Two nice fish caught in quick succession completely dispelled his drowsiness, filling him with excitement. Ever since he landed that spotted snapper, it seemed his golden finger constitution had reappeared, leading to a continuous run of catches.
He'd barely taken a sip of water when another fish, weighing over a pound, took the bait. Looking at its fierce dorsal fin, he found it rather endearing. This was money flowing in!
Just as he unhooked and cast out the first fish, another strike occurred on the other side. Li Haochen darted back and forth, too busy to manage. Although the distance was only three to four meters, running back and forth repeatedly was tiring. Moreover, when reeling in fish or fighting particularly hefty ones, the physical exertion was immense.
After reeling in another small grouper, Li Haochen decided to stop fishing. His body had reached its limit; he was too exhausted. Pushing himself further might lead to an accident.
He tidied everything up, losing the inclination to count his catch. Exhausted, he entered the bathroom and took a hot shower, which offered some relief.
He locked the cabin door, bundled himself in his quilt, and lay on the bed, falling asleep quickly.
At eight in the morning, Li Haochen was startled awake by a loud foghorn. He rushed out to see a thirty-meter-long fishing boat speeding past in the distance, creating white waves more than half a meter high. He could vaguely make out several people moving about on the boat.
Compared to them, Li Haochen, alone, seemed exceptionally lonely.
Since he was awake, there was no point wasting time. He wasn't purely out for leisure; making money was the priority.
The energy he had expended the previous night had been fully replenished by a night of high-quality sleep, though his muscles were still a bit sore.
After a quick wash, he cooked a bowl of beef noodles to replenish his energy and brewed a pot of black tea. Then he remembered to check his haul from the previous night.
Opening the livewell, the noise disturbed the now-calm sea fish, causing a surge of activity. They leaped and wriggled, crowding into the gaps in the fish fillets.
A rough count revealed at least forty to fifty fish, of various sizes, including many weighing over two pounds. Fortunately, the livewell was large enough; dozens of fish didn't make it feel crowded.
He took a bag of sea snail meat from the ice cooler to thaw, preparing to start fishing again. Suddenly, he heard the rumbling sound of engines. Scanning his surroundings, he saw a black dot rapidly approaching his position from the southeast.
Within seconds, he identified the approaching object: an airboat was speeding towards him. A minute later, it stopped a few meters outside the "Star" (Xingchen Hao).
Two men and one woman. It was obvious. He could read the words "Binhai Television" on the boat's hull. One of the men explained their purpose, asked Li Haochen a perfunctory question, and then maneuvered the speedboat closer.
What else could Li Haochen say? He had been informed during registration that official media personnel had the right to board for interviews and filming. Moreover, how could he offend these uncrowned kings?
Li Haochen didn't resist, nor did he dare to. He could only warmly invite them aboard for a tour and filming.
The beautiful host was Liang Shiyin, the person with the video camera was Hong Bin, and the other was Huang Fuhai, who was in charge of piloting the boat.
The interview wasn't very long. It consisted of questions about his feelings regarding the competition and his expectations. They also took a look at his catch. Since Li Haochen had only caught small fish, there wasn't much to highlight, and it was quickly glossed over. As for why they interviewed him, firstly, his "Star" was the only boat they could find nearby; the others were too far to reach quickly. Secondly, Li Haochen was the only person on the "Star," and the image of him sailing out alone against the sunset yesterday had piqued the curiosity of many viewers.
"Mr. Li, you're quite famous now! You're the only one in the entire competition,嘻嘻!" After the interview and filming, they chatted casually, having grown familiar with each other, as they sat in the cabin's lounge area.
"Famous for what? I'm just fodder for the audience's after-meal chats," Li Haochen said, not thinking much of it. He didn't understand what was so amusing about him going out fishing alone.
After chatting for a while longer, Liang Shiyin and her companions proposed to leave, not wanting to take up too much of Li Haochen's time. However, Li Haochen warmly insisted they stay for a lavish seafood feast before departing.
After the television crew left, Li Haochen checked his phone. The signal had returned. He quickly called Murong Yanran and Xie Baolian to report his whereabouts. After chatting for a while, he began preparing to fish.
Li Haochen didn't move the boat or change location. He had a good harvest yesterday and wanted to stay put. After all, moving the boat meant money flowing away; that "oil tiger" was formidable.
The sea snail meat he had taken out that morning had already thawed. He had forgotten about it when Liang Shiyin and her crew came for the interview. Li Haochen picked it up and sniffed it. Fortunately, it hadn't gone bad and was still usable. To prevent it from spoiling, he took some ice cubes from the ice cooler and placed them on the snail meat.
The sea snail meat was quite large, and using a whole piece would be a waste. Li Haochen used a small knife to cut it in half, baited his hook, cast it a few meters away, stuck it in the fishing rod holder, and then repeated the process on the other side.
After baiting both fishing rods, he went into the cabin to put on his fishing hat, sunglasses, and ice sleeves, fully armored from head to toe. He carried a large thermos of tea outside. One of the fishing rods had already hooked a fish, but judging by the resistance of the line, Li Haochen wasn't in a hurry. He took a sip of tea before leisurely walking over to reel the handle. In about half a minute, he pulled in the fish – a golden drumfish weighing a little over half a pound.
After fishing for another hour, Li Haochen couldn't tell if it was the heat, but the fish seemed to have a poor appetite. He only caught a few rockfish and no more bites.
"Looks like I need to move."
He packed up his fishing gear, washed up, raised the anchor, and sounded the foghorn. A long blast rippled outward from the "Star" in all directions.
Even if there were no boats nearby, he had to follow standard operating procedures; safety first, no carelessness.
Li Haochen slowly pushed the throttle forward, and the "Star" gradually accelerated, quickly reaching 23 knots. He locked in the speed and steered towards an uninhabited island about ten kilometers away.
During the journey, Li Haochen turned on the radio. It was like a chaotic battle among seven kingdoms. One person said they had just caught a few tuna, another claimed to have caught hundreds of pounds of marlin, and yet another reported catching dozens of large groupers. In short, boasting was rampant, and he didn't know if it was true or false.
Li Haochen, with his small fish and shrimp, felt too embarrassed to join the conversation. He simply listened for a while. It was quite interesting, helping to alleviate his loneliness.
After nearly half an hour of sailing, the uninhabited island came into view. As they continued to advance, the island grew closer. In another three minutes, Li Haochen estimated the distance and stopped in advance, dropping anchor.
The uninhabited island wasn't large, only about the size of two basketball courts, and calling it a massive reef would be more accurate.
Just as Li Haochen was about to start fishing, another fishing boat arrived about a kilometer away. Through his binoculars, he identified it as the "Breezy Wind" (Shanfeng Hao), about eighteen meters long, with seven or eight people standing on the deck, fishing.
They had also spotted Li Haochen's "Star." They turned on the radio, "Hello, Star!"
"Hello, Breezy Wind."