I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 77: Chapter 77: The Big Fish, Bought Right Off the Hook

Gu Nan was exasperated by the duo’s jumpy reactions. He had originally wanted them to take a picture for him, but now he had no choice but to drag the fish into the livewell first.

The grouper wasn’t pulled up from the deep sea, so it didn’t need to be vented.

Wang Junhe’s luxury fishing boat had a livewell with its own oxygen pump. Even though this false oil-spot grouper was huge, it would have no problem staying alive until they got back to shore and delivered it to a seafood shop. The only question was whether it would get that chance.

Catching a Meter Level grouper over here meant things weren’t going to be quiet for a while.

And just like that, Wang Junhe and Guo Xiao, who had only been fishing for a few minutes, reeled in their lines again. It wasn’t that they lacked the patience to fish, but that two nearby fishing boats had seen the massive catch and were approaching, wanting to see the big grouper Gu Nan had caught.

It was just too rare. Anything within twenty nautical miles was considered coastal waters, and it was extremely uncommon to find a grouper this large so close to shore. In these waters, you might not see one for years.

”Bro, can we come aboard to see the fish? I’ve never seen a grouper this big with my own eyes in my whole life.”

Wang Junhe often came here to fish, and while he wasn’t close with the captains of these boats, he recognized them. So, he naturally nodded with a smile and allowed them to come aboard.

Guo Xiao leaned in and explained quietly to Gu Nan, ”It’s good to let them have a look. Otherwise, they might mistake it for a Giant Grouper and report you.”

”I know.” ’Some people might genuinely be curious and just want a look, but others could be jealous and harbor ill intentions. This one fish is worth more than a regular worker’s monthly salary. There are bound to be plenty of envious people.’

Five people came aboard and opened the livewell. Upon seeing the giant inside, the captains of the two boats were extremely surprised.

One of the captains, a thinner man, said, ”An oil-spot grouper? I thought something this big would be a goliath grouper or a marbled grouper. Didn’t expect it to be an oil-spot grouper!”

The other captain observed it closely, then shook his head. ”It’s a false oil-spot grouper. Oil-spot groupers don’t get this big.”

The false oil-spot grouper and the oil-spot grouper are easy to mix up. In Japan, they don’t distinguish between them and consider them the same species.

In China, however, academies have specifically studied these two fish and confirmed that they are two different types of grouper, not even closely related.

They can be distinguished by their markings and the number of spines on their dorsal fins.

The false oil-spot grouper has only thirteen or fourteen large spines on its dorsal fin, while the oil-spot grouper has two more.

They were able to confirm this was a false oil-spot grouper based on its size and the number of spines on its dorsal fin.

Gu Nan had noticed this as well. He had counted earlier; the fin had only thirteen spines.

In terms of price, the false oil-spot grouper is also a bit cheaper than the oil-spot grouper, and its flavor is even considered slightly inferior. Nevertheless, it’s still a rare and valuable type of grouper.

Those who know, know. It’s a rare wild catch in the country, after all!

The other three men didn’t care what kind of grouper it was. They already had their phones out, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, snapping photos.

’Thank goodness Gu Nan had already put the fish in the livewell. If it were still on the deck, they’d probably be pawing all over it and stress it to death.’

After the group left, perhaps awakened by the commotion outside, Wang Junhe’s wife and child came out from the cabin.

Having gotten some extra sleep, their complexions were clearly much better, and the little girl seemed a lot more energetic.

”Wow, Mommy, what a big fish!”

Su Qing was quite surprised to see the fish. ”Which of you caught it?”

She asked the question, but her gaze fell on Gu Nan.

’Based on what she knew of her husband, she highly doubted he was the one who caught this fish. As for Guo Xiao, their families were very close, so it couldn’t have been him. That only left this handsome young man she had just met today. She had been wondering why her husband had suddenly brought a strange young man along, but now, after seeing this fish, she understood.’

Seeing Wang Junhe’s wife looking at him, Gu Nan was about to answer when he noticed Wang Junhe, standing behind Su Qing, frantically signaling him with his eyes.

Once he saw that Gu Nan had gotten the hint, he grinned, squatted down next to his daughter, and said proudly, ”Of course I caught it, Miaomiao! Isn’t Daddy amazing? I caught such a big fish for you. I’ll cook it for you later, okay?”

”Wow, Daddy’s the best! I want to eat the fish!” Wang Miaomiao gave her old man some face and immediately planted a kiss on him.

But Su Qing cut him off with a cold smile. ”You? Catch something like this? In the last ten years, if you’d ever once caught a fish over twenty pounds, I might actually believe this one was you.”

”Stop lying and bragging all the time. You’ll be a bad influence on my precious daughter. Now, fess up. How much did you pay for it?”

Guo Xiao had already expertly returned to his own fishing. Gu Nan stood to the side, maintaining an awkward but polite smile.

’That slight Sichuan accent in her Mandarin finally made him understand why Wang Junhe was so afraid of his wife. The man had nothing on He Qiang!’

At her words, Wang Junhe’s face fell. ”Honey, Ah Nan is right here. Give me a little face.”

”Hmph.”

Su Qing scoffed but didn’t continue her mockery. Instead, she took her daughter’s hand and headed back into the cabin to change, tossing a parting shot over her shoulder.

”Take the boat and drop us off on the island. I’m going to take Miaomiao to look for seashells over there.”

”You got it!”

Wang Junhe eagerly agreed and scurried over to the helm to restart the fishing boat. He pulled up the anchor and first took his wife and child to the island.

As the fishing boat approached the deserted island, Gu Nan finally understood how they were going to get ashore.

It turned out that on the other side of the reef area connecting to the island, there was a convenient rock platform that allowed people to disembark directly from the bow.

After crossing the reef, you would reach a sandy beach on the other side. The boat was loaded with things that needed to be carried to the beach, including a folding table and chairs, a portable gas stove, a pot, and a kitchen knife. So, Gu Nan also went ashore to help move everything.

Once he was on the island, he discovered a small, easy-to-follow path. It led safely to the other side, so there was no need to scramble over the rocks.

’So it was safe after all. No wonder Wang Junhe brought his wife and child here.’

Wang Miaomiao carried her own little beachcombing tools—a small shovel and a small bucket—clearly intending to play only on the sand.

Relying on the mother-daughter duo to collect seashells was unrealistic. The seafood for lunch would still depend on Gu Nan and the other men.

They moved all the things to the beach first. Then, the three men returned to the boat to continue fishing. The school of silver pomfret hadn’t left yet!

As soon as they were back on the boat, Wang Junhe brought up the fish. ”Ah Nan, sell me this false oil-spot grouper!”

”Uh, Brother Wang, are you serious?” Gu Nan was taken aback. He thought Wang Junhe had just been joking earlier, putting on a show for his wife, but he never expected him to actually want to buy it.

Guo Xiao laughed beside them. ”Are you kidding? When has the domestic market ever seen a false oil-spot grouper this big? They’re rare even in Southeast Asia. If Junhe didn’t buy it, I would have. But I won’t fight you for it today.”

”Of course I want it! I was originally planning to go to your shop to pick out some good stuff, but since we have this false oil-spot grouper, we might as well have a fish feast. With a grouper this big, the belly and intestines are a real delicacy!”

As Wang Junhe spoke, he licked his lips greedily. Even for a man with money, a wild grouper this large wasn’t something you encountered often. Farmed ones, of course, were out of the question for him.

After steering the boat to where the school of fish was, he immediately pulled a large steelyard balance from a big cabinet on the left.

Gu Nan was stunned. ”You keep a steelyard balance on your boat?”

”It’s essential for weighing big fish. My boat doesn’t have a crane, so of course I have to keep a scale handy to weigh big catches. Electronic scales are a pain to use. This steelyard is much more convenient,” Wang Junhe said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

”...” Gu Nan glanced at the brand-new steelyard and wisely kept his mouth shut.

Wang Junhe found a rope and made a loop to secure the fish’s tail. Then, the three of them worked together to haul the fish up and place it in an empty container.

The empty container had already been weighed. Now, he and Guo Xiao lifted the container again to weigh it. After subtracting the container’s weight, they had the fish’s final weight.

Fifty-five point nine pounds. Afterward, Wang Junhe also measured its length with a tape: 1.08 meters. It was truly a monster of a fish.

A false oil-spot grouper this big actually didn’t fetch a particularly outrageous price, selling for only about one hundred and fifty yuan per half-kilo.