The Fish I Catch Can Level Up-Chapter 147: School of Golden Pomfret

Chu Mingcheng followed the fish's momentum, dipping his rod tip down. He slowly reeled in while extending the rod forward. The reel, under heavy strain, protested with a continuous squealing sound.
Finally, he managed to pull the fish out from under the boat.
But to the surprise of both people on board, the fish that had caused such a commotion and fought so fiercely was only a golden pomfret weighing a little over a jin.
"I can't believe it's such a small golden pomfret. I thought it was a huge fish!" Jiang Luoluo grabbed the landing net and tried to scoop up the golden pomfret, which was still thrashing its tail and darting about on the surface.
The golden pomfret was surprisingly feisty. It took her three attempts before she finally netted it and lifted it aboard.
The fish had a blunt head and a dazed expression, and despite its small size, its fighting power was incredible. The feel of the battle had been fantastic.
Jiang Luoluo helped remove the hook. She squeezed the fish and found its flesh was plump and firm. They put this one into the livewell for now.
Golden pomfret was the kind of fish whose price was almost the same whether alive or dead, because wild ones, unlike farmed ones, rarely survived until they reached shore.
For now, they would put it in the livewell. Once they caught more, they'd pack them directly into foam boxes.
After washing his hands and rebaiting his hook, Chu Mingcheng cast his line back into the same spot where he'd just caught the fish.
Jiang Luoluo glanced at her motionless rod and tossed in a bit more chum.
Sure enough, after she threw in the chum, she actually got a bite.
It turned out to be a spotted scat, a fish with a small head, a flat but thick body, and round black spots.
Jiang Luoluo didn't know much about fish and hadn't expected to catch something different.
"Ah Cheng, what kind of fish is this?"
"Be careful—that fish's fins are venomous. If you get pricked, it'll hurt for days." Seeing it, Chu Mingcheng quickly took the five or six liang spotted scat from her and placed it in the livewell.
"It's a spotted scat. The price is a bit higher than wild golden pomfret of the same size, probably around fifty yuan per jin at the market."
"Oh!" Hearing it was only fifty yuan a jin, Jiang Luoluo immediately lost interest. She had thought she'd caught some kind of valuable fish, especially since it looked quite pretty.
"It's actually a very good fish. A lot of coastal people love eating it. I just didn't expect it to be mixed in with a school of golden pomfret."
Chu Mingcheng explained with a smile. Just as he finished speaking, his own rod bent down violently again. It looked like another golden pomfret.
He quickly lifted the rod to set the hook and began reeling in.
The golden pomfret darted around underwater, giving Chu Mingcheng the illusion of fighting a much larger fish.
He was about to give the line a tug to make reeling easier when the resistance made his eyes light up.
This one felt much heavier than the last. That previous fish had hit hard, but its true size was revealed as soon as he applied pressure.
Landing a big one was a pleasant surprise.
Small, wild golden pomfret—those around one or two jin—sold for about thirty yuan per jin. Farmed ones were even cheaper, around ten to fifteen yuan. But for wild golden pomfret, the price increased with size. Fish over five jin could sell for around fifty yuan per jin, and those over ten jin could fetch eighty yuan or more.
Of course, this price was for line-caught fish, not net-caught ones. Line-caught fish were much fresher.
Chu Mingcheng kept his eyes glued to the line. When the line ran left, he pulled his rod right.
As he retrieved line, the golden pomfret was slowly brought toward the surface.
Suddenly, just as it was about to break through, the golden pomfret made an unexpected leap out of the water.
Chu Mingcheng jerked his rod hard. The sudden tension threw the fish off balance, causing it to slam back down onto the sea on its side.
The splash was significant, attracting the attention of nearby anglers, who all turned to look.
After all, apart from large marlin, it was rare for a hooked fish to jump out of the water like that.
The golden pomfret seemed a bit stunned after hitting the water. Chu Mingcheng seized the opportunity to reel in several turns of line before the next round of tug-of-war began.
The rod was soft, and the line wasn't particularly thick, so he didn't have the confidence to just muscle it in.
But fishing without playing the fish wouldn't be much fun anyway.
Another five or six minutes passed before the fish's energy was spent and he could pull it to the boat's side.
This time, Jiang Luoluo couldn't help with the net. The chum she'd thrown in earlier had worked well, and she had a fish on her line, too.
Judging by her rod and line action, it was probably another golden pomfret.
Chu Mingcheng had to lock his drag, quickly grab the landing net, and scoop up the seven or eight jin golden pomfret one-handed.
Jiang Luoluo glanced back. "I didn't know golden pomfret could get this big! It probably wouldn't even fit in a small basin!"
"They get even bigger than this!" Chu Mingcheng said, looking at the golden pomfret lying on the deck, its mouth still snapping. He used a dehooker to remove the hook and then tossed the fish into the livewell.
Golden pomfret weren't as valuable as silver pomfret, but their tempers were just as fierce.
"The one I'm fighting feels really heavy too! I wonder if it's big!" Jiang Luoluo had easily caught the spotted scat earlier, but now battling a golden pomfret, the difference was immediately obvious.
"It's probably not too small." Chu Mingcheng had given her a size 30 boat rod, and her line was a size thicker than his, so she could basically pull it in by force without any issues.
Judging by the rod's movement, he could tell the fish wasn't small.
Sure enough, after a short while, Jiang Luoluo muscled the golden pomfret to the surface.
It was a little smaller than his, but it still looked to be four or five jin.
Jiang Luoluo proudly lifted the fish with a fish gripper. "Haha, even though it's not as thrilling as catching a cobia, the feeling of satisfaction is just as great."
"Ah Cheng, quick, take a picture for me! I want to show Jiayi and Sister Mei."
Chu Mingcheng chuckled. This girl clearly fished just to show off.
He picked up her camera, switched it to photo mode, and crouched down to snap a couple of pictures of the beautiful girl with the dazed-looking golden pomfret. Jiang Luoluo was very satisfied.
They had been traveling for over three hours, and it was now noon.
To let Chu Mingcheng catch more fish and make more money, Jiang Luoluo volunteered to cook lunch.
"Luoluo, take this golden pomfret and pan-fry it. It may not be as good as silver pomfret, but it's still delicious when fried."
Chu Mingcheng went to the livewell and took out the first golden pomfret he'd caught. At a little over a jin, it was the perfect size for two people.
A live golden pomfret has almost no fishy smell, so he believed it would taste even better.
But Jiang Luoluo took the fish hesitantly. "Um, I don't really know how to cook this. What if I mess it up?"
They were quite far out at sea today, and there was no signal, so she couldn't look up a video online.
"It's just like how you fry eggs in the morning. Pan-fry the fish until both sides are golden brown. Then, toss some ginger, garlic, and millet peppers into the pan next to the fish and stir-fry them until fragrant. Sprinkle a tiny bit of salt—don't add too much. Pour in a little soy sauce, cover, and simmer for a minute, then add some green onions, stir-fry, and simmer for another fifteen seconds. Very simple."
Chu Mingcheng explained the steps directly. Jiang Luoluo had some basic cooking skills now, so she didn't need to write them down.
After his explanation, she felt more confident. She cleaned the fish, removing the fins and guts.
After washing it, she scored the skin in a diamond pattern and then took it inside to cook.
Watching her clean the fish with relative skill, Chu Mingcheng nodded in satisfaction. She's learned a lot from watching me all this time!
This also gave him more confidence about the upcoming lunch. He had actually been prepared for the worst, resigned to eating whatever she made, no matter how it turned out.
But her skillful movements gave him a glimmer of hope. Just as he was wondering if she might exceed expectations, his rod started moving again.
Heh, another bite.
This time, however, it was only an eight-liang fish. Chu Mingcheng didn't mind.
Fish this size were the norm for the school; there weren't that many six or seven-jin fish for him to catch.
As if hearing his thoughts, just as Chu Mingcheng placed the fish in the livewell, Jiang Luoluo's rod, which was resting in a holder, got a bite—and it was a big one.
Chu Mingcheng rushed over and grabbed the rod.
Whoa, from the feel of it, this fish was huge!
The boat rod was stiff and the line was thicker, so after setting the hook, he pulled even harder.
They say a one-jin fish pulls with the force of ten jin. While that was an exaggeration, it spoke to the explosive power of fish. The line was pulled taut, groaning under the strain as the fish simply towed it through the water.
Chu Mingcheng couldn't even turn the handle to retrieve the line, so he braced the rod butt against his stomach.
This lowered his center of gravity, making him steady as a mountain. No matter how the fish thrashed below, it couldn't swim any farther, only able to trace half-circles back and forth.
After its first burst of energy subsided, Chu Mingcheng heaved the rod upward.
His sudden application of strength was too much for the fish to handle.
It was almost instantly lifted half a meter higher in the water, and the jarring vibration left it dizzy and temporarily unable to resist.
Chu Mingcheng seized the chance to reel in several turns of line, pulling the fish up another meter before it came to its senses and started fighting again.
More pulling, more tugging...
Fish: All this pulling and tugging, what's to become of us? Alright, alright, you win! I'll come with you, okay?
A seventy or eighty-centimeter sea bass was pulled to the surface. Chu Mingcheng was a bit surprised; he had thought it was a massive golden pomfret, not a sea bass.
But either was fine. The price difference wasn't huge; as long as it was big, it was good.
Locking the drag, Chu Mingcheng grabbed the large landing net and scooped it up. Suspended in the air, the sea bass had no leverage and became calm.
But the moment it was placed on the deck, it started thrashing wildly, splashing seawater all over Chu Mingcheng's face.
He wiped his face, looked at the sea bass that was potentially worth over a thousand yuan, and decided to let it slide.
Remove the hook, toss it in the livewell. I'm selling you as soon as we get back!
After Chu Mingcheng caught a few more golden pomfret, Jiang Luoluo announced that lunch was ready.
He reeled in his line and walked to the cockpit door, where the aroma of cooked food immediately hit him.
The slightly charred smell of the fish was particularly enticing.
Chu Mingcheng, who was already starving, couldn't help but swallow. He quickly took off his raincoat, hung it by the door, and went inside.
On the coffee table were a plate of stir-fried baby napa cabbage and a plate of scrambled eggs with garlic chives. Just then, Jiang Luoluo walked over with a platter of golden-brown pan-fried pomfret.
"Ah Cheng, what do you think of my pan-fried fish?"
"It looks and smells perfect. Let me have a taste."
The excellent presentation of the fish raised Chu Mingcheng's expectations. He picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth under Jiang Luoluo's nervous yet hopeful gaze.
When he bit into it, the flesh was tender while the skin was slightly crisp. Just like its appearance, the taste did not disappoint.
Chu Mingcheng immediately gave her a thumbs-up. "Amazing! For your first time, this is delicious. Even I could only cook it to this level."
As long as you knew the method, cooking itself wasn't that difficult.
Receiving his approval, Jiang Luoluo broke into a brilliant smile. "As long as it tastes good! Let's eat!"