The Fish I Catch Can Level Up-Chapter 34: Abandoned Pond

One soft-shelled turtle wasn't going to satisfy Chu Mingcheng. Now that he knew they were here, he had to try fishing for them. He hadn't planned on fishing today, so he hadn't brought any bait. Luckily, he had his car and could just drive to the market.
He placed the captured turtle in the fish box in his trunk and set off.
Soft-shelled turtles are carnivores, so some animal organ meat would do the trick. Pork liver was the top choice. He bought five jin of it, had the butcher grind four jin into a pulp for groundbait, and cut the remaining jin into small chunks for bait.
On his way out of the market, he also popped into a small shop to buy a couple of lighters.
As he was driving back, Chu Mingcheng happened to spot a tiny tackle shop by the side of the road. He'd been wondering what size hook to use for turtles, and now he had his answer.
He parked up the road and went in to buy a small box of turtle hooks. Turtle hooks were thick and strong—they were not only good for turtles but could also handle catfish or snakehead if they happened to bite.
Back at the abandoned pond, the apple snails he had piled up had scattered everywhere. Chu Mingcheng gathered them back up, planning to burn them later.
First, he wanted to get his line in the water. He had his lure rod, rock fishing rod, and hand pole, all of which could be used for turtle fishing. After some thought, he chose the hand pole. He could set it up on the side while he continued to eliminate the apple snails.
He took out his 7.2-meter hand pole and set up the rod holder. He was worried about hooking into a big snakehead or catfish, and a softer rod might not be up to the task.
That's why he'd rigged it with his 6+4 line setup. It was overkill, but better safe than sorry. Who knew what kind of ancient monster was lurking in a pond that had been abandoned for so many years?
He tossed two jin of the ground pork liver into the pond, then tied on a turtle hook, baited it with a chunk of liver, and placed the rod on the stand. He secured the safety lanyard to a large rock he'd brought over specifically for this purpose, ensuring the rod wouldn't get dragged into the water. For now, he could leave it be.
Chu Mingcheng grabbed his landing net and continued scooping up apple snails along the pond's edge, picking up any he could reach by hand. While he worked, he stayed close to his rod, keeping an eye on the float. He had just put the chum in, so he figured he had some time to wait.
After clearing the visible snails near his fishing spot, Chu Mingcheng gathered some dry grass and wood and piled it next to the snails.
He lit a fire, and once the wood was burning well, he tossed the snails and their eggs into the flames. They immediately began to crackle and pop, and the number on his data panel started to climb.
When they were all burned, he checked the count. Only 76. Not even enough for one use of Life Conversion. He'd have to keep at it.
He realized the bait had been in the water for a while, so he lifted the rod to check on it. The hook was completely bare. The bait had been stolen. Apparently, trying to catch snails and turtles at the same time wasn't going to work.
Fine, he'd focus on fishing for turtles first. He could deal with the snails later in the afternoon when the temperature was higher.
Chu Mingcheng re-baited his hook and then pulled his lure rod out of the car. He didn't attach a lure, however. Instead, he tied on another turtle hook, baited it with pork liver, and cast it out in a random direction. He let the bait sink to the bottom, then reeled in the slack until the line was tight.
Just then, the float on his other rod plunged completely underwater.
A bite!
Chu Mingcheng froze for a second. He reacted quickly, passing the lure rod to his left hand while his right hand grabbed the hand pole and yanked it upward to set the hook. At that exact moment, he felt a tug on the lure rod, too. Both rods had a fish on at the same time.
He panicked a little.
I'm just a beginner! What do I do when I get a double hookup? Crap!
He decided the pull on the hand pole felt weaker, so he propped it up against his chest and ignored it for the moment. He grabbed the lure rod with his now-free right hand, set the hook, and then used his left hand to crank the reel handle.
The catch on the lure rod had to be a fish. It was fighting hard, its struggles making splashes on the surface, though he couldn't see what it was yet. Worried about the other one getting away, he decided to use brute force.
He hauled back on the rod, and after a brief struggle, the fish was pulled to the surface and quickly dragged to the bank.
Now he could finally see it. It was a snakehead—the star ingredient of his favorite pickled vegetable fish soup. He wasn't a huge fan of boiled fish, but he loved that dish. This snakehead looked to be two or three jin. Looks like Old Chu would be showing off his cooking skills tonight.
The snakehead was quickly brought ashore. Without even bothering to unhook it, Chu Mingcheng tossed it into his fish box, set the lure rod aside, and grabbed the hand pole with both hands.
A soft-shelled turtle suddenly broke the surface, its neck stretched out so far it would have definitely gotten censored in a video.
Chu Mingcheng grinned when he saw its size. It was about as big as the first one he'd caught. This abandoned pond was a real treasure trove. It was only nine in the morning, the peak active time for both turtles and snakehead. Tossing two jin of pork liver into a neglected pond like this had an incredible effect.
He had just baited his hand pole and cast it back out—without even unhooking the lure rod yet—when he got another bite on the hand pole.
Back-to-back catches were always a joy. The whole point of using multiple rods was to increase the chances of a bite. Now that they were hitting one after another, using a single rod was much easier.
He lifted the pole, and a snakehead was pulled from the water without even a chance to resist, another two-or three-jin fish. He swung it onto the bank, then went over, grabbed the line, and put the fish in his box.
Over the next two hours, using only the hand pole, he caught seven snakeheads, three soft-shelled turtles, and two catfish. The snakeheads in his fish box ranged from a large one of five jin to smaller ones of two jin. The turtles were all three jin or more.
He'd thought the first one he'd scooped up was big, but each one he caught was larger than the last. He checked them over; none of them had any mosquito bites. When he flipped them over, they were all able to right themselves with agile movements—all top-quality turtles.
He was certain now. No one had fished this pond for a very long time. How else could there be so many big snakeheads and turtles?
He tossed the two catfish back into the pond. They weren't worth much, and they'd be hard to sell around here. He couldn't be bothered with them.
He packed up his trophies and drove directly to the town market. He went to a stall that was selling snakehead and asked, "Boss, how much for your snakehead?"
"Eighteen yuan a jin."
"Eighteen? Those must be farmed. Do you have any wild ones? How much are they?"
"Wild ones are rare these days, and expensive. About forty a jin right now. The farmed ones are good, too. Want to buy one and try?"
"I've got a friend coming over, and I wanted to make some pickled vegetable fish with a wild snakehead. If you don't have any, I'll look somewhere else."
Having gotten the information he needed, Chu Mingcheng turned and left, leaving the frustrated vendor behind. But he didn't leave just yet.
He stuck around to ask about the price of soft-shelled turtles. Seafood prices changed every few days; they rarely stayed fixed for long. He needed to know the current market rate to set a fair price.
Too high, and no one would buy; too low, and he'd be losing money.