The feeling was indeed excellent, with the boundless green and light blue providing a release for the tense mind and body from the past few days. Coupled with the uninhibited feeling of cutting through the waves, his mood was exceptionally joyful. It was no wonder people said the sea was the best place to heal the soul.
With ample time to return, there was no need to rush. Li Haochen simply maintained an economical cruising speed, yet he was still faster than most fishing boats.
He turned on the stereo, looping songs from his USB drive. Chen Chusheng's "Missing an Abandoned Name" played, with lyrics like, "...Who is the person you're thinking of now, all those happy, moving, memorable past events..." It was a gloomy and melancholic love song, recounting unforgettable past experiences.
The song was good, but listening to it for too long could lead one to feel depressed and sad.
Going out to sea was supposed to be a joyous occasion, so he couldn't let it get him down. Before finishing the song, Li Haochen switched to a more upbeat and cheerful one.
Music truly was a great remedy for adjusting one's mood. Just moments before, he had been feeling down, but with the change in style, he felt cheerful and happy within a minute.
However, there was also a downside: listening for extended periods could slow down one's brain.
As a result, after listening to a hundred songs from a single USB drive, Li Haochen's ears were buzzing, and his mind felt somewhat unclear, always a beat behind.
In such a state, Li Haochen certainly didn't dare to continue piloting the ship. He turned off the music, stopped the boat, and rested for lunch.
Lunch was ready-made, saving time and effort. More importantly, it was heartwarming.
Li Haochen entered his space and took out a thermos. As he opened it, a gust of hot air escaped. He carefully removed four boxes and arranged them on the table. Upon opening the lids, steamy, aromatic dishes were revealed.
He tested the temperature of the food; it was as if it had just been prepared. The insulation was top-notch.
After eating and washing the dishes, he rested for a while before continuing his voyage. He sailed for several more hours.
By this time, the sea surface was shimmering, a cool breeze was blowing, and the scorching sun had finally lowered its stubborn head.
Checking the fish finder and combining it with the knowledge learned from Dai Changrun, he found a spot he was quite satisfied with about ten minutes later.
He reduced the speed to one knot, took out the mussels he had prepared earlier, crushed them, and filled the bait box. After observing his surroundings, he saw no other boats, so he could confidently proceed with unmanned operation.
The Starry Boat only had about twenty or so crab traps. This number was truly not much for a fisherman. It was like the fishing boats Dai Changrun and his crew were responsible for that morning, piled up like small mountains, at least two to three hundred of them.
Li Haochen had wanted to prepare more. With his spatial divine bait, if he found a location with abundant resources, the harvest would definitely be very generous. However, he was alone on the boat. If he were to deploy hundreds of crab traps, it would take an entire day just to haul them in, not to mention sorting the catch, preparing the bait boxes, and so on. He decided against it.
After sequentially deploying all the crab traps, he anchored and stopped. The hour was still early. He leaned back in his reclining chair, gazing at the vast expanse of orange-red, with occasional seagulls flying by. A poem flashed through his mind: "The sun sets in the west, red clouds fly; a lone goose, a solitary shadow, chases across the sky. Autumn waters meet the sky, shimmering light shines; the vast sky's red glow, the setting sun's curtain."
The sunset in the west, with the rosy clouds and solitary egrets flying together, the shimmering water surface and the sky filled with evening clouds merging into a panoramic curtain – the scene was indeed beautiful. Unfortunately, it only described a river view, lacking the grandeur of the sea.
With his beloved absent, no matter how beautiful the scenery, it held no interest. After sitting for a while, Li Haochen took out some mussels to prepare bait for fishing.
Since returning from the competition, he hadn't had a good fishing session. Li Haochen greatly missed the exhilarating feeling of combat. As he touched the box of "Hidden Dragon" that had accompanied him for a month of battles, a smile naturally spread across his face.
"Old friend, let's have some fun today. I hope you bring me luck."
He opened the box, assembled the fishing rod, selected a 500-gram lead sinker, baited it, and cast it out. Observing the feedback from the lead sinker, the displayed depth was 85 meters.
After reeling in two meters, Li Haochen began to put on his belly-top non-slip gloves. The belly-top was just a precaution; if he encountered an extremely large creature, he would have to use his hands directly, and without the belly-top, it would be debilitating.
However, in the waters at this depth, he couldn't expect to catch large fish like tuna; it was too shallow. Sharks, though, were a possibility.
"Whoosh~"
While taking a sip of water, the fishing rod bent, and the bell on the tip tinkled. However, judging by the tension of the fishing line, it was only a force less than three catties. He didn't even need to use the drag, so Li Haochen didn't intend to use his hands, leaving it to the electric reel.
In less than a minute, a fish about 30 centimeters long, with a light brown body marked by dark, faint, slanted bands, flipped its white belly, gasping for air. Seeing this, Li Haochen quickly grabbed a landing net and scooped it up. He then took a steel needle and poked it into the fish's belly. With a "poof," the bulging belly deflated, and within seconds, the fish began to thrash.
"Didn't expect my luck to be so good, a good start! Heh heh!"
This grouper was of a decent size, nearly three catties. At 200 to 300 per catty, in a city where the average income was only around three thousand, this single fish was equivalent to a week's earnings. Hard to imagine, right?
However, wild catches of this fish were not abundant, and farmed catches were also not high. The most peculiar thing was that farmed ones were slightly more expensive than wild ones. Hard to figure out, isn't it?
In reality, it was all due to transportation issues. Farmed fish were more resistant to damage during transport, resulting in a low mortality rate. Wild fish were more prone to dying during transport. The price difference between live and dead seafood was too vast, which led to the unusual phenomenon of farmed groupers being more expensive than wild ones.
Since returning home had taken up quite a bit of time, he decided not to take this fish back. He tossed it into the spatial sea, adding a new member to his collection.
The fishing conditions were quite good. After more than an hour, he had already caught over a dozen fish. Although their value wasn't as high as the previous grouper, they were still popular catches selling for tens of yuan per catty.
All these fish were also unexceptionally thrown into his space by Li Haochen. These were all "hens that lay eggs."
As dinner time approached, just as he was preparing to reel in and rest, the fishing rod bent sharply, and the fishing line made a grating "squeak." The tension was no less than that of the "King Garrupa" he encountered during the last competition.
"Could it be a Great White Shark?"
Li Haochen had no time to think. The sound of the taut fishing line cutting through the air made him quite worried. He quickly released a small amount of drag.
With just that small release, the fishing reel spun rapidly. If he had opened the drag fully, it would have likely spooled out the thousand meters of line in less than half a minute.
Taking advantage of this moment, Li Haochen quickly grabbed the fishing rod and braced it against his belly-top. He slightly lifted the rod, curbing the fierce creature's arrogance.
This lift drove the fishhook deeper, and the intense pain enraged its ferocity.
The sudden surge of movement and the resulting force almost caused Li Haochen to stumble.