Golden Fishing Ground

Golden Fishing Ground is an urban-life novel by the web author Quanjinshuidanke, serialized on Qidian.com from 2015. It won Qidian's "Rookie of the Year" award and was published in print by World Affairs Press. The story begins when the protagonist Qin Shi'ou receives a will from Canada: his second granduncle Qin Hongde, whom he has never met, has left him the Daqin Fishing Ground on Farewell Island, Canada—a fishery long ruined by pollution. Just as Qin Shi'ou hesitates over whether to accept the inheritance, the pendant among the bequests, the "Heart of the Sea God," undergoes a strange transformation and burrows into his body, granting him the ability to send his consciousness swimming freely through water, sense aquatic creatures, and influence them. Qin Shi'ou decides to stay, using this power to purify the water, rebuild the fishery, and restore the Daqin Fishing Ground to its former reputation as a source of top-grade seafood. Around him are the elderly Jewish lawyer Auerbach, who looks after him like a father; a warm-hearted old fisherman friend; and a lively, lovable group of children of differing personalities who live with him. Readers who love food and seafood can follow these characters out to sea, run fishing boats, taste seafood, and observe marine life, picking up Canadian customs and ocean lore along the way. The book's tone is light and humorous, its pace unhurried, weaving together "running a fishery" and "leisurely living"—one of the more representative works of the farming-style web novel. The print edition is divided into two volumes by content, the first being "Heart of the Sea God."