"Damn it, we're all using the same bait. Why are all the fish going to you!"

Zhang Wei was frustrated. He found that not only was Chu Mingcheng on a roll, but the large yellow croakers he was catching seemed bigger than his own.

Zhao Jun was thinking the same thing, but his personality meant he wouldn't say it out loud like Zhang Wei.

"Can't help it—maybe I'm just more handsome!" Chu Mingcheng laughed. He didn't turn off Fish Gathering. After all, the other two were still catching fish, so it wasn't affecting them much.

This thing was like free chum, attracting all nearby fish.

Every time a fish was hooked, the attracted fish would temporarily return to normal, then get caught by Zhao Jun and Zhang Wei.

Therefore, not only did it not affect them, but it actually increased their hook-up rate as well.

As long as he found a fish school, the hooking speed was like a machine gun.

And this was only at 10%. If the level were higher, his efficiency would be no slower than casting nets.

Not only did it prioritize larger ones, but it also reduced the hook-up rate of farmed large yellow croakers.

Previously, Chu Mingcheng would catch some large yellow croakers that looked poor quality and were suspected to be farmed, but now, with Fish Gathering on, not a single poor-quality one appeared.

Unfortunately, the fish school here wasn't very large. The three fished until five-thirty in the evening, then bites basically stopped.

Chu Mingcheng looked at his harvest. In one afternoon, he'd caught two boxes. Zhang Wei and Zhao Jun also had a little over a box each.

Just as he was preparing to put away his rod and make dinner, his rod suddenly plunged downward.

From the looks of it, another big one.

The strong pull from the fishing rod immediately made Chu Mingcheng excited.

"Damn! If that's a large yellow croaker, you've hit the jackpot, Cheng!" Zhang Wei immediately came over, envious.

Having had the red-spotted grouper experience before, Chu Mingcheng could still suppress his excitement. "Can't be sure it's a large yellow croaker. I've had this happen before, and it turned out to be just a red-spotted grouper."

"Even a red-spotted grouper is a huge win. This fish looks to be at least five or six jin," Zhao Jun also said, envious of his luck. His and Zhang Wei's catches combined were only about the same as Chu Mingcheng's. How could he not be envious?

Chu Mingcheng didn't reply; instead, focusing on the fight.

The jigging rod was somewhat soft, so he couldn't just pull the fish up by force. He had to keep working it to wear down its stamina.

After a full five or six minutes, a golden fish was pulled to the surface.

The sun had already set. The large yellow croaker, when caught, was no longer as pale as it had been in the afternoon. Under the lights, it looked exceptionally dazzling.

"Holy crap, holy crap..." Zhang Wei was at a loss for words, only able to express his feelings with repeated "holy craps."

Mainly because this large yellow croaker was truly massive. Visually, it was at least seventy or eighty centimeters long, with a round, fat belly.

"Slowly, slowly, I'll get the landing net." Zhao Jun reacted quickly. After being stunned for a moment, he immediately went for the landing net.

If this large yellow croaker got away, he estimated Chu Mingcheng would never forget it, even on his deathbed.

The fish was getting closer to the boat. Zhao Jun already had the landing net on the surface, just waiting for an opportunity to scoop the fish up.

But before he could scoop it up, the fish suddenly struggled, and with a flick of its tail, the leader line snapped.

"HOLY CRAP!" the three on the boat exclaimed in unison, their hearts aching. The fish was getting away.

Chu Mingcheng couldn't stand this injustice. Before the other two could react, he plunged directly into the water with a splash.

"Cheng..." Zhang Wei and Zhao Jun hadn't reacted in time. When they wanted to stop him, it was already too late.

After entering the water, Chu Mingcheng immediately chased after it.

He'd entered the water in time, and the large yellow croaker was nearly exhausted. Plus, because of water pressure, its swim bladder was already at its mouth.

Just that somehow, in this situation, the large yellow croaker wasn't dead yet.

At about ten meters depth, Chu Mingcheng found the large yellow croaker, already belly-up and barely moving.

Its last struggle seemed to have been a final burst of energy.

It was probably because it had been pulled slowly to the surface, allowing it to maintain a little vitality.

He'd jumped in because he'd seen its swim bladder at its mouth and knew the fish couldn't escape.

He swam over, grabbed the large yellow croaker's long tail, and brought the fish back to the surface.

Zhang Wei saw him surface and was the first to ask, "Did you get the fish?"

"Of course," Chu Mingcheng said triumphantly, holding up the golden fish with both hands.

"Thank God!" Zhao Jun breathed a sigh of relief. If such a large yellow croaker got away, anyone would have trouble sleeping.

Chu Mingcheng brought the large yellow croaker onto the boat. The sea breeze immediately made him shiver.

He handed the large yellow croaker to Zhao Jun, telling him to put it in a foam box for preservation, while he took off his clothes and ran back to the cockpit to shower and avoid catching cold.

Zhao Jun first weighed the large yellow croaker and found it was six jin and seven liang, immediately sucking in a breath of cold air.

A fresh one like this could sell for five thousand per jin. If he waited a bit, the price could even double.

Wild large yellow croaker—never mind those over five jin, even a three-jin one would be snatched up.

Zhao Jun, for safety, carefully observed the fish and confirmed it was wild before wrapping it in plastic and placing it in a foam box filled with crushed ice, by itself.

Zhang Wei took out his phone and took 360-degree photos of the fish, clicking his tongue in admiration. "A yellow croaker this big can probably sell for at least thirty thousand, right?"

Zhao Jun shook his head. "Even more. It'll probably be auctioned off by the bosses, maybe even for fifty thousand. It's a shame it's not the last few days of the year—that's when it's truly outrageously expensive."

Although he was envious of Chu Mingcheng for catching such a large yellow croaker, he didn't feel jealous.

His harvest this afternoon wasn't bad either. If he added the night's catch, this trip would probably earn him over fifty thousand.

If he were just casting his own nets, who knew how long it would take to earn that much.

Chu Mingcheng came out of his shower. Zhang Wei and Zhao Jun were already cleaning and preparing ingredients for the evening, just waiting for him to cook dinner.

After eating dinner and resting briefly, he continued to drive the boat, searching for new fishing spots.

There were still four foam boxes with crushed ice on the boat. Naturally, he had to fill them all before heading back to save on fuel.

Unfortunately, there were too many people fishing for large yellow croaker these past few days. The three fished until two in the morning and couldn't find any more suitable fishing spots.

Fuel had already been consumed by nearly half. Chu Mingcheng had no choice but to stop the boat and go back to sleep.

In one night, he'd only managed to catch one box. Zhao Jun had a little over half a box, and Zhang Wei's luck was worse—only catching a third.

He slept until noon the next day before Chu Mingcheng finally got up.

He moved the foam box with the six-jin-seven-liang large yellow croaker to the cockpit, then drove the boat to Wenzhou pier.

When he had signal, he notified customers in his group and also had out-of-town customers report their quantities.

With three people fishing together this time, the harvest was much greater than when he was alone.

Chu Mingcheng's catch this time sold for one hundred sixty-four thousand. The large yellow croaker was only thirty jin more than last time, but income was 50% higher.

The main reason was that the yellow croakers he caught this time were larger, so prices naturally went up.

The spending power of customers in the group was truly impressive. They'd already taken over a hundred jin of large yellow croaker the day before yesterday, and today's catch was also completely cleared out.

This was mainly because group customers would introduce friends, and customer numbers had increased by about a dozen.

And this number would continue increasing over time.

Secondly, there were also some hotel owners whose one-time purchase quantities weren't small.

With China's large population, there was no need to worry about a bestseller like the large yellow croaker not selling.

Zhao Jun's catch sold for seventy-three thousand total. Chu Mingcheng earned twenty-two thousand from him, leaving him with just over fifty thousand.

Zhang Wei's catch sold for fifty-seven thousand. Chu Mingcheng took fifty-seven hundred from him, but of course, this was done privately without Zhao Jun seeing.

Therefore, his total income for this trip was over one hundred ninety thousand. The strategy of bringing people to fish together was indeed correct.

An extra twenty or thirty thousand each time would add up to over a hundred thousand by year's end.

"I'll let you know when we go out to sea next time. I need a day to take care of something." With a six-jin-seven-liang large yellow croaker, Chu Mingcheng planned to arrange a time with Jiang Luoluo to visit her parents.