The Fish I Catch Can Level Up-Chapter 136: Zhang Wei: Did I Catch a Fish? I Did Not!

After cutting one bottle, Chu Mingcheng handed both the scissors and the bottle to Chen Yang. "Ah Yang, you cut the rest of these bottles for me. I'm going to start catching mantis shrimp."
Chen Yang had a steady personality, making him well-suited for such tedious work.
He had no objections and took the scissors to begin his task.
The job Chu Mingcheng gave Zhang Wei was simple: sit in the driver's seat and keep watch, give a shout if any other boats approached.
With that settled, he sat down on the other side, took out a bundle of fishing line, and began making traps with bamboo skewers.
The principle behind these traps was the same as the ones he'd used to catch wild pheasants in his childhood. Combined with online tutorials, he learned quickly.
Back then, wild pheasants weren't a protected species, and under the guidance of some older kids, he'd often set traps for them in the mountains.
Of course, this method was only for catching large mantis shrimp. For smaller ones, you could just buy an "air pump" online.
As the boat arrived at their first destination, Chu Mingcheng had just finished making ten traps.
It was around ten in the morning, not long after the tide had receded, and large sections of coral reef that had been submerged yesterday were now exposed.
The bottles were all tied together with fishing line, forming a long string.
He tied one end of the line to the boat's railing and attached two five-kilogram lead sinkers to the other before tossing it into the sea.
As the bottles filled with seawater, the weight of the sinkers pulled them down one by one.
Because the sinkers kept the line taut, the bottles, which were only looped a few times around the mouth, wouldn't slip off.
This was a convenient setup that allowed him to retrieve and store the mantis shrimp without constantly needing Zhang Wei and Chen Yang's help.
Chu Mingcheng changed into his wetsuit, put on his face mask and underwater camera, and grabbed his mesh bag and fish spear.
He didn't bother with any other gear—it wasn't like his two friends knew anything about diving anyway.
"You two can fish here. The fish population around coral reefs is usually pretty good. I'm going to get some mantis shrimp."
Chen Yang had no objections, but Zhang Wei looked eager. "Doesn't the boat have life jackets? How about I come with you?"
"The water's pretty cold—you sure?" The weather was good today, but the water temperature was much lower than when he'd taken Jiang Luoluo diving, probably only seventeen or eighteen degrees Celsius.
The wetsuit offered some insulation, but a life jacket alone wouldn't be enough for most people to handle the cold.
Zhang Wei hesitated at that. He was wearing flip-flops and walked over to the stern steps, rolling up his pants to test the water.
Deciding it was indeed quite chilly, he gave an embarrassed smile. "I think I'll just stick to fishing!"
Both he and Chen Yang knew how to fish, so they didn't need any instruction.
Chu Mingcheng took his trapping tools and swam toward the coral reef.
Once he reached a depth of about ten meters, he dove under.
His main target today was the striped mantis shrimp, so he began searching for small burrows.
As soon as he was underwater, he spotted a palm-sized scallop on a piece of coral, which he picked up and put in his mesh bag.
Soon after, he found a small hole. He placed a bamboo skewer baited with squid meat inside, then secured it with two rocks to prevent the mantis shrimp from dragging it into the burrow.
With that done, he left to find his next target.
He completely forgot to surface periodically and let the two on the boat see him.
But the two men on the boat were somewhat careless themselves, focused on fishing at the other end and paying no attention to his situation.
It was unconscious trust. After all, Chu Mingcheng was already a skilled spearfisherman, and after seeing last night's seafood haul, wasn't catching mantis shrimp a piece of cake for him?
Just then, Chu Mingcheng noticed there were quite a few sea snails here—perfect for lunch—so he collected some.
At the same time, under another coral formation, he discovered a clearwater grouper.
Its hiding spot was perfect, with rocks on both sides and behind, leaving only Chu Mingcheng's direction as an escape route.
It remained motionless inside, only its mouth opening and closing as it breathed slowly.
Chu Mingcheng placed the traps he was holding on a piece of coral and weighed them down with a rock, then slowly swam over.
He tried to be as quiet as possible, but the clearwater grouper still grew uneasy.
It didn't flee, however, instead retreating further into its crevice.
Seeing this, Chu Mingcheng approached, extended his hands, and pinned it inside.
The clearwater grouper struggled wildly once caught, but its space was so limited that it had little room to thrash.
Chu Mingcheng slowly adjusted his grip, pressing down hard on its head with his left hand while trying to get hold of its gills.
His right hand grabbed its tail, trying to keep it from moving.
Soon, he'd pulled the clearwater grouper out. It was only about three jin—not very large.
Since it was alive, he didn't dare put it in the mesh bag, worried it might escape if he wasn't careful.
So Chu Mingcheng swam back toward the boat, holding the fish.
Arriving at the stern steps, he tossed the fish onto the deck. "You two, put this in the live well!"
"Whoa, how did you catch a live one?" Zhang Wei hurried over and picked up the fish.
"Isn't it as simple as using your hands?" Chu Mingcheng spread his hands in the water; the expression on his face was the very definition of a humble brag.
Zhang Wei: "Damn it, just because you can dive, you get to show off like that."
Chen Yang, who had no resistance to high-end seafood, had also come over. He looked at the fish, his eyes gleaming. "Ah Cheng, what kind of grouper is this?"
"It's a clearwater grouper. Pretty valuable—much better than a green grouper. About the same grade as a tiger grouper, I'd say!"
"Same grade as a tiger grouper? That's excellent. I'll take this one, then!"
Chu Mingcheng knew what he meant and shook his head with a smile. "Don't be in such a hurry. Let's wait until we get back. Who knows, we might catch something even better!"
Hearing this, Chen Yang's heart filled with anticipation.
The three went back to their respective tasks. Chu Mingcheng swam back to where he'd been working.
As he passed his first trap, he was surprised to find it had already been triggered.
He pulled out the bamboo skewer and—jackpot—a striped mantis shrimp the size of his forearm was pulled out with it.
Trapped by the fishing line, it struggled a few times but couldn't break free.
He flipped it over to check its belly and saw a clear line of roe. It was a female.
This was valuable, a full hundred yuan more expensive than a male.
Carrying the mantis shrimp, he returned to the boat and placed it inside one of the bottles.
Since the bottles were all in the water, he didn't disturb the two on board.
Catching mantis shrimp was much easier than he'd anticipated. This time, Chu Mingcheng didn't plan to search for other creatures while looking for small holes.
He first swam quickly along the surface, setting a trap every time he found a small burrow.
After about ten minutes, all the traps in his hands were deployed.
He then went back to check the first trap and found that the mantis shrimp there had already taken the bait.
The process was much smoother than he'd expected. But when he'd collected all his traps, he found only five striped mantis shrimp over twenty centimeters long. The others were too small, and he released them.
Checking the time, it was already eleven o'clock. He didn't plan to head back; instead, he moved to another unexplored area and set seven more traps.
His previous success had given him some experience.
Mantis shrimp burrows were very small at the entrance, but if you dug them out a bit, you'd find the diameter inside was much larger, depending on the size of the shrimp.
So this time, he dug out the entrances slightly first. If the diameter was large, he set a trap; if it was small, he ignored it.
When he returned to the first trap this time, it hadn't been triggered, so he went back to the boat.
Chu Mingcheng grabbed the fishing line and, holding the bottle with the striped mantis shrimp in his other hand, spun it a few times to release it.
He swam to the stern steps and called out to the two fishermen, "Which of you is free? Fill a fish box with seawater, then put this bottle inside and turn on the oxygen pump."
Zhang Wei had a fish on the line and was busy.
Chen Yang happened to be free, so he came over. Looking at the mantis shrimp in the bottle, he was somewhat stunned. "When did you catch this? I didn't even notice."
"The bottles are in the water. You can't hear anything from up here."
"Fair enough!"
Chen Yang filled the fish box with seawater, took the bottle, placed it inside, and turned on the oxygen pump. Meanwhile, Chu Mingcheng went back underwater to retrieve the other four bottles containing mantis shrimp.
"Not bad—you caught five, and they're all huge!" Zhang Wei had also come over, still holding a small fish in his hand.
It was blue and black—clearly an ornamental fish.
Chu Mingcheng was dumbfounded. "Seriously? You came all the way out to sea to catch small fish?"
Zhang Wei felt deeply insulted and immediately jumped up. "What do you mean, I came all the way out here to catch small fish? This spot you picked is terrible—there are no big fish, okay?"
Just then, Chen Yang added insult to injury from the side. "I just caught a three-jin black bream."
"Damn it all..." Zhang Wei, with a decisive motion, threw the small ornamental fish he'd just caught back into the water. "Are you blind? When did I catch a fish?"
"..." Chu Mingcheng and Chen Yang exchanged a look and simultaneously gave him a thumbs-up.
He'd rather get skunked than be insulted by a small fish!
It was already noon, and the three of them were getting hungry.
After returning to the boat, Chu Mingcheng had them take out the induction cooker and pot, along with the seasonings and the meat and vegetables they'd bought that morning.
He mixed some dipping sauces, and the ingredients were ready to eat after a quick dip in the pot. The sea snails and scallops he'd caught that morning weren't spared either.
They ate until they were about eighty percent full. After letting their food digest a bit, Chu Mingcheng went back into the water to check on his traps.
All seven traps had been sprung, and his method had worked. Five of them contained mantis shrimp over twenty centimeters long. Only two were a bit small and were released.
Unfortunately, the fish resources in this area were average. Aside from the clearwater grouper he'd caught that morning, he hadn't encountered any other valuable large catches.
Not even a lobster. Perhaps this spot wasn't far from the pier and was frequently visited.
It was just that the striped mantis shrimp, hiding in their burrows, were easily overlooked, so no one specifically dove for them.
But Chu Mingcheng couldn't be certain. He wiped the seawater from his body with a towel, didn't bother to rinse off, and started the boat toward the next destination.
The next spot was a large cluster of reefs.
It was quite far, taking nearly an hour to reach the vicinity of the reef cluster.
This place was a considerable distance from the pier, and the surface of the seawater looked clear and blue-green.
But one thing puzzled Chu Mingcheng. There were many boats at the pier, but after he went out to sea, he rarely encountered other fishing boats, no matter where he went. He had no idea where those people went to fish.
For now, without a clear understanding of the other anglers' routes, he could only search for suitable spots himself.
Chen Yang and Zhang Wei continued fishing, while Chu Mingcheng went back into the water.
Seeing the seawater was blue-green from the surface meant the actual water clarity wasn't ideal.
The best condition for seawater was pure blue. Any hint of green meant the water was somewhat murky.
The greener it was, the murkier it was. Green was not good—a warning from nature.
The waves here were a bit strong. After entering the water, Chu Mingcheng had to exert some effort to balance his body.
He estimated the current speed was already at three to four knots. Only experienced spearfishers could dive in these waters.
He dove under and noticed the visibility was about ten meters, which wasn't bad.
He'd intended to swim toward the reef cluster but was pleasantly surprised to find that the fish resources at the bottom were exceptionally abundant.
That's not right,
he thought.
I seem to have... looked at the fish finder before. I didn't notice any fish!
So he swam back to the boat and called out, "Zhang Wei, go inside and check the fish finder. See if there are any fish on it. And bring my speargun over—I'm going hunting!"
"Oh, oh, okay." Zhang Wei hurried into the cockpit. When he came out, he was holding the speargun. "Ah Cheng, there's some activity on the fish finder, and some thick red dots. Does that mean there are fish?"
Chu Mingcheng nodded. "Yes. I saw a school of amberjack and some red snapper at the bottom. You guys should hurry up and chum the water for fishing."
"You got it!" Zhang Wei handed him the speargun, his face bright with excitement, and went off to fish.
Chen Yang had heard their entire conversation and was now putting away his small fishing rod, switching to a larger one with a thicker line setup.