Sunday morning at four o'clock.
Bai Yu sat by Wang Hai's bedside, looking at the time on her phone, still somewhat dazed.
'What's going on? I woke up at 4 AM? Did last night just fly by like that? Should I go see the sunrise over the South China Sea at 4 AM?'
Thinking of this, Bai Yu took a coat from the upper bunk, put it on, and walked out of the crew room.
It's quite cold at sea in the early morning, even though this is the South China Sea, which is a tropical sea. The low temperature in the early morning still applies.
Has anyone ever seen the ocean at four o'clock?
If no one has ever seen it, Bai Yu can tell you that the sea at four o'clock is incredibly beautiful.
The fiery red horizon points to the east, where the sun is about to leap from the sea, its afterglow turning the ocean a crimson hue.
The sea breeze instantly sobered Bai Yu up. He immediately took out his phone and started taking pictures of the sea.
The sun, about to rise but not yet, is incredibly beautiful. Every photo Bai Yu takes with her phone is one that could be used as a screensaver.
If you don't believe me, you can go to the beach to see the sunrise. Although the sunrise at the beach is slightly different from the sunrise at sea, the difference is not significant and is still within an acceptable range.
On this fishing boat, only Bai Yu is currently on the deck, and he is the only one who can appreciate this unique sunrise.
After the sun had fully risen, Bai Yu returned to the crew quarters.
When Bai Yu reappeared on the deck, he was holding a fishing rod in one hand and bait in the other.
He wasted his time last night, so he needs to make the most of his time fishing today. If he doesn't fish now, he'll have to go back to the dock tonight, and then he won't be able to fish anymore.
The bait he used was leftover shrimp from yesterday. The shrimp, which had just been taken out of the freezer, were frozen solid. In order to make sure the shrimp could be hooked smoothly, Bai Yu soaked them in hot water to melt the ice on their outer skin.
When Bai Yu cast his first line, it was only 4:20, and he was still the only person on the deck.
This time he could choose his fishing spot freely. He chose one facing the rising sun and started fishing in the morning sunlight.
According to information obtained by Bai Yu, the best times for sea fishing are from 4:00 to 9:00 AM and from 10:00 to 2:00 PM.
At this time of day in the morning, before the sun gets too hot, various small and medium-sized fish on the seabed are actively foraging for food and are very eager to take the bait thrown in by anglers.
In some respects, what some experienced people say makes a lot of sense, like this point.
Bai Yu had only cast his line a few minutes ago, and after waiting for just two or three minutes, he heard the sound of a fish taking the bait. He looked down at the sea and saw that the float that had been floating on the surface had disappeared.
"Wow, the fish are really cooperating today! I just cast my line and a fish is already biting. You're giving me face, so I can't not give you face in return! Little darling, I'm going to put my strength in!"
Feeling the pull from the fishing rod, the white-haired fisherman began to crank the reel.
He first jerked the fishing rod upwards to make sure the hook was caught on the creature and that it couldn't easily break free. Then he used the crank to reel in the line twice.
It's true that the fish took the bait, but the pulling force transmitted through the fishing rod was very limited. According to Bai Yu's judgment, this fish weighed at most two or three pounds.
Bai Yu was not going to be polite to him; what awaited this guy was a barrage of tackling and reeling in the line.
This time, Bai Yu chose to fish in the middle and upper layers of the sea. He only cast out a fishing rod that was a dozen meters long. For him, reeling in such a short fishing line was very easy.
With a depth of over ten meters, Bai Yu doesn't need to worry about causing the fish to lose pressure during fishing; he just needs to reel in the line.
A little over a minute later, a fish covered in spots and with a dark reddish-brown skin was dragged out of the sea by Bai Yu.
"Hmm? Eastern Star Spotted Grouper? No, it looks a bit like it, but Eastern Star Spotted Grouper doesn't seem to be this fat."
Seeing the creature on the sea that looked just like a grouper, Bai Yu didn't hesitate at all and immediately lifted it from the sea onto the deck.
Looking at the brightly colored creature that was over thirty centimeters long in front of him, he was a little undecided for a moment.
One thing is certain: the fish Bai Yu caught was not a grouper. He had seen groupers before, and they looked quite similar to this one. If it wasn't a grouper, then what kind of fish was this?
Unfortunately, he was all alone on the deck, so he couldn't ask anyone for help, and his phone had no internet connection, let alone search online.
Bai Yu could only keep his doubts to himself for the time being, and wait until someone got up before asking them.
As for this guy, Bai Yu first put him in the fish tank and filled it with seawater. Judging from his vitality, he shouldn't die in a short time.
After settling the first fish, Bai Yu re-baited the hook and continued his fishing trip.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but just as Bai Yu was enjoying his fishing and the fish were biting well, he heard footsteps behind him.
Bai Yu turned around and looked back, and then he saw the captain, whom he had only met a few times since boarding the ship, walking over.
"Young man, you're up early enough to go fishing. Did you stay up all night fishing?"
"Brother, you're right. I went to bed too early last night and didn't go fishing at all. I woke up at four in the morning."
I couldn't fall back asleep after waking up, so I decided to go fishing. Hey bro, you're up early too! Any plans for today?
Bai Yu looked at the captain behind him. The man looked to be only about forty years old, and his skin was tanned from years at sea. The captain's actual age was probably less than forty.
For someone his age, becoming a ship captain is considered quite young.
However, you can't judge a person by their age alone. Although the captain isn't very old, he's incredibly experienced when it comes to finding fish.
The fish that Bai Yu and his crew caught these past two days were all found by the captain, which is why they were able to catch so many fish.
"There's nothing special going on, we're just moving to a different spot now, so you'll need to put your fishing rod away. You can't catch fish with this rod while the boat is moving."
"Change locations? Brother, I don't think we need to change locations. The sea area we are in now has very good resources. Look at the fish I caught this morning, aren't they enough?"
Especially these red, spotted sea fish, do you know what kind of fish they are? There seem to be quite a lot of them underwater.”
Bai Yu was stunned when the captain said he was going to change seats.
In his view, changing locations is simply about finding a place with more abundant resources to provide the best fishing experience for anglers like them.
Bai Yu felt that the sea area they were in was very good, because he had been fishing here for half a day and his catch this morning was really good.
As he offered his suggestions, he pushed his fish box in front of the captain, showing him his catch for the day.
The captain just smiled when he heard this, then opened Bai Yu's fish box and glanced at the catch inside.
"Hey, young man, you've got some good luck. You've caught so many nine-spined bass. These things are known as pseudo-spined grouper. You've caught so many in just one morning. You're really lucky."
"Nine-spined perch? False red grouper? Dude, are these kinds of fish very valuable?"
"No, no, no, you're overthinking it. Although the nine-spined perch is known as the fake grouper, its price is actually not too high because of its large quantity. It can be as low as tens of yuan per kilogram, or as high as more than a hundred yuan. The price fluctuates greatly."
However, your nine-spined bass might not be very expensive, because they are all a bit too small, and a single fish won't fetch a high price.
"Alright, hurry up and pack up your fishing rod. I'm going to set sail to find a new fishing spot. I'll try to catch some big fish this time and show you what real value is."
After seeing Bai Yu's catch, the captain reminded him again to put away his fishing rod, and this time Bai Yu did not object.
According to the captain, if the price of the spiny bass he catches isn't high, then fishing here really isn't very meaningful.
Even if Bai Yu were willing, once the other fishermen in the cabin got up, they would ask the captain to find a new fishing spot.
Looking at the nine sea bass in his fish tank, Bai Yu selected one of moderate size, weighing about two pounds, and carried it to the kitchen.
Although the nine-spined bass he caught wasn't expensive, that didn't seem to stop him from eating it. He couldn't bear to eat the expensive ones, so he could try the cheaper ones.
When Bai Yu arrived at the kitchen, the chef and his apprentice were making breakfast.
"Master, I'm here again. Could you help me prepare this fish this time? I don't need anything too complicated, just steaming it will do."
"Okay, there's a scale over there. You can weigh the fish yourself, then pay the processing fee, and I'll cook it for you once I'm done here."
After weighing the fish, Bai Yu paid a processing fee of ten yuan, then left the kitchen, took the fish box, and went to find someone.
Who should I contact?
Naturally, it would be the crew on the fishing boat, preferably the one who's been with them for the past two days, as he needs to store the fish they caught today.
After finishing all that, Bai Yu returned to his crew cabin. At that time, Wang Hai and the other two were still fast asleep, completely unaware that Bai Yu had already gone fishing.
.............
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