Back at the shelter, Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling sat down and started drinking water. Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi took the baskets and hung the fish on the windbreak wall. Then the four of them carried two pots under the shed and began to eat lunch. Today's lunch consisted of a large lobster, a crab, and most of a pot of stewed fish with wild vegetables.

After the meal, Wang Lun told the four of them to rest for a while. Once they were rested, they would go out to sea to test the effectiveness of their fishing.

After more than an hour, the four men had rested. Wang Lun had also prepared all the necessary fishing gear. Two fishing nets were essential, along with four long spears for hunting large fish and for self-defense in case of sharks or similar creatures. They also needed a large machete, a bundle of straw rope, a basket, four bamboo tubes filled with water—enough for the four to drink for a while. Then there was a long bamboo pole to use as a propeller, and four oars. These were all the tools they had; they should be sufficient.

Seeing that Li Ling and the other two had rested well, Wang Lun led them in pulling and dragging the raft into the sea. Wang Lun climbed onto the raft and tested it; it floated without sinking. He then had Li Ling and the other two come aboard one by one. Each time someone came aboard, they paused for a moment to allow the raft to stabilize and check the draft.

Finally, Wang Lun determined that the raft could support the weight of four people, but with all four on board and some tools, the draft would be quite deep. If they were to catch some fish, the raft might even sink. Therefore, Wang Lun decided that two people would fish on the raft while the other two stayed on the shore to wait for their return.

This time, since it was their first time fishing at sea, all four of them went together. They only cast one net, brought back some catch, to avoid the raft sinking and causing an accident. Li Ling and the other two were very happy to be able to go fishing together for the first time, as everyone wanted to go. However, the most likely candidates were Li Ling and Liu Ruoling, while Liu Ruoxi was the least likely. After all, Liu Ruoxi's physical condition wasn't as good as Li Ling's and Liu Ruoling's. Nevertheless, Wang Lun decided that all four of them should go. Taking a little risk was nothing; after all, fishing at sea always involves risk, and besides, it was only right that they all went as a group.

So Wang Lun had them squat down, and then he used a bamboo pole to propel the raft out to sea. Once they reached a certain depth, Wang Lun put away the bamboo pole and switched to using wooden oars. Liu Ruoling also helped row. Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi originally wanted to help too, but Wang Lun declined. He wanted them to rest a little longer, since setting the nets later would also require some effort. Besides, they didn't need to go too fast at this point.

After a while, Wang Lun felt it was about time. They were over a hundred meters from the shore, and the depth must be over ten meters; that should be enough to cast their nets. So Wang Lun stopped rowing, stood up, and found the fishing net.

After carefully reviewing how to use the casting net, and feeling it was almost ready, he began casting. Li Ling and the other two watched Wang Lun from behind, hoping he could successfully cast the net and hopefully catch some fish.

Wang Lun exerted all his strength and threw the net out, but it didn't unravel and fell into the sea with a splash. Wang Lun gave an embarrassed laugh and then retrieved the net. Sitting on the raft, he carefully arranged the net. During this time, Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi encouraged Wang Lun, telling him that it was normal to fail the first time, since he hadn't used it before. Wang Lun understood this, and he was able to accept that his first attempt at casting the net had failed.

Soon, Wang Lun began his second attempt. This time it was better; the net opened slightly, but not completely. So he retrieved the net, tidied it up, and started the third attempt. The fourth, the fifth. Each time, he improved compared to the previous one.

On the seventh cast, Wang Lun successfully launched the net, which landed in a circle in the sea. Wang Lun, Li Ling, and the other two were overjoyed with this success; now they just had to wait for the catch.

After waiting for a while, Wang Lun gripped the main rope tightly. He then called Li Ling and Liu Ruoling to help pull the net up. Why call for help? Wang Lun had tried it himself and found it quite heavy. He pulled a little, and it became increasingly heavy, so he had to call Li Ling and Liu Ruoling for assistance.

Finally, Liu Ruoxi also came forward to help. The four of them worked for about ten minutes before finally pulling in the fishing net. However, Wang Lun didn't bring it all onto the raft; part of it remained in the sea, with Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi holding onto the main rope. Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling quickly rowed the raft towards the shore.

After about ten minutes of continuous paddling by Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling, they finally reached the shore. Wang Lun secured the raft, and then he, Li Ling, and the other two hauled the fishing net ashore.

A fishing net was half full of fish; they didn't know how, but this one net had caught so many. The four of them were puzzled, but still very happy. Li Ling asked, "Could we have encountered a school of fish?" Wang Lun shook his head and said, "There are several kinds of fish in there; it's probably not a school." Li Ling thought about it and agreed; they couldn't be that lucky, they'd never encountered a school of fish before. Liu Ruoling said, "Never mind that, as long as there are fish, that's enough. Let's go again; I want to try too." Wang Lun stopped them, saying, "The previous plan can't be done. Pulling in the net just now took a lot of effort; I can't do it alone, and two people would be exhausted too, so..." As he spoke, Wang Lun looked at Liu Ruoxi.

Liu Ruoxi understood what Wang Lun meant, so she said, "It's okay, you all go ahead, I'll wait for you on the shore." Wang Lun was about to say something when he heard Liu Ruoxi's words, but Liu Ruoxi interrupted him, smiling and saying, "Even though I won't be going up, you should still take me for a stroll on the sea when you have time." Wang Lun nodded, and Li Ling also understood what Liu Ruoxi meant, as well as the reason why Liu Ruoxi did this.

On one hand, Liu Ruoxi felt that going out to sea on the raft alone wouldn't be of much use, so it was better for her to stay on the shore and wait. She could do what needed to be done, and if nothing else, just watch them from the shore. Without Liu Ruoxi, the raft would draft shallower, allowing it to carry more fish. Of course, if the raft were large enough, who would want to be left alone on the shore waiting for them? But there was no other way; the raft was only so big, and it wasn't feasible to spend time building a larger one. That wouldn't be cost-effective.