The dinner was very generous, with chicken, beef short ribs, and the mackerel contributed by Li Haochen. Liu Qinghe felt heartbroken upon hearing this and chided Li Haochen softly in his ear, "I say, Haochen, you shouldn't do this in the future. One less fish might be the deciding factor. Remember that."
Good words were spoken, but his mouth betrayed him, as Liu Qinghe ate the most mackerel. After he finished and was picking his teeth, he expressed a slight regret, "Hmm, it's made well. It would be awesome to have pickled mackerel tomorrow."
Li Haochen also had a dark look on his face upon hearing this and muttered, "It's not like it's yours, of course it's awesome."
Despite his words, Li Haochen was willing to part with a few fish, as long as they weren't the expensive ones costing thousands or tens of thousands. Of course, this depended on the person; if it were Murong Yanran and the others, the coral trout would already be in the pot.
The dinner was enjoyable, and everyone had some drinks, so no one went night fishing. After eating their fill, they all returned to their rooms to rest.
Seeing that everyone had gone to rest and no one was fishing, Liu Qinghe sulked and slapped himself hard, "My mouth is too talkative, why did I have to mention drinking?"
That night, there were no arguments from the previous day, only sweet smiles and snores.
The next morning, Li Haochen was still the earliest riser. He came out onto the deck and was startled by the sight before him. The entire view was filled with thick gray fog, making it almost impossible to see his hand in front of his face. "Looks like I can't do my morning exercises."
Seeing that breakfast wasn't ready yet, Li Haochen returned to his room, grabbed his fishing tackle box, and headed to the fishing spot. He had used up all the mussel meat the previous day, so he planned to change his line setup and try for a big fish.
After assembling the fishing rod and changing the line, he went to the live bait well to get some white shrimp. The fishhook was large, and to rig the shrimp, he had to insert it in a U-shape through the shrimp's head and out through its tail.
After baiting the hook, he plugged the power cord into the electric reel interface, set the depth, and released the drag, letting the line down.
The dense fog persisted, and even the sea surface just a stone's throw away was invisible. Seeing no activity after waiting for two or three minutes, Li Haochen leaned back on the long bench behind him to rest and drink some water.
"Boom... boom..."
At this moment, a strange phenomenon occurred. The rod tip bent into a massive curve, almost touching the sea surface, while the fishing line vibrated with a loud, piercing sound, much like the large slingshots used by the cotton fluffer uncles who traveled all over the country when he was young. The vibrations caused the surrounding fog to dissipate.
"A leviathan."
Li Haochen's eyes burned with intensity, and he rushed forward immediately. On the hazy sea surface, the sound of the line cutting through the water as it was being pulled was clearly audible. Each surge of the leviathan caused a slight tremor in the large boat, indicating its immense ferocity.
The electric reel had already started working automatically, but its retrieving speed was very slow. Li Haochen touched the electric reel, "It's starting to heat up. I don't know if it can hold on."
He looked at the electric reel with some concern and, after careful consideration, decided to handle it himself. It would be a shame if the submerged dragon were to be ruined.
He put on the gimbal belt, turned off the power, and slightly released the drag. With just this slight release, the drum reel began to spool out line at a rapid pace. In just a few seconds, hundreds of meters had been taken. Li Haochen quickly braced the rod handle against his gimbal belt, gripped the rod handle with his left hand, and held the crank handle with his right hand to stop the line from unreeling.
The force was too immense. Li Haochen was pulled back seven or eight steps before he could stabilize himself. He locked the drum reel and relied entirely on his own strength to resist.
The leviathan's strength was formidable. Li Haochen had to lean back forty-five degrees, combining the weight of his entire body with his own strength to resist.
In fact, this was extremely dangerous. With the slightest misstep, if the leviathan surged forward, it could hit the back of his head, causing him to bleed profusely, and perhaps even a concussion.
Even so, Li Haochen could barely hold on. In just over ten minutes, Li Haochen was drenched in sweat, his hands had gone numb, and the force with which he clenched his teeth was so great that they felt like they might shatter.
Time ticked by second by second. Sweat gathered and dripped from his elbows, forming a puddle on the ground. After half an hour of stalemate, the leviathan remained fierce, while Li Haochen held on with all his might. Even with the gimbal belt, the immense recoil made his stomach burn intensely, and his skin was likely abraded.
An hour later, Li Haochen could feel the leviathan's strength slightly waning, but he had expended nearly eighty percent of his stamina to achieve this. The disparity in strength gave him a fleeting thought of giving up.
The thought flashed and vanished. Li Haochen's eyes widened in rage, and he glared at the hazy sea, letting out a hoarse roar, "Ah... come on, I, Li Haochen, will not be defeated by you!"
His shout attracted the attention of everyone having breakfast in the dining room. Chen Yaohong frowned, "Doesn't that voice sound like Haochen?"
"Let's go. We've already eaten anyway. Let's go out and see." Li Zhigang said, and then walked out with Situ Haoliang and a few others.
"What's all the fuss about, disturbing our breakfast." Liu Yuxuan chewed on a dumpling, looking displeased that Li Haochen was once again the center of attention.
This time, surprisingly, Zhang Yuan didn't speak harshly. Instead, he seemed somewhat displeased with his disciple. "Alright, hurry up and eat. Help me bring out my fishing tackle box. I was left behind by them yesterday. I must catch up today."
"Holy..."
"Holy, holy..."
The few who had just come out saw Li Haochen struggling fiercely, their mouths agape, almost wide enough to fit a fist.
"This force is definitely a leviathan weighing over two hundred jin."
"Maybe even more..."
After more than two hours of struggle, Li Haochen's stamina was long gone. He was even unaware of Li Zhigang and the others' arrival. The only reason he was still holding on was a burning conviction to win.
Each time he pulled the handle and turned the drum reel, Li Haochen felt as if his hands were being sliced by knives, as they had been abraded countless times. The salt in his sweat intensified the pain in his wounds, and it was precisely this pain that kept Li Haochen's mind clear.
Li Haochen's perseverance finally paid off. The leviathan was showing signs of fatigue, but he too was at the end of his rope, finding it incredibly difficult even to turn the crank.
"Keep going..."
"Brother, fight it, victory is in sight."
A few timely shouts of encouragement injected another layer of strength into Li Haochen.
"Ah... come on, a man of Huaxia never admits defeat!"
Li Haochen roared with fierce eyes, his hands seemingly infused with supreme power. He accelerated the retrieval speed, but even so, the fishing line had only been reeled in halfway.
After another ten minutes, Li Haochen had lost a significant amount of body fluid and his mouth was completely dry.
"Water..."
Chen Yaohong heard the call and sprinted back to the kitchen, returning with a straw and a pot of warm boiled water.
Biting down on the straw, the arrival of water made Li Haochen feel like crying.
Suddenly, a thin figure smoking a cigarette and fighting a large fish flashed in his mind. Li Haochen smiled and shouted to Chen Yaohong beside him, "Brother Hong, can you give me a cigarette?"
"Sure..."
Li Haochen held the cigarette between his lips, letting the smoke burn slowly. He turned to look at the crowd, grinned with a slightly bloody lip, and exhaled a puff of smoke, laughing, "Cool, right?"
"Cool... damn cool!"