Chapter 295 - 195: Shark Robbery, Making a Big Chopped Chili Fish Head

Chapter 295: Chapter 195: Shark Robbery, Making a Big Chopped Chili Fish Head

It had been a while since Gu Nan posted a picture in the group chat. The moment he did, the chat immediately came to life.

Before he could even gloat, he was interrupted by an exclamation from Yi Chen beside him.

"Ah Nan, quick, look! What’s that? It’s not a shark, is it?"

Yi Chen had just grabbed a fish she’d reeled in when she spotted a small triangle on the distant sea surface.

It was an iconic dorsal fin—anyone would recognize it.

Gu Nan was instantly alert. He quickly put down his phone and looked into the distance.

’Holy crap.’ It wasn’t just one dorsal fin; he could see five of them.

But that didn’t mean there were only five sharks. There were probably more hidden beneath the surface.

"Looks like they’re here for the school of fish. I wonder if it’ll affect our fishing."

"I hope not. We were so lucky to find a school this big," Yi Chen said with a frown. Having a shark steal her catch would ruin the fun, no matter how well the fish were biting.

"Let’s just hurry and fish. The sharks are already here. Who knows if other apex predators will show up. If the school gets spooked and runs, we won’t have anything to catch."

Gu Nan couldn’t be bothered with boasting in the group chat anymore. He put away his phone, pulled on his gloves, grabbed his rod, and quickly cast his line.

This time, he didn’t care if the fish was big or small. Anything that took the hook was fair game.

However, the jig was quite large, which meant small fish wouldn’t be able to take it anyway.

After about forty minutes of fishing, their bite rate hadn’t been affected, so Gu Nan and Yi Chen both started to relax.

Apparently, the school of fish was so large that unless there was an insane number of sharks, their presence wouldn’t really affect them.

However, sometimes you shouldn’t celebrate too soon.

And just like that, a powerful force suddenly yanked on Gu Nan’s rod.

Fish on! But this time, the pull was even stronger than the Meter-Level golden trevally he’d just caught, instantly bending the rod into an arc.

"Whoa! Not sure if it’s a golden trevally, but this thing has some real power!"

"You don’t think it’s a shark, do you?" Yi Chen guessed.

Gu Nan shook his head. "Probably not. The fins we saw were pretty big. If it were one of those sharks, the pull should be immense—at least as strong as that grouper we caught last night."

The pull was strong, but not overwhelmingly so. He figured the fish probably wasn’t even over thirty jin, so it was most likely another golden trevally.

A small shark was also a possibility, but not a very likely one.

He had about forty meters of line out, fishing for the bigger fish beneath the main school. A shark of only thirty jin would be quite small and wouldn’t be preying on Meter-Level golden trevally that deep.

Still, Gu Nan couldn’t just muscle the fish in. He had to hold the rod steady, control the line, and let the locked drag wear down the fish’s stamina.

He was a little worried a shark might try to snatch it, but his luck held. By the time the fish tired out, there had been no problems.

He cranked the reel handle quickly, eager to bring in what was possibly the biggest golden trevally yet.

After just a few minutes, a blurry shadow became visible under the surface, lying on its side as it was slowly pulled upward.

From the silhouette, Gu Nan knew it was a golden trevally—and an exceptionally large one at that, likely pushing the size limit for its species.

"Ah Nan, shark! A shark is coming!"

Just then, Yi Chen spotted the disturbance on the water’s surface and shouted a warning.

"Damn it, what’s this shark doing? It’s not going to steal my catch, is it?"

Gu Nan had also spotted the dorsal fin speeding toward them and immediately started reeling faster.

’This sneaky bastard must have been lying in wait nearby.’ It was probably harder to catch a fish swimming freely, so it decided to come steal his.

Gu Nan was reeling as fast as he possibly could—alas, his hand speed had apparently declined since getting a girlfriend. Just as the fish reached the surface and he was about to grab the gaff, a massive, gaping mouth shot out of the water and clamped down on the golden trevally.

With a violent shake of its head, the shark tore the roughly 1.2-meter-long golden trevally in two.

After swallowing more than half of the trevally in one gulp, the shark, still not full, turned and charged again.

But Gu Nan had only been a step too slow the first time. There was no way he was letting it steal the rest.

The gaff precisely hooked the remaining fish head, and he hauled it aboard.

Its jaws snapped shut on empty water, and it bumped against the boat with a THUD. It wasn’t a hard impact. The shark swam two frustrated circles around the boat before finally giving up and heading elsewhere to forage.

Gu Nan felt like crying but couldn’t. He had been so close. Just a second sooner and he would have landed that golden trevally, which probably weighed thirty jin.

At eighty yuan a jin, it could have sold for at least 2,400.

And now, more than half its body was gone, leaving only the head.

"..." Yi Chen’s face was also filled with pained regret. A perfectly good fish, now just a head. Over two thousand yuan, gone just like that.

She considered herself part of the Gu family now, so Gu Nan’s loss was her loss. How could her heart not ache?

But she still comforted Gu Nan, "It’s okay. There are so many fish here. A shark can’t possibly steal the next one too."

"Well, since the shark gifted us a fish head, why don’t we just cook it for dinner tonight!" Gu Nan was only bummed out for a moment before pointing at the head on the deck with a laugh.

"Okay! We’ll have fish head tonight!" Seeing him laugh, a sweet smile spread across Yi Chen’s face.

But the school of fish was still around, so the two of them got back to "stocking up."

The school didn’t completely disperse until around four in the afternoon.

During that time, there were no more incidents of sharks stealing their catch. Apparently, Gu Nan’s experience was just a coincidence. Perhaps the large fish he’d hooked had swum some distance and happened to be spotted by a shark, which then followed it.

At four o’clock, it was about time to start preparing dinner.

Yi Chen took a fillet knife and, right there on the deck, removed and discarded the gills from the golden trevally’s head.

Then she trimmed off all the damaged meat from the shark bite. They had no desire to eat shark saliva.

Who knows how many germs were on the teeth of a creature that never brushed.

Still, there was a lot of meat left. The shark had only managed one bite. After she trimmed away the damaged parts, there was still a large chunk of meat left around the pectoral fin.

Yi Chen cut the head and the attached meat in half, washed away all the clotted blood and grime, and then took the head into the galley.

She patted one half dry with paper towels, wrapped it in plastic wrap, and put it in the freezer for another time, or to give away.

The fish was so big that even after saving half, there was still plenty of meat left for the two of them.

Yi Chen took a large bag of pickled peppers from the fridge. She and Gu Nan preferred the flavor of pickled peppers; the sauce made from them was very different from one made with chopped chilis.

While she was busy in the galley, Gu Nan steered the boat toward a deserted island.

He had spent a day there once with Wang Junhe and Guo Xiao, and they had even tried fishing for Giant Grouper.

He chose that spot because he knew it was rich in marine life, close to international waters, and probably not frequented by many anglers from the mainland.

Besides, it had a sandy beach, which meant there were likely plenty of swimming crabs in the water—perfect for setting his crab pots.

The only downside was that it was a bit far. Factoring in time to eat dinner, he estimated they wouldn’t arrive until around seven in the evening.

A little after five, Gu Nan caught the faint, fragrant aroma of stir-fried garlic. Clearly, Yi Chen hadn’t used the pre-made fish head sauce he’d bought, choosing to mix her own instead.

He’d caught a lot of fish that afternoon and was getting hungry, so he stopped the boat and headed straight for the galley.

When he got there, he found the fish head was almost done. Yi Chen was heating oil and chopping scallions.

"Your timing is perfect," she said. "The fish head is just about ready. I just need to sprinkle on some scallions and drizzle it with hot oil, and we can eat!"

"Heh heh, what can I say? My girl’s such a good cook I could smell it even while I was steering the boat." Gu Nan chuckled and came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Stop fooling around, you’re in the way!" Yi Chen squirmed, chiding him playfully.

"Let me do the rest. You go sit down. You’ve worked hard." Gu Nan led her over to the dining table and sat her down in a chair. Then he went to finish chopping the scallions and sprinkled them over the fish head.

Then he picked up the heated oil and poured it, spoonful by spoonful, over the fish.

SIZZLE~ SIZZLE~

A rich, savory aroma instantly blossomed as the hot oil hit the fish, filling the entire galley in moments before drifting out the small open window and over the sea.

The stainless steel serving bowl was large, so it held the half-fish-head just fine.

Yi Chen had also cut the chunk of meat from the pectoral fin away from the head and then in half, which made it easier to arrange in the bowl without taking up too much space.

Besides the fish head, she had also stir-fried some green vegetables with lard and a bit of minced garlic, which also smelled delicious.

Gu Nan brought all the dishes to the table, served up two bowls of rice, and eagerly reached his chopsticks toward the fish head.

*Huff... huff...*

Gu Nan blew on the food as he ate. The fish head was piping hot, but it wasn’t as spicy as he’d expected.

Yi Chen had been with him for two months now and had built up a slight tolerance for spice, but she still couldn’t handle anything too hot. That was why she’d only made the dish mildly spicy.

Yet it was covered in pickled peppers and full of their flavor. He had no idea how she managed to remove most of the heat.

The fish head tasted fantastic. The sauce was perfectly seasoned, which was the main reason. Otherwise, it tasted like a normal fish head, just with the added fresh, savory flavor characteristic of a sea fish.

Gu Nan found it incredibly appetizing. He shoveled down rice as he ate the fish, polishing off nearly four-fifths of the rice in the cooker by himself.

Yi Chen, on the other hand, had a normal appetite. She ate in small, delicate bites, not eating too much of the fish and focusing mainly on the vegetables.

Once she was finished, Gu Nan proceeded to polish off all the leftovers. He then took a few sips of the orange juice she handed him and leaned back in his chair, completely satisfied.

Yi Chen stood up with a smile to clear the dishes. ’Her boyfriend certainly had a big appetite,’ she thought, ’but it was better to focus on his good points. For example, they would never have leftovers at home, which was healthier.’

After eating his fill and resting for a bit, Gu Nan went back to steering the boat.

It was a little after seven in the evening when they finally reached the deserted island.

Gu Nan first circled the island, using the fish finder to get a sense of the underwater topography around it.

He then motored to the southeast side of the island and said to Yi Chen, "Chenchen, in a minute I need you to drive along the coast, nice and slow. I’m going on deck to drop the crab and shrimp pots."

Yi Chen nodded and took a seat at the helm.

She wasn’t great at driving the boat, but she had learned a few things from Gu Nan. She could manage it in open water as long as the waves weren’t too big.

After seeing Gu Nan go out on deck and drop the first crab pot, she eased the throttle forward, and the fishing boat began to move slowly ahead.