The Fish I Catch Can Level Up-Chapter 193: Heading to Hangzhou

The Fish I Catch Can Level Up-Chapter 193: Heading to Hangzhou

After returning to Yanmen Island, Chu Mingcheng had planned to head back to town with Zhang Wei, but first he needed to check on the cats. As it turned out, his parents had come over to the old house.
Funnily enough, there was Chu Yongxin, a grown man, with a silly grin on his face, cuddling and stroking the three little kittens for all he was worth.
Chu Mingcheng set down the foam box containing the large yellow croaker and silver pomfrets. "Dad, Mom, what brings you to the old house?"
"Your mom thought it was a hassle for you to go back to town every time you came home, so she said we should stay here for a while," Chu Yongxin explained. "You didn't even tell us you were coming back. I didn't buy much for dinner today."
"It's fine. I caught some silver pomfrets on this trip. We can add them to tonight's menu."
"You got silver pomfrets? That's great! Your mom and I tried the golden pomfrets you sent back, and they were delicious. Silver pomfrets are just as good."
With that, Chu Yongxin put down the cat and went to open the foam box to look at the fish.
What he found inside, however, was a massive, seventy-to-eighty-centimeter-long yellow croaker, its brilliant golden scales dazzling to the eye.
"Son, did you catch this, too?"
"Of course. It almost got away, too. But it wouldn't have survived being pulled up from deep water anyway, so it just floated on the surface and I scooped it back up."
Chu Mingcheng told a little white lie. He didn't dare admit that he'd relied on his swimming ability and had jumped into the water without a second thought.
In reality, just as he'd said, the yellow croaker would most likely have floated to the surface even if he hadn't jumped in, unless it was carried away by the current or snatched by another large fish.
Chu Yongxin shook his head, sighing. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. I've only seen fish this big when I was a kid. Back then, seventy or eighty centimeters was nothing—I saw plenty of meter-long ones."
"It was only after the yellow croakers were overfished that I stopped seeing five- or six-jin ones like this after I quit being a chef."
Seeing his father getting sentimental, Chu Mingcheng suggested, "How about we cook this yellow croaker tonight?"
Chu Yongxin immediately slammed the lid of the foam box shut. "Like hell we are! You bring back plenty of yellow croaker, and you're out fishing for them practically every day at year's end. When can't I eat one? It'd be a waste for us to eat something this big. Let's send it to Luoluo's family!"
"We should still prepare the usual gifts, but having a large yellow croaker will really give your future father-in-law something to show off. It might help you bring Luoluo home sooner."
Clearly, a five- or six-jin yellow croaker was only enough to make Chu Yongxin feel a moment of nostalgia—he was far more concerned with his son getting married soon.
Perhaps drawn by the magic of her name, An Xiuwen, who'd been upstairs tidying a room, suddenly poked her head out at the top of the stairs. "What about Luoluo?"
"Nothing. Your son caught a five- or six-jin yellow croaker. I told him to take it to his future in-laws to give them some face and bring Luoluo home sooner!"
An Xiuwen nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, that's right. Son, when are you going to visit Luoluo's family?"
Chu Mingcheng had been planning to go in the next couple of days. "I'll talk to Luoluo tonight. If her family is free, I'll head over."
"Have you prepared all the gifts?"
"I had Yang help me buy them. I got his message when I got back—everything's been purchased."
"Good. You should handle these things yourself."
Since his parents were at the old house, Chu Mingcheng no longer needed to go back to town with Zhang Wei. He sent him a message explaining the situation and telling him to head back on his own.
That evening, after dinner and a shower, he lay comfortably in his bed and video-chatted with Jiang Luoluo.
Hearing that Chu Mingcheng was preparing to visit Hangzhou in the next two days, Jiang Luoluo immediately ran out of her room to ask her parents when they were free.
Because of their daughter, Jiang Bo and Li Ying naturally took the matter very seriously.
After discussing it, they decided to set the date for the very next day.
With the time set, Chu Mingcheng went to pick up the gifts the next day and, while he was at it, borrowed Chen Yang's car.
"By the way, the black tea and Maotai you asked me to buy are already in the car."
Chen Yang opened the trunk and took out the Maotai and black tea.
"The Maotai speaks for itself. The tea is Qimen Black Tea—over three thousand yuan per jin. There are two tins, one jin each..."
Just then, Zhang Wei suddenly chimed in, "Perfect for making tea eggs."
Chu Mingcheng laughed. "So the experts on TV were right about us not being able to afford tea eggs?"
Zhang Wei stared for a second, then burst out laughing. "Haha, you know, I suddenly think you're absolutely right!"
Chu Mingcheng shook his head and got into the car. "I'm heading out then. See you in a couple of days!"
Zhang Wei waved. "Go on, go on! Next time I see your girlfriend, I'll have to start calling her sister-in-law."
"You can call her that, but there's no red envelope for the new title!"
"Damn it, you're taking advantage of me!"
Watching the car drive away, Zhang Wei suddenly felt a little melancholic. "Cheng will probably be married soon. Yang, you must be getting close too, right?"
Chen Yang paused, a hint of uncertainty in his expression. "I'm not sure. My family has arranged some blind dates for year's end. I'll see how it goes."
Zhang Wei was puzzled. "Huh? Cheng's girlfriend didn't introduce anyone to you?"
Chen Yang shook his head. "They never mentioned it, but it doesn't matter. I'll probably be going on blind dates every day at year's end anyway. It's not like I'm short one or two options!"
"True. Hey, if you meet anyone you're not planning to pursue, remember to introduce them to me! I'm very curious—I like to get to the bottom of why you didn't fall for them..."
"Get lost!"
While the two joked around and headed to the shop to close up, Chu Mingcheng was already nearing the expressway entrance.
Although he lived in the countryside, transportation was no worse than in the city.
There were expressways and national highways. He could just hop on the expressway and drive straight to Hangzhou.
Of all the gifts he was bringing, the only thing he hadn't bought yet was makeup.
But that was the easiest gift to get. Jiang Luoluo had already sent him the address—he just had to go to the boutique in Hangzhou and buy it.
He set off at eight in the morning and would reach Hangzhou around noon.
Thinking it had been several days since he'd last seen his girlfriend, Chu Mingcheng first transferred the money for the gifts to Chen Yang, then called Jiang Luoluo.
"Luoluo, what are you up to?"
"Nothing much, I just got up. What's up?"
"Let's have lunch together. I should be in Hangzhou around noon."
"You're getting here that early? I thought you wouldn't arrive until the afternoon! Why eat out? Just come to my place!"
"No, no, that's not a good idea. Showing up at noon would be too rushed. I'll come over in the afternoon. You absolutely can't tell your parents."
Jiang Luoluo thought about it and agreed.
If Chu Mingcheng suddenly showed up early, her parents wouldn't have time to prepare, which would indeed be awkward.
After hanging up, Jiang Luoluo rushed to get herself ready.
It took her a full two hours to get dressed. She wore a knit beanie with ear flaps, her hair in two braids resting on her chest.
She had on a white turtleneck sweater with a short, beige down jacket, paired with simple jeans.
It was a very common, everyday outfit, but Jiang Luoluo's beauty made it work perfectly.
Once she was ready, she finally stepped out of her bedroom and said to Li Ying, who was in the kitchen preparing vegetables, "Mom, you don't have to make my portion for lunch. I'm going out to eat."
On such a special day, her daughter was suddenly going out to eat. Li Ying paused for three seconds before it clicked. "Your boyfriend is here?"
"Mm-hmm. He said coming over at lunchtime would be too much of a rush for you, so he asked me out to eat." Jiang Luoluo knew her mother would guess, so she admitted it outright.
Then she hugged Li Ying and said sweetly, "By the way, Mom, Cheng told me to keep it a secret from you, so just pretend you don't know, okay?"
Li Ying didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Alright, I'll pretend I don't know. You can take my car later. Don't be late and make him wait."
"Okay, I know." Jiang Luoluo nodded, found the car keys in Li Ying's purse and put them in her own small crossbody bag, then sat on the sofa, planning to leave for their meeting spot at eleven.
But the waiting was pure agony. She checked her phone—only five minutes had passed. She checked again a little later—only three minutes.
After doing this a few times, she couldn't stand it anymore. She got up, said goodbye to Li Ying, and drove to their meeting spot—the mall with the makeup boutique.
Driving slowly, Jiang Luoluo still arrived at her destination by eleven o'clock.
She parked the car and took the elevator to the second floor.
This floor was mostly clothing stores. Shopping was an obvious way to kill time, and Jiang Luoluo thought she might as well buy a new outfit for Chu Mingcheng.
Passing the children's and women's sections, she arrived at the men's section, which was tucked away in a more secluded area.
Jiang Luoluo walked and looked, popping into basically every shop, but nothing seemed quite right.
It wasn't until she reached the sixth shop that a few long trench coats caught her eye. She walked in and went straight to the rack to take a look.
Seeing a customer, a female sales associate whose turn it was quickly came over to greet her.
"Hello, miss. These trench coats are all this year's new arrivals. Would you like me to take one down for you to have a look?"
Jiang Luoluo nodded and pointed to a long, black trench coat. "Could you get that one down for me, please?"
"Of course." The associate quickly took down the coat, displaying it for her and explaining the fabric, style, and other features.
But once Jiang Luoluo saw the whole coat, she felt something was missing. She shook her head and started looking at other options.
The associate put the coat back and took the opportunity to ask, "Miss, may I ask who you're buying for? Perhaps I can help you recommend some suitable styles for your reference."
"I'm buying for my boyfriend. He's a little over one meter eighty, with broad shoulders. That last one was a bit too cinched at the waist." It was normal for sales associates to recommend styles, so Jiang Luoluo cooperated, pointing out Chu Mingcheng's physical characteristics.
The saleswoman listened and got a good idea of what to look for. After a moment's thought, she selected a khaki-colored overcoat. "Miss, what do you think of this one? You could also pair it with a scarf. We happen to have a matching couple's set of scarves. Would you like to take a look?"
Jiang Luoluo thought the coat was just so-so, but her interest was immediately piqued when she heard about the couple's scarves. "Let's look at the scarves first, then!"

Chapter 193: Heading to Hangzhou