Chapter 277 Part 1: Jiang Luoluo: I Won't Agree to That! (Patreon)

Normally, you wouldn't bother hunting a fish without confirming its value first—it would just be a waste of time and energy if it turned out to be worthless.​

But Chu Mingcheng's situation was special; he had a cheat system.​

Although he hadn't recognized the specific species of fish, catching the first one had added a point of experience to his Premium Aquatic Codex.​

That meant the fish he'd caught was extremely valuable, belonging to the premium category.​

And since the fish here looked so similar to the one he'd caught—just much larger, but almost identical otherwise—it made perfect sense for him not to let them go.​

Diving below three hundred meters took quite a while, and when Jiang Luoluo was free later that night to fish with him, he couldn't exactly dive that deep to hunt.​

After all, at that depth, the time spent descending and ascending was significant. Doing it too many times risked discovery.​

Secondly, he'd encountered this fish in shallower waters, indicating they did venture into the shallows. So hunting some with a speargun wouldn't be a problem.​

If it were a deep-sea fish that rarely came up, using a speargun wouldn't be suitable.​

Later, if people saw the wound from the spear, he wouldn't even be able to explain it.​

And with these fish being highly likely to be valuable, Chu Mingcheng decided to hunt a batch first and bring them back to the boat.​

Just then, a fish nearly 1.3 meters long swam past him, instantly becoming his target.​

He loaded the speargun and immediately went after it.​

Chu Mingcheng was holding the flashlight in his left hand. When loading, he braced the speargun against his stomach and easily pulled back all three rubber bands with his right hand—the benefit of being strong.​

Perhaps the dark environment at the bottom gave these fish a sense of security, as they lacked the wariness of shallow-water fish.​

He got within about five meters, and the fish still showed no reaction, just leisurely drifting along.​

Chu Mingcheng stopped. Still holding the flashlight for illumination with his left hand, he held the speargun with his right, aimed at the fish's head for a moment.​

Confirming its direction, he decisively pulled the trigger.​

Swoosh! The spear instantly cut through the water, piercing straight through the large fish's head.​

Only after suffering a fatal wound did the large fish react, but it was already too late.​

It thrashed its tail, instantly reaching top speed, churning the surrounding water into chaos.​

The commotion startled the nearby fish, causing them to scatter away from it.​

Chu Mingcheng had already released the speargun, holding onto the line with one hand to keep the fish from getting far, and waited for it to die.​

A 1.3-meter fish had considerable strength, but as long as it wasn't a tuna over four hundred jin or a large marlin, once speared in a vital spot, Chu Mingcheng could definitely hold onto it.​

He no longer needed to struggle and pull like before, wearing down the fish's stamina while preventing it from escaping.​

After a short while, the fish's movements weakened, though it wasn't completely dead yet.​

Chu Mingcheng swam forward, first grabbing the fish and tucking it under his left arm, then using his dive knife to bleed it.​

As expected, the fish thrashed again during the bleeding, but being pinned by him, it couldn't do anything.​

After dealing with this fish, Chu Mingcheng checked his Premium Aquatic Codex. Sure enough, the experience points had increased again.​

However, unlike the regular Aquatic Codex, the premium one didn't display a specific stat panel, so he couldn't find out the fish's scientific name.​

Unable to identify it for now, he could only continue searching for his next target.​

There were quite a few fish here; just moments ago, a small school of meter-long fish had passed by.​

But the proportion of large fish wasn't actually high; he still needed to search for them.​

Time passed quickly. In about an hour and twenty minutes, Chu Mingcheng had hunted eleven meter-long fish, all of the same species.​

Mainly because he hadn't found any other valuable deep-sea fish here, he could only choose this kind, picking the largest and fattest ones.​

He'd only brought one fish stringer, and including the fish he'd shot earlier in fifty-meter water, the twelve spots were now full.​

He'd been down here for quite a while. Chu Mingcheng began swimming toward the surface.​

He swam straight up, which allowed him to roughly pinpoint the location of this trench.​

Premium fish were guaranteed to be valuable, so it was definitely necessary to come back here for night fishing. There was no way he'd lose money.​

The twelve fish, all meter-long specimens, weighed roughly forty to fifty jin each, totaling about five hundred jin.​

This made Chu Mingcheng's ascent extremely slow. Because of the negative buoyancy in the deep sea, it was like he had to carry five hundred jin himself while swimming upward.​

Therefore, it took him nearly fifteen minutes to reach the surface.​

Once at the surface, things became much easier with the help of buoyancy.​

He'd been in the water for quite a while. The sun was already setting in the west, and it was nearly four in the afternoon.​

Chu Mingcheng roughly determined his position, then picked up the smaller fish to observe it carefully.​

This fish was entirely black, with just a hint of brown under the sunlight.​

Its body resembled a longtail snapper, but its eyes were larger, and its mouth was full of sharp teeth, giving it a fierce appearance.​

If he wasn't mistaken, this was a Japanese Rubyfish (Erythrocles schlegelii). It wasn't well-known in China but was considered a high-grade sashimi fish by the Japanese.​

Chu Mingcheng wasn't sure about the exact price, but he'd check when he got back to the boat.​

Looks like the target for tonight was set. If this fish were abundant, his income wouldn't be any less than catching tuna.​

Chu Mingcheng swam horizontally back to the boat with his fish. The distance was quite far, nearly a kilometer.​

Luckily, it was only four o'clock. Jiang Luoluo was in the dance studio dancing, unaware of what he'd been doing.​

He brought out two foam boxes, placed the Japanese Rubyfish inside, and moved them to the refrigerated hold.​

Compared to preserving fish on ice like other fishing boats, ultra-low temperature preservation clearly maintained freshness better.​

Today, the sea lions' bellies were full, and they had no desire to hunt. Chu Mingcheng didn't make them go out foraging either.​

Tomorrow, though, he could let them go down to the trench. The fish there were plentiful, enough to fill their stomachs.​

Sea lions can dive to depths of five hundred meters; the trench wouldn't be a problem for them. If it were seals, though, that would be a different story.​

Chu Mingcheng took a simple shower in the bathroom, mainly because he'd have to shower again after fishing that night.​

He dried his wetsuit. With the last rays of the sun still warm, he hung it out on the deck to dry.​

Nearing dinner time, Chu Mingcheng didn't go fishing again. Instead, he rested in the saloon and looked up the price of Japanese Rubyfish.​

This fish commanded a high price from the Japanese, but in China, the price was generally between one hundred eighty and two hundred thirty yuan.​

It depended on the region; prices were higher in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces.​

Those two provinces were strange. Despite being coastal, the vast majority of seafood prices were very high. Locals usually couldn't bear to eat much, splurging only during the New Year.​

He'd spent over an hour earlier and caught five hundred jin of Japanese Rubyfish.​

Even calculated at one hundred eighty yuan per jin, the value reached ninety thousand—roughly the price of a two-hundred-jin, high-quality Bluefin Tuna.​

Seeing it was almost time to prepare dinner, Chu Mingcheng stood up and went to the dance studio, planning to ask Jiang Luoluo what she wanted to eat tonight.​

But when he walked in, she was sitting cross-legged on the floor, watching something intently, completely unaware he'd entered.​

Curious, Chu Mingcheng approached, craned his neck, and discovered she was watching a video.​

But it wasn't the dance video he expected; it was a food mukbang.​

Inside, a beautiful woman with a hime cut was crunching away at fried chicken.​

Jiang Luoluo watched, captivated, and swallowed hard with a gulp. Her little greedy-cat expression almost made Chu Mingcheng laugh out loud.​

He managed to hold it in until the video was almost over, then asked, "Craving fried chicken tonight?"​

"Ah?"​

Thump...​

A startled cry, followed by the sound of a phone hitting the floor.​

Jiang Luoluo turned and saw it was Chu Mingcheng. She immediately patted her chest, complaining, "Why do you walk without making any noise? Like a ghost!"​

"You were the one watching too intently, drooling even." Chu Mingcheng couldn't help but pinch her cheek, seeing how cute she looked.​

Even though she was twenty-six this year, she still had plenty of collagen. Combined with her usual skincare and his... moisturizing, her skin felt fantastic when pinched.​

Jiang Luoluo slapped his hand away, denying vehemently, "I was not drooling!"​

"Then how about I make fried chicken tonight?"​

"Okay!"​

Jiang Luoluo raised her hand in agreement, then noticed Chu Mingcheng's teasing expression and huffed lightly. "You suggested making fried chicken; I'm just not picky."​

She's putting on that tsundere act again. He didn't expose her, just said indulgently, "You rest for a bit. I'll call you when it's ready."​

"I'll help." Jiang Luoluo picked up her phone, stood up, and followed him to the kitchen.​

Before long, cheerful laughter echoed from the kitchen, occasionally punctuated by playful shrieks, as if a prank had succeeded.​

When the fried chicken was ready and brought to the table, Chu Mingcheng washed the flour off his face and asked, "What do you want to drink?"​

"How about some soda?"​

"Aren't you afraid of getting fat? Fried chicken and soda?"​

"Are you calling me fat?"​

"I wish you were fatter..." Chu Mingcheng scanned Jiang Luoluo's figure suggestively, his smile self-explanatory.​

She wasn't clueless anymore and instantly understood his thoughts, rolling her eyes.​

But knowing that arguing would only lead to defeat, she simply picked up a piece of fried chicken wing and held it to his mouth. "Try it. It's my first time making fried chicken wings. Here, open up!"​

Chu Mingcheng hated it when women who couldn't cook insisted on making a disastrous meal and forcing him to eat it.​

But this time, he immediately opened his mouth and took a bite.​

Because Jiang Luoluo had made the fried chicken under his guidance, he didn't need to worry about the taste.​

The crispy skin and tender meat entered his mouth simultaneously, along with a bit of juice. The taste was excellent, though overall, the seasoning was slightly heavy, a bit too salty.​

But paired with a drink, it wouldn't be a problem.​

"Is it good?" Jiang Luoluo looked at the half-eaten wing and took a bite herself. "Mm, delicious. Smells great."​

"It's pretty good, worthy of my teaching," Chu Mingcheng said cheerfully, taking out two cans of soda and pouring them into glasses.​

He then took out some ice cubes and a lemon, making two glasses of lemon iced cola.​

A sip of soda, a bite of fried chicken—eating it once in a while felt really good.​

The aroma also attracted the cats. They gathered around their feet, meowing nonstop, occasionally rubbing against their legs affectionately.​

Jiang Luoluo had already thought of them and picked up a small plate of similarly fried chicken pieces.​

These pieces had no seasoning, just a tiny bit of salt.​

After a little while, the humans at the table were crunching away, kachi kachi, while the cats below were smacking their lips, baji baji.​

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