After a thorough beating, the requiem shark turned belly-up.

Chu Mingcheng retrieved his spear and left it alone.

The term "requiem shark" was a Taiwanese translation. Its scientific name was Carcharhinus dussumieri (Whitecheek shark), and it was listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

This was why Chu Mingcheng had no intention of bringing it back to the boat.

First, he wasn't sure of the price. Second, he didn't like shark meat, and it wasn't suitable as a gift for his high-end clients.

If someone with malicious intent discovered this shark was a vulnerable species, it could stir up unnecessary drama online.

It was best to avoid such trouble. If they hadn't interfered with his hunt, he wouldn't have bothered with them at all.

He swam a circle around the area to confirm all the sharks had fled before returning to the boat and handing the rolling pin back to Zhang Wei.

Zhang Wei took the rolling pin, noticed some bloodstains on it, but saw no sign of the shark. He couldn't help but ask, "Ah Cheng, where's the shark?"

Chu Mingcheng didn't explain much. "Shark meat doesn't taste good, so I didn't bring it back. The fish school is now about 500 meters to port, at a depth of about 20 meters. You guys can take the boat over there to fish."

"You got it! I caught an amberjack earlier—the pull was incredible! I'm going to get more this afternoon." Zhang Wei didn't care much about the shark. Hearing the location of the fish school, he cheerfully took the rolling pin and went into the cockpit.

With the sharks gone, Chu Mingcheng's haul once again piled up on the deck.

This afternoon marked his longest spearfishing session yet. He'd entered the water around one o'clock and hunted continuously. The shark fight was just a minor interruption that hadn't taken much time.

It was now four in the afternoon, and the deck was covered with amberjack—all speared by him. Nine total, each weighing over twenty jin.

The largest tipped the scales at over fifty jin, even after being bled.

With ice running low again, Chu Mingcheng decided to head back and sell a batch of fish first.

He hadn't speared many red snapper; they were kept in the fish box. There were twenty-five of them, each over five jin but under ten.

Other miscellaneous fish, such as painted sweetlips and large black bream, numbered only seven in total.

Finally, there was today's main prize: the Dou Chang pomfret. Chu Mingcheng had caught most of these, having specifically targeted them. But because the school had moved on later, he ended up with only fifty-three.

Most weighed between three and five jin, with a few just over two. It was clear today was going to be another incredibly profitable day.

Only Chu Mingcheng, with his "Effortless Swim" ability, could manage such a haul. But even so, four hours of high-intensity spearfishing had left him exhausted.

Any other expert spearfisher in today's current, would be considered incredibly tough to last even an hour.

Throughout an afternoon, including rest breaks, they could probably dive for a maximum of two hours.

However, given the density of today's fish school, a single person could still likely land a hundred jin of fish.

But unlike Chu Mingcheng, they usually worked in teams of at least three divers. So their total harvest would likely be similar to his, or even slightly more.

Zhang Wei and Chen Yang looked at the massive pile of fish, their expressions stunned. For a moment, they didn't know what to say.

They'd never seen so many fish, but one look told them the value of today's catch was staggering.

The two of them combined had only caught eleven fish all afternoon. Because their hooks were a bit large, they hadn't caught any Dou Chang pomfret—only amberjack and red snapper.

They had seven amberjack and four red snapper, totaling just over a hundred jin.

They planned to take all the red snapper home, since each was only five or six jin. As for the amberjack, they would pick the two smallest to take home and sell the rest.

Chu Mingcheng emerged after showering and changing, started the fishing boat, and headed back. "There are too many fish. We'll go back and sell a batch first, grab some dinner, and then head out again for some night fishing."

"Sounds good. We can also see how much you get for all these fish." The two had no objections and nodded in agreement.

But Chen Yang, sitting on the sofa, had a thoughtful look in his eyes, and Zhang Wei was much quieter than before.

Chu Mingcheng didn't notice their strange behavior. He set the boat to autopilot, still letting Zhang Wei keep watch, and went to sort the fish.

He picked out a few Dou Chang pomfret that were just over two jin, then added two three-jin ones to make nine total.

These were for Chen Yang to take back and share—three for each of their three families would be just right for a meal.

It wasn't that he was reluctant to part with the larger ones; it was just that for a home-cooked meal, the two-jin-plus size was perfect. Anything bigger wouldn't fit on a plate.

He took three red snapper and the smallest amberjack, which was just over twenty jin. If his parents couldn't finish it, they could always share it with relatives and friends.

He set all these fish aside. When they got back to shore, he would buy a few large foam boxes, pack them with crushed ice, and store them.

As they neared shore and the signal improved, Chu Mingcheng first posted photos of his afternoon catch to the group chat.

But he excluded the ten striped mantis shrimp; he might go catch more, so he'd keep them for now.

Besides, striped mantis shrimp needed to be shipped with oxygen, which wasn't as convenient as iced fish.

In just a short while, of the forty-four Dou Chang pomfrets, only fifteen remained.

The remaining fifteen were also wanted, but Chu Mingcheng had specifically saved them to sell to the seafood restaurant he worked with, to maintain the relationship and avoid them thinking he only sold them common fish.

The twenty-nine Dou Chang pomfret, at the current price of two hundred forty yuan per jin—about thirty yuan cheaper than during the fishing moratorium in the first half of the year—totaled one hundred four jin and four liang. He calculated the payment he received, and after rounding down a little, it came to exactly twenty-five thousand yuan.

He sold fifteen red snapper, leaving ten. He'd also controlled the quantity. Totaling ninety-four jin and five liang, and since they were all over five jin, the price was eighty yuan per jin.

The payment he received was seven thousand five hundred thirty yuan.

The amberjack didn't sell as well. Since the customers in his group chat were buying for themselves, Chu Mingcheng only sold the five that Zhang Wei and Chen Yang had caught.

Their five amberjack totaled sixty-four jin. The price in Wenshi was sixty yuan per jin, selling for three thousand eight hundred yuan.

Selling five fish for nearly four thousand yuan, Zhang Wei and Chen Yang, after splitting the money, remarked, "Just playing around and fishing for a few hours in the afternoon... if we had this kind of income every day, it wouldn't be less than what you make at your shop, right?"

Chen Yang gave a wry smile. "At least my shop is stable!"

Chu Mingcheng nodded in agreement. "That's true!"

Zhang Wei then asked, "So how much did you make these past two days?"

Chu Mingcheng thought for a moment. "Yesterday, after costs, I only made about a thousand!"

"Only? You have the nerve to say 'only' a thousand? The meal I ate last night was worth five thousand!" Zhang Wei's mouth twitched. While complaining, he seriously suspected his friend was humble-bragging.

"We're talking about how much I earned—what I ate doesn't count!" Chu Mingcheng spread his hands. "The day before yesterday was better, about forty or fifty thousand!"

Chen Yang: ...

Zhang Wei: ...

If nothing unexpected happened, they figured Chu Mingcheng's catch from this afternoon would sell for about the same amount.

Chen Yang: "Damn it, I'm going back to raid my dad's private stash and buy a boat!"

Zhang Wei: "Damn it, I'm going back to raid my dad's private stash too. Let's buy one together!"

Chu Mingcheng: "LOL, what a pair of filial sons!"

When the boat arrived at the pier, the transport truck came shortly after.

Chu Mingcheng first called the seafood restaurant manager, asking her to come collect the fish, then began packing fish in boxes.

Because he'd arranged it beforehand, the truck driver had also brought packing boxes for express delivery this time. A little extra money was all it took.

He hadn't known this before and had made a special trip to buy boxes and packing bags. Although it was slightly cheaper, it was a waste of time.

With the fish packed, Chu Mingcheng bought four extra foam boxes. One was for Chen Yang and his friends, and one was to pack the seafood he'd specially set aside for his parents with ice, which he temporarily placed in the cockpit.

The remaining two were for backup, in case he had too many fish and needed temporary storage.

The seafood restaurant manager didn't come herself today, instead sending an unfamiliar waiter and a kitchen helper in a motorized tricycle.

After calculating the bill and sending it to her, the seafood restaurant manager confirmed and transferred the money directly.

The remaining fish—the Dou Chang pomfret—still sold for twelve thousand yuan.

The red snapper sold for three thousand three hundred. The amberjack were larger; although there were only nine, they weighed over two hundred eighty jin, selling for seventeen thousand yuan.

There were also a few painted sweetlips, black bream, and other miscellaneous fish, which sold for a total of over one thousand five hundred yuan.

So the seafood restaurant paid over thirty-three thousand, nearly thirty-four thousand yuan.

Adding the previous sales, his afternoon hunt, without deducting costs, had earned him a total of over sixty-six thousand yuan.

Chen Yang and Zhang Wei had been standing by and witnessed the whole thing. They each did a mental calculation and were left speechless.

Although fish schools weren't encountered every time, and due to sea conditions and weather, there were only fifteen to twenty days a month suitable for going out to sea.

But even so, Chu Mingcheng's income had opened their eyes.

Adding the income from the past two days, since he could go out to sea, his savings had increased rapidly, reaching one hundred fifty thousand yuan in just three days.

"Let's go, let's go—we're eating king crab tonight, a ten-jin one!" Having earned so much, Chu Mingcheng wasn't at all stingy. With a wave of his hand, he was ready to take them to a feast.

Chen Yang quickly stopped him. "No, no, no, we ate so much seafood yesterday. Let's take it easy and eat something else! If we keep eating seafood like this, I'm afraid I'll get gout next year."

Zhang Wei rarely agreed. "Let's just have some meat. Eating thousands of yuan worth of seafood every day—my heart can't take it."

"Alright then, we'll eat something else." In the end, Chu Mingcheng, who wasn't familiar enough with Xiamen, took the two of them for a meal of roasted whole lamb and roasted suckling pig.

It was fragrant, but they really couldn't eat much. Most of it was packed to take back.

Compared to seafood, the roasted whole lamb and roasted suckling pig, which had originally seemed expensive, suddenly became very affordable.

The three didn't immediately return to the boat to head out to sea. Instead, they walked along the roadside to digest a bit, to avoid their stomachs churning on the boat later.

After walking for a while, Chen Yang, who'd been considering something since Chu Mingcheng's massive haul that afternoon, suddenly asked, "Ah Cheng, is there really a future in this boat fishing business?"

"Uh, you're not thinking of changing careers, are you?" Chu Mingcheng was stunned.

If Zhang Wei had asked this, he wouldn't have been surprised at all.

That guy wasn't the type to sit still and loved fishing. If it weren't for working for Chen Yang, he probably would have resigned long ago and come to work with Chu Mingcheng.

Chen Yang shook his head. "Not changing careers. My family's business isn't that complicated. You've seen it—I usually don't even open the shop until noon. It's mainly because I don't have any life goals."

"Following you out to sea today, I found it quite interesting. I haven't tried spearfishing, but I think it would be more interesting than regular fishing. I can learn."

"I was thinking, since my shop's business is basically all online, why don't I just move it to Xiamen?"

"Then I can hire a few more people to get familiar with the business, and I can basically step back from it myself, just checking the accounts every day or every few days."

Zhang Wei's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he was the first to agree. "This is great, this is great! Chen Yang, you buy a boat. When you go out to sea in the future, you'll definitely need my help. I've been bored sitting in the shop for a long time."

"Coming to Xiamen is even better. Ah Cheng, I remember that girl, Zhou Jiayi, is from Taiwan, right? Chen Yang has been single for a long time. Why don't you help introduce them?"

"..." If Chen Yang could come, Chu Mingcheng would of course welcome it with open arms. With them here, if he ever had something to do, he could call on them for help.

It was just Zhang Wei's suggestion of introducing Zhou Jiayi that left him somewhat speechless. He wasn't familiar with her at all.