The Fish I Catch Can Level Up-Chapter 124: Making the 'Poison'

On the way back, they stopped at a 24-hour convenience store to buy seasonings for making the "poison."
The recipe, of course, came from Chu Mingcheng.
Most coastal regions had traditions of eating raw marinated seafood—it was just a matter of how common or renowned the practice was locally.
As for the Thai chilies, cilantro, and scallions, Chu Mingcheng usually stocked up when grocery shopping, so he happened to have them at home.
With all the ingredients ready, they headed home, then over to Jiang Luoluo's place.
She found a clear plastic fruit container in her refrigerator and removed the apples that had been sitting there for two days.
Fortunately, only two remained, so they each took one.
"How many should we make?" Chu Mingcheng asked after finishing his apple, eyeing the eighteen swimming crabs they'd caught between them.
Jiang Luoluo considered this. "Hmm… for raw marinade, are the females or males better?"
"Females, definitely. I think the males are better for crab hot pot."
"Then let's separate them first and see how many females we have."
"Sounds good!"
After sorting, they discovered more males—ten of them, with eight females.
"Let's marinate six of the females, three each. We can freeze the rest and decide how to prepare them later."
"Perfect!"
Unlike mud crabs, swimming crabs couldn't survive on land for days. Two days was already impressive. Better to freeze them now—the texture wouldn't suffer much if eaten soon.
Chu Mingcheng selected the six plumpest-looking female crabs, and he and Jiang Luoluo scrubbed them clean with a brush.
Then he poured the baijiu he'd just bought into a large bowl and invited them for a drink.
While the swimming crabs got drunk, Chu Mingcheng wasn't idle. Just as he was about to mix the marinade, Jiang Luoluo volunteered and hijacked his task.
"Let me, let me! Write down the ingredients and be specific about the amounts."
Chu Mingcheng was speechless.
Honestly, he usually went by feel when making marinades. How could he give exact measurements?
It had been the same with the pickled mud snails, which had turned out delicious and been polished off with congee the night before.
But seeing Jiang Luoluo's expectant stare, Chu Mingcheng could only sigh and write down the ingredient ratios.
At least he knew the approximate amounts of each seasoning. He could always adjust after Jiang Luoluo finished her experiment.
After he finished writing, he let her tinker while he started chopping vegetables, dicing the Thai chilies and everything else.
Shortly after, Jiang Luoluo had her concoction ready.
It was slightly short on sugar. A bit more would enhance the freshness and could also balance the saltiness.
This was why a touch of sugar was often added to stir-fries.
Jiang Luoluo didn't understand the principle, but since southerners preferred fresh and sweet flavors, she didn't mind adding extra sugar.
Once the marinade was ready, Chu Mingcheng tasted it. A little strong.
At this intensity, marinating for just four hours should be perfect.
But it was nearly midnight now, and they wouldn't eat until noon the next day, so he added mineral water to dilute it slightly.
When it felt right, he removed the drunken swimming crabs, placed them one by one into a clean plastic container, and poured the marinade over them until submerged.
He sealed it with the lid, wrapped it in plastic wrap, and they were done!
"Finally finished." Jiang Luoluo yawned.
She'd been practicing dance during the day and been dragged out to fish at night. The excitement had sustained her at home, but now that the marinade was complete, fatigue washed over her.
"Yeah, you should wash up and sleep. I'm heading back too."
"Okay, good night!"
"Mm, good night."
The next day, Chu Mingcheng didn't go fishing. Instead, he dutifully attended school.
He arrived and found the classroom address the coach had provided.
Although they'd arranged a special accelerated schedule for him, he wasn't the only student in the class.
The school had gathered all recent written exam passers to teach together.
Walking into the classroom, he found over a dozen people already there, all men.
Their ages varied, but the youngest appeared around twenty-five.
In coastal areas, some families owned boats or had connections to them, or were planning to work for fishing companies or rent boats for business, requiring licenses.
The classroom was quiet. Most people played on their phones—social butterflies were the minority, after all.
After a while, a middle-aged man entered and approached the podium.
"Hello everyone, I'm your practical skills coach for the next few days. My surname is Ye. You can call me Coach Ye."
"Today, we won't do any hands-on work. First, let's familiarize ourselves with the boat's operating system."
The coach turned on the projector and brought up a slideshow.
Theoretical knowledge was always tedious, but Chu Mingcheng listened attentively.
Without thorough understanding of your vessel, encountering extreme weather at sea meant any small mistake could prove fatal.
He wouldn't assume he knew everything just because Wei Jianguo had taught him basic driving techniques.
For someone studying seriously, the first day passed quickly.
Afterward, he went home, sampled the raw marinated seafood, and successfully made several bathroom trips that night.
He hadn't eaten it in ages, and it was so delicious he couldn't stop—finishing all three crabs. His stomach immediately protested the overindulgence.
The second day brought simulation courses… he endured until class ended.
Chu Mingcheng looked pale when he got home, but first went to check on Jiang Luoluo, who was resting and appeared equally unwell.
The girl's situation mirrored his—she'd also suffered stomach upset overnight.
"You have a video shoot tonight, yet you don't know how to take care of yourself. Can you manage in this state? Should I postpone it a day and shoot tomorrow instead?"
Zhang Ruomei had just arrived. Seeing Jiang Luoluo's condition, she felt both angry and distressed.
After working together for years with no special interests involved, she'd long considered Jiang Luoluo a younger sister.
Jiang Luoluo curled up on the sofa. Hearing about canceling tonight's shoot, she quickly shook her head.
"It's fine, Mei-jie. The lighting crew's already booked. Standing people up like that isn't good. Ah Cheng bought stomach medicine, and I'm much better. Tonight won't be a problem."
Zhang Ruomei wanted to argue, but just then Chu Mingcheng knocked. She frowned, went to answer, and seeing him, pulled a long face without giving him a pleasant look.
Chu Mingcheng smiled wryly. Her reaction didn't surprise him. After all, he knew Jiang Luoluo had tonight's video shoot.
But his greed had made him ignore the consequences of overindulging in "poison." He hadn't expected they'd both get "poisoned."
It wasn't serious. A day's rest would bring recovery. Just bad timing.
Since shooting started after dark and Jiang Luoluo had to dance, she skipped dinner. She'd eat after filming.
So Chu Mingcheng specially prepared pumpkin and millet congee, which had stomach-warming properties.
He had Jiang Luoluo drink a few sips to warm her stomach first, then put some in a thermos to take along. She could drink it after dancing.
Naturally, Chu Mingcheng also consumed a large bowl. The millet congee's warmth in his stomach did make him feel considerably better.
They first visited Chen Wanying's for makeup. Then, with the sun westering but not yet set, the group departed for the filming location.
Jiang Luoluo had chosen a mountain setting for tonight's shoot to match the scene.
They first went to Gulangyu Island, then took a car to Wanshi Mountain. Today's filming location was on this mountain.
The scenic area opened from 6:30 AM to 6:00 PM, but Jiang Luoluo's group came here often to shoot and were familiar customers, so time restrictions didn't apply.
After filming, she just had to notify the scenic area manager.
Chu Mingcheng admired the scenery along the way, but after looking around, he understood why Jiang Luoluo claimed indifference to it.
The scenery was mediocre, though climbing the mountain for exercise would be worthwhile.
Soon, they reached tonight's filming destination.
Chu Mingcheng noticed two women had already arrived and set up lights at a strange rock cave entrance.
On the mountain wall beside the cave entrance were two large red characters—Laughing Rock.
Chu Mingcheng observed the round boulder above. The large crack did resemble laughter, though it reminded him more of Pac-Man from childhood console games.
Just then, Zhang Ruomei pulled a large cloth from her backpack and handed it to the lighting technicians.
Then she approached Chu Mingcheng, took the several cameras he carried, coughed lightly, and said, "I think you should step aside for a moment. Luoluo needs to change clothes."
Chu Mingcheng was startled. "Change here?"
"Where else? We'll use that cloth as a screen, but it's inappropriate for a man to be around, isn't it?"
"Uh, understood."
There was nowhere else to change, and Jiang Luoluo needed to switch between two dance costumes, so they had to make do.
Actually, she was already wearing the base layers. Even if he wanted to look, he wouldn't see much—at most exposed shoulders and long legs. But having a man present felt awkward.
As for tourists, it was past six, and they'd all departed.
So Chu Mingcheng retreated, temporarily moving farther away.
After a brief wait, he heard Zhang Ruomei call that Jiang Luoluo had changed and he could return.
Seeing her in the white dress again, Chu Mingcheng thought she looked stunning.
Jiang Luoluo smiled at him. When a lighting technician started the music, she immediately entered character, holding a white paper umbrella, her face expressionless as she gazed ahead.
Zhang Ruomei positioned herself in front with a camera. Two additional cameras on tripods flanked left and right for fixed shots.
The person was beautiful, and the dance was beautiful. Chu Mingcheng anticipated the edited video's effect.
However, the dance wasn't performed continuously. Because the video would include several transitions, they'd dance a section, review the result, and if satisfactory, continue with the next part—like filming a movie.
When the white dress portion concluded, Chu Mingcheng consciously withdrew again, since she needed to change into the red dress.
By the time filming wrapped, it was already 9 PM.
No incidents occurred due to her upset stomach and weakness, and there was no dramatic scene of Chu Mingcheng gallantly carrying Jiang Luoluo to the hospital.
Yes, everything proceeded normally.
Even Jiang Luoluo had recovered her energy after finishing the dance. Was he seeing things?
"We'll have late-night snacks as usual tonight," she told the lighting technicians, then strode over to Chu Mingcheng. "Thanks for helping carry things today. I'll treat you to a feast tonight."
"Are you still drinking this congee?" Chu Mingcheng raised the thermos he'd been holding.
"Of course I'm drinking it—I'm thirsty!" Jiang Luoluo snatched it, opened it, poured some into the lid, and drank it down. It contained sugar, so it wasn't unpalatable.
Chu Mingcheng took the remainder and finished it. Knowing they might go for late-night snacks, he hadn't brought much.
With both of them sharing, it wouldn't affect their appetite for the late meal.
Soon, everything was packed. Compared to their arrival, Chu Mingcheng now carried an additional bag containing the lights.