Chapter 173: Too Difficult to Please

Chapter 173: Too Difficult to Please



After moving the iron frames to the dock, Zhou Chenglei and his team realized that the large iron frame at the back was not fully welded yet.

Zhou Chenglei borrowed a power source from the purchasing department, allowing Zhou Fu and the others to continue welding, while he and Jiang Xia went to the city shipyard to get the anchors.

Jiang Xia also took the opportunity to visit the shipyard and sign the contract for the two ships they ordered the day before.

By the time Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia returned from the city dock, it was already past eight o'clock. The dock was bustling with activity as many fishing boats that had gone out to sea the night before were now back in the morning, selling their catch, attracting numerous villagers to buy.

It took some time for the large ship to dock, and once it was secured, the four men moved the welded iron frame onto the ship.

After a busy morning, it was already past ten o'clock when they finally reached the Pearl Island waters.

Pearl Island was a name given by Jiang Xia, as her family had leased it for the next twenty years. To make it easier to distinguish between the two leased sea areas, she named one Pearl Island and the other Coral Island.

Upon hearing Jiang Xia's choice of names, Zhou Fu laughed, "These names are great! They sound so prosperous. Who knows, maybe we can also raise pearls like that Pearl Patriarch from the island nation. We should give it a try; these oysters can be cultivated. Perhaps I can even become the 'Pearl Ancestor' someday!"

Forget being a father, being an ancestor is even more impressive!

With her golden touch, Wang Cai can make pearls from any oyster she touches. The oysters she raises will surely be more obedient, producing pearls that are large, round, and lustrous!

Indeed, his chances of becoming the 'Pearl Ancestor' are quite high!

Hearing this, Jiang Xia smiled and said, "Dad, wouldn't 'Pearl Patriarch' sound even better?"

Zhou Fu's eyes lit up, "Right! Pearl Patriarch!"

An ancestor is even more powerful than a grandfather!

Jiang Xia truly has a brilliant idea.

With his title as the Pearl Patriarch, it's a done deal!

Jiang Xia couldn't help but laugh at Zhou Fu's joke as she gazed at the distant archipelago.

Near Pearl Island was a cluster of islands. The seawater temperature here never dropped below 20 degrees Celsius, and the salinity was high, creating an ideal environment for fish to thrive.

Most importantly, this area was a natural harbor due to the presence of the archipelago.

Typically, in areas suitable for cultivating abalone and pearl oysters, the waves are not too strong, and the current is slow. This is because abalone and pearl oysters prefer calmer waters, enjoying tranquility.

With smaller waves, it becomes even more suitable to place fish cages on the seabed for fish farming.

Of course, this doesn't apply during typhoon days.

Even in a sheltered bay during a typhoon, there will still be some wind and waves, just significantly less.

Zhou Chenglei found a spot that was neither too close nor too far from the island and stopped the ship.

Zhou Chengxin also stopped his small boat beside him.

As Zhou Chenglei put on his diving gear, he instructed Zhou Chengxin and Zhou Yongguo, "I'll go down first to check, and you two wait for me on the ship."

Zhou Chenglei then dove into the sea, fully geared up, and swam to the bottom to find a suitable spot for the fish cage. He swam quite a distance before finding the perfect location, then surfaced and waved to the people on the nearby ship, "Bring the ship over here!"

Zhou Fu and Zhou Chengxin had been keeping an eye on the sea surface and quickly steered the ship over upon hearing Zhou Chenglei's instructions.

Once the ship was in position, Zhou Chenglei climbed aboard and, together with the others, lowered one of the anchors into the sea.

The anchor, along with its chain, was incredibly heavy, weighing in the hundreds of tons.

Therefore, it was crucial to locate the optimal position before dropping the anchor from the ship, as once it penetrated the seabed and firmly grasped the ground, it would be challenging to move it underwater.

Jiang Xia couldn't help much, so she went fishing. She observed that even with four men handling it, the anchor was extremely heavy. Fortunately, they had a crane, but it still took almost half an hour to lower just one anchor.

Moreover, the crane emitted a piercing noise during the process.

After lowering one anchor, they had to move the ship to another position to lower the second anchor.

Next, they had to attach the fishing net to the iron frame to create the fish cage and then throw it into the sea.

Once the fish cage was in the water, they had to dive again to secure it to the seabed, driving stakes to prevent it from being washed away by the waves.

Securing the fish cage required underwater work, so the three younger men took turns putting on diving suits and going underwater to complete the task.

It took them a full six hours to get it mostly secured.

Zhou Chenglei felt it wasn't enough and decided to buy some more iron pillars to reinforce it later.

Meanwhile, Zhou Fu and Jiang Xia happily fished from the ship.

In his entire life, Zhou Fu had never experienced such joy in fishing! Together, they caught four large buckets of fish in about five hours.

Who could understand this joy? Going out to sea with Wang Cai meant endless fun and a constant flow of wealth.

Why wasn't this daughter born to him? If she had been by his side since she was little, Zhou Fu believed he would be the world's richest man by now.

No, he couldn't have been the richest during those periods. Perhaps he would have been a national leader instead.

Zhou Chenglei noticed that Jiang Xia and his father had caught quite a few good fish.

However, there weren't many worth raising, as the larger fish didn't need to be cultivated.

Zhou Chenglei selected a barracuda weighing over two jin, an eight-liang grouper, two half-jin porgies, a small yellow croaker, and a three-jin yellow margin tuna.

Barracudas and yellow margin tunas are fish that can grow to several hundred jin, so Zhou Chenglei placed them in two separate fish cages. He also put the grouper, which belongs to the grouper family, in the same cage.

Although most groupers prefer solitude, enjoy tranquility, and have territorial instincts, there were only so many cages available, so they had to make do.

The remaining fish were placed in the same fish cage.

Currently, the mesh size of the two cages was still relatively large, allowing small fish and shrimp to swim in. There was no need to worry about them starving, as Zhou Chenglei planned to release some small fish and shrimp for them to eat tomorrow, allowing them to grow faster.

For now, he would test the fish-farming method. Once he confirmed that these fish could be raised successfully, Zhou Chenglei would make more fish cages and place them on the seabed. Then, he would set out on a large ship to bring back a batch of fish fry.

After placing all the fish in the cages, it was already 6 pm, and the sun was about to set. The two boats hurried back to the dock.

When Zhou Chenglei and his team returned to the dock, there were still many people there.

Upon seeing their boats, everyone rushed forward to see what fish they had caught that day.

Even Zhou Bingqiang couldn't help but take a peek.

However, they only saw a few buckets of fish, and it was unclear if they had sold them at the city dock or not.

Yesterday's catch had sold for four thousand yuan, and today, Zhou Bingqiang's fishing trip had returned an hour later than usual.

Zhou Fu smiled and announced to the villagers, "Today, we didn't go fishing. I mentioned that Alei wanted to try fish farming, so we went to set up fish cages. Has anyone caught any valuable live fish? I'll buy them at a high price!"

As soon as Zhou Fu finished speaking, someone responded, "I caught a flathead grouper!"

"Do you want mackerel?"

...

Villagers who had caught live fish eagerly carried their buckets towards Zhou Fu to sell their catch.

Zhou Bingqiang glanced at the crowd rushing to sell their fish to Zhou Fu and left with a slight frown.

Wen Wan's dream had the ability to foresee the future, and there was still time. He didn't have to lose to Zhou Yongfu just yet!



Zhou Chenglei sold the fish caught by Zhou Fu and Jiang Xia for over sixty yuan. After asking Jiang Xia's opinion, he gave half the money to Zhou Chengxin.

Zhou Chengxin refused, "That's the money from Xia Xia and Dad's fishing. Why are you giving it to me?"

Jiang Xia smiled and said, "Big Brother, take it! Today it's your turn to go out to sea. This money should be yours. If it weren't for you being busy setting up the fish cages and not dragging the net, you wouldn't have earned a single cent."

Zhou Chenglei stuffed the money into Zhou Chengxin's pocket, "Take it! Let's split it evenly."

Zhou Chenglei was concerned that Zhou Chengxin hadn't brought any money home, and he didn't want Tian Caihua to have any complaints.

Zhou Chengxin had experienced the hardships of marital discord before.

However, at that time, Jiang Xia had only threatened to divorce, unlike Tian Caihua.

Zhou Chengxin replied irritably, "You said we'd partner up in fish farming, and later, we'd split the profits evenly. Now, you've rented the sea area, made the fish cages, and spent several thousand yuan on anchors and anchor chains. I only helped out a little today, so is it necessary for me to take half? If not, I wouldn't even need to contribute money. Why should I take half? I don't want this money. I'll give it to Dad later."

Zhou Chenglei decided not to argue with his brother. After all, he couldn't stop his older brother from being filial to their parents.

So, when Zhou Chengxin returned to the old residence, he gave the money to Zhou Mu, saying it was from Zhou Fu's fishing earnings.

Zhou Mu, unaware of the situation, accepted the money.

After giving the money to Zhou Mu, Zhou Chengxin returned home.

As soon as Tian Caihua saw Zhou Chengxin return, she asked, "How much money did you make today on your own?"

Zhou Chengxin replied indifferently, "None. I didn't earn anything today because we didn't drag the net. Alei plans to farm fish, and he wants me to partner with him. Today, we went to set up the fish cages."

She wasn't happy that the fourth brother and Xia Xia had a profitable venture but didn't partner with them?

Now that the fourth brother is farming fish, isn't he partnering with him?

She's always thinking the worst!

Tian Caihua was so furious she almost exploded!

She had heard about this from the villagers, and she had thought Zhou Chengxin was just helping Zhou Chenglei. She never expected it to be a partnership?

"Partnering in fish farming? There are so many fish in the sea to catch, why bother farming them? Is fish farming that easy? By the time the fish grow, others will have already netted countless fish and made a fortune! Are you guys crazy? I forbid you from fish farming! Did you hear me?"

Zhou Chengxin's face darkened, "If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense! We know what we're doing!"

Jiang Xia didn't partner with her, and she wasn't happy.

Now that Alei wanted to partner with him, she was still unhappy!

She was impossible to please!

Zhou Chengxin didn't bother arguing and went to find clothes to take a shower.

After working all day in the water, he was exhausted and didn't want to argue with her. He didn't care if she was happy or not; if she was happy, she could be happy, and if she wasn't, she could stay unhappy. Arguing too much would only lead to nothing getting done!

Tian Caihua burst into tears!

It was their family's turn to go out to sea today, but Zhou Chengxin hadn't called her to join him in the morning. While watering the vegetables in the garden, she heard that Zhou Chenglei had made several large iron frames for fish cages and planned to farm fish at the seabed.

The wealthy man had a large ship, but instead of sailing the seas, he decided to invest in fish farming on the ocean floor. People thought he had lost his mind, claiming that he was so rich that he didn't know what to do with his money.

He spent thousands of yuan to lease a sea area and even planned to buy fish fry from the villagers to raise.

After spending so much time, money, and effort on fish farming, could he possibly make more money than a single net's worth of catch from the sea?

Everyone believed that Zhou Chenglei had gone crazy, having too much money to spend.

Tea Caihua thought that not only had Zhou Chenglei gone mad, but Zhou Chengxin had lost his mind as well!

As the older brother, he seemed to have been charmed by Zhou Chenglei, agreeing to everything he said.

Zhou Chenglei wanted to partner with him for a reason.

Zhou Chenglei had a large ship for offshore fishing, often staying out at sea for ten days or even half a month. By partnering with Zhou Chengxin, he was essentially asking Zhou Chengxin to help take care of the fish.

If Zhou Chengxin had to look after the fish, how could he go out to fish? Without fishing, how could his family make a living?

Did he really think that by setting up a fish cage, putting in a few fish, and letting them breed, he could make a fortune? One typhoon could sweep away all those cages!

It seemed that whenever Zhou Chenglei had a good idea, he would involve their family, making them work hard but earning nothing.

He was taking advantage of their kind and honest nature!

Zhou Chenglei should stick to his fish farming and stop causing trouble for their family!



At the Zhou family residence, Jiang Xia was taking a shower in the bathroom while Zhou Chenglei was knocking and banging around in his room.

Zhou Fu, after collecting the live fish and storing them in the ship's live cargo hold and the water tanks at the purchasing point, returned home.

Hearing the noise coming from his son's room, he curiously asked Zhou Mu, "What's Ah Lei doing in his room?"

Zhou Mu replied, "He said the chair leg was loose, and he's nailing it down."

At that moment, Jiang Xia came out, her face turning red upon hearing their conversation. She quickly helped Zhou Mu carry the food and dishes.

Zhou Fu didn't think much of it, but when both Zhou Mu and Jiang Xia had finished setting the table, and Zhou Chenglei was still knocking and banging inside, he shouted, "Ah Lei, it's time to eat! Haven't you finished nailing yet?"

Zhou Chenglei, crouched under the bed, responded, "Almost done, you guys go ahead and eat."

Zhou Fu muttered, "Does the chair have that many legs? Why is it taking so long to nail them down?"

Jiang Xia, feeling guilty, said, "It's the desk, the desk legs are loose too!"

Then she shouted into the room, "Zhou Chenglei, come out and eat!"

Zhou Fu was surprised, "The desk in your room is new, how did the legs come loose so quickly?"

All the items in their room were newly purchased for their wedding.

Zhou Mu also said, "The quality is so poor? Did you check if the bed is loose too? Are the bed and desk from the same set?"

Jiang Xia: "..."

Then Zhou Fu noticed that Jiang Xia's usually pale face had turned red! A sudden realization dawned on him.

Ah, a loving couple brings prosperity! He shouted to the room, "Ah Lei, nail it securely, don't rush. I'll save you some food."

Zhou Chenglei almost nailed his finger to the bed leg.

That evening, Zhou Chenglei wanted to test if the bed was securely nailed down.

Jiang Xia refused.

The memory of the earlier situation at dinner made her feel embarrassed, and she couldn't help but kick him.

He grabbed her foot firmly.

And entered her.

The experiment proved that the bed was indeed securely nailed down.

No wonder he had hammered so many nails into each bed leg.



The next day, they went out to sea again to set up the fish cages, this time in the waters near Coral Island.

With their experience from the previous day, they started early and returned to the dock before 6 PM in the evening.

After docking the boat, as they were walking home together, Zhou Li from the production team finally spotted Jiang Xia and caught up with her. Smiling, she said to Jiang Xia, "Xia Xia, someone called for you this afternoon! She said her name is Zhang Fuyan and asked you to call her back at 6 PM."

Hearing this, Jiang Xia glanced at her watch, realizing that it was almost 6 PM. She thanked Zhou Li and then said to Zhou Chenglei, "You and Dad go ahead, I'll call Xiao Yan back."

The dried fish must have arrived.

Zhou Chenglei told his father and the others to go on ahead, and he stayed with Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia remembered Zhang Fuyan's number and dialed it directly.

The call was quickly answered, and Zhang Fuyan's cheerful voice came through the receiver, "Xia Xia, I can't find your brother!"

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