Chapter 291 - 191: Sixty or Seventy Thousand Is Quite a Lot

Chapter 291: Chapter 191: Sixty or Seventy Thousand Is Quite a Lot

Gu Nan had positioned himself close to Yi Chen to make it easier to help her. The fish was forcefully yanking the line to the left, and he couldn’t pull it back. At this rate, their lines might get tangled and snap.

So he yanked hard on the rod, pulling at the big fish deep below to guide it toward the right. At the same time, he moved three spots to the right himself, only stopping when he was near the cabin.

It seemed the tugging had hurt the fish, enraging it. It suddenly unleashed a tremendous burst of power.

"Oof~"

Caught off guard, Gu Nan slammed into the side of the boat with a BAM. Thankfully, he had a firm grip on the rod and didn’t lose it.

The fish had only just been hooked. The blue fishing rod was a far cry from the golden one, and the fish was at its peak strength.

Gu Nan’s own physical stats hadn’t improved that much—his main strength was endurance—so of course he couldn’t resist such immense power.

Fortunately, by bracing himself against the side of the boat and hugging the rod to his chest, he managed to stabilize his stance.

The spool spun with a WHIRRR as it let out the line. The fish wasn’t diving deep but was running away from the boat, which made Gu Nan breathe a sigh of relief.

Although Yi Chen was reeling in a fish of her own, it was an easy catch, so she was mostly free to watch Gu Nan.

She jumped when she saw him slam into the boat’s side, but relaxed when she saw he was okay.

After they had both landed their fish, she didn’t cast her line again. Instead, after processing her catch, she came over to watch him, thinking she could lend a hand if he needed it.

But Gu Nan had handled fish weighing over five hundred pounds before. This one wasn’t actually that difficult for him—it was just a struggle at the start. He didn’t need any help.

He held the rod against his chest, and every time the fish pulled, his body was yanked forward.

Gu Nan had no intention of letting the fish run so easily. Deep-sea fish were already hard to catch, and if it got any farther away, he had no idea how long it would take to reel it in.

Besides, he had "special activities" planned for the evening and didn’t want to spend all his energy fishing.

So he braced his knees against the gunwale, leaned his upper body back, planted the butt of the rod against his belt, and held the handle tight, trying to reel in the line. Unfortunately, the fish still had plenty of stamina, and he couldn’t turn the crank at all.

’God damn it! What kind of fish is this? So hard to deal with!’

’I catch huge marlins weighing hundreds of pounds every day, but the moment I switch to a lesser rod, even a small fry is giving me hell.’

Gu Nan’s eyebrows twitched. He decided to give the fish some slack for now and let it keep running.

He wasn’t going to be stubborn about it anymore. He’d use some fish-fighting techniques to wear down its stamina as quickly as possible.

After several rounds of struggle, Gu Nan suspected this fish was over three hundred pounds. He was doing well just to maintain the stalemate. Trying to pull it back with sheer strength was out of the question; he couldn’t do it even if there were two of him.

Yi Chen stood to the side, unsure how to help. Seeing him covered in sweat, she quickly went to the restroom, wet a clean towel, wrung it out, and came back to wipe his sweat.

Gu Nan instantly felt incredible. To be honest, it wasn’t that bad today—he wasn’t sweating buckets, and it wasn’t getting in his eyes. But having a beautiful girl wiping his sweat for him... that felt amazing!

"Chenchen, I’m a little thirsty. Could you grab me a bottle of water?"

"Okay, I’ll go right now."

Yi Chen was very obliging. After wiping his sweat, she draped the towel over his neck.

The cool, damp towel helped cool him down, and he felt much more comfortable.

He really was thirsty after sweating so much. Yi Chen quickly brought the water and held it to his lips for him.

The fish was still running, and the line was still paying out. Gu Nan didn’t have to do much for the moment, so he leaned forward and took several big gulps. The water soothed his throat and he immediately felt much better, as if his body had conjured up some new strength from thin air.

He had recovered a bit, but the fish hadn’t. They had been fighting for a full half-hour by now, and the fish’s stamina was beyond anything Gu Nan had imagined.

Ever since getting the golden rod, catching big fish had been relatively easy. He never expected that switching rods would increase the difficulty this much.

This made Gu Nan resolve to finish the Seven-Star Rock mission as soon as he got back, then continue tackling the Trial Tower. At the very least, he had to acquire the golden rod.

Meanwhile, the blue fishing rod was still CREAKING nonstop.

The line was pulled taut, vibrating back and forth just above the surface and sending ripples across the water.

Gu Nan clenched his jaw and continued to hold on.

The fish’s first burst of energy still hadn’t ended. He’d originally thought it was a giant grouper, but with this kind of stamina, he wasn’t so sure anymore.

Fortunately, his 10% recovery speed was a huge help. Whenever the struggle wore him out, he would just hug the rod, lean against the side of the boat to rest, and give the rod an occasional tug to make sure the hook stayed lodged in the fish’s lip.

Another ten minutes or so passed. Gu Nan’s chest heaved, and the veins on his neck bulged from the strain. The prolonged effort made the muscles in his arms stand out in sharp relief—a clear sign of severe stamina drain.

All this time, he had tried to reel in the line countless times, but for every bit he gained, more was yanked away. As a result, over three hundred yards of line had been let out.

Thankfully, the fish’s pulls were clearly weaker than before, and its pauses to rest were getting longer and longer.

Gu Nan’s spirits lifted. ’The fish is about to give out.’

After another ten minutes or so, the bend in his rod lessened significantly. That powerful, relentless force had finally vanished.

Yi Chen had come over a few times in the interim, and she had re-wetted the towel twice.

But seeing as there was no telling how long it would take to land the huge fish, she went back to her own fishing, ready to come over if he needed her.

Now, she saw Gu Nan starting to pump the rod and reel in the line continuously. She knew the fish had run out of steam, so she quickly reeled in her own line and ran over to join in the excitement.

After such a long fight, she was extremely curious about the fish and wanted to be the first to see it. Besides, she might be able to help.

Gu Nan knew she had come over, but the fish was the priority right now. At a time like this, even his girlfriend had to take a backseat.

He turned the handle, reeling in the line turn by turn. The fish had incredible stamina and endurance, but it was also headstrong, exhausting all its energy in one go. By the time Gu Nan had reeled in over a hundred yards of line, the fish still wasn’t showing much movement.

It was just that the fish was huge and still deep in the water, making it difficult to reel in. It was exceptionally tiring; big fish near the surface were much easier to land.

All in all, it took nearly an hour and a half before Gu Nan finally pulled the beast to the surface. By then, he was completely exhausted himself.

"What a huge grouper!" Yi Chen exclaimed, her face flushed with excitement.

She had seen plenty of giant groupers at the shop—the blue-bodied Large-spot Grouper was even bigger than this one—but seeing Gu Nan catch one with her own eyes made her incredibly happy for her boyfriend.

"I can’t believe it’s a grouper. I thought it was something else!" Seeing that it was a seven-band grouper, Gu Nan was both surprised and felt that his luck was pretty good.

There were many types of giant deep-sea fish, and a lot of them weren’t valuable. Some sharks, which only lived in the deep sea, were even more numerous than groupers. So, catching this giant grouper was truly a stroke of luck.

Even small fish often don’t survive being pulled up from the deep sea, let alone one this big.

This giant grouper was already done for by the time it was pulled into mid-level waters. That was the main reason it didn’t struggle even after recovering some of its stamina—the change in water pressure had ruptured its internal organs. Grievously injured, there was no way it could still swim.

Seeing that the fish was barely moving, Gu Nan confidently handed the rod to Yi Chen and went to operate the crane to hoist the large grouper onto the deck.

"Ah Nan, how much can this big grouper sell for?" Yi Chen asked curiously.

"Tens of thousands of yuan. It depends on the exact weight. But this one is almost six feet long and weighs around three hundred pounds, so it might sell for sixty or seventy thousand."

Gu Nan had never even seen a seven-band grouper this huge in videos; the ones other people caught were all a bit smaller than his.

However, he wouldn’t feel comfortable selling such a large fish directly. He’d have to take a sample and have it tested to see if it had ciguatera toxins.

If it was toxin-free, it would be valuable. If not, all this work would be for nothing.

Yi Chen was actually a little surprised to hear the grouper was worth sixty or seventy thousand: "Huh? Only sixty or seventy thousand? I thought it would be at least a hundred thousand!"

"Is sixty or seventy thousand not a lot? The spotted coral grouper was a special case, and it was a live fish, so it’s no surprise the price was high." Gu Nan had just washed his hands and, finding her question amusing, gave her cheek a gentle pinch.

Sixty or seventy thousand really was a lot. Gu Nan didn’t know if even 5% of the people in the country had an annual income higher than that, but it definitely wasn’t more than 10%.

Yi Chen wiped the water from her cheek, rolled her eyes in annoyance, and then ran back to her spot to continue fishing.

She was tempted by such a big fish, but in the end, she decided to stick to catching smaller deep-sea fish. At least the bites were frequent and more reliable; she could catch quite a few over the course of a night.

Gu Nan, meanwhile, started bleeding the grouper. He couldn’t let the blood spoil the meat.

Only if it was preserved properly could the fish fetch a high price.

Seafood prices were mainly determined by freshness and species. The species couldn’t be changed, but the freshness could be managed.

After he finished, he moved the fish into the refrigerated hold. The once spacious hold was now mostly taken up by the massive fish.

Closing the door, Gu Nan checked the time and saw that it was already past ten o’clock.

Catching that one grouper had completely worn him out. Plus, he wanted to save some energy for his favorite activities later that night, so he planned to coax his girlfriend into going to bed early.

He walked over to Yi Chen, paused for a moment, and said, "Look, it’s getting late. Why don’t we head back and rest? We can find another spot to fish tomorrow."

"If you’re tired, you go ahead. I know how to turn off the lights and everything. I’m going to fish a little longer."

Yi Chen kept her eyes glued to her fishing rod so she could spot any movement the instant a fish bit.

Besides, she was really getting into it now. There was no way she was willing to call it a night so early.

The fish she caught on this trip were all hers to keep, and Yi Chen was finally starting to understand why Gu Nan went sea fishing so often. It was truly addictive.

"..." Gu Nan was speechless. He took one look at his girlfriend’s posture and understood completely. Wasn’t this the exact look of so many fishing addicts when they got hooked?

He originally thought Yi Chen’s interest in fishing was just so-so. Who knew she’d already crossed the threshold into becoming a true fishing enthusiast and experienced its unique joy?

He knew there was no talking her out of it when she was like this. After a moment’s thought, he decided it was for the best. ’I’ll just go and get things ready myself.’