Alright, let’s translate this with a splash of humor:
Chapter 63: How About You Have a Baby?
When Xiong Haiming saw the big fish being hauled onto the surface, he didn't bother scolding the clumsy Xiong Jie. Instead, he rushed to find a rope. "Oh my god, is the thickest rope here? The thickest one!"
The people on the deck exclaimed in shock, "Oh my god, is that a black tuna? Damn, it's my first time seeing one." "Could it be over three meters long?" The ship's mood lifted instantly after the gloomy past few days.
Everyone busied themselves clumsily, and soon, a three-meter-long bluefin tuna lay on the deck. Xiong Haiming reverently bled the fish and took out a measuring tape to check its length—it was a full 322 cm.
After catching the first bluefin tuna, the Yaoguang kept reeling in fish for the next few hours. They caught eight from a school of about ten, working until 2 AM. The fish bait soaked in diluted spiritual spring water was reliable. The remaining fish swam away, and after Xiong Quan confirmed there was nothing on the radar, everyone went to rest.
Zhao Zhao didn't sleep all night, meditating until dawn. As the sun peeked over the horizon, she went to the deck, where the whole ship was quiet, and watched the sunrise alone.
At that moment, she felt a bit lonely. She couldn't help but think how wonderful it would be if her grandpa were still here! And her dad too, who left too early—she'd already forgotten his face, and he didn’t leave many photos.
For some reason, watching the sunrise made her eyes well up. She rubbed her face and mumbled to Yaoguang, "I might miss my family too much. Maybe I should get a boyfriend."
Yaoguang, who had noticed her low spirits, wanted to lighten the mood but didn’t know what to say. It had no family, so it couldn't relate. Maybe its feelings for its former master were similar? But now it had Zhao Zhao, and it felt powerless to comfort her.
Hearing her words, Yaoguang immediately agreed, "Good idea! How about Qiao Jinnian?" offering a specific suggestion.
As soon as Yaoguang mentioned him, Zhao Zhao thought of those exceptionally deep eyes. "That man's features are so striking they're hard to describe. I get tongue-tied seeing him. You wouldn’t understand. My grandpa always said not to marry someone too good-looking—it's unreliable."
Yaoguang glanced at her face. You’re not exactly reliable yourself; it seems like a good match.
"Also, Comrade Qiao Jinnian is quite mysterious. His social media hasn’t been updated since the military parade two years ago. I can't tell if he has a girlfriend or what kind of person he is. Anyway, looking for him would be useless; he probably doesn’t have time for me... Forget it, this fairy is an independent woman, and I’ve used up my yearly quota of vulnerability."
She quickly moved on.
You really are quite independent.
Yaoguang: "Then how about having a baby?" It suggested earnestly.
Zhao Zhao admired Yaoguang's unique thought process, "How did we jump straight to having a baby? This fairy hasn’t even dated yet! You want me to skip straight to having a baby? What about the baby’s father? No, no, I’m not doing this!"
Yaoguang reasoned, "I’ve done my research. In your era, marriages often end in divorce. Boyfriends and husbands might not always be your family, but a child is different. If you have a baby, they’ll always be with you."
Zhao Zhao: "You haven't researched thoroughly enough. Haven’t you heard about custody battles after divorce? What if I can’t get custody?"
Yaoguang: ... Let’s just go fishing.
That’s definitely simpler.
Indeed, simpler. Especially when opportunity knocks.
Zhao Zhao saw dorsal fins breaking the sea surface in the distance, moving southwest. Unlike Siren's fins, these were long, extending from head to tail, standing tall above the water.
She could see the fish bodies under the water—sailfish, a large school of sailfish, most over two meters long, many reaching three meters.
Hunting at dawn, they were chasing a school of white pomfret. Zhao Zhao sounded the assembly bell. Sailfish were valuable, as were the white pomfret they were chasing. She saw countless pomfret, too many to count—dragging two nets would be a good haul.
Zhao Zhao quickly grabbed the live-streaming equipment. She had brought two expensive drones this trip to capture footage. This scene would make an epic video.
Xiong Quan swiftly followed the sailfish school. Zhao Zhao started the live stream, fixed the phone camera at the ship’s bow, and launched the drones.
After launching the drones, she glanced at the live stream.
"There are actually viewers in my live stream? My fans are surprisingly diligent!"
【Dad hasn’t slept yet】
【I haven’t slept either, just woke up...】
"Early birds get the worm today! You'll see something spectacular. Look ahead, those black flags are sailfish hunting white pomfret! Endless white pomfret!"
【Whoa! Are those black things fish!?】
【So many? What are you waiting for? Go for it!】
【Whoa! Big scene!】
【Why is there a drone? Flying over the fish school! Is it yours?】
Zhao Zhao looked at the tablet displaying the drone footage. It was truly stunning! This is the ocean, the natural food chain! Nature’s bounty! She was seeing such a breathtaking scene for the first time.
She told the live stream, "It’s okay if you can’t see clearly now. The drone footage will be uploaded later for everyone to enjoy."
In the footage, sailfish frequently leaped out of the water, most over two meters long. A sailfish jumped high in front of the drone, its silver spots clearly visible. One after another, they leaped excitedly towards their prey.
Ahead of the sailfish, the sea was teeming with white pomfret, all around 30-40 cm long. They formed a silver chain on the water, their tails connected to heads, undulating endlessly. The drone’s footage couldn’t capture the end of it.
The sailfish caught up with the silver chain’s tail, starting a marine feast. The Yaoguang charged ahead, and Zhao Zhao flew the drone back.
She used her phone camera to record from the bow. The fishing boat plowed into the fish school, pausing the marine feast. The largest trawl net mercilessly split the two fish schools. The remaining fish scattered to the sides, and the greedy sailfish at the sides, still fleeing, grabbed the panicked white pomfret, feasting eagerly.
【Pretty brutal for early morning, survival of the fittest】
【Indeed a big scene! Impressive!】
【Humans truly are at the top of the food chain. Glad I’m human.】
【Where is the streamer?】
【Such a scene wouldn’t be nearshore. Is this the Atlantic?】
【It’s already daylight there, must be a different time zone】
There were few live streams at this time, and with Kyoto time being only around 4 AM, many sleepless wanderers joined in.
The ship turned around to prepare for another drag of the net. Zhao Zhao glanced at the live stream comments and said, "We’re in the Gulf of Latvia, far from our homeland, truly deep sea with depths reaching ten thousand meters. We might need another drag of the net. Let's watch them haul it in."
After a while, a giant spiked net was hoisted onto the deck. The sailfish had pierced the net with their sword-like upper jaws. Their lower jaws were slightly shorter, and they had tall, long dorsal fins, streamlined bodies, and averaged over two meters in length. The deck was filled with these magnificent creatures, making everyone happy.
Xiong Haiming quickly replaced the net, and the ship started chasing the regrouped sailfish.
The deck was filled with laughter and cheers. Even Xiong Haiming's shouts couldn’t stop them from talking! Who said you can’t chat while working?
Xiong Jie, tossing white pomfret back onto the conveyor belt, shouted, “This is so damn satisfying! This is real fishing!”
The crew echoed his sentiments. Liu Guang’an, seeing Zhao Zhao holding the camera, called out, “Zhao Zhao, take more photos and post them in our group. We don’t have time to take any.”
“Oh right! The folks back home haven’t seen this!”
“They can’t imagine this scene!”
“They’ll be amazed!”
Zhao Zhao took photos of the fish and the crew working, making sure everyone was in the frame, and posted them in the island group. Seeing these photos would put their families at ease and they could take more in the future.
This deck was truly a spectacular sight. Even the Yaoguang, which often fished with Siren, had never been so full.
This haul was mainly sailfish, along with some white pomfret. Zhao Zhao instructed Xiong Shan to keep the white pomfret separate and unload them at the Canadian port later.
Da Linzi was busy bleeding the sailfish, and Zhao Zhao went over to take a picture of him.
"Little Bear is bleeding the sailfish. Just like tuna, they need to be bled and gutted. Everyone, how do you think Little Bear’s technique is? ...Okay, not great... Slow down, will you?"
Da Linzi replied, "I’m not very skilled. I’ve never caught fish over a meter before. This one is about four meters! Zhao Zhao, step back and take a full-length photo of me with the fish."
Alright then.
Zhao Zhao took out her phone and snapped a few solo shots of him.
"There are several types of sailfish. I don’t remember the exact name of this one. It’s a red meat fish, an economic species. Look at this cut; you can see it’s a valuable fish." She zoomed in to show the cut Da Linzi made.
【Why are the fish outside so big? This is frustrating. Nearshore fishing usually catches small fish.】
【The streamer is making bank again.】
【I’m from inland and honestly, I’ve never eaten this...】
【Me neither. It’s so big! Is the fish head with chopped chili tasty?】
【Nature’s gift, and Sister Bear has connections.】
【This type of sailfish is very expensive, usually served as sashimi.】
When the fishing boat charged through, some fish got damaged. Da Linzi dragged out one of them. "Zhao Zhao, should we discard this one? It’s a pity, probably over two meters long."
"No pity at all. Let’s make it breakfast for everyone."
She had Da Linzi chop it in half at the damaged part and took it to the kitchen. "Let’s live stream cooking the fish—truly fresh from the sea."
Aunt Fan, who was also awake, followed her. She had a hard life, having accompanied her husband fishing when she was younger. Now, with her husband in poor health, she worked with them, spending entire months at sea. Luckily, she was used to being on a boat.
Seeing Zhao Zhao setting up the stand, she offered to help.
"Aunt Fan, you cook. Don’t count on me. I could mess up at any moment."
Aunt Fan knew Zhao Zhao wasn’t used to cooking for large groups. "This is my first time seeing this fish too. I don’t know how to cook it either. I’ll keep an eye on it, and you can direct me. Or check online; you have internet, don’t you?"
"Alright. Let’s cook the lower half for breakfast. Easier to handle."
【Sister Bear, where’s your confidence?】
【A person relying on online recipes is going to rule the kitchen!】
【Look at this kitchen, brand new and advanced, so spacious, not what I imagined a ship kitchen to be.】
【Sister Bear’s ship is new and probably very expensive.】
“Wow, this fish has scales! Everyone, look at these fine scales. I’ll start by descaling it.” Zhao Zhao had thought it was scaleless from its appearance.
【So fresh, fish have scales!】
【Hahahaha】
【Don’t laugh, this fish looks scaleless. I thought the same...】
“Alright, descaling done. I’ll cut a piece for sashimi, and Aunt Fan, you can braise the rest. We can’t eat it all raw.” While Aunt Fan prepared to braise it, Zhao Zhao sliced a piece for sashimi.
"Look at this fish, one big bone, and pink meat. I’ll make some sashimi. I’m good at slicing. We have all the seasonings on board, and I’ve prepared dipping sauce for the sashimi. By the way, where’s Brother Gun? He hasn’t tried sailfish sashimi yet; I’ll bring him a piece."
Zhao Zhao sliced two pieces, pretending to take them to Brother Gun, but actually went to another room and tossed them into the Yaoguang realm.
【Aunt Fan knows how to cook, starting with pork belly. Adding pork belly to fish stew makes it delicious.】
【Jealous of Brother Gun. The sashimi quality is top-notch.】
【At least they know to add salt when frying fish. Did you see Sister Bear’s last fish fry? Oil splatters everywhere, cracked me up.】
【Aunt Fan seems like a good cook. Watching cooking early in the morning is making me hungry. Her fried pork belly looks delicious.】
【I’m impressed. This ship’s pantry has more ingredients than my kitchen. Green onions, ginger, garlic, peppercorns, star anise, cooking wine, soy sauce, all the essentials!】
【Where did Sister Bear go? Ask her if I can join her ship for fishing. Looks tempting, the food is great.】
Zhao Zhao noticed this comment as soon as she returned, "Come join us for fishing? No way, we already have more than enough people on our island. Besides, you need a permit. Do you have one? ...No? Then it’s a no-go. Without a permit, how can you dock at other countries' ports? ...Oh, you can't dock at other countries' ports? Well, our boat has an international fishing permit." She chatted away while slicing the fish.
In no time, she had sliced up two large plates of sashimi, piled high like a mountain. “This plate alone would make more than ten plates in Japan, my friends.”
The comments said it would be more than ten plates; some Japanese restaurants could sell these for an entire day.
They encouraged her to try it. "I won’t taste it right now; let’s wait for others' reviews. It’s too early for me to eat sashimi. It smells good, not fishy at all, and the color looks great. I’ll try the braised fish later."
Knowing the fish could be eaten raw, Aunt Fan didn’t stew it for long, afraid it would get overcooked. Soon, she turned off the heat.
Aunt Fan served her a big piece, and she took it to the dining area. “Alright, it smells delicious. Let’s all have a taste.”
【Don’t tease me, only you get to taste it!】
【What a grudge, waking up early to find a food live stream. What kind of family eats braised fish this early?】
【A rich family, having braised sailfish for breakfast.】
【I just joined, Sister Bear’s live stream schedule is always unpredictable. Truly impressive.】
“Let’s taste this braised sailfish. Look at this clove-shaped meat, everyone. Oh my... This is my first time eating it, so forgive my lack of experience. It looks a lot like mackerel…”
【Laughed to death, suddenly not worth as much】
【Sister Bear should start a live stream for selling goods. I think you’d be great at it, haha】
【Market value just plummeted】
【With that comment, the value dropped tenfold】
【Who said sailfish is red meat, perfect for sashimi, a high-end economic fish? Let me remind you.】
【No wonder you’re Little Bear’s sister. You two are quite similar. I take back what I said earlier.】
【You should live stream selling goods, I’m serious】
Zhao Zhao took a bite, and the comments asked if it tasted even more like mackerel.
She tasted different parts, “Indeed, it tastes like mackerel, but! There’s a but—it’s much more tender than mackerel. Even the back part is more tender. The best part is the belly, very flavorful and fatty. So, friends, sailfish is better as sashimi. Braising it is a waste. If you want braised sailfish, buy its braised alternative—mackerel. Freshly caught mackerel is also delicious, economical, and practical.”
【Other streamers start selling goods once they’re popular. You should too, trust me. Rich Sister Bear, if it’s not good, just say so. You’d be great at selling goods.】
【You should live stream selling fish. What about the pomfret you caught?】
“The fish we catch can’t be transported well and aren’t suitable for retail. I won’t sell others’ goods because I don’t know how they’re made, and I can’t take responsibility. We’re not planning to bring the pomfret back to China. They take up too much space; we might sell some in Canada later. ...Yeah, not bringing them back. Though it’s a hassle with the added taxes and all.”
NOVEL FROG