Chapter 126 -121 The Boss of the Black Pit Buys Fish at High Prices
Chu Mingcheng, who was dragged into the water, was actually quite uncomfortable, but it wasn’t due to a breathing issue, it was because both his shoes were buried in the muddy sediment, which really bugged him.
But to give up on the fish was out of the question! Now that he had been pulled into the water, he was determined to catch that fish today.
As time passed, the people on the shore became increasingly anxious, it must have been two minutes by now.
The person before had surrendered not even after one and a half minutes, this was like a rhythm of drowning!
“Damn it, does this guy value fish over his life? It’s been two minutes and he still hasn’t come up?”
“I feel like we need to call an ambulance!”
...
“Does anyone here know how to swim? Should someone go down and save him?”
“Save him for what? This man doesn’t even care about his life for the sake of fishing, what’s the point of saving him?”
Then, quickly arriving at the three-minute mark, they noticed that the fishing rod was still standing upright on the water’s surface, and there were occasional tugs, leaving everyone on shore astonished.
“Guys, I just got here, and I gotta ask, did this person go underwater with an oxygen tank?”
“An oxygen tank my ass, I’ve been watching from the beginning to end, is this guy even human? To stay underwater for three minutes while fighting with the fish?”
“I heard there’s a world record of holding breath underwater for over twenty minutes, looks like we’ve encountered a real pro here!”
“You don’t know jack, that’s static apnea. This legend here is struggling with the fish, which consumes way more oxygen, it’s even more ridiculous than dynamic apnea!”
Just then, someone noticed the fishing rod beginning to move back and promptly shouted: “It’s coming back, coming back, damn it, I have to record this, we’re hitting four minutes now, this video might go viral!”
When Chu Mingcheng surfaced to breathe, some keen observers pressed the pause button, then staring at the clock reading four minutes and seven seconds, their expressions were indescribable.
Chu Mingcheng had in fact been timing himself as well, he had been depleting the fish’s energy with full force underwater until it weakened, and then he hurried back, not wanting to make too big of a fuss and get taken in for questioning.
Four minutes was shocking and astounding, but it wasn’t enough to cause any trouble.
In fact, if the time had exceeded five minutes, he would have considered letting go and coming up for air temporarily.
The safety rope was always tied to his hand, so there wasn’t much chance of the fish escaping.
Fortunately, in the end, the fish was tired too, allowing him to reel it back in somewhat.
But Chu Mingcheng still couldn’t come ashore, the catfish had exhausted some of its strength, but it would take a long time before he could pull it up.
Standing on the muddy lake bed, he couldn’t leverage his position; he could only wait it out.
On the other hand, the phenomenon of fish pulling people drew even more individuals to the lakeside.
Some people had posted photos to their social circles, and by now, the Fishing Man’s social media was abuzz, mainly because the four-minute breath-holding was so astonishing.
Meanwhile, Wei Jiaguo, who was resting at home today, was among the first to get the news.
Upon opening the photo, his expression froze, then after rubbing his eyes in disbelief and realizing the profile really did resemble Chu Mingcheng, he cursed quietly and quickly left in his car for the small lake.
On the other side, Jiang Luoluo was practicing dance in the studio when her phone suddenly rang.
She picked it up and saw that it was a call from Zhang Ruomei, thinking it might be work-related, she immediately answered.
“Luoluo, there’s big news, your man has become famous!”
“What are you talking about?” Jiang Luoluo was instantly confused, wondering when she had gotten herself a man.
Wait, Zhang Ruomei and Chen Wan Ying had been teasing her about Chu Mingcheng recently; she instantly knew who they were referring to.
With talk of big news and fame, Jiang Luoluo’s heart suddenly raced, she asked anxiously, “Is it Ah Cheng? What happened to him?”
“Your man has become famous from fishing, got dragged into the water by a fish and held his breath for a full ten minutes before resurfacing.”
Zhang Ruomei’s tone was quite exaggerated, and after finishing, she asked with a speculative and curious tone, “Luoluo, speaking of which, since your man is so handsome and likes fishing, could he be some prince from the Mermaid Clan?”
“Can a normal person wrestle with a fish underwater for ten minutes? What if he disappears tomorrow, could he be taken away for lab research?”
“Quit spouting nonsense and just come pick me up, no more blabber,” Jiang Luoluo interrupted her unfounded speculation, urging her to come over.
After saying this, she hung up the phone before Zhang Ruomei could say anything more absurd.
As for holding breath for ten minutes, Jiang Luoluo didn’t believe it; she was certain these rumors were wildly exaggerated.
But it seemed something did happen, for she knew Chu Mingcheng had gone fishing today and was also aware of his excellent swimming abilities.
Having changed clothes in her room, Jiang Luoluo quickly went downstairs to wait at the entrance of the residential complex, buying a bottle of mineral water on the way.
After waiting for about fifteen minutes, Zhang Ruomei’s car arrived.
Zhang Ruomei had intended to joke around and talk about Chu Mingcheng’s fishing adventure, but upon seeing Jiang Luoluo’s worried expression, she kept her mouth shut and sped toward the little lake.
As a local, she knew exactly where it was after asking around.
Soon, they arrived at the small lake.
There was already quite a crowd, and even reporters had shown up.
Jiang Luoluo didn’t care about any of that; spotting a group of people gathered together, she hurried over.
“Excuse me, please, can you let me through?”
The surrounding people, seeing a stunning beauty who seemed anxious, gave way politely for her to pass.
Jiang Luoluo squeezed through the crowd and, seeing Chu Mingcheng soaking wet but unharmed in the water, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, she noticed that no one was crowding around an elderly man. Recognizing Chu Mingcheng’s familiar tackle box at his feet, she went over to stand beside him, her gaze fixed intently on the water.
Wei Jiaguo noticed a very pretty young girl coming up to him. Initially, he was a bit puzzled, but as soon as he saw how she looked at Chu Mingcheng, he understood immediately.
“Little Sister, do you know Ah Cheng?”
“Huh~” Jiang Luoluo was surprised and then, realizing something after looking at Wei Jiaguo, she asked, “Are you the Grandpa who used to take good care of Ah Cheng?”
“Ah Cheng has mentioned me to you? It seems you two have a good relationship!”
Seeing that the young girl knew him, Wei Jiaguo immediately felt that his guess was right—the relationship between this girl and Chu Mingcheng was very close.
“My relationship with Ah Cheng is indeed quite good…” Jiang Luoluo didn’t bother to explain deliberately.
As the two fell silent again and turned their attention back to Chu Mingcheng, Zhang Ruomei finally squeezed her way to Luoluo’s side and said indifferently, “Luoluo, why did you walk so fast? I had to look for you outside for ages.”
Jiang Luoluo looked remorseful, “I’m sorry, Sister Mei, I was just worried something might have happened to Ah Cheng.”
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“Never mind. By the way, what exactly has Ah Cheng caught? It’s been so long, and they’re still at a stalemate?” Zhang Ruomei was very curious.
From the time the event unfolded until they arrived, at least forty minutes had passed.
Yet, Chu Mingcheng was still going back and forth in the water; each time he made some progress, the fish would pull him back in after a short while.
Seeing that Zhang Ruomei was with Jiang Luoluo, Wei Jiaguo answered, “It’s a catfish, might weigh one hundred pounds.”
“Sss~” Both Jiang Luoluo and Zhang Ruomei gasped, “One hundred pounds! Can catfish even grow that big?”
“They can, though they’re rare in our country. Some foreign variants are even bigger.”
“No wonder Ah Cheng’s fishing has made him famous; he’s caught such a big one.”
Zhang Ruomei realized why the news had spread among fishing enthusiasts; she had heard about this incident through a male colleague.
By now, Chu Mingcheng was aware that Wei Jiaguo, Jiang Luoluo, and the others had arrived, but he was too busy to respond.
He could feel the catfish’s strength waning, with longer intervals between each bout of struggle, but he was hardly in a better state himself.
He wouldn’t be able to pull it up unless he wore the catfish out completely.
As time went on, a catfish with a pitch-black back and a snow-white belly surfaced.
Chu Mingcheng, himself drained of strength, finally breathed a sigh of relief and slowly made his way to shore, pulling the fish with him.
Today, he had completed another feat that would prevent him from stopping at home, not even three times.
Arriving at the shore, he handed his fishing rod to Wei Jiaguo to hold; the fish had been brought to the edge, and being utterly exhausted, it was no longer capable of causing any commotion.
He had no intentions of hauling such a large catfish onto land.
Although catfish are delicious, they aren’t expensive.
One hundred pounds would only sell for a bit over one thousand; he didn’t really care about the money, for he was definitely going to release the fish.
Sitting on the fishing box and accepting the mineral water Jiang Luoluo handed him, Chu Mingcheng downed half the bottle and doused the rest on his head.
Except for initially being immersed underwater, his upper body above the chest had been out of the water.
The lake water on his head had turned into sweat, sticking uncomfortably to his skin.
Although Jiang Luoluo had something to say, she hesitated amidst the crowd.
Zhang Ruomei had already gone over to look at the fish, snapping photos of the catfish with her phone repeatedly.
Wei Jiaguo also went to check the fish and, realizing that it was merely exhausted with no injuries, and that it would definitely survive if released, he started to make some calculations in his mind.
Returning to Chu Mingcheng’s side, he asked, “Ah Cheng, do you plan to sell this fish?”
“Eh, how much could this catfish sell for, Grandpa? Are you interested?” Chu Mingcheng asked with surprise.
Given the current situation, pretty much every local fisherman and those with them must know that he was the one who caught the fish; the old man couldn’t possibly get sidetracked now, could he?
“It’s not me who’s interested. I have no desire for the fish. If you want to sell it, you might consider selling it to a private fish pond owner; they’d pay a high price. I can help you negotiate,” Wei Jiaguo said.
He glanced at the surrounding crowd, which was also waiting.
He believed the private pond owners already knew about the catch and those with intentions would surely come for a look.
Such a large catfish would be perfect as a showpiece fish, just as long as it wasn’t placed in a pond with small fish. How many people would be able to pull it out?
As reporters arrived for an interview, several men also squeezed through the crowd to discuss the sale of the fish.
Chu Mingcheng, unfamiliar with the market value, asked Wei Jiaguo to talk to the pond owners while he did the interview.
The interview was simple, consisting of sharing his fishing experiences and thoughts on catching the catfish.
The pond owners would soon measure the fish’s weight and length, and record it.
The reporters were there for work, not as entertainment journalists, and since they had come, Chu Mingcheng saw no reason to refuse.
Such news wouldn’t draw much attention, and his face would be pixelated anyway.
The interview quickly concluded, and Wei Jiaguo had negotiated a preliminary price.
Though the catfish was large and specifically bought for sport fishing, its actual value was still far less than that of a grass carp.
In the end, the catfish was bought by a private pond owner for ten thousand yuan. He had his own vehicle and a large container.
The employees he called over weighed the fish. To everyone’s surprise, the catfish turned out to weigh one hundred thirteen pounds—a truly rare behemoth.