I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Catching Five-Star Fish in a Row

The blue Fengqi Fishing Rod felt even better in his hand. He picked it up and gave it a few whips; the flexibility seemed about the same.

In the game, the blue Fengqi Fishing Rod was a No. 4 rock fishing rod, capable of catching fish up to 200 *jin*.

For fish over 150 *jin*, there was a risk of the rod breaking if handled improperly.

*jin*? Gu Nan chuckled at the thought. If he actually managed to catch a fish that big, he’d be happy even if the rod snapped.

Next, he had to take the reel off and attach it to the blue rod.

Now his big fish bonus was up to 25%, his rare item bonus was 15%, and his number of daily attempts had increased by one.

The blue Fengqi Coast rod had three guaranteed catches per day, the reel also had three, and the set bonus added another three, for a total of nine.

If it were purple-grade equipment, the number would increase even further to a total of fifteen.

So, after installing the reel and re-tying the line, Gu Nan immediately used the extra guaranteed catch opportunity.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a very large fish, so he just swung it right up.

But when he saw the fish, his eyes lit up. It was a fiery red grouper covered in fine, grayish-blue spots—one he had never seen before.

’What a great surprise!’

Quest Five was completed instantly, earning him eight hundred Gold Coins.

Thirty experience points brought him right to level four.

After stowing the fish, Gu Nan opened the game’s Fish-o-pedia. He froze when he saw the Gold Coin reward—it was a thousand?

His nearly depleted Gold Coins suddenly jumped to 1,860. At this rate, once he finished all his daily quests, wouldn’t he be able to buy the blue fishing line?

But after thinking about it, he decided it wasn’t necessary.

Based on the fish currently available from the Fengqi Coast, the biggest was the longnose trevally, which only weighed about a hundred *jin* even at its maximum size.

The green-grade fishing line was actually more than enough. Besides, with a blue rod, he probably couldn’t catch a King-grade longnose trevally or higher anyway, so he didn’t need to worry about the line snapping.

Instead, buying the blue reel as soon as possible would give him attribute bonuses that would help him unlock the last few fish species faster.

’Since a blue rod gives me a chance at five-star fish, the purple set must be for the Elite Fish-o-pedia that’s about to be unlocked.’

’It’s close. With normal luck, two or three more days of daily quest rewards, plus the Gold Coins from selling the green set and the Fish-o-pedia unlock bonus, will definitely be enough to buy the rest of the blue set.’

Three days at most. Gu Nan was instantly filled with motivation.

He cast his line out again, letting the jig sink to the bottom this time. While jigging, he read the Fish-o-pedia entry.

Blue Star Nine-spine Sea Perch. Domestically found in the waters south of Taiwan. Internationally distributed mainly in the Red Sea, South Africa, and other regions.

Maximum length of 45 centimeters. Flavor rating: six and a half stars. A highly valuable species for both culinary and ornamental purposes. Delicious prepared in any style. Suggested price: two hundred yuan.

’It does look quite beautiful. Just in terms of appearance, it’s even prettier than a humpback grouper. Since humpback groupers can be kept as ornamental fish, it’s not surprising this one can be too.’

Now that he had upgraded to the blue rod, the proportion of three-star and higher fish was starting to increase effectively, while the proportion of one- and two-star fish would decrease slightly.

Once his rod got even better, he estimated his seafood shop would gradually shift toward a mid-to-high-end market.

He closed the game interface. The rod in his hand twitched slightly. After jigging a little longer, Gu Nan felt a fish start to nibble at the jig.

He focused, slowly turning the handle of the reel to make the jig imitate prey fleeing in danger, hoping to trigger a pursuit from a larger fish.

Sure enough, after just three turns of the handle, a strong tug came through the rod.

The pull was decent, but he could just brute-force this one.

Gu Nan tucked the rod under his arm and repeatedly pumped it, cranking the handle with his right hand to quickly reel the fish in.

Even when you hook a big fish and need to let it run, you first have to pull it up a bit to guide it toward open water. You also have to be careful not to let it circle the bridge piers.

This fish, however, didn’t put up much of a fight. The pull was a little stronger than the Blue Star Nine-spine Sea Perch from before, but not by much. He estimated it was just over two *jin*.

But when he saw that familiar fiery red body with its grayish-blue spots, Gu Nan was even more delighted. Another Blue Star Nine-spine Sea Perch!

’Excellent. If I have a pair, I can take them back to keep in the fish tank. At least that will look much better.’

’It’ll stop Yi Chen from thinking I’m strange for stocking just one fish per tank.’

’Okay, not that stocking two is much better!’

But it was still morning, and there was plenty of time. He had a good chance of catching a third, or even a fourth.

He placed the fish in the livewell to keep it alive and continued fishing.

The sun slowly moved from the east to directly overhead. Even though it was shady under the bridge, the temperature had risen quite a bit. Feeling hot, he took off his fishing jacket and set it aside.

In the time that followed, he didn’t catch any more five-star fish, but he did complete all his daily quests.

He earned another 1,600 Gold Coins. Added to what he already had, he now had 3,460 Gold Coins. It looked like he’d be able to buy the reel tomorrow.

’By that calculation, if I get lucky and unlock two more five-star fish, and sell the green set, could I complete the blue set tomorrow? That’s an insane pace!’

Gu Nan had originally thought the pace of acquiring new sets would slow down over time, but instead, it was getting faster.

But this was a good thing for him. Right now, his fish were probably one-of-a-kind in Yangjiang Port, which had attracted a number of wealthy gourmands.

This meant that his low-star fish were becoming harder to sell, while the high-star fish were in high demand and he couldn’t stock enough.

He checked the time. It was already past 11:20 AM. No wonder his stomach was growling.

Gu Nan laid his fishing rod across the livewell, picked up the two-liter bottle of mineral water next to him, and took several big gulps. GULP, GULP. Then, he pulled a self-heating rice meal out of his bag.

He unwrapped it, opened the heating pack, poured in some mineral water, and then put the lid on to wait for it to heat up.

He sat down casually on the ground. ’Next time, I should bring the folding stool from the shop,’ Gu Nan thought.

He didn’t feel it while fishing, but as soon as he stopped, he noticed his legs were a bit sore from standing.

A single morning was fine, but standing all day, every day, was genuinely tiring.

While waiting for his self-heating meal, the phone in his pocket suddenly started vibrating.

Gu Nan thought it might be An Jun or Yi Chen calling about something, but when he picked it up, he saw a voice message from his mom, along with a picture of a girl.

”Son, take a look at this girl. Do you like her?”

”Aunt Zhang next door introduced her. The young lady works as a clerk at a small company. She’s well-mannered and has a nice personality.”

”Sigh...” Gu Nan sighed after listening. Just as he’d expected, it was about a blind date. This was the sixth introduction this year.

Ever since he graduated, his family had been acting as if he’d never be able to find a wife, constantly scouting girls for him to meet.

It was especially bad this year. Since he was turning twenty-six in a few months, his family seemed even more anxious. They had already introduced six girls in just half a year—an average of one a month.

Gu Nan looked at the photo and was a little surprised. This girl was actually quite pretty, with a kind of girl-next-door charm.

But compared to Yi Chen, there was a huge gap. She wasn’t even as striking as the masseuses at Feiyun Pavilion.

’But when it comes to marriage, looks are both important and not important.’

”Mom, the shop’s been really busy lately, I don’t have time for a blind date. Let’s just drop it. We can talk about it after the New Year when things slow down.”