The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Redfish Bonanza

Seeing how quickly the fish tanks were selling, Wu Lingling contacted Han Xiaorui and asked her to order more glass tanks.

Now that the weather was warming up, the freshwater ornamental fish that had been enhanced by her Water Ability could all be raised successfully.

Han Xiaorui hadn’t expected sales to be this good either. She immediately called Zhou Wei and placed the same order as last time.

The payment would be settled directly from the ornamental fish shop’s accounts. She would visit the shop herself when the weather was too bad to go fishing.

Liang Xiaoyu saw Han Xiaorui grinning from ear to ear first thing in the morning and asked, ”What’s up?”

”The ornamental fish shop is doing really well, so I can finally relax a bit,” Han Xiaorui said with a laugh. ”Come on, let’s get on the boat. I dreamed of Mazu last night. Maybe today we’ll catch the most expensive, best-selling fish of all—bluefin tuna.”

Han Xiaorui was carrying a box full of fishing gear that she had dug out of the storage room.

All this high-end fishing gear had been bought by Yang Jianming back in the day.

Yang Jianming was a terrible fisherman and had no patience. Whenever he couldn’t catch anything, he’d blame his gear—the rod, the line, the hooks, everything.

He kept buying more and more gear. He’d use it two or three times, then leave it at home to gather dust.

It was a classic case of ’all the gear and no idea’.

But that was fine, because it all benefited Han Xiaorui now!

She brought it all onto the boat. From now on, she’d have the right rod for any type of fish she encountered.

Once on board, Liang Xiaoyu did a full check of the boat and once again spotted the sea snake peeking around.

”Xiao Rui, do you think that’s the same sea snake that bit Cao Qiang on the butt?”

Han Xiaorui had actually already spotted it, but she didn’t say anything. ”Who knows? There are so many sea snakes, and they all look the same. As long as it doesn’t bite us, I can’t be bothered with it.”

Liang Xiaoyu nodded. ”That’s true. Besides, Mazu herself appeared in your dream. Our luck is bound to be great today.”

The sun had risen by now, and the early morning sea breeze wasn’t chilly. Instead, it was warm and balmy.

Han Xiaorui found another spot teeming with large lobsters. She memorized the location and set out her 120 lobster pots.

To find the tuna, Han Xiaorui had to pilot the boat further out into the deep sea.

After sailing for two hours, she still hadn’t found any sign of tuna.

Han Xiaorui had to give up on the idea of catching tuna and started focusing on finding other valuable schools of fish.

’Mazu, please grant me your blessing!’

And sure enough, she wasn’t disappointed for long. She discovered a school of Redfish, scientific name *Seriola dumerili*.

The adult fish were about 30-50 cm long, with the largest reaching up to 150 cm. They had an oblong, slightly compressed body with a rounded belly. The coloration of the adults varied greatly; their backs were blue-gray or olive, sometimes with a pinkish sheen.

These were typically deep-water fish; she hadn’t expected to find them near the surface today.

”Xiao Rui, we’ve got fish!” Liang Xiaoyu had seen them too and quickly got the fishing net ready.

Han Xiaorui piloted the boat over, grabbed the net, and quickly cast it and hauled it in.

The huge net was bulging and packed to the brim.

The net hauler strained, pulling the rope taut before the heavy catch was dropped onto the deck.

Liang Xiaoyu helped untangle the net, her eyes wide with surprise. ”Whoa, these are Redfish! They’re delicious! This single haul must be over two hundred catties!”

Liang Xiaoyu quickly tossed the fish into the ice hold while Han Xiaorui cast the net again.

Not only had the school not scattered, but it seemed to be growing larger.

Han Xiaorui switched between two nets, casting them one after another. Liang Xiaoyu kept gathering the fish. They worked in perfect sync, never stopping for a moment.

While they were fishing, Han Xiaorui once again spotted the sea snake peeking around.

Even when it got caught in the nets, it would wiggle its way out, occasionally snatching a small fish and dragging it under the boat to eat.

At one point, the sea snake saw Han Xiaorui and actually paused. It slapped its tail against the water a few times before diving back under.

Han Xiaorui watched in confusion. ’Was that sea snake just trying to greet me?’

She didn’t know what to make of it.

But she didn’t have time to get distracted. She quickly went back to casting and hauling the nets. This time, after more than twenty hauls, the hold was filled to bursting again.

They were all large, fairly uniform in size, which made sorting them easy.

”Xiao Rui, we should hurry up and collect the lobster pots so we can sell these Redfish,” Liang Xiaoyu urged when she saw Han Xiaorui taking a break.

Han Xiaorui agreed, taking a sip of water before starting the engine. ”Alright. Since you said they’re so delicious, we’ll keep a couple for ourselves.”

”This fish is expensive. I think the last time I had it was back when my grandpa was still a fisherman,” Liang Xiaoyu said with a laugh. She knew it was delicious, but that was about all she could say.

Han Xiaorui knew this fish was considered to have medicinal properties, believed to aid digestion, relieve headaches and high blood pressure, improve intestinal health, and even sharpen one’s eyesight.

Its flesh was delicious and could be served as sashimi, pan-fried, or used in soups.

’In any case, it’s a fish that’s both delicious and easy to sell, so the price won’t be low.’

When they found the lobster pots, they were filled to the brim. By now, Liang Xiaoyu wasn’t surprised at all. In fact, she would have been surprised if they *weren’t* full.

The fish hold was full, so they stacked the overflowing pots all around the deck.

Liang Xiaoyu wanted to start sorting the catch, but Han Xiaorui stopped her, saying they could do it together on shore.

「Without stopping, they headed straight for the county pier.」

The moment Boss Zhang saw Han Xiaorui’s boat, he pushed through the crowd. ”Make way, make way! My fish are here!”

In Boss Zhang’s eyes, that boat wasn’t just bringing fish; it was bringing a lot of money.

Boss Zhang paid out of his own pocket, without Han Xiaorui having to spend a dime, and hired five women to help clean the lobster pots and sort the lobsters and crabs.

Large lobsters (over two catties each): 160 catties at 6 yuan/catty, for 960 yuan.

Large lobsters (over one catty each): 590 catties at 4 yuan/catty, for 2,360 yuan.

Lobsters (half a catty to one catty): 320 catties at 2 yuan/catty, for 640 yuan.

The half-basket of lobsters under half a catty were all thrown back into the sea.

Crabs: 200 catties at 1.2 yuan/catty, for 240 yuan.

The lobsters and crabs sold for a total of 4,200 yuan.

”Let me see what fish you’ve got today!” Seeing a bit of free space on deck, Boss Zhang eagerly stepped over to the fish hold. ”Whoa, so it’s these little treasures! Redfish! Quick, weigh them while they’re fresh!”

Seeing Boss Zhang’s reaction, Han Xiaorui breathed a sigh of relief. The price for this Redfish shouldn’t be too low. ”Boss Zhang, give me a good price.”

”Of course,” Boss Zhang laughed. ”I won’t lie to you, at my big seafood restaurant in the city, the Japs are frequent customers, and they love sashimi. But tuna is a rare catch! Sashimi made from Redfish and sea bream is the most popular.”

”These fish are the perfect size for sashimi. And they’re so fresh... I’ll give you five yuan a catty.”

In the past, this fish wasn’t actually so expensive. But with the recent trend of foreigners enjoying sashimi, the price had gradually climbed.

”Deal. Weigh them,” Han Xiaorui said with a nod, setting aside two fish for herself.

The fish were all a uniform size, so there was no need to grade them. The total weight came out to 2,700 catties. At 5 yuan per catty, that was 13,500 yuan.

Boss Zhang gave Han Xiaorui all the cash in his wallet, but it surprisingly wasn’t enough. He was still five hundred yuan short.

”Xiao Rui, I’m short five hundred yuan. I’ll get it to you tomorrow,” Boss Zhang said. He hadn’t expected her haul to be this good; she’d completely cleaned him out.

”Sounds good!” Han Xiaorui replied with a smile. The boat was already cleaned up, so she started the engine and headed out.

A moment later, Liang Xiaoyu cried out, ”Xiao Rui, look behind us!”