The Fish I Catch Can Level Up-Chapter 216: Zhang Wei Oppa, I Have Some Overnights You Can Use
When Zhang Wei saw the size of Chu Mingcheng's fish, he started to panic.
For the sake of his own backside, he unleashed hand speed that had been cultivated over many years. Finally, with just a few dozen seconds to spare before midnight, he successfully landed his fish.
It was a massive dogtooth tuna, nearly two meters long, with a fat belly that clearly indicated it was no lightweight.
The heart that Chu Mingcheng had just managed to settle back into his chest leaped up again. This dogtooth tuna didn't look any lighter than his grouper!
Zhang Wei was also on edge. When he saw the number displayed on the crane, his knees went weak, and he let out a wail of despair. "Are you kidding me? Why is it only three jin lighter?"
At this, Jiang Luoluo and the others looked on with sympathy, while Chu Mingcheng gloated.
"Aiya, two hundred and forty jin... no, wait, there's another seven liang. What a shame, truly!"
"You know, you didn't actually have to leak any oil, but who told you to go and catch a real oilfish!" Chen Yang sighed, patting Zhang Wei on the shoulder.
This was indeed a tough pill to swallow. If the weight difference had been huge, the disappointment wouldn't have been so great, but he'd lost by such a tiny margin.
Fortunately, the fish was large enough that Zhang Wei recouped more than half his trip's cost, which was some consolation. After a short while of feeling miserable, he managed to pull himself together.
"It's just eating some oilfish, so what? Let's go, let's process this thing first!"
He had no idea that as soon as he said those words, something even more distressing was waiting for him.
"A true man!" Chu Mingcheng gave him a thumbs-up. Then, while Zhang Wei was dealing with the oilfish, he picked a ten-plus-jin big-mouth red snapper from his own cooler and said to Jiang Luoluo and the others, "I'm hungry after fishing for so long. Let's have a late-night snack together!"
"Okay, I'm getting hungry too!" Jiang Luoluo readily agreed.
"Mingcheng oppa, can I join?" Han Baola asked.
"Of course, there was always a share for you!" Chu Mingcheng gave her a gentle smile.
Regardless of whether anything would happen between Han Baola and Zhang Wei, after deciding to open his own club, he'd subconsciously started considering if the people around him were suitable to join his team.
Of course, he wouldn't normally manage the team himself—he'd definitely hand it over to Chen Yang. Therefore, it was very important whether prospective members could get along with them.
From his interactions with her over the past few days, and from the feedback he'd gotten from Jiang Luoluo, his overall impression of Han Baola was quite good.
She was a rather straightforward girl, without too many ulterior motives.
Therefore, Chu Mingcheng planned to invite Han Baola to join his team. In the future, when the club opens, having a female instructor to teach mermaid diving courses to female students would be more convenient.
Jiang Luoluo would definitely learn freediving systematically in the future, but she also had her underwater dance work. She clearly wouldn't have the energy to be an instructor as well.
He just didn't know if Han Baola would be willing to join. He'd have to get Jiang Luoluo to ask her about that.
Chu Mingcheng cleaned the big-mouth red snapper, then went to help Zhang Wei with the oilfish.
When the escolar was cut open, the flesh was extremely white, just like Antarctic toothfish. No wonder some unscrupulous merchants used this fish to pass off as cod.
He touched the flesh—it was indeed covered in a layer of oil and felt quite soft and tender.
Zhang Wei cut off a large piece of the fish and gave it to the angler who'd asked for some earlier.
Following that, a few more anglers silently came forward and also asked for some of the meat.
This left Zhang Wei a bit baffled. "Ah Cheng, isn't this an oilfish? Why are so many people asking me for it?"
"Take a closer look. These people all seem to be suffering from internal heat. They're probably constipated," Chu Mingcheng whispered in his ear.
"Uh, how can you tell?" Zhang Wei looked suspiciously at the few people taking the meat but couldn't see any signs of them having internal heat.
"Of course, I'm just guessing," Chu Mingcheng said with a shrug. "Besides making you leak oil, this fish doesn't have any other effects. Other than constipation, I can't think of any other reason they'd want to eat this stuff."
"This fish can cure constipation?"
"I don't know if it cures constipation, but it at least has the effect of a glycerin enema!"
"A damn enema!" Zhang Wei's whole demeanor soured. The thought of having to endure at least two days of a personal enema made him start to worry.
"Say, can you buy diapers on this boat?"
Chu Mingcheng's fish-cleaning motions paused. After a moment of silence, he called over a crew member and asked if they had any adult diapers.
However, reality was cruel. They did not.
It made sense, really. A fishing boat would only be stocked with necessary items, and adult diapers were not among them.
"..." Zhang Wei fell silent too. Without those, wouldn't he... develop some stains on his pants while walking around?
Han Baola seemed to notice his predicament and thoughtfully offered her help. "Um, Zhang Wei oppa, I have some overnight pads. Do you want to make do with them?"
Zhang Wei's mouth opened, his expression even more dejected. Finally, he managed to squeeze out six words: "Well, thank you so very much!"
If Han Baola hadn't spoken up, he might have tried to postpone the bet until they were back on shore!
That way, he could at least buy his own properly fitting diapers and hide at home for two days.
But now, he could only use the not-so-suitable overnight type. The angle on those things was all wrong—he'd probably have to figure out how to even wear them...
"Hahaha..." Seeing Zhang Wei's miserable face, Chu Mingcheng and the others finally couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.
With the oilfish processed, the two of them continued to clean their respective grouper and dogtooth tuna.
Normally, the grouper could just be put directly into the freezer. But with more than twenty days left on the Nansha Islands trip, storing it directly would result in poor freshness by the end, which would seriously affect its value.
Therefore, Chu Mingcheng specifically bled the grouper, then gutted it.
Grouper maw was a top-quality delicacy, but as an internal organ, it was also the first part to rot. He needed to remove it, clean it thoroughly, and vacuum-seal it separately.
"Whoa, this stomach is pretty big!" After Chu Mingcheng cut away the stomach that the fish had regurgitated into its mouth, he found that it was bulging, seemingly full of things.
The fish maw is the fish's stomach, and you can often find many treasures inside.
Seeing this, Chen Yang left Zhang Wei's side and came over.
"Open it up, see what's inside. There was nothing in the stomach of Wei's fish—completely empty."
Chu Mingcheng didn't hesitate, cutting open the fish maw with a pair of scissors.
As expected of a grouper's maw, it was thick and sturdy.
When the maw was completely cut open, several fish immediately fell out. Among them were even two long-tail red snappers, their bodies perfectly preserved, clearly having been swallowed not long ago. Together, they weighed over ten jin.
Seeing this, Zhang Wei felt even worse. His tuna had only been three jin lighter than Chu Mingcheng's grouper.
And the fish that had just fallen out of this grouper's stomach weighed at least ten-plus jin.
"Life is such a bitch. If my tuna had just eaten a small fish—it didn't even have to be big, just four jin would have been enough—I would have won!"
"There are no 'ifs' in life. You'd better just admit defeat gracefully," Chen Yang said, patting his shoulder consolingly, knowing how frustrating the loss was.
Chu Mingcheng also felt extremely lucky. It was a good thing he'd caught a gluttonous grouper. If this grouper had eaten just one less fish, he might have lost.
Half an hour later, the galley was bustling with activity.
Not only were Chu Mingcheng and his group there making a late-night snack, but other anglers had also gathered in small groups, sharing the fresh and delicious catches of the day with their friends.
Chu Mingcheng's group had two pots going. One was a frying pan, currently sizzling with oilfish steaks.
The once snow-white steaks were being fried to a golden brown, looking incredibly appetizing.
The other was a hot pot. The red snapper meat was sliced thinly and could be eaten after a quick dip in the pot, making it absolutely delicious.
Chu Mingcheng finished frying two large oilfish steaks, which weighed exactly one jin, and sprinkled them with a little salt and pepper.
"Wei, you want it spicy?"
"No! Absolutely no chili powder!" Zhang Wei refused in horror.
Even a tiny bit of chili, he feared, would be like adding fuel to the fire after the... leakage.
"A little chili powder is fine. It'll enhance the flavor of the fish."
"No, no, I think it's perfect just the way it is!"
Zhang Wei immediately snatched the fried oilfish steaks from Chu Mingcheng's hands. He looked at the fragrant steaks, swallowed hard, closed his eyes, and took a bite.
The fresh aroma of the fish exploded in his mouth. "How can something so delicious make you leak oil!"
Seeing him eat, Chu Mingcheng felt a little peckish himself. He cut off a small piece of the oilfish and placed it in the pan to fry.
Zhang Wei looked at him in renewed horror. "Again? Didn't we agree on one jin?"
"Relax, I'm just curious about the taste. I'm only trying a little," Chu Mingcheng said, amused.
"Uh... Ah Cheng, aren't you afraid of leaking?"
Jiang Luoluo hesitated for a moment, seeming to calculate how many overnight pads she had left.
Chen Yang and Han Baola also stopped eating, looking at him with curiosity.
Chu Mingcheng knew they'd all misunderstood. He explained, "Don't worry. If you only eat a tiny bit of this oilfish, it won't cause any leakage. It's fine."
"Oh, so that's how it is!" Jiang Luoluo let out a sigh of relief. It seemed her boyfriend didn't have any strange quirks after all.
However, when Zhang Wei heard that eating a small amount wouldn't cause any problems, his eyes lit up. With a hint of hope, he asked, "Ah Cheng, this 'tiny bit' of yours... how much is that, exactly?"
Chu Mingcheng knew what he was thinking and immediately crushed his hopes. "Don't worry, with the one jin you're eating, you will absolutely, without a doubt, leak!"
"..." Zhang Wei's face turned ashen. He knew there was no escape. He stopped struggling and began to wolf down the fish.
In no time, the one-jin portion of the oilfish steak had been completely devoured by him.
After finishing the last sip of his soda, he even let out a satisfied burp.
Chu Mingcheng, meanwhile, was eating the red snapper meat that Jiang Luoluo fed him while he fried his own piece of fish.
The small piece of oilfish was quickly cooked. He placed it on a plate and, under Zhang Wei's watchful gaze, cut off a very small piece and tasted it.
"Hey, you're only eating that much? How can you even taste anything? Listen to me, eat more!"
"This fish tastes pretty good. If it weren't for the side effects, it would actually be quite marketable."
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Chapter 216: Zhang Wei Oppa, I Have Some Overnights You Can Use
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