Chapter 19

At 3 PM, Lan Xiruo and her team started pulling in the nets.

It had to be said, the farther sea areas were indeed much richer in resources than the coastal waters.

As they hauled in the first net, they could already feel its heavy weight.

Under the setting sun, the fish caught in the net shimmered with a dazzling glow, instantly lifting everyone’s spirits.

This was money!

The first fishing net alone brought in more than 300 pounds of seafood.

The second net was even heavier—it took all of them working together to barely pull it in.

Uncle Jiang He wiped the sweat off his forehead with his arm, his face beaming with deep wrinkles as he laughed, “Haha, this is great! A full harvest!

If we get a few more hauls like this, we’ll be able to pay off our debts in no time! Keep going, everyone! Pull with all your strength!”

“One, two! One, two! One, two!”

They chanted as they pulled, straining their voices. Half an hour later, they finally managed to haul in the second net.

Ribbonfish, snapper, yellow croaker, sea bass, bass, white croaker…

Lan Xiruo and Sun Yuqing couldn’t keep up just picking up the fish from the net and tossing them into the cargo hold.

When Uncle Jiang He steered the boat toward the next net location, A’Dong and the others came to help, giving the two women a brief moment to rest.

Sun Yuqing took a sip from her porcelain mug and laughed, “It’s frustrating when there’s no catch, but when there’s too much, it’s exhausting.”

Lan Xiruo also took a sip of water and shrugged, “That’s just how people are. They want to always be comfortable, yet they’re never satisfied.”

“That’s so true.”

“You two intellectuals, stop talking philosophy and get back to work.”

They hadn’t even rested for five minutes before they had to get back to hauling.

Lan Xiruo placed her mug next to Sun Yuqing’s, rolled up her sleeves, and joined the others in pulling the ropes.

This time, the net was much lighter than the first two. Just as disappointment started to set in, they realized it was filled with shad. Instantly, their faces lit up with joy.

“Haha! We caught a whole school of shad!”

They worked tirelessly to bring the third net onto the boat. A quick estimate suggested that just the shad alone weighed over 200 pounds—definitely worth it!

By the time they hauled in the last half-net, the sun had already started setting beyond the sea’s horizon.

The sky was ablaze with colors—red, yellow, purple—casting a brilliant glow over the fish scales in the cargo hold, making them sparkle like multicolored gemstones.

So valuable!

“If this entire boat was filled with actual gemstones, we’d be filthy rich.”

Wait, why did she say that out loud?

No, it wasn’t her—Lan Xiruo quickly turned to Sun Yuqing in surprise.

It turned out Sun Yuqing had said it first. They actually had the same thought!

The same love for money, the same love for gemstones.

Sun Yuqing was definitely someone with good character—maybe she could rope her into something in the future?

Sun Yuqing, seeing the sparkle in Lan Xiruo’s eyes, was puzzled. “Wh-what’s wrong?”

Lan Xiruo shook her head. “Just thinking about how beautiful the sunset is today.”

Forget it. Now wasn’t the time to talk about this. Maybe in a few years.

Sun Yuqing didn’t think too much about it. “Yeah, it really is beautiful.”

Uncle Jiang He had heard that freshly caught seafood could be sold at a nearby island, about half an hour away, where seafood companies sent boats daily to buy fresh catches.

When they arrived with their full load, there were already two fishing boats docked there—one selling its haul and another waiting.

Originally, Lan Xiruo thought their harvest was already impressive. But after glancing at the other boats, she realized their catch wasn’t even two-thirds of what those boats had.

—-

After waiting for half an hour, it was finally their turn to weigh their seafood. It turned out they had caught over 1,300 pounds, selling for more than 800 yuan.

Holding the receipt, everyone was thrilled. It was just their first day setting nets in this area, with limited time, and they had already earned so much. Wouldn’t tomorrow be even better?

Sure enough, the next morning, they cast their nets early. By 3 PM, when they started hauling them in, every net was heavy with fish.

After weighing their catch, they found they had nearly 2,500 pounds of seafood, selling for over 1,700 yuan. Each of them could take home one-thousandth of the earnings—that was 1.7 yuan per person.

1.7 yuan a day meant 17 yuan in ten days, 51 yuan in a month.

At this rate, they could pay off their debt in less than two months!

If she caught extra fish during this period and sold them on the black market when she got back, she could start saving money. In a few years, she’d have enough capital to start a business.

Lan Xiruo mentally crunched the numbers, getting more excited the more she calculated.

Meanwhile…

On an island, Xu Mei, who had been assigned by Jiang Aiguo to dig for two whole days, was walking back, carrying a hoe and looking utterly embarrassed. Wen Ze followed behind her, his expression flickering.

Only Gu Xizhi wore an elusive smile, strolling leisurely behind them.

“Comrade Xu, I’m sorry! I really didn’t do it on purpose.” Wen Ze quickened his pace, grabbing Xu Mei’s arm.

“Let go!” Xu Mei struggled.

Wen Ze held on tighter. “Listen to me!”

“I don’t want to hear it! I don’t want to hear it!” Xu Mei shook her head furiously.

“Be good, just listen.” Wen Ze suddenly reached out and wiped the corner of Xu Mei’s eye.

Xu Mei froze.

“I really didn’t mean to… touch you.

I was just so dazed from the fall that I didn’t even realize I had landed on you. My hand moved instinctively.

I had no intention of offending you. If you’re upset, you can hit me to vent your anger—just don’t hurt yourself over it.”

Wen Ze spoke softly, full of guilt, but secretly rubbed the hand behind his back, as if savoring the lingering touch.

“…Forget it. If it wasn’t intentional, what’s the point of hitting you?” Xu Mei’s expression softened.

Then, feeling her earlier reaction was too strong, she added quietly:

“Comrade Wen, sorry about my attitude earlier.

It’s just… this was my first time encountering something like this. I didn’t know how to react.”

In reality, she was just mortified.

She had nearly let out a sound because of the warmth of his palm.

After clearing things up, they both returned to normal, chatting and laughing on their way back.

Gu Xizhi, watching from behind, found it fascinating.

As expected of two scheming people—birds of a feather.

Only these two could act like nothing happened after such an awkward incident.

If he had known earlier, he should’ve made sure Wen Ze fell in an even better position.

Tsk, what a pity!

Those two deserved to be tied together as soon as possible, so they wouldn’t go around causing trouble for others.

In this life, as long as he was here, they wouldn’t be able to lay a single finger on her!