As a Fisherman, My Fish Can Level Up

Chapter 140: Chapter 132: The Brothers Are Coming

The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.

Normally, Chu Mingcheng would hesitate ever so slightly when faced with a choice, considering it carefully before deciding.

But today, as soon as he lowered his head, he rushed in headlong.

However, midway through, his face was stopped by a hand.

Jiang Luoluo looked at him with a smirk, her breath reeking of alcohol, “Tsk tsk tsk, men!”

Chu Mingcheng straightened up calmly, “I just wanted to stand up, you know.”

“No, I don’t get it. I just know someone is trying to take advantage of the situation,” Jiang Luoluo shook her head and got up.

...

Chu Mingcheng gave an incredulous eye roll, “If you’re going to pretend to be drunk, at least make it convincing. I won’t even mention the constantly fluttering eyelashes, but your arms too… they’re clinging so tight…”

Jiang Luoluo felt slightly embarrassed by the teasing, and then, putting on a little woman’s airs, she stood up and pushed him out of the room, “Anyway, I don’t care, you’re just up to no good!”

In fact, it was only because she hadn’t had the chance to withdraw her hand that Chu Mingcheng happened to stand up, resulting in the misunderstanding.

When she felt him nearing, Jiang Luoluo’s heart also pounded nervously. But, upon realizing they were not yet girlfriend and boyfriend, her mind suddenly cleared, and she reached out to stop him at a crucial moment.

“Yes, yes, yes, you’re so beautiful, what man could resist? I just made a mistake any man would make,” Chu Mingcheng didn’t resist and allowed her to push him toward the door.

He didn’t argue back. Arguing with a woman was pointless, especially one who had drunk a little.

All he needed to do at this point was to compliment her, which she liked to hear.

Sure enough, while Jiang Luoluo was verbally haranguing him, she was secretly thrilled.

As she was pushing him out the door, and he was about to leave, she suddenly pulled him back.

Then, under Chu Mingcheng’s surprised gaze, she tiptoed and kissed his cheek.

“I was also to blame for what happened tonight, so consider this as compensation!”

Facing his puzzled look, Jiang Luoluo felt somewhat shy and flustered and quickly tried to shut the door after making her excuse.

Chu Mingcheng immediately blocked the door with his hand, then pointed at the other side of his face, “You have to be fair; you haven’t kissed the other side yet!”

“Get lost~”

Jiang Luoluo kicked out, and as he dodged, she slammed the door shut with a “bang.”

Chu Mingcheng touched the cheek she had kissed, chuckling and shaking his head, and then returned to his own home.

His relationship with Jiang Luoluo had progressed beyond friendship. He knew that if he confessed his feelings, she would seriously consider it, and it was very likely she would accept.

But in reality, he enjoyed the gradual closeness and mounting ambiguity of their interactions.

To a certain extent, confessing or not confessing didn’t make much of a difference. Things would naturally progress to fruition.

….

The next day, because it was his first time engaging in intensive fishing, Chu Mingcheng overslept and didn’t go for his jog, and it was Zhang Wei who woke him with a phone call.

It had been about a month since he left Wen City, and Zhang Wei had been clamoring to come and visit.

Previously, without a driver’s license, Chu Mingcheng had held off, but now that Zhang Wei knew Chu Mingcheng had gotten his license, how could he wait any longer?

“Ah Cheng, Ah Yang and I are planning to come and visit you. Do you need us to bring anything?”

Chu Mingcheng, who was still half-asleep when he answered the call, instantly woke up upon hearing this.

“Of course, you must! Don’t take a plane; just drive over!”

“Bring my car and also pick up little Mi and her family on the way.”

“Huh?” Zhang Wei was immediately dumbfounded on the other end of the line, “Are you treating us like laborers or what?”

Hearing his reluctance, Chu Mingcheng immediately cajoled… persuaded him, “Come on, it’s not labor. Think about it; taking a plane means you can’t easily bring back the fish you catch at sea, you’d have to pack them and check them in.”

“Driving by yourself might be a hassle, but you can keep the fish fresh in a cooler and just toss it into the trunk, right? Then you can bring them all back.”

“What are you talking about? A cooler full of fish? I didn’t study much; don’t deceive me!” Zhang Wei, who was excited about a cooler full of fish, had never been so well-off.

But as someone who barely caught a few small fish the rest of the week, he was skeptical. How could there possibly be that many fish?

To his doubts, Chu Mingcheng was quite unfazed.

“Just a cooler of fish? No big deal. Yesterday, I went fishing and caught hundreds of pounds of fish.”

“You know about Kang’s Mackerel, right? Each one is a meter long. Then we encountered jun cao fish, most of which were also meter-long. Even Luoluo caught two and sold them for one thousand four hundred.”

“Not to mention a forty-pound tiger spot or Black Goldfish and Striped Rockfish; let me send you some photos to have a look.”

“What do you mean, ‘later’? Send them now!” Zhang Wei commanded and hung up immediately, waiting for Chu Mingcheng’s photos.

His soul as a Fishing Man could hardly be restrained, thinking there was such an abundant haul. To say nothing of driving a car—if there were that many fishes, he’d carry the car over if needed.

However, Chu Mingcheng did not disappoint him, and within a short while, his phone was flooded with a dozen or so photos.

Not only were the fish big, but there were also many of them.

A dozen or nearly twenty fish laid out on the deck—what angler could resist such a temptation!

He immediately responded to the message, “Bro, aside from driving the car over and bringing little Mi and her family, is there anything else you need?”

“That’s about it. You have Chen Yang drive a bigger car over. Then you can help bring some fish back for my parents on the way.”

“OKOK, I’ll get ready now and head out soon!”

The fact that Zhang Wei and Chen Yang were coming made Chu Mingcheng quite happy, and he was no longer sleepy. He got up to prepare for the day.

The drive from Wen City to Xia City took about seven hours.

It was only eight in the morning, so assuming they left at ten, they should arrive here after five in the evening, just in time for dinner.

Originally, Chu Mingcheng was going to take his boat to the shipyard to inquire about winches or cranes, but now that his friends were coming to Xia City,

he certainly wanted them to try flat bean dry tonight—though he wouldn’t buy that, he planned to find some prestigious fish, all about the seafood.

He cleaned the house first, then prepared to head out to sea.

Chu Mingcheng went to Jiang Luoluo’s house and saw that her door was open with Zhang Ruomei’s voice coming from inside, so he walked right in.

Seeing that she was the only one in the living room, he asked, “Is Luoluo busy again?”

Zhang Ruomei nodded and, knowing the current relationship between the two, proceeded to explain the work in detail.

“Yes, there’s an anime expo organized by a game convention, and Luoluo, being a well-known dance UP on the platform, received an invitation this morning and has to leave for Peng City this afternoon to prepare.”

“There’s a performance segment, and Luoluo needs to prepare a dance. We’ll be staying there for a few days.”

“This…” Chu Mingcheng was a bit speechless, originally thinking that they could go out to sea and wander around during the days off, but was caught off guard by the sudden work commitment.

However, there was nothing to be done. Jiang Luoluo had to go on a business trip out of town, and for now, he would not be following her, as he had his own work to attend to.

Plus, Chen Yang and Zhang Wei were there, so he couldn’t leave.

At this moment, Jiang Luoluo emerged from the washroom, still in her pajamas, her face slightly damp from the washing.

Seeing Chu Mingcheng there wasn’t a surprise to her; she had already heard the conversation outside the washroom.

“I was planning to go to sea with you again today, but now there’s no way.” Jiang Luoluo seemed to have forgotten about last night’s events, looking very natural.

Speaking of not being able to go to sea, her face still carried a hint of regret.

Chu Mingcheng laughed, “You can go to sea with me whenever you like after you rest, but there’s nothing to be done about work. What time is your flight? I’ll take you to the airport!”

Hearing that he would take her, Jiang Luoluo smiled broadly, “The plane is at ten, I’ll change and we’ll head out.”

“Alright, remember to let me know when you’re coming back, and I’ll pick you up.”

“Sure~”

After seeing them off at the airport, watching Jiang Luoluo wave goodbye before heading inside, Chu Mingcheng felt a hollow feeling inside.

Having her around all the time lately, he felt like he’d grown used to it.

Shaking his head, Chu Mingcheng drove back.

He grabbed a casual lunch and then headed to the dock.

He added water and called for a fuel truck.

While he waited, the port security came over with a middle-aged woman and a young girl, headed straight towards him.

Chu Mingcheng glanced at them and knew they were looking for him. His brow furrowed slightly, hoping they weren’t here to cause trouble again.

But the security guard quickly explained that the two women were mother and daughter, and the man who had been arrested yesterday was their husband and father, respectively.

They had come to ask for forgiveness, hoping to get a letter of leniency to lighten his sentence.

The mother had a good attitude and had even brought some gifts.

The daughter, on the other hand, seemed impatient, but her demeanor towards him wasn’t bad, just strangely off.

Unfortunately, the “victim” had left town for the day and couldn’t provide a letter of forgiveness.

Secondly, the matter itself wasn’t serious, probably resulting in detention of less than three months, so Chu Mingcheng thought there was no need for any such letter.

Let the man reflect for a few months inside, come out, and get to work properly without always looking for shortcuts.

In the end, Chu Mingcheng flatly refused and didn’t even plan to tell Jiang Luoluo about this trivial matter.

The middle-aged woman seemed like a true simpleton, approaching with a subservient air—a look that clearly showed her honesty.

Thus, Chu Mingcheng treated her quite politely, didn’t accept the gifts, though he felt surprised that she had married such a man, probably out of desperation in those times.

As for her daughter, she barely spoke, seemingly just there to accompany her mother.

After sending them off, Chu Mingcheng gave a cigarette to the security guard; he didn’t smoke himself but always kept some on hand.

“Grandpa, do you recognize the man who got arrested yesterday?”

The elder security guard took the cigarette and tucked it behind his ear, “Not really, but I’ve often seen him here at the port buying fish.”

“I heard others talking yesterday, saying that man is no good. He spent whatever little money he made on himself, hardly taking care of his family.”

Just a few words made Chu Mingcheng understand why the daughter’s demeanor was so peculiar. Obviously, she had no closeness to this so-called father of hers.

In the old societal climate, which heavily favored sons over daughters, if this family only had this one girl, it was quite clear the mother and daughter had a rough time.

But this had nothing to do with Chu Mingcheng. Once the fuel truck arrived and filled up the boat, he set sail.

The fuel cost over seven thousand, which hurt his wallet a bit. Chu Mingcheng decided that whether his buddies had seafood to eat or not, he needed to earn back the fuel cost first.

As for bait and crushed ice, spending a few hundred was bearable.

The boat sailed on the ocean, and Chu Mingcheng noticed that the weather today was a bit strange.

Back at the dock, the skies were clear and bright.

But after sailing for an hour, thick clouds gathered and a heavy rain started pouring, while in the distant sea ahead to his right, under the sun’s rays, a beautiful scene of azure unfolded.

Storms at sea come unexpectedly like this.

If one could always know the weather and the strength of the winds at sea, even Chu Mingcheng’s small boat could venture into the open sea.

Experienced fishermen often took their small boats to the open sea, where the fish resources were indeed richer.

Chu Mingcheng occasionally checked the fish finder for solitary islands or submerged reefs nearby and would investigate.

After sailing for over half an hour more, he finally found traces of fish activity near a solitary island.

According to the fish finder, there were plenty of fish, but they weren’t very big, so Chu Mingcheng decided to fish for live bait there for a while first.

Circling the island, he was delighted to find a coral reef beside it.

This was an excellent spot, as places with coral reefs generally housed prized groupers and lobsters.

However, the water was a bit shallow, making groupers a bit of a challenge to find.

He couldn’t fish in that area, so he planned to fish elsewhere for a while, then come back to see if there were any lobsters to catch and take back for dinner guests.