The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 197: Chapter 197: The Coordinates of the ”Good Place” Have Been Leaked

Han Xiaorui had intentionally adjusted the net-hauling time to every two to three hours—mostly every two. It was only five in the afternoon, but they’d already hauled the nets twice.

They estimated they could get one more haul in before dark.

If things went this well through the night, they could head back by tomorrow night.

Everyone was delighted at the thought.

Even though they were sailors and accustomed to life at sea, nothing beat the feeling of solid ground under their feet.

Filling the holds to capacity sooner meant they could go home sooner.

Despite the intense labor of frequently hauling and sorting the nets, everyone was happy to do it.

They were approaching the reef from last time, the one covered in scallops, oysters, sea cucumbers, and abalone.

Chen Yishui looked through her binoculars, and her expression faltered when she saw boats there.

Judging by the lack of prior activity, they had been the first to discover that reef. No one had been there before them.

Besides their own vessel, only Yang Zhigang’s boat knew about it.

”Xiao Rui, come take a look.” Chen Yishui handed the binoculars to Han Xiaorui so she could see for herself.

Han Xiaorui looked surprised. ”Looks like we won’t be gathering anything here this time. Three boats have already taken the spot.”

”Xiao Rui, I think someone leaked our spot.” Chen Yishui frowned. It was such a great location, one they had discovered first, and now someone else had snatched it. She was not happy about it.

But they couldn’t just charge over and start a fight out here on the open sea.

Besides, they were an all-female crew. They probably couldn’t win a fight against those men, especially not when they were outnumbered three boats to one.

Han Xiaorui thought for a moment. ”Change course. We’ll go somewhere else. There are so many people on our boat, plus everyone on Uncle Yang’s. Even if someone leaked it, we’d never be able to figure out who.”

”Besides, we have good luck. We’ll get a great haul even if we don’t fish here, so there’s no need to get angry. The ocean is huge. There are other spots with even more fish.”

Chen Yishui was furious, but hearing Han Xiaorui’s words, she shook her head and couldn’t help but laugh. ”Xiao Rui, you’re really not like a captain.”

Han Xiaorui asked, surprised, ”What are captains supposed to be like?”

Chen Yishui thought for a moment, then said, ”The minute there’s a disagreement, they start a fight.”

Han Xiaorui chuckled. ”Lose the fight, you go to the hospital. Win the fight, you go to the police station. From now on, we’ll win people over with virtue. Haha! Of course, just take that with a grain of salt. When it’s time to throw down, don’t hold back.”

”Huh?” Chen Yishui thought about it carefully. ”I guess that makes sense. From now on, we should use our heads more and win them over with virtue.”

Chen Yishui changed course, leaving the area.

When Qi Heng saw Han Xiaorui’s boat change course, he checked the coordinates and realized this was the same spot where they had gathered all those scallops, oysters, and sea cucumbers.

Seeing three boats already there, his face immediately darkened.

Seeing his expression, Yang Zhigang paused and asked, ”Brother Qi, what’s wrong?”

Qi Heng said grimly, ”We have a traitor on this boat!”

Yang Zhigang was taken aback. ”What makes you say that? Who is it?”

He paid his crew a very high salary and commission, hoping they would work hard and be loyal to him.

Qi Heng handed the binoculars to Yang Zhigang. ”Look. That reef up ahead is where we found all those big scallops and oysters last time. We filled half a hold in just two or three hours.”

”There’s still a ton left there, but our catches have been so good lately that we haven’t bothered going back. I saw Xiao Rui heading this way today and figured she was planning to gather some more from the reef.”

”But look, someone’s there! Before we found it, no one knew about that spot.”

Yang Zhigang looked through the binoculars and saw the three boats, along with several dark figures working on the reef.

Yang Zhigang’s expression grew solemn. He didn’t care about the shellfish on the reef, but he cared a great deal that someone had leaked its location. ”Brother Qi, who do you think leaked the coordinates?”

Qi Heng didn’t answer right away. ”I don’t know if anyone on Xiao Rui’s boat would have leaked it. On our boat, I suspect it was that kid, Cao Jun.”

”What makes you say that?” Yang Zhigang was taken aback. Cao Jun was the son of one of his old army buddies. He didn’t know a thing when he brought him aboard last year, and he had treated the kid well.

Qi Heng replied, ”At the time, he was the only one who saw the boat’s coordinates on the screen. Besides me, he’s the only one on our boat who knew. Nobody else saw it!”

”As for Xiao Rui’s crew, I doubt it’s any of them. Those women are just focused on earning money; they aren’t thinking about buying their own boats. But Cao Jun wants to buy a boat.”

”Even though you pay him a high salary and commission, it’s nowhere near enough to buy a boat. When people are short on cash, they start getting crooked ideas. My guess is he sold the coordinates to another captain.”

Yang Zhigang nodded. ”You have a point, but this is just a guess. It might not be true.”

”I’ll ask around later. You stay out of it.”

Qi Heng nodded. ”Alright. I’ve told you what I know, so you can investigate it yourself. I’ll keep things running on the boat.”

A plan formed in Yang Zhigang’s mind. He’d start making inquiries when they got back.

The fishing community was a small world. With a bit of money, he could find out anything.

Both Yang Zhigang and Han Xiaorui had a tacit understanding not to show any dissatisfaction in front of their crews.

The next haul was all beltfish. They were large and wide, of excellent quality.

After dinner, they pulled up another net.

This haul was full of tongue sole. They looked like cow tongues and weren’t pretty, but they tasted great.

They had already been working at high intensity all day. Han Xiaorui went to discuss it with Chen Yishui. ”Sister Shui, let’s haul the nets every four hours tonight so everyone can get more sleep.”

Chen Yishui thought for a moment. ”Let’s make it three hours. That way we can get three hauls in overnight. We’ll fill the holds faster and get home sooner. The weather is so changeable right now. It looks fine, but you never know when it might suddenly turn. Anything can happen at sea.”

”But everyone’s already so tired from the day. If we push them that hard again tonight, I’m afraid they won’t be able to take it.” Han Xiaorui looked worried. Of course she wanted to go home early too, but not at the expense of her crew’s health.

Chen Yishui explained, ”Don’t worry about that. We already started rotating shifts this afternoon. The ones who slept in the afternoon will take the night watch. We hired three extra hands for this very reason, so we can handle it. I’ll take care of the arrangements, you don’t need to worry.”

Seeing her confidence, Han Xiaorui agreed. ”Alright, then. I trust you, Sister Shui. I’m going to wash up and get some sleep.”

”You’ve been busy all day. Go on to bed. Mengyue and I will take over and manage the boat.” Chen Yishui was completely dedicated. After all, with such a high salary and commission, she felt she had to do her job to perfection.

Fresh water was precious on the boat, but because their trips were short, everyone could still have a basin of hot water for a sponge bath each day.

After washing up, Han Xiaorui lay down on her bunk, the rocking of the boat feeling like a cradle.

She thought she was in for a night of sweet dreams, but she didn’t expect that in the middle of the night, Xiao Dai, the Grand Steward of the Dragon Palace, would start drumming up business for her again.

Han Xiaorui was fast asleep in the middle of the night when the fishing boat suddenly began to shake violently.

Han Xiaorui quickly grabbed the bed’s railing with both hands. Any slower and she would have been thrown from her bunk.

At first, she thought they were in danger, but a quick mental probe revealed it was just Xiao Dai again.

Fuming, Han Xiaorui stormed over, grabbed a flashlight, and shone it out onto the surface of the sea.