The Fish I Catch Can Level Up-Chapter 162: Hitching a Ride on a Boat

If it had been a true Oarfish, that would have been a different story entirely. A two-meter specimen would weigh at least seventy or eighty jin, with prices starting at two hundred yuan per jin—making the whole fish worth over ten thousand.
However, that species typically lived at depths of at least three hundred meters. Finding one in coastal waters or near shore would be cause for alarm—a potential sign of an impending earthquake.
Chu Mingcheng moved the rest of his catch into the cockpit for now. After taking a shower and buying groceries at the market, he returned to his apartment complex.
Walking into Jiang Luoluo's place, he found her already preparing breakfast, as expected.
Seeing the groceries in his hands, Jiang Luoluo said, "Ah Cheng, you don't need to make lunch anymore. I can cook now! From now on, I'll handle my own lunch."
"Are you sure? I'm worried you'll get tired of the hassle and just order takeout again."
"I won't! I just lacked confidence in my cooking before, but now I'm very confident. Besides, you have to go out to sea every day, so it's better if you leave early."
Seeing her serious expression—clearly not faking it or testing him—Chu Mingcheng finally nodded hesitantly. "Alright then. It is better to head out early for fishing."
"By the way, how was your catch yesterday? I'm still working on my choreography today. Do you want me to come out to sea with you?"
Chu Mingcheng almost agreed, but then he remembered the fish he'd caught during the night, still on his boat. He quickly changed his tune. "No, no, just focus on your choreography at home. Having you around on the boat would be distracting."
"Wait until you've finished filming your video and are resting. You can come with me then!"
"Alright, I'll start filming in about five days." Jiang Luoluo didn't insist. This video had already been delayed by a day—she really couldn't afford any more interruptions.
After breakfast, Chu Mingcheng headed back to the pier.
He first loaded last night's catch into his car—one cooler for the ribbonfish, and another for the crabs (whose claws he had bound with rubber bands) and the still-living seabream.
He kept all the ribbonfish that were three fingers wide or more. The smaller ones stayed on the boat; he'd eat one for lunch and use the rest as bait.
Although the shrimp pots hadn't yielded anything spectacular, combined with the less valuable fish he'd caught, he wouldn't need to spend extra money on bait.
Line-caught ribbonfish was in high demand, especially among seafood restaurants.
They had to buy ribbonfish from the market daily, but those were net-caught. The line-caught variety was obviously more popular.
Today's prices were sixty yuan per jin for three-finger-wide line-caught ribbonfish, and eighty for four-finger-wide. The prices probably weren't as high as in Wenshi, but they were still good. He sold them for a total of 5,200.
The red bandfish was also very popular. Despite its small size, the seafood restaurants bought his entire stock.
At seventy yuan per jin, his twenty-one and a half jin sold for one thousand five hundred.
The crabs, including the five from the day before, totaled thirty-two jin and sold for two thousand eight hundred.
The main reason was that male crabs were cheaper; even the jin-sized ones didn't reach a hundred yuan per unit.
The eight seabream sold for nine hundred and fifty. His total catch from last night exceeded ten thousand yuan, making the hard work and use of a Life Conversion charge worthwhile.
Just as Chu Mingcheng finished selling his fish and was heading back to the pier, he received a call from Chen Yang.
"Ah Cheng, Wei and I are planning to learn spearfishing. Where did you learn? Was the instruction good? How much was the tuition?"
"You two are going to learn spearfishing?"
Chu Mingcheng was a little surprised. It seemed these two were planning to follow in his footsteps.
"Yeah, I've arranged everything at my shop. In a couple of days, I'm heading to Xiamen to order a boat, then I'll go to Qiongzhou to learn spearfishing."
Chen Yang seemed serious—he was even planning to order a boat.
But ordering a boat, even if the shipyard had a ready-made hull, meant it wouldn't be in the water until after next year's fishing moratorium.
However, they were coming to Xiamen after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month next year. There were still several months until the fishing moratorium. With their personalities, they probably wouldn't be able to wait that long.
And his boat couldn't reach the open sea. He figured they'd get bored after a while.
Therefore, Chu Mingcheng thought of a second-hand boat. If they didn't mind used, buying second-hand was obviously a better deal.
"Chen Yang, do you mind a second-hand boat?"
"Second-hand?" Chen Yang sounded stunned on the other end. "A second-hand one isn't out of the question, but since you're suggesting it, you have to tell me why."
"A new boat probably won't be in the water until after next year's fishing moratorium. Can you wait that long? My boat can't reach the open sea, so you can't fish for deep-sea species, and you won't encounter tuna or marlin."
"Uh..." Hearing this, Chen Yang was indeed hesitant.
He loved deep-sea fish, groupers, and tuna. Since it was hard to encounter them in coastal waters, he definitely wouldn't have the patience to spend several months just playing around there.
"Then I'll go learn spearfishing first and see how things are when I get to Xiamen."
"Alright, I'll send you the information for the dive club in Qiongzhou and the instructor's contact details."
It was good that Chen Yang and Zhang Wei were learning to dive together. They wouldn't need to find another dive buddy, which would save him the trouble.
With his situation, having a dive buddy would definitely be a hassle.
After hanging up, Chu Mingcheng sent all the information over and also called Lu Zheqiang to let him know his two friends were coming to learn spearfishing.
Lu Zheqiang gave them a warm welcome and promised to take good care of them. He also mentioned that the speargun had been shipped yesterday and would arrive this afternoon.
Chu Mingcheng was filled with anticipation. With a speargun capable of hunting large fish, perhaps he could hitch a ride on Wei Jianguo's boat and head to more distant waters to battle some big game.
...
For the next five days, Chu Mingcheng fished day and night.
Because water conditions had been poor recently, with the seawater quite murky, fishing was fine, but spearfishing was out of the question.
He had gone into the water once and found the visibility was only five meters, making it nearly impossible to find fish.
His income over the five days was inconsistent. With a few stable fishing spots, his income after deducting costs was three to five thousand on a bad day, and ten to twenty thousand on a good day.
It was just as Jiang Luoluo had said: after the initial burst, his income would gradually decrease.
It was obviously impossible and abnormal to expect a haul of around fifty thousand every time.
Currently, Chu Mingcheng's savings had reached three hundred and ten thousand yuan, which was already very high income.
As for the Aquatic Species Codex, his current experience had reached fifty-two points. He only needed eight more aquatic species to level up, which made him even more excited for the second ability.
After selling his fish and returning home, the speargun finally arrived.
But he didn't have time to examine it. Jiang Luoluo was going to the beach to film in the afternoon, and he had specifically rushed back to pick her up, planning to take her to the small beach on the isolated island to shoot.
But his boat couldn't land on the beach, and with a group of people carrying equipment, climbing over the reefs would be difficult.
Therefore, he had specifically spent two thousand yuan to buy an inflatable boat for island landings.
The inflatable boat was very convenient. When needed, you just had to inflate it, put it in the water, and attach the small propeller.
When not in use, you could deflate it and store it in the cockpit without taking up much space.
After lunch, Chu Mingcheng drove Jiang Luoluo to the pier and waited in the boat for Zhang Ruomei and the others.
Only then did he have time to unpack and examine his new speargun.
Out of the water, the wooden speargun was not light—even heavier than the carbon fiber one. But in the sea, due to buoyancy, the wooden speargun would feel lighter.
Opening the package, Chu Mingcheng found that the speargun's body was indeed relatively flat, just as he had learned.
This was a 1.2-meter speargun. He assembled it, checked all the parts, and found no problems for now.
The rubber bands were very thick—one more than on the carbon fiber speargun.
But with this extra band, if he encountered that giant grouper again, the spear might not pass through it easily, but it could definitely kill the prey in one shot.
Jiang Luoluo had been squatting beside him, watching. Seeing him assemble the speargun and admire it, she said, "Ah Cheng, after today's shoot, I'll be resting for two days. How about we charter a boat and go to the open sea?"
"You want to go out to sea with me?" Chu Mingcheng was pleasantly surprised.
After all, he had been going out to sea alone during this period and was feeling a bit bored.
But Jiang Luoluo had been busy practicing her dance, and he was too embarrassed to disturb her.
Now that the speargun had arrived, he had indeed been planning to go to the open sea. He hadn't expected her to be willing to accompany him.
"Of course!" Jiang Luoluo said affirmatively.
When two people are together, they are constantly adjusting to each other, changing some of their habits, and accommodating each other in terms of time.
Chu Mingcheng coming back to accompany her every night was him accommodating her in terms of time.
And when she had time, she was naturally willing to give up shopping and other things she would occasionally do during her breaks to accompany him out to sea.
"Alright then, I'll ask Agong and see if he's going to the open sea."
Chartering a boat to the open sea would cost several thousand for one person. If he could promise to get Wei Jianguo a big catch, the old man should be happy to accept.
Jiang Luoluo blinked, instantly understanding Chu Mingcheng's intention, and couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle.
A playful old man who loved to show off, when faced with a young man skilled at hunting, was indeed easy to handle.
At that moment, Wei Jianguo was staring blankly at his fish tank, where his mouse grouper had turned belly-up.
He hadn't expected it to die after less than half a month. He still had many friends who hadn't come to Xiamen yet!
Just then, his phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and saw it was Chu Mingcheng, and his eyes immediately lit up.
"Ah Cheng, what good stuff do you have?"
"Uh... I haven't encountered anything special recently." Chu Mingcheng hadn't expected Wei Jianguo to ask this as soon as he answered. His confidence in hitching a ride on the boat grew even stronger.
There was no sound from the other end, clearly waiting for him to continue.
"Agong, it's like this. I just bought a wooden speargun, mainly for hunting big fish. Like large tuna or large marlin..."
When he mentioned these two types of fish, he deliberately drew out the last syllable.
On the other end, Wei Jianguo's eyebrows shot up when he heard these two types of fish. After a moment's thought, he understood Chu Mingcheng's plan, and a smile touched his lips.
But he was an old man, and he could tell the other party was deliberately trying to pique his interest. So he remained silent, not saying a word.
Chu Mingcheng saw that Wei Jianguo wasn't reacting, but the call was still connected. His face reddened slightly with embarrassment.
The old man was obviously more perceptive than expected—his little scheme had been exposed instantly!
Since that was the case, he could only be direct: "Agong, Luoluo and I want to hitch a ride on your boat to the open sea for some bluewater spearfishing. How about I get you a hundred-jin tuna or a hundred-jin marlin?"
Wei Jianguo, hearing him finally state his purpose, spoke up, but he teased, "What if it's a hundred-jin bluefin tuna?"
"Hiss~!" Chu Mingcheng sucked in a breath of cold air. The tuna he was talking about was naturally anything but bluefin.
After all, even a hundred-jin ordinary tuna was only worth six or seven thousand. It wouldn't hurt too much to give it away.
But if it were bluefin, he would really feel the pinch.
However, he didn't hesitate and immediately said, "Then you can pick whatever you like, Agong. As long as we find a school of fish, I guarantee a full load."
Currently, he had used Life Conversion five times in five days, with seven uses remaining.
Endurance wasn't a problem; the only thing he was afraid of was not finding any fish!
Wei Jianguo heard him agree without hesitation. Although he wouldn't take advantage of a junior, he was still very happy.
If Chu Mingcheng had shown even a hint of reluctance or hesitation, he would have had to reconsider his attitude toward him.
If you don't value connections and relationships and only care about immediate profit, then you're not destined to go far.
Obviously, in his opinion, Chu Mingcheng's vision was quite good.
They agreed to meet at the pier at nine the next morning. Chu Mingcheng hung up the phone and asked Jiang Luoluo beside him, "Luoluo, if we go out to sea tomorrow, we'll probably be out for two nights and come back on the third day. It won't affect the release of your next video, will it?"
Jiang Luoluo waved her hand dismissively, "It's fine, it's only three days. Sometimes when I'm lazy, I'll even turn down commercial performances or event invitations and rest for four or five days straight."
Since she had the time, the upcoming sea trip was settled.
Just then, Zhang Ruomei and her team arrived.