My fishing raft will ask for help.

Chapter 137 Encounter with a School of Gorgons

"You seem to have a lot of free time," Zhou Miao said with a smile as he sat down next to Luo Qianqian. "You stayed up so late last night, weren't you tired?"

"It's alright, I guess I wasn't feeling well at sea."

Luo Qianqian answered without looking up, her eyes fixed on the game screen.

This scene inexplicably reminded Zhou Miao of certain specific events.

If we were in a room, wouldn't that be possible...?

Shaking his head, Zhou Miao quickly banished some amusing images from his mind.

He first went to look at Yu Muzhou's mahjong tiles, but he wasn't interested in mahjong, so he went back to the window to look at the sea view.

Because there were only three days and four nights, the trip was rather rushed, so the fishing boat did not stay at the fishing spot from the previous night, but continued to head towards the oil well.

They didn't know when they set sail, but after having lunch and taking a short nap, they arrived at their destination.

The ship will remain here until it returns.

Large ships run on oil, so captains try to save costs as much as possible.

Especially for short trips, once they reach the fishing spot, they basically won't move again.

Zhou Miao had slept enough in the morning, so he didn't rest for long at noon. When he learned that the boat had stopped, he took his fishing rod and went out.

It's cloudy today, and the sea breeze is very refreshing. It's not hot at all, but those who are sensitive to the cold should wear an extra jacket.

Zhou Miao, on the other hand, was full of energy, even though she was wearing a short-sleeved shirt.

There weren't many people fishing at this spot, so he went straight to the aft deck of the boat.

Just as I was about to find a suitable fishing spot, I saw Yu Muzhou fishing.

"When it comes to fishing, Zhou Ge, you're the most enthusiastic."

"Hey, you're up! I thought you were going to sleep all afternoon, or go find your little girlfriend for some fun."

Yu Muzhou turned around and saw him, and immediately started teasing him.

"It's not convenient on the ship, and taking it now would be a complete disaster," Zhou Miao said, looking around and not finding Luo Qianqian.

"That's right, only those with self-control can accomplish great things." Yu Muzhou nodded in satisfaction.

After all, she was his trusted younger brother. If she were to become obsessed with beautiful women, it would mean that he had misjudged her.

In his view, men can be unfaithful; after all, which big shot doesn't have several beautiful women around him?

However, it is important to distinguish between primary and secondary matters. Beauty is merely a condiment in life, and one should not let it diminish one's will to accomplish anything.

"Brother Zhou, the big deal you're talking about is fishing?" Zhou Miao teased, pointing to the fishing rod in his hand.

"This isn't a big deal? This is a fucking huge deal!"

"Don't just stand there and watch, hurry up and get ready to fish. The boatman just said there are schools of fish underwater."

"There are fish everywhere around this oil well! How deep is it?"

"The water depth is forty or fifty meters; they say the fish there are bigger. If the fish weren't so big, would I be here now?"

Zhou Miao suddenly realized, "That's right, only a big fish can attract Yu Muzhou."

He didn't touch his jigging rod and line setup; he could start fishing right away.

The sub-wire was a bit worn last night, so he replaced it.

After changing the bait, Zhou Miao threw the metal plate bait into the water and started pulling the metal plate.

"Now that you're here, I can take a look at what kind of fish are in the water." Yu Muzhou was quite self-aware, knowing that even if there were schools of fish in the water, he might not be able to catch any.

But as soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Miao's hand, which was pulling the iron plate, paused, and then the pole suddenly bent downwards.

He glanced at the astonished Yu Muzhou, then raised his hand to stab the fish: "Thanks for your kind words, you'll see the fish soon."

"..."

As expected of the "big fish" Yu Muzhou spoke of, the first one caught today was already at a high intensity, with a very strong pull.

But it's far inferior to the 30-plus-pound yellowfin tuna from last night; it's a whole level below in both impact and speed.

So after Zhou Miao hooked the fish, he forcefully lifted the fishing rod and quickly reeled in the line.

The fish in the water struggled to break free of the school of fish, but it exhausted most of its strength and was still spinning in circles.

About ten minutes later, Zhou Miao, panting slightly, pulled a large, silvery-white fish, more than half a meter long, to the surface of the water.

The fish was very fat, its belly was bulging, and it looked like it was pregnant.

In reality, it was just a change in water pressure that caused the fish's belly to swell up.

Of course, this also shows that the fish is quite fat.

"I didn't expect it to be a large shad, and it's quite big!" Yu Muzhou's eyes lit up when he saw the fish.

He immediately replaced his lure with a special mackerel bait with a strong fishy smell. This was a secret bait he bought from the boat, which could increase its attractiveness to carnivorous fish and increase the chances of catching a fish.

Last night he could only watch Zhou Miao catch big fish, and he was so envious. Today he insisted on catching a few himself, even just one.

"The price of mackerel seems quite cheap." Zhou Miao frowned as he watched the boatman scoop the fish up.

"That depends on whether you sell the whole fish, swim bladder and all, or just the fish meat," the boatman who scooped the fish for him laughed.

"We buy fish along with the swim bladder for 40 yuan per jin (500g). If you only sell the fish meat, it's 5 yuan per jin."

"That price is pretty good!" Zhou Miao's eyes lit up.

He had seen shad at the market before and asked about the price, which was twelve yuan per jin.

Zhou Miao knew that the swim bladder of this type of fish was the most valuable part, but he didn't expect the price to rise so much.

The boatman offered a very low price, even lower than the fishmongers on the shore. Judging from the price of fish meat, wouldn't this mackerel be able to sell for eighty yuan per catty if it were taken ashore?

This is promising!

Zhou Miao continued to draw from the iron plate, and unexpectedly, he hit another one very quickly.

Furthermore, it was discovered that this fish was even stronger than the previous one; if it were a mackerel, it would probably weigh around 30 pounds.

Ten pounds is eight hundred yuan, that's easy money!

This time it took a few minutes longer, the fish was very cooperative and kept struggling.

Moreover, the water depth where the fish are located is not deep enough. Even if Zhou Miao pulls the fish to the shallow water area, the water pressure will not have a significant impact on them, making fishing more difficult.

In the end, the fish was forced to surface. It was still a large shad, and it looked quite energetic, its tail constantly slapping the water.

Yu Muzhou was getting anxious. Why hadn't he caught any fish yet?

Just as I was thinking this, the pole suddenly sank.

"Haha, finally a bite! This secret bait works really well."

Is it possible to catch fish even with lures?

"..."

Yu Muzhou rolled his eyes at him, annoyed: "The way you're talking makes it sound like I'm the sucker."

"What do you mean by 'easy target'? That's called 'God of Wealth'!" Zhou Miao said with a grin, watching the boatman, who was trying not to laugh, lift the fish up with a hook.

He just said what the boatmen were thinking!

They receive a fixed salary and tips, but commissions are not part of their income, so it doesn't matter whether the goods can be sold or not.

As long as they travel on ships frequently each month, their wages will be quite substantial, generally guaranteed to be over 15,000 yuan, since the base salary is already around 10,000 yuan.

But this industry is also quite demanding and requires a certain amount of experience.

Previously, boatmen were mostly middle-aged men in their forties. It's only in the last two years, with the economy not doing well, that some young people have started trying to become boatmen.