90: Endless Island

Yang Qi marked the island on the map, naming it “Endless Island.”

Indeed, in Yang Qi's eyes, this was a sea area with inexhaustible fishery resources.

Yang Qi started the fishing boat and moved away from the island; he didn't want anyone to discover that he was paying attention to this sea area.

He wanted to leave it as it was before, undisturbed, allowing the creatures to rest and recuperate, except for his occasional visits to harvest some.

He would treat this place as his private backyard.

Yang Qi piloted the setting sail for over an hour more, heading west.

He finally found a spot with scattered coral reefs and some low rock piles on the seafloor to drop anchor. The water depth was over 60 meters.

Schools of various fish swam back and forth among the coral reefs and rock piles, searching for food.

At the very bottom, Grouper hugged the reefs and sandy seabed, preying on small fish and shrimp that passed by, looking so leisurely.

Perhaps the surrounding resources were too abundant, and they never lacked food.

Yang Qi's lips curved upwards; this was the sea area he had been looking for, rich and diverse in resources.

He walked to the boat's side, assembled three boat fishing rods onto the gunwales, and began baiting and casting his lines, locking the line release switch.

He then climbed to the flybridge and found Yang Dad smoking on the sofa.

Mother Yang and Bai Xue had already gone to the rest cabin to catch up on sleep.

The two father and son smoked and chatted idly.

“Dad, how do you feel about this kind of fisherman's life now?”

Yang Qi asked.

“Today's half-day of living, to be honest, completely overturned my thinking. I never imagined that making a living at sea could be so fast.”

Yang Dad took a puff of his cigarette, thought for a moment, and replied, “I'm very happy that you have such abilities and harvests, son. But sometimes, it's better to be a bit reserved in front of outsiders! Being too sharp isn't always a good thing!”

“Do you understand what I mean? We are just ordinary people; it's not good to be a trailblazer. Your mom and I don't want you to be extremely rich; we just want you to be safe and sound!”

Yang Qi's smoking motion paused.

“Is it that obvious? It even caught Yang Dad's attention. I thought I was being careful enough. When did I give myself away? It seems deciding not to go fishing with others was the right choice. Luckily, it was Yang Dad.”

“I need to be more careful in the future! Try not to do anything too noticeable in nearshore waters. Good resources in distant waters can serve as an excuse. That's settled!”

He replied, “Got it, Dad!”

“Actually, what I wanted to ask is if you would consider moving here with Mother Yang.”

“After all, I'm grown up now and can earn money. There's no need for you to stay in our old home, toiling away with farming. Look, just like this morning, catching one giant fish is equivalent to a year's income from our fields back home.”

“Besides, if you ever get sick or something in the future, and I'm so far away, I won't be able to take care of you at all.”

“As the old saying goes, home is where your parents are! Don't you agree?”

Yang Qi offered Yang Dad another cigarette and then fell silent. He wanted to give Yang Dad and Mother Yang time to consider and discuss it.

To be honest, ever since he gained the golden finger and could earn money, he had been thinking about bringing his parents to live with him.

After all, they had worked hard for him for half their lives, and as their only son, now that he had the ability, he hoped they could enjoy some comfort.

“This isn't a small matter; Mother Yang and I will discuss it and then decide,” Yang Dad said after a moment of silence.

Yang Qi nodded, “Alright, Dad, you two discuss it thoroughly.”

Just then, there was a commotion below the boat. Yang Qi stood up, walked down the flybridge, and went to the boat's side, finding that the lines of all three fishing rods were reeling in with a “zzzz” sound.

“Are there fish on the hook?” Yang Dad asked loudly from the flybridge.

“Yes, Dad!”

Yang Qi picked up the landing net and scooped up a Sesame Grouper that was half-floating on the sea surface.

“Whoa! Sesame Grouper! A great start!”

Yang Dad also came over to help. He went to net the Tiger Grouper hanging on the second fishing rod.

Yang Qi re-baited with Shrimp and cast it back into the water. Then he rushed to the third rod; this fish was clearly much bigger, its form still unseen, and the fishing line was making a “woo woo” sound. The electric reel's retrieval speed had noticeably slowed down.

Yang Qi poured some water over the electric reel to cool it down.

He put on his gloves, grabbed the fishing line in front of the electric reel with his hand, and manually helped the electric reel retrieve the line with force.

Slowly, a huge Green Grouper, weighing over forty catties, was pulled out of the water. Just then, Yang Dad timely extended the landing net and scooped up the fish. Father and son worked together to pull this big fellow onto the deck.

Yang Qi first vented the air from these Groupers, then put them into the live fish tank, his heart filled with joy as he looked at his catch.

Mother Yang and Bai Xue also emerged from the rest cabin at this time, ready to prepare a meal.

Yang Qi suddenly remembered something and greeted Yang Dad, who was watching the electric reel.

He walked over to Bai Xue and asked,

“Xiao Xue, I remember seeing a report that said Melo Melo snails might produce a Dragon Pearl. Is that true?”

“Yes, it's possible, but the probability is very small. I was actually planning to tell you about it when we returned,” Bai Xue replied.

“Then let's open them now! What if there's a Dragon Pearl, right?” Yang Qi was a bit eager.

“Alright! Just wait for me a moment; I'll go boil some water. It will be useful for opening the snails later,” Bai Xue said.

Yang Qi nodded and left, going to the small live water tank to retrieve the eight Melo Melo snails, each as big as a human head.

However, he didn't know how to start. He took out an iron hook and hooked the snail meat, but he couldn't pull it out no matter how hard he tried.

He was tempted to smash it with a hammer but was afraid of damaging the Dragon Pearl.

Just as he was at a loss, Bai Xue came over with a pot of hot water.

“Hehehe, Yang Qi Ge, that's not how you remove the meat. Watch me!”

Bai Xue took out a rope, stretched it between the boat's side and the aisle, and then hung the Melo Melo snails, with their meat hooked, on the rope.

She then poured the hot water over the snail shells one by one, repeating the process. Slowly, slowly, some of the snail meat began to detach from the shell.

After about ten minutes, there was a “plop” sound. One of the Melo Melo snail's meat completely detached from its shell. The huge shell spun directly on the deck.

The Melo Melo snail meat hung on the rope, quivering, giving one a peculiar feeling.

Bai Xue picked up the shell and shook it; there was no sound. She then picked up the snail meat and slowly squeezed the mantle and siphon with her hand.

Suddenly, she felt something hard on her finger and felt it carefully again.

Then, somewhat excitedly, she said to Yang Qi, “I found it, Yang Qi Ge! Come and feel it; it should be the Dragon Pearl.”