Section 167

For a moment... the entire livestream room was silent!

Not even a single chat message appeared!

This question... truly touched upon a blind spot in many people's knowledge.

After a brief silence... everyone had no choice but to whisper in the comment section:

"Uh... Lin Xian, this question really stumped me! I thought... isn't it the case that all fishermen take a boat out to sea, cast a net, catch a net full of fish, and then sell them at the market? Ahem... don't make fun of me, I've never studied this before, but I just felt that since fishermen all have to go out to sea to fish... then at the very least, wouldn't they need a fishing boat?"

"Thinking about it carefully, what Lin Xian said actually makes a lot of sense! The wind and waves in the ocean are so huge... those small wooden boats we see in TV shows and movies definitely have no way of sailing in the ocean. And... to catch enough fish, you definitely have to go to the deep-sea areas. There aren't many fish in the coastal waters anyway; they've long since been fished clean by all sorts of big and small boats."

"So... does no one know the answer? Besides going out to sea to cast nets and fish... what other ways of survival do fishermen have? Or rather... listening to what Lin Xian meant, it seems like not every fisherman actually goes out to sea to fish. Then the question arises... if they don't go out to sea to fish, and they can't farm... then how do these poorer fishermen by the seaside make a living?"

"Ahem... as a fisherman from the seaside, I should step up and explain this to everyone! Generally speaking, the vast majority of fishermen make a living by fishing at sea... and Lin Xian is right, you can forget about fishing in the open ocean with an ordinary small wooden boat. Never mind tornadoes or huge waves... even a small rogue wave, or even a whale rolling over, could capsize a small wooden boat! So... large iron fishing boats that go out to sea are indeed quite expensive."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm also a fisherman who makes a living by the sea. Some fisherman families with better financial conditions will buy their own fishing boat. At worst... a few neighbors with good relationships will crowdfund a fishing boat and everyone will go out to fish together. For those who are poorer... they can only work on someone else's fishing boat. As for which situation Xixi belongs to, as Lin Xian mentioned... there's too little information, and I can't guess either."

Netizens had a lot to say.

After some coastal residents provided their personal accounts... everyone did indeed gain a rough understanding of fishermen's lives.

So...

What kind of trouble did Xixi's family actually encounter?

Is it that they can't afford a boat?

Or is the family's boat broken and in need of repair by Lin Xian?

This... no matter how you look at it, is a bit "unreasonable," right? You can't just expect Lin Xian to build a boat for your family!

That feels a bit like moral kidnapping!

However...

These are just the netizens' guesses. As for the specific situation... we'll have to wait for Lin Xian to show Xixi's chat history before drawing any conclusions!

In the online livestream room.

Lin Xian watched the wild guesses in the chat and shook his head with a smile:

"Things aren't like what everyone thinks... but this can't be blamed on you all, because I, having always lived in an inland area, also learned for the first time from Xixi's private message... that there is actually a group of fishermen who make a living by [diving and fishing]! And... many of the seafood items we use in our daily lives... are actually caught by hand!"

"So next... let us first take a look at the private message Xixi sent me! After reading this private message... everyone will be able to truly understand the predicament Xixi's family is facing, as well as... the design philosophy of the product I am developing specifically for fishermen."

Saying this...

Lin Xian held his phone screen up to the camera and opened the chat box with Xixi—

Looking at the photo.

It was a very simple and cute little girl.

Perhaps because the sunshine by the sea is relatively strong... Xixi's complexion was tanned into a healthy and beautiful wheat color.

In the avatar, Xixi was wearing a straw hat, with two little dimples on her face, smiling very sweetly!

The content of her private message was as follows—

"Hello, handsome Brother Xian! My name is Xixi! I come from a fisherman's family on the coast of the East Sea in the Dragon Kingdom! Today's livestream... seeing you launch that Artificial Rainfall Bomb that spanned the whole country... I was very shocked! Although you operate an agricultural factory called Fuqiang Agricultural Machinery Factory... but! I still firmly believe! You are simply the greatest scientist in this world!"

"At the end of the livestream... you told everyone that you would continue to develop agricultural machinery in the coming days, dedicating yourself to the Dragon Kingdom's farming cause, and letting farmers across the country live better lives... You are truly great! But I still want to weakly ask—do fisherman families like ours... count as farmers?

Ahem... actually, it's a bit embarrassing to say, but I just want to request, big brother... could you also design and develop some agricultural products for us fishermen? I have to say... although the Dragon Kingdom has a very large population of fishermen, there are... very few people who design specialized agricultural machinery for us. So much so that... the fishing methods of the vast majority of families here are no different from ancient times.

Especially... fisherman families like mine, who are relatively poor, are very common here. Apart from a small wooden boat... we have almost no production tools. My father and mother have no way to go deep-sea fishing, and our land here is severely salinized, so we can't farm either... Therefore, my family's only means of living is for Mom and Dad to take the boat to the coastal area, and then dive down—personally catching sea urchins, scallops, starfish, sea snails, and the like..."

"There are many fishermen here like my parents who rely on diving to make a living. After all, things like sea urchins, shellfish, starfish, and sea snails hiding in the crevices of the seabed... cannot be caught by the nets of large fishing boats; they can only be collected by going into the water personally.

Although these sea urchins and the like can fetch a good price... but! This kind of coastal diving activity always encounters various unexpected risks! Small risks... like getting tangled in seaweed or broken fishing nets... that's still okay, we can use communication equipment to call for help and find companions to assist..."

"But... if we encounter large carnivorous fish like sharks or orcas that come to the coast to hunt... there is almost no chance of survival! After all, humans in the water definitely cannot escape or resist the attacks of sharks or orcas... Every year, adults here lose their lives in the mouths of sharks, and there have even been several times where my parents almost got eaten by sharks! Thanks to them discovering them in time and swimming back up to the boat quickly, they managed to escape disaster!"

"People often say, if you walk by the river often, how can you not get your shoes wet? Every time they go out diving... Mom and Dad always have to pray in front of the Mazu statue that nothing will happen this time... Brother Xian, could you please help us? Could you design a type of agricultural machine... that can protect my mom and dad, as well as all the diving fishermen in the village, from attacks by sharks, orcas, and the like while they are collecting sea urchins and shellfish?

I am really scared... that one day Mom and Dad will be eaten by sharks and never come back! So... Brother Xian, could you please, in your spare time, when designing products... also take care of the fisherman group by the sea? Thank you!""

Xixi's long private message...

While letting everyone know about this special group of [diving fishermen]... also made them feel a touch of heartache and sadness for their lives.

Everyone likes to eat seafood...

And knows that seafood is delicious...

But they never expected!

These delicious dishes on the dining table!

Many of them were actually caught by hand by these [diving fishermen] while risking their lives!

Although the waters where these sea urchins, starfish, and shellfish are caught... are in the near-shore area.

But the water depth there is still about 40 meters deep!

You could say it's more than 10 stories deep! You can't see the bottom at a glance! Not to mention how far the visibility can be in the murky seawater...

That feeling is truly terrifying!

In this instant...

Countless netizens triggered the "thalassophobia" deep in their genes...

And one after another, they timidly posted in the chat:

"Hiss... I have to say, just browsing through Xixi's private message... I felt a chill all over! My thalassophobia is about to flare up! The seabed at 40 meters deep... this depth is truly too terrifying! You have to know... the maximum depth of a standard swimming pool is only 2 meters! Even that 2-meter depth is enough to scare me and make me afraid to get close... It's hard to imagine! Just how terrifying a depth is 40 meters!"

"So... the sea urchins, shellfish, and starfish we usually eat... are all caught in such a dangerous way! I always thought they were easily caught with fishing nets... but thinking about it carefully, it makes sense. These sea urchins and shellfish are all hidden in the nooks and crannies of the seabed... how could they possibly be caught with fishing nets? As expected, one can only rely on manual diving... it's really too hard!"

"Sigh, this isn't just simple hard work... it's also facing very serious life-threatening dangers! You saw it in Xixi's private message... this kind of underwater operation makes it very easy to get your feet tangled in seaweed or old fishing nets, leaving you unable to move. That's not even counting... the most dangerous, the most fatal ones are large carnivorous animals like sharks and orcas! You've all seen the movie 《Jaws》, right? When this creature with extremely strong attack power reaches the coastal waters... it's really a killing spree!"

"What Xixi said is really too pitiful... what her mom and dad face is not just poverty, but also the risk of losing their lives at any moment to earn living expenses! Wuwuwu... I really got sand in my eyes! I never expected... that behind the seafood I usually eat, there is actually a group of people like Xixi's parents... risking their lives diving to catch it!"

"Sigh... this is ultimately something that can't be helped. If anything, it's precisely because these sea urchins and shellfish cannot be caught by fishing nets... that it gives these poor fishermen without boats a chance to make a living! Every family really has its own difficult problems... But! This hard life is coming to an end today! I believe... this gift that Lin Xian is sending out! Will definitely solve the urgent needs of Xixi and the others!"

The eyes of billions of people around the world were all focused on Lin Xian!

Everyone was waiting and watching... looking forward to it!

What kind of product is he going to bring out... that can protect those diving fishermen from the attacks of sharks, orcas, and even great white sharks in the coastal waters!

Finally...

Amidst everyone's anticipation!

Lin Xian took out a familiar locked briefcase from under the table!

While opening the latches, he explained to everyone:

"Everyone can see from Xixi's private message... the only way for these poor diving fishermen to survive is to dive with their bare bodies and personally catch things like starfish, sea urchins, and shellfish... Some don't even have diving tanks! They rely on holding their breath to dive... and then come back up to breathe when they can't hold it anymore."

"In this situation... once they get tangled in seaweed or old fishing nets, there is a risk of death. And even if they are equipped with some underwater breathing equipment, carrying oxygen tanks... they still have to guard against predation by fierce animals like orcas and sharks..."

"Sharks, as fierce creatures, are almost invincible predators in the coastal areas. If the diving fishermen don't discover them in time and surface to escape to the boat... it is almost a certain death sentence! Because... with the human body, there is simply no way to resist a shark in the sea, let alone fight back, or escape safely..."

Lin Xian smiled slightly and opened the briefcase:

"The name of this product that can provide all-around protection for fishermen is—"

"[Small Water-Drop Dolphin]!"

Chapter 105: Destroying 11 Aircraft Carriers with One Blow! The US Navy Wiped Out! 2000 New Year's Firecrackers!

"The name of this product that can provide all-around protection for fishermen is—"

"[Small Water-Drop Dolphin]!"

Water-Drop... Dolphin?

When everyone heard the name of this product, they were all stunned.

What kind of strange combination is this?

Thinking back that Lin Xian's previous gift was a Mechanical Sheepdog... could it be that this time he made a mechanical dolphin as a gift?

For a moment, the chat in the livestream was buzzing with discussion:

"Small Water-Drop Dolphin... what kind of magical thing is this again? Just listening to the name... it seems to be related to dolphins. Could it be a mechanical toy dolphin? Ah no no no... by now, I completely don't believe that Lin Xian would manufacture ordinary agricultural tools or ordinary mechanical toys! If this gift is really like the Mechanical Sheepdog... then it must be a mechanical ~ dolphin!"

"Hahahaha, listening to the name... it's really so cute! Dolphins themselves are a cute creature, and they are also very close to humans, and very smart... every time I go to the aquarium, I can't help but touch them a few times! I don't know what this mechanical dolphin that Lin Xian made looks like... if it's very cute, could it be kept at home as a pet? After all... real dolphins are too hard to keep alive! But a mechanical one only needs to be charged!"