"It's useless to be envious. This, my friend, is called charm. A guy like you, sowing his seeds everywhere, will never find true love!" Chu Mingcheng shot back without holding back.

"If true love found me, I'd run for the hills. What does an angler need true love for?" Zhang Wei scoffed.

Chu Mingcheng and Chen Yang just shook their heads in unison, saying nothing more.

As his brothers, they couldn't say much about Zhang Wei's private life.

It was a personal choice. He clearly had no intention of getting married; this freewheeling, game-like existence seemed to be what he wanted.

Honestly, Chu Mingcheng couldn't even bring himself to advise him to settle down with a nice, honest woman.

It wasn't that he didn't feel for Zhang Wei, but rather that he felt for the poor, honest woman who would have to endure him.

With a personality like his, settling down would be a real challenge. In the end, it would likely be the woman who got the short end of the stick.

Chen Yang, with his steady personality and lack of drama, was much better suited for marriage and family life.

After a moment, the three shifted the conversation back to boats.

"Ah Cheng, what kind of boat do you think we should buy?" Chen Yang asked.

"Personally, I think a sixteen-meter Category II fishing boat would be perfect for you guys. You can still do deep-sea fishing with it. If you're lucky, you might even encounter tuna and marlin. You just need to get it fully equipped."

With the influence of the second ability from Chu Mingcheng's Aquatic Species Codex, fish resources in the country's waters would only improve in the future. There was no need to venture into international waters.

And even if they wanted to, they could just use his boat.

"So how much would that cost?"

"Depends on how much you're willing to spend. A standard configuration runs around two million. If you want something more luxurious, three to five million!"

Chen Yang nodded, getting a rough idea. "Then let's go to the shipyard and take a look first."

"Right now?" Chu Mingcheng asked, surprised.

"Yeah, the sooner we order, the sooner we get the boat!"

"Alright then!"

So Chu Mingcheng took them to the shipyard first. They tentatively decided on a sixteen-meter Category II fishing boat and were now waiting for a quote.

The estimated price was around three and a half million, which was quite reasonable for a Category II fishing boat of that quality.

It looked like an enlarged version of Chu Mingcheng's 12-meter boat, just with more equipment, a cold storage compartment, and a water desalinator.

With a desalinator, you could reduce the size of the freshwater tank, freeing up space for other things.

Of course, the desalinated water wasn't for drinking—only for showering, washing the deck, and so on. Drinking water had to be brought separately.

That evening, Chu Mingcheng was completely surprised when Jiang Luoluo generously treated everyone to a grand feast.

She was especially enthusiastic toward Zhang Wei. After four cases of beer, Zhang Wei was completely under the table.

A cold sweat broke out on Chu Mingcheng's back. So last time, when this girl was drinking with him, she only pretended to be drunk after a few bottles just to avoid dealing with him?

….

The next morning, Zhang Wei's first thought upon waking was, "Who am I? Where am I? What happened last night?"

But soon after, his bladder reminded him that if he didn't reach the bathroom soon, it would burst.

That jolted him back to reality. He rushed to the bathroom to relieve himself after all that well-fermented vintage beer.

Afterward, he walked out, saw Chu Mingcheng and Chen Yang sitting on the sofa, and went over to ask, "So, how did I get back? All I remember is sister-in-law being very enthusiastic, constantly clinking glasses with me."

"Hey, watch how you phrase that! Rephrase it!" Chu Mingcheng reached out and gave him a light smack on the back of the head.

It wasn't a hard smack, and Zhang Wei didn't mind. He scratched his head and obediently rephrased, "Sister-in-law was too hospitable last night, but why did she keep pushing drinks on me?"

"..."

That still sounded off, but as for why Jiang Luoluo had done it, Chu Mingcheng didn't know either.

He had thought Jiang Luoluo would be drunk after all that, and had wanted to get some information out of her, but it turned out she was only slightly flushed...

Unable to get anything out of her, he thought it over and decided it must be because Zhang Wei was too much of a player, and Jiang Luoluo, as the "sister-in-law," disapproved, so she'd taught him a small lesson.

He certainly couldn't say any of this, so he changed the subject.

"The sea conditions are average today. How about we go fish for mandarin fish in the lake? If we're lucky, we might even encounter a hundred-jin black carp or yellowcheek carp."

"Sounds good!" Chen Yang nodded, having no objections.

He had come to Xiamen this time to buy a boat. Now that the boat was basically settled, he might as well stay and have some fun for a couple of days.

As for his business, it wasn't a big problem. He didn't need to be in the shop; as long as he had his phone and internet connection, he was fine.

Zhang Wei was still a bit dazed, and his head was aching, but when he heard they were going fishing, his original plan to go back to sleep immediately changed.

Chu Mingcheng said they were going fishing in a lake today, but he had actually made preparations.

He drove directly to Wei Jianguo's house and borrowed his bass boat.

As for Wei Jianguo living in a villa, Chu Mingcheng hadn't been surprised since seeing his fishing yacht.

Zhang Wei was fully awake now. As they were towing the bass boat away from the villa, he immediately asked, "Whoa, Ah Cheng, when did you meet such a big shot?"

Chu Mingcheng smiled and explained, "I met him right after I came to Xiamen. Agong also loves to fish, so we hit it off."

"I've looked up these bass boats before. The cheap ones are one to two hundred thousand, and the expensive ones are several hundred thousand!"

"Ah... I guess I just don't understand the world of enthusiasts." Hearing the cost, Zhang Wei clicked his tongue and sighed.

He was the type who loved to fish but didn't invest much in equipment.

He had one lure rod and later bought an iso rod. He hadn't spent much on them.

It wasn't until Chu Mingcheng started fishing professionally, with his collection of rods worth tens of thousands, and then buying a boat for sea fishing, that his own investment in fishing gear had increased slightly.

Chen Yang didn't say much. He had almost no interest in freshwater fish, so he wasn't interested in a bass boat either, since it couldn't be used at sea.

Today, it was only because they were going for mandarin fish that he was willing to come along.

Among freshwater fish, he only enjoyed eating mandarin fish.

After so long, Chu Mingcheng had returned to the small lake.

He had speared a large yellowcheek carp and caught a large catfish here. He wondered what he would catch today.

Because he had caught that large catfish, this small lake had suddenly become very popular.

But after a period when no one else caught any big fish, it had returned to its usual quiet state.

Now that the weather was getting colder, the fish had basically all moved to deeper water. The chances of getting skunked while fishing from shore were very high, which was the main reason Chu Mingcheng had gone to borrow the bass boat.

The three of them put on their life jackets and brought their fishing rods and tackle boxes onto the boat.

A bass boat was very easy to operate, just like a small speedboat.

Chu Mingcheng first headed to the spot near the stream outlet. So much time had passed—he didn't know if a new school of mandarin fish had gathered here.

But it was clear that Wei Jianguo hadn't been here to cause trouble during this time.

Chu Mingcheng got a hit on his first cast—a large mandarin fish over three jin. Chen Yang and Zhang Wei's eyes lit up, and they quickly started fishing as well.

In just one hour, the three of them had caught over a dozen mandarin fish, almost clearing out this area again.

"It's just so satisfying to fish with you, Ah Cheng. Not only do you never get skunked, but the fish are always big and plentiful," Zhang Wei said with a sigh as he landed another mandarin fish. "This is what an angler's happiness is all about."

"Let's go. There are no more fish here. Let's find another spot." Chu Mingcheng knew how many mandarin fish could hide here.

They had already caught over a dozen. Even if there were any left, there weren't many. It was better to find another spot to see if there were other fish.

He started the bass boat again and sped across the water.

After only three minutes, a large fish suddenly appeared on the left side of the boat. Its tail slapped the water hard, sending up a huge splash.

"Holy crap!" x3

The three men on the boat exclaimed in unison. Chu Mingcheng quickly stopped the boat.

"Quick, quick, let's chum the water and lure the fish over."

"My big game rod—where's my big game rod?"

"So will this little lure rod of mine work?"

The three immediately got busy—chumming the water, preparing their rods, and one looking on helplessly at the other two, not knowing what to do.

Soon, Chu Mingcheng's hand pole was ready. He had also mentally prepared himself to be pulled into the water by a fish again.

He baited the hook and cast it into the water. The baited hook sank quickly under the weight of the sinker.

The big fish had indeed surfaced for a moment, but it had quickly sunk back down.

Chu Mingcheng wasn't sure where the fish was, so he tried bottom fishing first. If there was no movement, he would slowly change the water layer.

The big fish had indeed sunk to the bottom and was attracted by the chum Zhang Wei had thrown in.

But this big fish was quite cautious. It only nibbled at the chum, taking small, slow bites. It completely ignored the baited hook.

Instead, the current it created as it swam made the hook sway back and forth.

And it wasn't just fish at the bottom!

As Chu Mingcheng was waiting, he suddenly felt his line go taut and the rod bend down.

He quickly lifted the rod to set the hook.

But he almost couldn't lift it—it felt incredibly heavy.

At first, Chu Mingcheng thought he had successfully hooked the big fish, but after pulling a couple of times, his heart sank. "Damn, I'm snagged!"

"What do we do?" Chen Yang asked.

Zhang Wei answered, "Pull the leader line until it breaks. If you can't, then you'll have to cut the line."

Chu Mingcheng gave a wry smile. "Let's try pulling it first. I used a thick line for the big fish. I don't know if I can even break it!"

He began exerting his strength, pulling the rod straight up.

At first, it felt like the hook was caught in a rock crevice. But as he pulled, he felt something was off. It felt like the hook was moving?

No, it should be that the hook was pulling whatever it was snagged on.

In that case, he just needed to pull the thing at the bottom up.

So he exerted his strength again, and the thing snagged at the bottom felt like it was slowly moving.

Suddenly, Chu Mingcheng stumbled backward, almost falling.

"Careful!" x2

Chen Yang and Zhang Wei, who were beside him, quickly supported him.

It turned out that the snagged object had been completely freed. The resistance suddenly decreased, and Chu Mingcheng, caught off guard by his own pulling force, almost fell backward.

"It's fine, the snag is free."

After steadying himself, Chu Mingcheng found that the snagged object was quite heavy.

As he lifted the rod to head height, a heavily decayed, light black wooden board appeared on the surface.

Because of its weight, the board was being pulled up by the hook at one end, with the other end still in the water, so he couldn't see its full shape.

"So it was just a wooden board!" Zhang Wei stepped forward, freed the hook, and then curiously lifted the board.

When he saw the shape of the board and the faint carvings on it, he was so scared he dropped it. "Holy crap, it's a coffin lid!"