"Hey, Agong! I've landed a nearly two-meter giant snakehead over here, but I can't transport it. Do you have a tricycle I could borrow?"

Chu Mingcheng got straight to the point, explaining his situation while emphasizing the snakehead's impressive size.

He and Wei Jianguo weren't particularly close. If he'd started by asking whether the old man was busy, it would've been a clear signal that he needed a favor—and Wei Jianguo might have politely declined before even hearing what it was about.

But as a fellow angler, Chu Mingcheng understood the allure of a two-meter fish. Simply mentioning that detail would be enough to guarantee that Wei Jianguo, veteran fisherman that he was, would drop whatever he was doing and come running.

As expected, upon hearing "two-meter giant snakehead," Wei Jianguo's voice shot up in disbelief. "Wait, how big did you say that snakehead was?"

"Almost two meters, definitely over a hundred jin. I'm at the same spot you took me to catch mandarin fish this morning. I can't move a fish this size on my own, so I was hoping to borrow a tricycle from you, Agong."

"Stay right where you are. I'll sort this out immediately," Wei Jianguo said before hanging up.

Chu Mingcheng stared at his disconnected phone and smiled to himself. His little strategy had worked perfectly. Now he could get the fish home.

He walked over to his car, grabbed a towel to dry off as much as possible, then climbed in to change clothes.

Half an hour later, he spotted Wei Jianguo approaching on a motorized tricycle.

The first thing Wei Jianguo saw was the massive snakehead lying on the bank. He quickly dismounted and walked over for a closer look.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. A snakehead this size... I've been fishing my whole life and never seen anything like it."

Wei Jianguo patted the fish's head, sighing in admiration. Then he noticed the spearhead embedded in its belly and the speargun lying nearby, causing him to pause.

"Ah Cheng, you know how to spearfish?"

"I do. I learned freediving and spearfishing in Qiongzhou. Just got my license recently, and I even bought a boat for sea fishing."

Hearing it was freediving and spearfishing, Wei Jianguo's furrowed brow gradually relaxed. "Not bad. You've got quite a range of skills."

As for the boat comment, he ignored it—after all, he had one too.

Wei Jianguo then pulled out the spearhead, grabbed the fish by the gills, and attempted to lift it. It didn't budge...

Chu Mingcheng suppressed a chuckle but quickly stepped forward. "Agong, let me help. This fish is pretty heavy."

"..."

Wei Jianguo shot him a look. "Go get the measuring tape from my tricycle," he said gruffly.

"Oh, right..." Chu Mingcheng was equally curious about the fish's exact dimensions, so he hurried to retrieve the tape and handed it over.

Working together, they measured the fish's length first: one meter and eighty-three centimeters.

"Excellent, excellent! Not bad at all. It's definitely over a hundred jin," Wei Jianguo nodded repeatedly, looking thoroughly pleased.

The two men then collaborated to hoist the fish onto the tricycle and secured it with packing straps.

Wei Jianguo wiped his hands with a towel, pulled out his phone, and transferred money directly. "Ten thousand. The fish is mine!"

"..." Chu Mingcheng looked at the transferred amount, quietly accepted it, and found himself somewhat speechless.

Wild giant snakehead typically sold for seventy to eighty yuan per jin, sometimes even cheaper in certain areas. The larger they grew, the worse they tasted.

This fish wasn't like an amberjack or Bin Diao snapper, where increased size could double the price.

In reality, even at five or six thousand yuan, finding a buyer would be challenging. Usually, such fish ended up sold to food processing companies.

Wei Jianguo's offer of ten thousand was an absolute windfall for Chu Mingcheng.

However, he suspected the old man had ulterior motives. He might just "get lost" and end up hungry on the road tonight.

To ensure his patron didn't collapse from hunger during his journey, Chu Mingcheng quickly got in his car and followed at a distance.

Twenty minutes later, he watched as Wei Jianguo slowly passed Xiamen University, the motorized tricycle moving slower than a pedestrian's pace.

Under the stares and gasps of onlookers, Wei Jianguo kept his head held high, his expression stoically unchanged.

He maintained this dignified posture until the sun had completely set... and still hadn't made it home.

Chu Mingcheng had been following the entire time. Eventually, he saw Wei Jianguo pull over to the roadside and stop.

Puzzled, he pulled over as well, only to have the old man wave him over.

Chu Mingcheng drove up and was immediately met with a scolding. "What are you following me for? Go home! Look at the time!"

"I was just worried you might get lost, Agong!" Chu Mingcheng said, barely containing his laughter.

Wei Jianguo gave him a sideways look. "Do you even know where I live?"

"No!"

"Then what are you babbling about? Hurry up and get home!"

"Alright, alright, I'm leaving, Agong. You get home safely too. It's getting dark—people won't be able to see it clearly much longer."

Wei Jianguo waved dismissively. Chu Mingcheng had no choice but to start his car and make a U-turn at the next intersection.

Watching him drive away, a faint smile finally crept across Wei Jianguo's face. "That kid..."

On his way back, Chu Mingcheng stopped by the scenic area to sell his remaining fish.

Despite the late hour, the mandarin fish still sold well, bringing in eight hundred and thirty yuan.

Unfortunately, no one showed interest in the grass carp. Even at ten yuan, there were no takers, so Chu Mingcheng had to take it home.

When he arrived, Jiang Luoluo was already there.

She'd been slouched on the sofa, but seeing Chu Mingcheng, she instantly perked up. "Ah Cheng, what's for dinner? I'm starving!"

"Sorry, something special came up today, so I'm running late."

"Hey, no need to apologize! You must have been busy with something important!"

"Next time I'm delayed, I'll let you know ahead of time so you can grab a snack."

"Sounds good! By the way, are we having fish tonight? This grass carp is enormous! Did you buy it?"

Chu Mingcheng shook his head and carried the grass carp to the kitchen sink.

"Nope, caught it myself! I went after mandarin fish today and did pretty well. It's just that people in coastal cities don't seem fond of this kind of freshwater fish, so it didn't sell. I brought it back for grilled fish tonight—wild grass carp actually tastes quite good."

Jiang Luoluo laughed. "Looks like I'll be eating fish to my heart's content from now on!"

Chu Mingcheng smiled back. With an angler like him around, they could have fish every day without issue. The only concern was getting tired of it.

In the end, the two of them devoured the entire three or four-jin grilled fish, leaving only the skeleton, with Chu Mingcheng consuming the lion's share.

As his physique improved, his appetite had grown considerably.

After cleaning up, Chu Mingcheng returned to his studies that evening. It was already the fourth day—in three more days, he could schedule his exam.

His practice test accuracy had reached over 80%, so passing the actual exam shouldn't be a problem.

The next morning, after his run and breakfast at Jiang Luoluo's place, he learned she had another outing planned for dress fittings and location scouting.

Chu Mingcheng headed straight out to buy bread and sandwiches, preparing for a full day on the water.

Unfortunately, today brought perfect weather—clear seas and a minor tide. Chu Mingcheng spent two hours shore fishing without a single bite.

This was his worst performance in over a month of fishing.

Under these conditions, though, catching nothing was perfectly normal.

After yesterday's rampage through that lake, he hadn't found another goldmine like that stream mouth, so he probably wouldn't have much luck there for a while.

Chu Mingcheng packed up his rod and stood by the sea, gazing at Gulangyu Island in the distance and some exposed reefs. He decided to explore the waters around those isolated rock formations today.

He first drove to purchase a large mesh bag and rubber gloves, then found a secluded stretch of coastline.

After parking, he changed into his wetsuit, putting on the rubber gloves first, then the cut-resistant gloves over them.

With double protection, as long as he stayed careful, he shouldn't get easily pricked by the spines of fish like rockfish.

Fully equipped with his speargun, fish spear, snare, large mesh bag, and live fish stringer, Chu Mingcheng slipped into the water from shore.

The sea visibility was excellent today. Combined with minimal cloud cover blocking the sun, the underwater lighting was superb.

He began by searching along the coastline. As expected, fish were scarce.

The few he spotted were small, but he still managed to catch about a dozen two or three-liang rockfish, which went into his mesh bag.

These fish were indeed sluggish swimmers with slow reflexes, preferring to hide in crevices—making them easy targets.

Next, he surfaced briefly, spotted the nearest isolated reef, and began swimming toward it.

The crystal-clear seawater revealed various fish species, but the near-shore environment was mediocre. Having witnessed the beauty of the Xisha Islands, he remained unimpressed.

The reef that appeared close from the surface took over half an hour to reach at his swimming pace.

While only a small portion showed above water, it was actually part of a massive underwater reef system.

He also discovered that large fish frequently passed through this area—making it an excellent spearfishing location.

Chu Mingcheng had originally planned to fill a large bag with rockfish today. Apparently, plans couldn't keep pace with changing circumstances.

After swimming a complete circuit around the reef system, he observed passing mangrove jacks, sea bream, large sea bass, and croakers.

The smaller specimens weighed two or three jin, while the larger ones exceeded ten jin. He even encountered a meter-long fish, but it was too wary and vanished before he could approach.

Having thoroughly surveyed the isolated reef, he now understood the terrain perfectly.

He positioned himself on the eastern side, where a flat reef angled at roughly thirty degrees. After loading his speargun, he lay prone on the rocky surface.

A tall reef formation to his right provided perfect concealment, allowing him to ambush unsuspecting prey.

Shortly after, a large black sea bream weighing four or five jin swam past. Chu Mingcheng raised his weapon, took aim, and fired—striking his target.

The wounded black sea bream thrashed toward deeper water on his left, dragging the spear, but at only four or five jin, it lacked the strength to fight effectively. Weakened by its severe injury, it quickly exhausted itself.

Chu Mingcheng retrieved the fish, clipped it to his stringer, reloaded his speargun, and waited for the next unfortunate victim.

The location was ideal, but waiting for large fish to pass still required patience and considerable time.

After a full twenty minutes, a croaker over half a meter long approached.

Just as Chu Mingcheng prepared to shoot, the croaker seemed to sense danger, flicked its tail, and retreated.

He frowned, then used his speargun handle to tap the reef beneath him, creating a rhythmic "dang, dang, dang" sound.

As anticipated, about ten seconds after the croaker's departure, it reappeared.

This percussive sound held irresistible appeal for predatory fish—like a curious deer, they couldn't resist returning for another look.

This time, Chu Mingcheng didn't waste the opportunity. His spear found its mark perfectly.

He realized that lying on the reef dramatically improved his accuracy—mainly because the prone position offered greater stability, and his targets were conveniently close at just three or four meters away.

After harvesting another seven or eight-jin croaker, Chu Mingcheng was thoroughly enjoying himself. This spot was genuinely exceptional.

The reef system served as a natural fish congregation point. As long as water visibility remained good, he'd be guaranteed catches here.

With this discovery, Chu Mingcheng had finally secured a reliable income source.

He continued spearfishing enthusiastically. Each time he tapped the reef, a decent-sized fish would appear—sometimes within five or six minutes, occasionally taking ten.

Despite wasting over two hours that morning, he still managed to spear twelve fish before eleven-thirty.

The smallest weighed two or three jin, while the largest was a sea bass measuring eighty centimeters and weighing twelve or thirteen jin.

He began the swim back, loaded down with his substantial catch.

Once ashore, he dragged the fifty or sixty jin of fish to his vehicle.

Opening the fish box, he discovered it was barely adequate—the large sea bass had to be positioned diagonally, or the lid wouldn't close properly.

He needed to sell these fish first. Not owning a boat was becoming a real inconvenience.

After drying off, Chu Mingcheng placed a transparent waterproof cover over the driver's seat.

Unlike lake water, seawater left an uncomfortable residue on skin after drying. He also worried about long-term discoloration of the seat cushion, so protecting it with waterproof covering seemed necessary.