker Bank and heading southwest.

After another two hours, the "setting sail" finally left the Pratas Island.

Yang Qi found a random reef, stopped the boat, and dropped anchor. After six or seven hours of high-intensity work in the morning, honestly, he was tired too.

Seeing the three "corpses" lying there, Yang Qi brought them three bottles of red bull and decided to cook a meal for them himself.

From 2 AM until now, nearly 10 AM, they had long been starving. They didn't care about being fancy; they just wanted a large, filling meal. Of course, the ingredients had to be high-end.

Thus, two steamed East Star Groupers, two braised Sesame Groupers, two Wrasse with pickled cabbage, and two Porcupinefish soups were freshly made. There were no flourishes, just genuine, high-quality ingredients.

Just as he was finishing the dishes, the three women had taken turns showering and changed into loose clothing.

"Teacher Wang, Shanshan, you've worked hard! Eat more. Xiaoxue, you eat more too."

After Yang Qi finished speaking, he placed a piece of East Star Grouper meat into Bai Xue's bowl.

"You guys start eating; I'm going to take a shower too."

"Okay, hurry up. We're starving and won't wait for you!"

After Bai Xue spoke, she invited the other two to start eating slowly.