The Fish I Catch Can Level Up-Chapter 11: The Hanfu Beauty

The M-action lure rod, being medium-soft, was suitable for bait weights of 7-20 grams—typically marked on the rod itself. The recommended line was usually 1.0-1.5 PE. As Chu Mingcheng knew, Zhang Wei's lure rod was an ML-action with medium-light stiffness, even softer than his own, yet it could already handle most fish.
The rod the tackle shop owner recommended wasn't particularly expensive—1,200 yuan for the complete set. It wouldn't have major issues with fish up to five jin (about 2.5 kg). But hearing that weight limit made Chu Mingcheng hesitant. After all, the largest alligator gar he'd scanned in the reservoir last night was almost five jin, and based on his online research, there was still a risk of the rod snapping.
So Chu Mingcheng thought for a moment and bought another lure rod—an MH-action this time. He splurged a bit more on this set, spending 2,800 yuan, which meant catching a ten-jin fish (about 5 kg) wouldn't be a problem. As a novice with no one to teach him, he didn't know that with good technique, this 2,800-yuan rod could actually handle fish much heavier than 10 jin—even significantly more than 30 jin—as long as the line held.
Lure rods actually came in saltwater and freshwater varieties. The one Chu Mingcheng bought was a freshwater lure rod, also called a "small lure rod." Of course, it could also be used for sea fishing. As long as you weren't going far offshore, there weren't many twenty or thirty-jin fish to catch; landing a five-jin sea bass would be cause for celebration. But if he wanted to catch truly fierce, large ocean fish in the future, he'd still need a dedicated surf rod.
Four thousand yuan down the drain. The two thousand-plus yuan he'd earned in two days was all gone, plus an extra two thousand out of pocket. Becoming a proper angler certainly wasn't cheap! Under the fishing tackle shop owner's beaming gaze, Chu Mingcheng carried his two newly bought fishing sets back to his car, then started the engine and drove home.
Bringing breakfast upstairs, he heard the usual incessant chatter of the old ladies in the front yard, but Zhang Wei was still sleeping like a log.
"Get up, quick! There are black stockings downstairs!"
Slurp~
Zhang Wei's drool was instantly reabsorbed, and he snapped his eyes open, rushing to the balcony. "Where are the black stockings?"
"See those old ladies next door? Their granddaughters are wearing them!"
"Then where are their granddaughters?"
"How would I know?"
"Damn it!"
Zhang Wei grumbled and went back into the room. Seeing breakfast already laid out on the coffee table, he immediately reached for it. Chu Mingcheng slapped his hand away. "Get lost! You haven't even washed your face or brushed your teeth—what the hell are you eating?!"
Zhang Wei didn't mind, chuckling as he darted into the bathroom, skillfully grabbing his old mug and a new toothbrush from the cabinet.
After breakfast, Chu Mingcheng pulled out the two lure rods he'd bought that morning. He needed to set up the spinning reels and lines.
"Oh, you bought lure rods? And two at once?" Zhang Wei immediately went over and picked one up, his admiration obvious.
"We're going to the park today, right? I'm planning to see if there are any alligator gars, so I bought two lure rods. Even if there aren't any alligator gars there, I can always go to the beach or an abandoned fish farm later to lure sea bass."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. By the looks of it, you're really planning to become an angler, huh? Not planning to get married anymore?"
"We'll see. I still have two years until I'm thirty; I can still mess around a bit."
During their casual chat, they finished setting up the fishing lines and then drove to the county town. There were several parks in the county town, but the ones currently offering bounties for alligator gars were Qingping Park, Central Park, and Shanghe Park—mainly because these three parks were managed.
Chu Mingcheng first drove to the nearest Central Park. This park was within the county town, not very large, and its artificial lake was the smallest among the three parks. Most of the people who came to play were elderly folks and children living nearby; not many young people visited. It was only nine in the morning when Chu Mingcheng walked in with his lure rod, but there were already quite a few anglers—a rough count revealed over twenty people. It seemed the alligator gar bounty was quite enticing! A few security guards were patrolling by the artificial lake, likely to prevent anglers from catching other fish and taking them away.
Chu Mingcheng immediately activated his scan to check if there were any alligator gars in the artificial lake.
[Scanning artificial lake... scan complete]
[Three alligator gars detected in the lake. The largest weighs 6.43 jin (approximately 3.2 kg). Host, fish them out and physically eliminate them as soon as possible to protect the aquatic ecosystem.]
He couldn't believe there really were some—and three of them! The fish in this artificial lake must have been eaten quite a bit! However, Chu Mingcheng's expression turned odd when he saw their location. All three alligator gars were gathered in a secluded corner on the southwest side of the artificial lake. It was a less desirable spot, and coincidentally, no one was fishing there. Even the smallest artificial lake couldn't be fully occupied by twenty-plus anglers; in reality, those anglers only took up a small section.
Alligator gars had huge appetites, so any other fish in their area would definitely be scared away. If they weren't feeding, their secretive movements would be hard to track. They might be found in the east today and then move to the west by night. And no matter how small an artificial lake was, it wouldn't be that small, so catching all of them would indeed be challenging.
"Ah Wei, I'm going over there. Want to come along?" Seeing Zhang Wei had found an empty spot and was about to start fishing, Chu Mingcheng quickly pulled him aside.
Zhang Wei glanced at the spot Chu Mingcheng pointed to, saw how far it was, and immediately lost interest. "Why go to such a remote place? I'll just fish here!"
"Alright, then!" Chu Mingcheng didn't force him when he saw his reluctance. He carried his gear and slowly walked toward that corner.
Halfway there, the clear, tinkling sound of a musical instrument, like a babbling brook, drifted from nearby.
"Huh, that sounds like a guzheng." Chu Mingcheng was a bit surprised. He didn't understand musical instruments, but as a Chinese person, he could at least recognize them. The sound was coming from the pavilion ahead.
As he got closer, Chu Mingcheng saw a group of people in front of the pavilion. Curious, he edged closer and saw a girl in a pink and white hanfu sitting and playing the guzheng.
She was as pure and elegant as jade, unadorned. Her eyebrows were like distant mountains, her eyes like autumn waters. Gentle and graceful, her faint fragrance was intoxicating.
He watched, mesmerized by the elegant dance of her fingers across the guzheng strings, each movement a delicate ballet in itself.
In the middle of the courtyard, another girl, dressed in a vibrant green hanfu gown, was gracefully dancing.
From the southern lands comes a beauty, dancing with light steps, green waist swaying; at the grand feast, in the late autumn dusk, her swift movements brush clouds and rain.
His gaze couldn't help but be drawn to the dancer's fluid motions, particularly the captivating sway of her graceful form and the striking fairness of her legs as they moved beneath the flowing silk.
Beside them, a woman with a single ponytail, dressed in a sharp, capable outfit, held a camera and was filming. It seemed the three were shooting a video. Chu Mingcheng felt sorry for Zhang Wei, who was missing out on such a wonderful sight.
Unfortunately, the dancer's performance lasted only a little over a minute. After finishing the shoot, they gathered to review the footage. Chu Mingcheng was here to fish, not to admire beautiful women, so he carried his fishing gear and walked past the small path behind the pavilion, arriving at the alligator gars' temporary hiding spot.
Abroad, people usually fished for alligator gars using surf casting with carp or small crucian carp as bait. Lure fishing was also quite effective, as long as you found the right spot. The system scan revealed the exact sizes of these three alligator gars; the heaviest one was currently over six jin, and the smallest was over four jin.
Chu Mingcheng placed all his fishing gear on the ground nearby, then took out his MH-stiffness lure rod. It was a good thing he cautiously bought this stiffer one; otherwise, these alligator gars would be truly difficult to catch. Thankfully, these alligator gars looked like they had only been released recently. If they had been there longer and grown to dozens of jin, he wouldn't be able to handle them for now.