The entire ocean is my fishing ground.

Chapter 29 They really dare to try and cut the net!

The sky was just beginning to lighten.

"Lin Chen! Open the door! Something's happened."

The voice belonged to my cousin, Lin Guowang.

Lin Chen grabbed his coat and rushed out.

The courtyard gate opened, revealing Lin Guowang's dark face.

"Uncle, what's wrong?"

"My internet... my internet."

Lin Guowang pointed in the direction of the dock, his lips trembling.

"I listened to you last night and brought most of the net inside, leaving only a section on the side of the boat in preparation for this morning... I figured we'd go out to sea at dawn, and everything should be fine..."

"And the result?"

Lin Chen already had a bad feeling.

"It's all over."

"It was slashed all over with a knife."

Lin Chen didn't immediately join in the cursing, nor did he speculate about who did it.

"Uncle, don't disturb the scene, don't touch anything."

He pulled a measuring tape from his toolbox and said:

"Let's go take a look."

At the dock, several early-rising fishermen had already gathered around Lin Guowang's small sampan, pointing and whispering about the pile of tattered fishing nets.

The network cable was cut in numerous places, each cut exceptionally clean, clearly the work of a sharp knife.

"Damn it, who the hell did this? That's outrageous!"

"This net looks like it was just repaired not long ago, right? Now it's completely ruined."

Lin Guowang was heartbroken to see his livelihood reduced to this state.

"I just had Old Li mend this net, it cost several hundred yuan. I was planning to use it to go out to sea today, hoping to catch a batch of mullet to send to town..."

Lin Chen stepped back a few paces, turned on his phone camera, and took a panoramic photo of the scene, capturing the small sampan and the tattered fishing net.

He then began to photograph the details, pointing the lens at the severed network cables and taking close-up shots one by one.

He even took out a measuring tape from his pocket, unrolled it, placed it next to a typical cut, and took another photo with the dimensions as a reference.

The surrounding fishermen were all stunned.

"Xiao Chen, why are you filming these? Just call the police!"

A young fisherman couldn't help but say.

Lin Chen shook his head without explaining.

He opened his phone's photo album, placed the two sets of photos side by side, and carefully compared them.

On the screen, two fishing net cuts, made at different times and locations, look exactly the same.

The cuts are clean and crisp, without any rough edges, and each cut has a slight angle, as if it were made with a knife.

The method was the same; it was done by the same person.

Lin Chen felt more confident.

Just then, Wang Fuhai, who had gotten up early to prepare for going out to sea, also rushed over upon hearing the news.

Upon seeing this scene, he first cursed, then leaned close to Lin Chen and whispered:

"Chenzi, there's something I need to tell you. I was back at work late last night, around midnight, when I saw Zhang Meng and some unfamiliar people from out of town loitering around the dock."

"At the time, I was wondering what the two of them were doing here in the middle of the night."

As soon as he finished speaking, another young fisherman who had been watching added:

"Yes, yes, now that you mention it, I remember too. I got up in the middle of the night and thought I heard cursing coming from the dock, but I was scared and didn't dare to go out to see."

With Wang Fuhai's eyewitness account, the curses heard by another fisherman, and the connection to the modus operandi from the last time, Lin Chen was able to determine who had done it.

Lin Guowang was so angry he jumped up and down:

"It must be him. No one in the village would do something so ruthless as to wipe out the entire family line except for that bastard."

"Call the police! I'll call the police right now and have them arrest him."

"Uncle, don't call the police yet."

Lin Chen stopped his uncle, who was about to take out his phone.

Why?

Lin Guowang was puzzled.

"Call the police? Call what?"

"Just say your fishing net was cut? At the police station, this kind of thing is at most a property dispute."

"As long as Zhang Meng denies it to the death, and you don't have direct evidence of him hitting you, the most likely outcome will be a settlement, some compensation, and the case won't even be filed. It won't hurt him at all."

"We can't let him get away so easily anymore."

Lin Chen took out his phone and started tapping the screen rapidly.

"Uncle Wang, are you asleep? There's something important to discuss with you and a few other uncles at my yard tomorrow morning at ten o'clock. It concerns our livelihoods."

"Hai-ge, are you free tomorrow? There's new progress on Zhang Meng's matter. We need to unite and resolve this issue completely."

......

Today's information has been updated (4/4)

[Intelligence 1 (Warning): Zhang Meng will contact Uncle Li and Liu Dahai today, attempting to silence them with threats and a small amount of money, preventing them from mentioning details of past dock fees and dock conflicts to anyone.]

[Intelligence 2 (Opportunity): Old He's net repair shop in town can provide a detailed estimate of the damage to the fishing nets and technical specifications for the cuts today. If the damaged nets are delivered before 10:00 AM today, the stamped written documentation can be obtained by 6:00 PM at the latest.]

[Intelligence 3 (Early Warning): Wang Fuhai will be talking to someone again at the dockside shop entrance between 7 PM and 8 PM tonight about Zhang Meng's long-standing issue of overcharging. If communication can be established during this time, there is a very high probability of persuading him to sign a written explanation.]

[Intelligence 4 (Resource): On the eastern side of Nearshore Area 3, a group of common sea bass weighing approximately 150 jin (75 kg) is gathering. The quality is stable, enough for the host to complete the basic shipment to the town's restaurants today.]

The ship has been basically repaired. Although some new equipment in the bridge has not yet arrived, it will not affect normal sea operations.

Guided by Intelligence 4, Lin Chen steered the ship to the east side of Sea Area No. 3.

The net is lowered, the net is closed.

The fishing net was pulled onto the deck, and the more than 100-pound bass were jumping around.

Lin Chen delivered the freshly caught sea bass to several of his regular customers, including Yuge Restaurant and Wanghailou Restaurant.

"Uncle Su, I guarantee today's fish will be even fresher than yesterday's."

"Manager Zhou, the quantity you requested will be more, not less."

After delivering the goods, it was just past nine o'clock in the morning.

Lin Chen immediately turned the boat around and headed towards Huangni Village.

He had to get ahead of Zhang Meng.

First, we found Uncle Li organizing his fishing gear at the net-drying area at the west end of the village.

Uncle Li was somewhat surprised to see Lin Chen, and then he looked away, avoiding eye contact.

"Little...Little Chen, what brings you here?"

Lin Chen got straight to the point.

"Uncle Li, is Zhang Meng coming to see you soon?"

Uncle Li dropped the shuttle from his hand to the ground.

"How...how did you know?"

Lin Chen continued to press for answers.

"He wants you to shut up and not mention the dock fees from before, right?"

Uncle Li was speechless.

"Uncle Li, I know you're scared. You're afraid of his retaliation, afraid that your family will never have peace."

"But have you thought about it? If you tolerate it this time, there will be a next time. As long as Zhang Meng is still in the village, we fishermen will never be able to stand up straight."

He pointed to his chest, looked into Uncle Li's eyes, and said, word by word.

"This time, it's not just me. It's all about all the fishermen who have been bullied by him. We must work together to completely eradicate this cancer."

"The issue now is not whether he will let us go, but whether we are willing to let him go."

……

"Xiao Chen...I...I'll listen to you."

"it is good."

Lin Chen nodded heavily.

"You don't need to do anything, just wait for my message. If he comes looking for you, just say you're not feeling well and can't remember anything, and send him away."

Having settled things with Uncle Li, Lin Chen immediately went to find Liu Dahai.

Liu Dahai is young and hot-tempered. He replied to Lin Chen's message last night, expressing his willingness to work with him.

"Damn it. This bastard thinks he can shut me up? I was just wondering where to complain. Brother Chen, what do you say? I'll do whatever you say."

"Come with me to town and write down everything you know about Zhang Meng's bullying and monopolistic practices, and put your fingerprint on it."

"no problem."

Liu Dahai agreed readily.

At 10 a.m., Lin Chen, along with his cousin Lin Guowang and Liu Dahai, drove a speedboat straight to the town.

The first stop was Lao He's internet repair shop.

Lin Chen laid his uncle's tattered fishing net, along with the fragments of his spare fishing net that had been cut off last time, on the open ground in front of Lao He.

"Uncle He, could you please take a look and provide us with a detailed estimate and explanation?"

Old He put on his reading glasses, squatted down, picked up a broken piece of network cable, and examined it closely.

He said it with certainty.

"It was cut with a knife, and a good knife at that, very sharp."

He pointed to a cut and explained.

"Look, the cut is smooth, without any rough edges, which means the blade is very thin and the cutting speed is extremely fast. If it were scraped by a reef or oar, the cut would be very irregular and would show signs of friction. This is not an accident; it is deliberate sabotage."

"Moreover," Lao He pointed to two different web pages.

"The cutting techniques used on these two nets are exactly the same, so they must have been done by the same person."

"Uncle He, what about the losses..."

"Your uncle's big net is made of nylon thread, and the material cost alone is over a thousand. With labor, it won't be less than two thousand five hundred. Your spare net is smaller, but it will still cost five hundred."

"Could you please write a detailed written explanation for me, clearly stating your judgment and valuation, and then stamp it with your shop's seal?"

"Okay, it's no big deal. I can't stand this kind of unethical behavior either. Come pick it up before six o'clock this afternoon."

After leaving the net repair shop, Lin Chen took Liu Dahai to a small teahouse in town.

"Brother Hai, write down everything you know. When, where, who was there, how he collected the money, what he said—the more details the better."

Liu Dahai was seething with anger, so he picked up his pen and started writing, recounting how he had been bullied by Zhang Meng over the past two years.

"...Last May, at the dock, because I didn't sell a basket of fish to his man, he brought his men and blocked my way, insisting that my boat was taking up his space, and demanded two hundred dollars from me before he would let me leave..."

"...This spring, when he saw that I had bought new fishing nets, he came to pick a fight again, saying that the color of my nets was unlucky and would affect the feng shui of the dock. He demanded that I give him something in return, and in the end, I had to force him to accept it..."

After finishing writing, Liu Dahai slammed the pen down and pressed his bright red fingerprint at the signature.

"Brother Chen, is that enough? If not, I can write three more pages."

Lin Chen looked at the testimony and nodded.

"That's enough. Hai-ge, thank you."

At 7:30 p.m., the small shops by the dock were brightly lit.

Several fishermen were gathered around a small table, drinking beer and eating peanuts. The loudest one was Wang Fuhai.

"...You guys didn't see how arrogant Zhang Meng was back then. I caught hundreds of kilograms of ribbonfish in one net, and Zhang Tiejun's men managed to drive down the price by 30%. Then he resold them to the city's cold storage and made a fortune. I've been holding this grudge for years."

Lin Chen timed it perfectly and walked over at a leisurely pace.

When Wang Fuhai saw Lin Chen, he pulled him down to sit.

"Chenzi, you've come at the right time. We were just talking about you. Well done. We should have dealt with those bastards a long time ago."

Lin Chen smiled but didn't respond. Instead, he took out a piece of white paper and a pen from his pocket and placed them on the table.

"Brother Fuhai, just saying it makes me feel better isn't enough. I'd like to ask you for a favor: write down what you just said, and anything else you know, sign it, and put your fingerprint on it. I need this to do something important."

Wang Fuhai stared at the paper and remained silent.

He took one puff of his cigarette after another, then picked up his pen and spoke.

"I wrote."

"If we don't write it down, this matter will never be over. Unless we completely bring him and those behind him down, we fishermen will never have a chance to rise up."

After saying that, he lowered his head and started writing.

……

Lin Chen laid out the materials he had collected that day on the table one by one.

The evidence included physical evidence of the boat being smashed, an appraisal report on the fishing nets, and several witness statements bearing red handprints.

He picked up the document written by Liu Dahai and read it again.