Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 740: Chapter 737: Making a Fortune

Luo’s father spoke of the Golden Spearfish and Speckled Trout, which are among the larger fish varieties in the ocean.

The Golden Spearfish, belonging to the mackerel family and also known as ’tuna’, is a warm water pelagic fish that mainly populates low to mid-latitude seas, including the East Sea and South Sea of Huaxia Country.

The most similar to the Golden Spearfish are the fishes of the genus Katsuwonus, which have no black spots or dark vertical stripes on their bodies.

It is one of the fastest-moving marine animals, only fierce sharks and large dolphins can compete with it. At full speed, the Golden Spearfish can reach a velocity of up to 55 nautical miles per hour.

The Golden Spearfish commonly found near the South Sea of Huaxia Country are usually under ten meters in length, generally two to three meters long, weighing up to several hundred kilograms. The price per kilogram ranges from 400 to 1200 yuan.

As for the Speckled Trout, the people of Fujian and Guangdong also call it Yellow-lipped Fish or Golden Speckled Fiendfish. This species is unique to China and also a precious fish in the ocean.

The whole body of the Yellow-lipped Fish is medicinal and holds significant medical and economic value, especially its swim bladder, which is extremely precious and used to make ”Buddha Jumps Over the Wall,” the ”stomach” part, considered the highest quality fish maw.

The primary habitat of Speckled Trout is along the coast of Guangdong and the Southern Fujian Fishing Ground, residing in offshore waters 50-60 meters deep. The juveniles dwell near river mouths and adjacent coasts, normally measuring 1-1.5 meters in length, with larger individuals exceeding 50 kilograms.

This fish feeds on crustaceans such as shrimp, crabs, and small fish, favors turbid waters with countercurrents and shuns bright light.

In the summertime, Speckled Trout migrate along the coast for spawning and reproduction. During this period, due to the vibrations of the air in their swim bladder, they emit melodious sounds under water, varying in strength, with a musical rhythm that can be heard within a 100-meter radius.

They are caught in Wenzhou Dongtou, the southern and northern Bei Ji Fishing Ground, and the Ou River estuary. However, just like the Chinese sturgeon, the Speckled Trout has approached a state of near extinction. Even some of the old fishermen along our coast have only seen them more than a dozen years ago.

The swim bladder of the Speckled Trout is said to be ”as valuable as gold.” Over a decade ago, someone in Pang Cao Town, Cangnan County, Zhejiang caught a Speckled Trout weighing six to seven jin and sold it for several tens of thousands of yuan.

An American media company published a list of the nine most expensive foods in the world, among which the Golden Speckled Fiendfish was included, with the price of its meat reaching hundreds of US dollars per pound.

For this reason, Luo Jinfeng and her sister were so astonished, finding it hard to believe what their father said, ”Dad, could you have mistaken it, how could our net possibly catch a Speckled Trout?”

”How could I mistake it? When I was young, I personally saw someone catch a Speckled Trout. It makes strange noises. Just now when I went down, I heard it singing in the net, no mistake!”

Seeing his daughter’s disbelief, Luo’s father became anxious, ”Not just the Speckled Trout, but the net is also filled with thousands of pounds of fish! If you don’t believe it, you two sisters can go down and take a look yourselves!”

”Thousands of pounds? Dad, stop joking!” Luo Jinfeng and Luo Jinzhi exchanged glances, paused, and Luo Jinzhi, skeptical, turned and jumped straight into the sea, and after a few waves, dived underwater.

Before long, Luo Jinzhi also surfaced, and as she burst out of the water, Luo Jinzhi was ecstatic and unable to contain her joy:

”Sister, Dad didn’t lie to us, it really is a Yellow-lipped Fish! I just touched that fish, it’s huge, at least twenty to thirty kilograms! There are also many other fish in the net, it looks like our boat won’t be able to fit them all, no wonder Dad called second sister to get a bigger boat!”

Luo Jinfeng finally believed it and knew that they had hit the jackpot this time. Elated, she steered the boat towards the nearby Youming Island.

The fishing boat had already sailed over a hundred nautical miles, the fishing village no longer visible in the distance, with only the coastline of a herder’s area in sight, and several small islands could be seen upon looking around.

The seas near Mindong are peppered with many small islands and also fraught with numerous hidden reefs, so large-tonnage vessels rarely pass this way; only traditional fishermen’s boats can navigate here.

These islands are one of the few fishing bases for the fishermen of Luo Jinzhi’s home village; virtually everyone in the village knows the location of Youming Island.

Luo Jinfeng drove the boat all the way to Youming Island, and in a short time, they reached the coast near the island. After stopping the boat, the five people on board pulled the fishing net towards the shore. Although among the five, only Luo’s father was a strong man, the other three girls, excluding Huo Sining, had also grown up by the sea and were familiar with activities like pulling fishing nets. They weren’t weak either and joined in pulling the nets.

After a laborious effort that lasted tens of minutes, they finally dragged the net onto the shore.

Countless fishes struggled and leaped within the net, their white underbellies shimmering silver in the sunlight.

The closer they pulled the net to the shore, the more excited the Luos became.

As Master Luo had anticipated, this catch weighed over a thousand pounds, including some precious fish species.

However, at this moment, Master Luo could hardly care about counting the ordinary fish; his gaze had been fixated on the two Golden Spearfish and Speckled Trout from the moment they began pulling the net. As soon as the net reached the shore, he eagerly checked on the three big fish.

Huo Sining’s eyes also followed Master Luo’s movements and shifted to the three large fish. She had seen Golden Spearfish in S City before and didn’t find them particularly unusual, but this was the first time she heard of the Yellow-lipped Fish, so she too stepped closer with Master Luo, curiously eyeing this rare fish species.

This Yellow-lipped Fish was elongated and spindle-shaped, with a raised back and a belly that ran fairly straight from the pectoral fin to the ****, rapidly narrowing from the anal fin to the caudal peduncle. Its eyes bulged like copper bells, and its lips were golden yellow, hence the name Yellow-lipped Fish.

On the other side, Luo Jinfeng hastily brought over a scale. Master Luo picked up the lively Yellow-lipped Fish and placed it on the scale to weigh it—goodness, it was thirty-four kilograms, quite a hefty size indeed.

The two Golden Spearfish were also weighed, one tipping the scales at around forty pounds and the other at a full seventy kilograms; both were significantly sized fish.

Master Luo was grinning so broadly his mouth wouldn’t close, but Luo Jinzhi looked at the huge net full of fish with a puzzled expression:

”Dad, what exactly is going on here? Golden Spearfish and Speckled Trout are deep-sea species, usually found in deep-water zones over fifty meters deep; our net was cast down merely ten-odd meters, so how did we catch such big fish?”

”Yeah, and there are rarely so many fish in these nearby waters for us to catch. We usually manage to catch about ten-odd pounds on a good day, so how did we suddenly catch over a thousand pounds this time? It’s too bizarre, isn’t it?” Luo Jinfeng also felt that there was something eerily odd about the whole situation.

Master Luo’s smile faltered for a moment, while the instigator beside him didn’t show any sign of discomfort and continued to watch the thrashing spoils on the ground with glee.