The Fish I Catch Can Level Up-Chapter 196: The Fishing Permit with Only 200 Holders
"Actually, you two will probably need rest periods after deep-sea trips, right? You can come here then, or visit Wenzhou. There's no need to specifically buy a house in Hangzhou just to accommodate us."
After hearing Chu Mingcheng's thoughts, Jiang Bo nodded and offered his own perspective.
He actually hoped the young couple could settle in Hangzhou, but it wasn't practical.
After all, Chu Mingcheng's hometown was Wenzhou. He was marrying off his daughter, not gaining a live-in son-in-law. Keeping the couple here might cause friction with the man's family.
For his daughter to maintain good relations with her mother-in-law and keep family harmony, sometimes you had to be mindful of boundaries and make appropriate concessions.
Of course, Chu Mingcheng had zero objections. Tonight, his father-in-law was the boss—whatever he said went!
Afterward, Jiang Bo brought up Jiang Luoluo visiting their home and whether the families should meet before year-end.
Without hesitation, Chu Mingcheng agreed on behalf of his parents. A meeting between families was essential.
With serious matters settled, the atmosphere relaxed considerably.
After eating, Chu Mingcheng stood and raised his glass to make toasts.
It seemed his improved physical fitness had also boosted his alcohol tolerance somewhat.
He toasted Jiang Bo three times, toasted Li Ying three times, then drank more with them. Only after downing about half a jin of baijiu did he start feeling dizzy.
Chu Mingcheng rarely drank much baijiu—he knew perfectly well he couldn't handle half a jin normally.
Being the first to pass out seemed inappropriate, so he used Life Conversion once. To his surprise, it actually worked.
Most of the alcohol in his system was instantly broken down. After a bathroom trip, his head was clear again.
An hour later, the two women watched with amusement as the men draped arms over each other's shoulders.
One kept calling the other "brother," while the other responded with "father-in-law."
Li Ying leaned close to Jiang Luoluo's ear and whispered with a laugh, "Ah Cheng's quite something. 'Father-in-law' with every breath—he certainly knows his place."
"Better than them calling each other 'brother' and wanting to become sworn brothers!" Jiang Luoluo covered her mouth to stifle giggles. She suspected her boyfriend wasn't drunk at all, but had no proof.
"True enough. Let's help your dad to his room first, then get Ah Cheng to the guest room to rest!"
The women stopped watching the show and moved to help Jiang Bo, but he refused to budge, clinging to Chu Mingcheng's arm and shouting about continuing to drink.
"Father-in-law, let's go! Next round—in bed!"
Chu Mingcheng naturally played along, coaxing his drunk father-in-law toward the bedroom.
"Right, next round, keep drinking..." Jiang Bo mumbled as he was led inside, not even needing the women's assistance.
Understanding flashed in Jiang Luoluo's eyes, but Li Ying looked genuinely surprised. "Ah Cheng's tolerance is impressive! I thought he was drunk, but turns out he was just pretending to keep your dad company!"
"I suspected when he started the constant 'father-in-law' routine. Didn't think he was actually faking it," Jiang Luoluo said with a smile.
"That kid!" Li Ying shook her head, amused. She followed into the room and saw her husband already helped onto the bed. She went over to pull up the covers.
Then she turned to Chu Mingcheng. "Ah Cheng, since you're not drunk, wait a moment. Auntie will make some sobering soup. You won't feel so rough tomorrow morning."
"Okay, thank you, Auntie." Chu Mingcheng nodded and left the room.
He'd already used Life Conversion twice to sober up but still felt slightly dizzy. Some sobering soup would be perfect.
"Luoluo, take Ah Cheng to the guest room to rest. Mom will make the soup."
"Okay!" Jiang Luoluo agreed, then led Chu Mingcheng into the guest room and pulled back the covers. "Lie down for a while. I'll bring the soup when it's ready."
"Luoluo, stay with me a bit. I'm still dizzy. I might fall asleep if no one talks to me."
"If it weren't for today's special circumstances, I wouldn't have let you drink so much!" Seeing him leaning against the bed with half-closed eyes, Jiang Luoluo felt sympathetic.
She sat at the head of the bed, wrapped her arms around his head, let him rest against her, and gently massaged his temples. "Better?"
"Mmm!" A comfortable smile spread across Chu Mingcheng's face. "Luoluo, I'm so lucky to have you."
Though his head was dizzy today, he knew his girlfriend was definitely why he'd passed this test so smoothly.
She must have done considerable behind-the-scenes work to make her parents accept him so easily.
His nervousness about meeting the woman's family mainly stemmed from a former classmate's horror story.
That guy had it rough. When visiting his girlfriend's house, not only did her parents give him grief, but his girlfriend sided with them, too.
She believed everything her parents did was for her own good, and that she'd be the dominant one in their future household, able to control him completely.
The result was that even the girlfriend's relatives saw his classmate as a pushover. Every New Year visit meant being basically a servant, ordered around by various relatives to do chores and run errands.
But the younger daughter's boyfriend received completely different treatment. During the New Year, he didn't lift a finger—just sat and relaxed.
It was all because when that boyfriend first visited, the younger daughter had skillfully saved face for both sides and done considerable groundwork to make her parents accept him easily.
Chu Mingcheng felt incredibly fortunate that the girlfriend he'd invested genuine feelings in possessed such high emotional intelligence. He wouldn't need to worry about their future children being clueless and causing problems.
Li Ying quickly finished the soup. Carrying it toward the bedroom, she noticed the two of them together.
She smiled to herself, took the soup back to the kitchen, then called out, "Luoluo, soup's ready. You can bring it to Ah Cheng. Mom's going to check on your dad."
"Okay!" Jiang Luoluo responded, then got up and headed to the kitchen.
After drinking the sobering soup, Chu Mingcheng did feel better after a short while.
Jiang Luoluo didn't disturb him. She left the room, closed the door, and went to clear the dining table.
The quiet night passed. The next day, Chu Mingcheng woke early.
Having gone to bed early, he naturally woke early. After a bathroom trip, the alcohol was completely out of his system.
Walking out and seeing the other bedroom doors closed, he decided to go running for exercise, familiarize himself with the neighborhood, and bring back breakfast.
But going downstairs, he immediately ran into Chen Chu in sportswear.
"You run too? Want to go together?"
Chen Chu spoke first. He held no grudge against Chu Mingcheng. Seeing him now, he was actually curious about where he'd lost out.
Could it really just be age?
"Sure!" Chu Mingcheng had no objections. He could ask about good breakfast spots later.
With that, he started running alongside Chen Chu.
The two didn't run inside the residential complex but headed outside.
The greenery around West Lake was quite nice, and Chu Mingcheng followed him there.
Running along West Lake's edge, he spotted an elderly man fishing.
Chu Mingcheng couldn't help asking, "Can you just fish in West Lake anytime you want?"
Chen Chu shook his head. "You can't just fish in West Lake. You'll get fined if caught. You need a West Lake fishing permit issued by the fishing association. That old man's probably from the veteran cadres' fishing association."
"Honestly, I occasionally go sea fishing with friends in Australia and quite enjoy it. I tried getting a West Lake fishing permit once but failed."
"This permit's not easy to get. Only about two hundred total exist. With the permit, you can then buy fishing tickets."
"I heard fishing tickets are also limited, but I don't know specifics."
"That complicated?" Chu Mingcheng said, inwardly wondering when he could get himself a fishing permit.
Only about two hundred permits in the entire city, and even Chen Chu couldn't get one. This fishing permit was clearly worth its weight in gold.
He happened not to have used his Aquatic Codex's second ability yet, which stated he could easily obtain local fishing or catching permits.
Later, because the old man was about to land his hooked fish, they stopped running to watch from the side.
When the fish reached shore, a man even older-looking than Chen Chu skillfully netted it with an oversized landing net.
It was a black carp with a back colored like bluestone—very beautiful and glossy. The fish weighed at least thirty jin.
The old man was clearly delighted to have caught such a big one.
Three middle-aged men helped carry the fish while he followed behind with his rod.
Chu Mingcheng had thought the surrounding people were just spectators, but they were all part of his entourage.
"Geez. Now I understand what you meant. It'd be a miracle if this fishing permit were easy to get."
Wei Jiaguo's entourage looked pathetic compared to this old man's setup.
A wry smile crossed Chen Chu's face. He also realized how naive he'd been.
After that, neither felt like running anymore and started heading back.
Chu Mingcheng asked about good breakfast places. Since Chen Chu was also getting breakfast, he brought him along.
The two got to know each other somewhat and exchanged contact information.
Back at the residential complex, Chen Chu patted his shoulder. "Ah Cheng, if you come to Australia during the fishing ban season, definitely contact me. I'll take you out to catch some big ones."
"Absolutely—if I go there, I'll definitely reach out!" Chu Mingcheng readily agreed while starting to consider whether he should prepare a travel guide in advance.
Returning home, Jiang Luoluo's family was already up. Li Ying was about to make breakfast when Chu Mingcheng arrived with it.
By now, she'd gradually accepted this son-in-law, so she didn't stand on ceremony.
Before lunch, Chu Mingcheng slipped out again.
He remained very interested in that West Lake fishing permit, so he drove to the fishing association to try applying.
As it turned out, just as his second ability had promised, he easily became an association member, and the application process was incredibly fast. He got his fishing permit without much waiting.
This experience gave him complete confidence in future wild adventures abroad.
Unfortunately, he couldn't fish West Lake today—mainly because he hadn't brought gear.
Otherwise, he'd definitely have recorded himself fishing there. If he didn't show off a little, could he still call himself an angler?
Returning for lunch, it was time to leave.
But this time, he wasn't going back alone—he was taking Jiang Luoluo with him, having already informed his family.
The Jiang family had long prepared return gifts, including one rather special item.
Chu Mingcheng also received a thick red envelope from Li Ying.
Jiang Luoluo sat in the passenger seat, humming a little tune, clearly in excellent spirits.
"So happy. Aren't you even a little nervous?" Chu Mingcheng couldn't help asking.
Normally, women were more nervous about visiting the man's family. How was it reversed for them?
"I'm so beautiful, cute, and well-behaved. How could Uncle and Auntie possibly dislike me? What's there to be nervous about?"
Jiang Luoluo said this with such righteous confidence that Chu Mingcheng had to admit—she had a point.
Chapter 196: The Fishing Permit with Only 200 Holders
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