After the misunderstanding, Professor Liu excitedly circled around the giant grouper, exclaiming, "I haven't seen a giant grouper in so many years!"

"Isn't that right? The little boy's luck is off the charts!"

Without refrigerators or ice storage on fishing boats, Li Xiangdong has no way to store or preserve the grouper, tilapia, and even giant grouper he catches.

So Li Xiangdong suggested that they eat the grouper tonight!

He had only one request: that the skin of the giant grouper be peeled off intact, dried, and taken away.

This requirement is practically no requirement at all.

That evening, Professor Liu's students, the old man, and his son gathered at his home. Looking at the platters of grouper sashimi piled high, as well as steamed grouper and Sichuan peppercorn steamed grouper slices, tears involuntarily streamed down their faces.

Seeing that there was more raw fish than they could eat, Li Xiangdong even sent a small bowl of it over to Chen Jihuo and the others who were staying on the boat.

"So fresh! Tender, the fish flavor seems to explode in your mouth!"

"These things aren't cheap! I never thought I could eat my fill today!"

"Delicious, delicious~"

"Hey, don't eat it all!"

"You've been so busy talking, it'll all be gone in a minute—"

In short, everyone ate to their heart's content that night, and their opinion of Li Xiangdong underwent a complete 180-degree turn.

Many of the students at Pengcheng Aquatic Research Institute are locals. To be honest, no matter what they say, they still believe in Mazu.

They now think Li Xiangdong is incredibly lucky, perhaps because he's been blessed by Mazu!

So they all extended an invitation to Li Xiangdong, "Xiangdong, come join us on our next sea expedition!"

"Yeah, yeah, let's go out and have some fun together!"

Li Xiangdong smiled and agreed to each one.

After eating and drinking his fill, Li Xiangdong lay down in the old man's courtyard, listening to the rhythmic sound of the waves lapping against the shore and watching the stars slowly move across the sky, and slowly fell asleep.

The next day, after getting up, Li Xiangdong first touched the grouper skin that was drying on the rope, and then ate breakfast.

The old man's son, Li Jinyin, did not go out to sea today; he was sitting in the yard mending fishing nets.

Li Xiangdong took a small stool and sat down, chatting idly with him.

This was a young man in his early twenties, not very tall, but he looked very honest and kind.

When he heard that Li Xiangdong had come specifically for sea fishing, his eyes widened. "Don't you have any chores to do at home?"

There's one more thing I didn't say: If you don't work, what will you eat?

Li Xiangdong replied with a smile, "The weather there is still very cold, and we can't do anything. The ground is frozen solid, and even a shovel can't turn it over."

Li Jinyin had never left Futian District since he was a child, and had no idea that it could be so cold in other places. He thought that the whole country was like Shenzhen, where it was spring all year round!

"I'll take you to a great place, so we can catch some fish to bring home!"

Li Jinyin tacitly agreed that Li Xiangdong made a living by fishing. He liked this generous young man very much, so he wanted to help him.

"Okay, then I'll thank you in advance, Brother Yin!"

The place that Li Jinyin took Li Xiangdong and Li Guoqing to was the area where the old man had mentioned yesterday where black sea bream were found.

Without further ado, today's bait has been changed to small miscellaneous fish that Li Jinyin caught yesterday, mixed with small pen stalks.

They baited the hooks, cast the line, and the three of them silently watched the sea and the fishing rods, waiting for a bite.

Yesterday, Li Xiangdong's fishing rod developed a crack in the middle because the giant grouper was too strong. The old man repaired it for him so that he could continue fishing today.

Li Jinyin even lent Li Guoqing a fishing rod so that he could also have his own catch.

The fishing rod dipped, and Li Xiangdong was the first to catch a fish!

With very little force, Li Xiangdong quickly pulled the fish out of the water!

"Spanish mackerel!"

Li Jinyin said, "This is a spotted mackerel that weighs about three pounds."

The spotted mackerel, also known as the Sichuan pepper or flat mackerel, has a bluish-black head and back, and its body is covered with blue spots.

This fish is cut into sections, rubbed with salt, then fried in oil and served with porridge; it's delicious.

However, mackerel is not as valuable as black sea bream.

A short while later, Li Guoqing's fishing rod also moved, and he caught a mackerel!

This was Li Guoqing's first experience with sea fishing, and he happily put the mackerel into his own bucket.

Just as Li Guoqing was releasing the fish, Li Jinyin also caught a fish, a mackerel weighing four or five pounds!

Li Jinyin scratched his head. "I remember this should be a black sea bream's nest, so why are all the fish coming up here being Spanish mackerel?"

Spanish mackerel usually appear in groups. Since they caught Spanish mackerel one after another so quickly, it seems there must be a large group of Spanish mackerel underwater!

Although mackerel isn't very valuable, every little bit counts, and Li Jinyin wasn't so rich as to disregard a school of mackerel.

"I'm going down to see if there are any fish. You guys wait for me on the shore!"

Li Jinyin took off her clothes and disappeared into the sea like a fish.

Although Li Xiangdong and Li Guoqing also grew up in the river, they still couldn't compare to Li Jinyin, who had been swimming in the sea since childhood.

Actually, Li Xiangdong also wanted to go down, but he was unfamiliar with the situation here and had no other equipment, so he dared not go into the water easily.

Soon, Li Jinyin's head popped out of the sea, his face full of excitement, "There's a school of mackerel down there!"

He quickly climbed ashore. "Let's go back and get the net. Fishing alone is too slow!"

Li Jinyin dropped his fishing gear and ran home, while Li Xiangdong and Li Guoqing sat back down to fish.

"Second Brother, it seems like wherever you go, there are good things!"

Li Xiangdong actually had a vague feeling in his heart that since his rebirth, he had always been able to find rare treasures in nature. Could this be a gift from God?

When Li Jinyin arrived with his men and fishing nets, Li Xiangdong and Li Guoqing's buckets were already full of mackerel.

"The fish haven't left yet, brothers, charge!"

Led by Li Jinyin, the four young men began rowing the sampan, adjusting their position, and then casting the trawl net!

"Splash—"

Seawater flowed out of the fishing net, which bulged like a ball and shimmered silver in the sunlight. A net full of mackerel was poured into the middle of the sampan.

Then came the second network, the third network, the fourth network...

In the end, they actually caught 5,000 catties of mackerel!

What a bumper harvest today!

Li Jinyin and others rowed a boat to sell the mackerel, and that evening they cooked a sumptuous meal for Li Xiangdong.

Everything else was fine, but Li Xiangdong had a particular fondness for the oyster omelet.

The plump, tender oyster meat is fresh and delicious, mixed with egg and flour, giving it an authentic seafood flavor.

As Li Xiangdong ate, he pondered, "It would be good to take some dried oysters back with me. Oh, and I could also make some oyster sauce."