Since his mother was so worked up, Chu Mingcheng naturally had to make some arrangements.

But that wasn't the most important thing right now. Tomorrow, his family was heading to Hangzhou, so they went over all the gifts they were bringing to make sure nothing was forgotten.

Arranging the meeting between the two families in Hangzhou was a sign of the Chu family's respect for the Jiang family.

The next day, Chu Mingcheng drove his parents to Hangzhou.

After today's meeting, he and Jiang Luoluo would likely enter the stage of formally discussing marriage. He was one step closer to his goal.

They had set out early in the morning, so they arrived at the reserved hotel in Hangzhou right at ten o'clock.

Chu Mingcheng handed the three-jin large yellow croaker he had caught to the kitchen staff, then went to the entrance to wait for Jiang Luoluo's family.

His parents, of course, waited in the private room. As the younger one, it was his job to greet them.

He only had to wait a few minutes before Jiang Bo's car pulled up.

Evidently, they had been ready to leave as soon as the Chu family was close to the hotel.

He greeted the two elders and led them into the private room.

The two families exchanged pleasantries upon meeting. Chu Mingcheng, who hadn't seen Jiang Luoluo in a while, took the opportunity to pull her over to sit with him.

"Luoluo, when you come to my house tomorrow, you have to get some revenge for your mother-in-law."

"What happened?" Jiang Luoluo asked, puzzled.

She was already immune to Chu Mingcheng calling her parents his "in-laws."

The man was just too thick-skinned and was always teasing her about it.

Even the shyest girl would get used to hearing it every day, not to mention she was a fairly open-minded person to begin with.

"It's the neighbor next door. Her son brought his girlfriend home for a visit, and then she started showing off in front of my mom..."

Chu Mingcheng explained the whole story clearly, and Jiang Luoluo immediately understood.

After hearing him out, she had an idea. "That's easy. Just watch me tomorrow."

"What are you planning to do?" Chu Mingcheng had been ready to brainstorm with her, but he didn't expect her to come up with a plan so quickly.

"Come here..." Jiang Luoluo crooked a finger at him. When he leaned in, she whispered in his ear.

Of course, both sets of parents saw what was happening.

"Look at those two kids—aren't they a perfect match?" An Xiuwen couldn't help but say.

A handsome man and a beautiful woman together were a sight to behold. The parents on both sides had basically given their blessing, so the more they looked at the two, the more they liked them.

Li Ying nodded in agreement. "They are. Luoluo is my only daughter, and sometimes I've wished I had a son, too. Now that Ah Cheng and Luoluo are together, it's like that wish has been fulfilled."

"It's the opposite for me. I've always wanted a well-behaved, sensible daughter. That bratty son of mine was so mischievous when he was little—he gave me so many headaches."

An Xiuwen and Li Ying also got along very well. Both had been great beauties in their youth, and they had plenty to talk about, from their children to beauty and cosmetics.

As for Jiang Bo and Chu Yongxin, it took them no more than the time it takes to smoke a cigarette to become familiar with each other.

For Chu Mingcheng and Jiang Luoluo, today was just a simple gathering. Since both sets of parents had already approved of their relationship, it was only natural for them to get along well.

Over the course of the meal, Chu Yongxin and Jiang Bo, unsurprisingly, got drunk.

An Xiuwen and Li Ying also drank a good amount of red wine. Only the two young ones stuck to soft drinks, worried that things would get complicated if everyone was drunk.

After paying the bill, Chu Mingcheng planned to take his parents to a hotel first, as there was no way they could drive back today.

When Jiang Luoluo heard this, she immediately said, "What hotel? Why waste the money! Just stay at our place. We have just enough room."

"Wouldn't that be an imposition?" Chu Mingcheng hesitated.

"We're all family—what's there to impose?"

With Jiang Luoluo putting it like that, Chu Mingcheng had no reason to refuse.

So the two of them helped their drunk elders into the cars and each drove one car to the Jiang family home.

Once they arrived, Chu Mingcheng realized that the rooms had already been prepared. Clearly, they had planned this all along.

After helping the elders into their bedrooms to rest, he and Jiang Luoluo sat on the living room sofa, with nothing to do.

"By the way, are you done fishing for large yellow croaker?"

"I'm done. I have enough money for the boat now. We're just waiting for it to be launched."

Chu Mingcheng had had his fill of fishing for large yellow croaker. If it weren't for the pressure of buying the boat and the rapid leveling of his Premium Aquatic Codex, he might have explored other fishing grounds.

The Premium Aquatic Codex was already at level twelve. Considering that it now took over a thousand experience points to level up, it was a testament to just how many large yellow croakers he had caught during that time.

"You have enough money already?" Jiang Luoluo was flabbergasted. She had a rough idea of Chu Mingcheng's savings and was shocked that he had managed to close the gap in just over ten days.

With several months left until the new boat was ready, he could even pay back the seven hundred thousand he owed his parents.

"By the way, Luoluo, how about we go to the Nansha Islands for a month after the New Year?" Chu Mingcheng suggested, remembering a message from the captain of the Sky a few days ago.

The captain had already booked several clients and was planning to depart for Nansha on the tenth day of the first lunar month.

Chu Mingcheng thought it was a great opportunity. It was unrealistic for him to sail there himself, so chartering a boat was the best option.

"For a whole month?" Jiang Luoluo was caught off guard by the suggestion.

"Yeah, it's a bit long. Do you have enough dance videos in your backlog?"

"That's not a problem. Worst case, I'll just take a month-long break. I've jotted down a lot of ideas recently. When I get back, I can practice a bit and start filming again. It's fine."

Jiang Luoluo knew that a trip to Nansha was a rare opportunity. It was different from going to the Xisha Islands.

Nansha was much farther, and fewer boats went there. You had to book a spot on a boat long in advance.

Seeing that she agreed, Chu Mingcheng immediately took out his phone, intending to book two spots with the captain of the Sky.

But then he thought of Zhang Wei and Chen Yang. There would be a lot of people on the boat to Nansha, and they weren't going for a romantic getaway, so it would be more fun with a few familiar faces.

So he first sent a message to Zhang Wei and Chen Yang, asking if they wanted to go to Nansha.

Thirty days, thirty-eight thousand yuan per person. Including miscellaneous fees, it would cost about forty-two thousand.

Of course, if you rented fishing rods or a trolling boat there, the cost would be even higher.

But with a month in Nansha, you could basically break even if you worked hard.

As for how much you could earn, that depended on luck.

On the same boat, one person could be landing big fish one after another while you were stuck catching squid. The profits would naturally be different.

Zhang Wei had made over three hundred thousand from large yellow croaker at the end of the year, so he didn't hesitate for a second to spend over forty thousand on a spot for a trip to Nansha.

He even asked Chu Mingcheng what kind of fishing rods he should bring, looking every bit the part of someone who'd just struck it rich.

Chen Yang was a bit hesitant, but when he heard there was Wi-Fi on the boat and that you could have a signal anytime as long as you paid, his doubts vanished.

Chen Yang had bought a boat and planned to become a professional angler in Xiamen, so a trip to Nansha to broaden his horizons was necessary.

Chu Mingcheng had had Wi-Fi on his Xisha trip, but he hadn't needed it much at the time, so he hadn't spent the extra money.

"Luoluo, Ah Wei, and Ah Yang are going too. Why don't you ask Zhou Jiayi if she wants to come?" Chu Mingcheng felt a little bad about being the only one bringing his girlfriend, so he considered his good friends.

But after hearing him, Jiang Luoluo just smiled helplessly. "Jiayi doesn't really like fishing. A day or two at sea is fine, but how could she stand it for a month?"

"Who knows? Just like you—you weren't interested in fishing either, but you started getting into it because of me. Maybe Zhou Jiayi will agree to go because of Chen Yang?"

Chu Mingcheng and Jiang Luoluo weren't sure how far things had progressed between Zhou Jiayi and Chen Yang, but from the way Chen Yang looked like he'd fallen head over heels in love, they could guess a few things.

"They're moving that fast? I asked Jiayi, but she wouldn't say anything."

"Chen Yang didn't say anything either, but we've been brothers for over twenty years. You can tell just by looking at him."

"Alright!" Jiang Luoluo shrugged and tried calling Zhou Jiayi.

To her surprise, Zhou Jiayi actually considered it seriously. But in the end, she felt the trip was too long and had to regretfully decline.

The main reason was her job. Taking a month off to go to sea would require finding a new job, as she couldn't get that much time off.

There was nothing to be done about it. Chu Mingcheng confirmed the number of people and booked four spots with the captain of the Sky, choosing single rooms for all of them.

Having fished in Xisha before, he knew how much a good resting environment could affect one's fishing.

All the dry rooms on the second floor of the Sky were single rooms; otherwise, he would never have so easily given up the chance to share a room with Jiang Luoluo.

Next, Chu Mingcheng took Jiang Luoluo to a large fishing tackle shop to buy equipment.

This time, he bought three electric reels. One was a Z30, which cost over twenty thousand yuan and could handle fish up to two hundred jin.

The other two electric reels were much less powerful, with a maximum capacity of one hundred jin.

Of course, he had to buy matching rods and line sets. Chu Mingcheng even bought a heavy trolling rod.

He was clearly anticipating encountering some exceptionally large fish. With a heavy trolling rod, it would be much easier to land them.

After spending a day in Hangzhou, on the twenty-ninth of the lunar month, Jiang Luoluo went with Chu Mingcheng's family to Yanmen Island.

She was also very busy at the end of the year. She would spend the twenty-ninth on Yanmen Island, and on the thirtieth, she had to go back to Hangzhou to celebrate the New Year with her own relatives.

Unlike Chu Mingcheng's family, her grandparents were still alive, so every New Year's Eve was spent at a hotel, with all the relatives gathered together.

However, this kind of arrangement usually dissolved after the elderly person passed away.

If the relatives got along, they would take turns hosting. If not, everyone just celebrated on their own.

Chu Mingcheng didn't need to join in the festivities this year, but he would have to attend after he and Jiang Luoluo were married.

Arriving at Yanmen Island, he stopped the car at the intersection in front of his house and let Jiang Luoluo get out first, with a few bags of gifts, of course.

An Xiuwen was stunned. "Why are you getting out of here?"

"Luoluo is going to get even for you!" Chu Mingcheng explained as he started the car.

"Get even for me?" An Xiuwen was even more confused.

But in just a moment, the car was parked in the backyard. She quickly got out and ran towards the front yard.

Chu Mingcheng didn't bother with the things in the car and ran after her to prevent An Xiuwen from ruining Jiang Luoluo's plan.

Of course, a curious Chu Yongxin followed behind them. He also wanted to see how his daughter-in-law was planning to stick up for his wife.