"Fish on!"
It felt a little heavy, too.
Yun Jiao wanted to just yank the fish in with brute force, but she was afraid she’d snap her new rod. She had no choice but to be patient and tire the fish out first.
Fu Mingyu watched from the side, careful not to interfere.
A few minutes later, the fish seemed to have lost its fight. Yun Jiao was finally able to reel it in.
It was indeed a big Stonefish. "It’s a Dragon Dungeness!"
Yun Linhai’s and Yun Linhe’s eyes both widened as they saw the fish getting closer.
Dragon Dungeness are a giant variety of Stonefish. Adults can grow to weigh over a hundred pounds.
They weren’t cheap, either—three or four yuan a pound.
The Dragon Dungeness Yun Jiao caught wasn’t particularly large for its species, looking to be only about twenty pounds.
But that was only small relative to other Dragon Dungeness. Compared to most other fish, it was a real heavyweight.
Yun Jiao turned to Fu Mingyu, her eyes curving into crescents as she smiled.
"The rod you bought is good luck!"
’I can’t believe it. The rod’s first time out and it’s already brought such good fortune. To think a single piece of dried shrimp could land a fish this big.’
The group scrambled to haul the Dragon Dungeness out of the sea and onto the boat. Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe were all smiles.
"A great start, a great start..."
After filling the boat’s hold with seawater, they placed the large Dragon Dungeness inside.
The fish was exhausted, but it was still alive.
"Here, you try."
Yun Jiao wanted Fu Mingyu to experience the fun of fishing, too.
Fu Mingyu nodded. He took the baited rod and, mimicking Yun Jiao’s movements, cast the line out into the water.
Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe weren’t sitting idle, either.
Today, however, they weren’t planning on casting nets. They wanted to try a new method.
Longline fishing.
They had learned it from a friendly fisherman.
Longline fishing uses a very long main line with smaller branch lines, or snoods, attached at regular intervals. Each snood has a hook on the end.
A single line could have two or three hundred snoods. Of course, floats were also attached at regular intervals to keep the line suspended in the mid-water column.
All the hooks were baited—they could use any kind of meat. What they caught would be completely up to luck.
They didn’t have any other meat on board, so they just used small fish or little mantis shrimp for bait.
One steered the boat while the other set the lines. Since they were just trying it out, they didn’t prepare too many—just three longlines in total.
By the time they finished, they realized Fu Mingyu hadn’t even lifted his rod yet.
’How long has it been?’
Yun Jiao sat cross-legged beside Fu Mingyu, her little hands cupping her cheeks as she stared at the surface of the water.
Fu Mingyu looked extremely serious, concentrating intently on his fishing.
"Why don’t you reel it in and check?"
Fu Mingyu did as she said and reeled it in, only to find the bait was still there. Not a single fish had even nibbled!
Yun Jiao’s little face fell. ’This is the third time he’s reeled it in. How has he not gotten a single bite?’
Yun Linhe scratched his head, his heart sinking.
"No way... Are you telling me there are no fish in this area?"
’Does that mean the longlines we just set are going to be a bust?’
Yun Jiao took the rod from Fu Mingyu and cast the line out again herself.
Just as Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe were wondering if they should pull in the lines and move to a new spot, Yun Jiao’s rod twitched.
ZIIIING—the line shot out, going far into the distance.
Yun Jiao controlled the reel as the rod bent into a deep arc, like a drawn bow.
Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe were speechless.
’Forget about the lines,’ they thought. ’Let’s help Jiaojiao land this fish first.’
This one didn’t feel as heavy as the Dragon Dungeness, but it was ferocious.
It was an old acquaintance: a sea wolf.
Yun Jiao had caught plenty of sea wolves the first time she ever went fishing with a rod.
"Whoa... This sea wolf is a decent size."
Even when they pulled it right up to the boat, the sea wolf was still struggling furiously.
This one also weighed over ten pounds.
After they landed the fish, everyone couldn’t help but look over at Fu Mingyu.
’How is that even possible?’
’He had his line in the water for almost twenty minutes without a single bite.’
Fu Mingyu was at a loss for words.
’Don’t look at me,’ he thought. ’I don’t know either.’
"Why don’t... you try again?"
Fu Mingyu silently nodded.
’I must have picked the wrong spot. I’ll try a different direction this time.’
So Fu Mingyu took the rod and cast his line in another direction.
One minute later...
The rod hadn’t moved, but everyone was still patient.
Three minutes later...
Still no movement.
Everyone was getting a little restless.
Yun Linhe scratched his head. "This doesn’t make any sense. This area is full of fish. Even if you don’t catch a big one, a little fish should at least take a bite, right?"
Yun Linhai cleared his throat. "Reel it in and check. Maybe the bait’s gone..."
Fu Mingyu reeled in his line. The perfectly intact piece of dried shrimp on the hook seemed to mock him.
Everyone was speechless.
"Ahem... why don’t you try another direction?"
Fu Mingyu pressed his lips together. "There’s no need."
"I don’t think I have the talent for this," he said.
Yun Linhe sat down beside him. "Let me try. Maybe it’s the rod and not you. Don’t worry about it, Xiao Fu."
He was still in the middle of consoling him when the rod, which he had just cast out moments before, twitched.
Yun Linhe fell silent.
He couldn’t find any more words of comfort.
He reeled in the line. The fish wasn’t big—a golden pompano weighing less than a pound.
But at least he had caught a fish.
Yun Linhai refused to believe it. "Let me try."
A few moments later, Yun Linhai caught a mullet.
"There are definitely fish here. You try again."
The rod was once again in Fu Mingyu’s hands.
Five minutes later...
Yun Jiao’s family all sat with their chins in their hands, staring at him with a mixture of shock, bewilderment, and disbelief.
The rod hadn’t moved an inch, and the bait was completely untouched!
Fu Mingyu stared back at them, completely at a loss.
"Sigh..."
Yun Linhe patted his shoulder. "It’s a good thing you don’t live by the sea."
Otherwise, with luck like that, you’d starve.
Yun Linhai nodded in solemn agreement.
Yun Jiao also patted his shoulder. "It’s okay, you can just watch me fish."
Fu Mingyu was speechless.
In the end, the rod went back to Yun Jiao.
Her luck at sea was undeniably the best. Every time she fished, she caught something good—either a prize catch or something huge.
"Dad, can I go play in the sea?"
Yun Linhai refused without a moment’s hesitation. "No."
The killer whale wasn’t around. Even though they knew Yun Jiao could breathe underwater, they weren’t comfortable letting her play alone in the deep sea. They were afraid she might run into dangerous fish or sea snakes.
They only felt safe when the killer whale was with her.
Yun Jiao sighed.
She had no idea where the killer whale had run off to today. She’d called for it several times, but there was no response.
It was getting late, so Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe prepared to haul in the longlines.
Yun Jiao stopped fishing, and the two kids gathered around to watch.
Longline fishing was like opening a blind box; until you pulled up the line, you never knew if the next hook would be empty or what kind of fish it held.
He rubbed his hands together. Thinking of Yun Jiao’s incredible luck, he decided to let her pull in the first hook.
"Jiaojiao, you do it."
Yun Jiao nodded, moved into position, and started pulling in the line.
Perfect. The first hook had some weight to it—there was something on the line!