Given their current situation, the girl certainly wouldn't back down. That scumbag was destined for a long, tearful stay behind bars.

But then, something didn't feel right to Chu Mingcheng. "Wait, that's odd. If the girl was always so generous, why would the guy want to break up with her?"

Liu Jianjun sighed, a hint of resignation in his voice. "He didn't exactly say they were breaking up, just gave her the cold shoulder. Besides, she's not the only naive girl in the world."

"..." On that front, Chu Mingcheng had to admit Zhang Wei was the smart one. He knew love-struck girls were trouble and made a point to never get involved.

After getting the full story, he invited the two to stay for dinner. "Captain Liu, Brother Li, I caught some fresh seafood today. Let me go prepare it. You have to stay for dinner!"

Liu Jianjun and Li Bin quickly stood up. "No, no, we have things to do tonight. We won't trouble you."

"It's no trouble at all. I caught it all myself while diving. It's as fresh as it gets." They had brought so many gifts; the least he could do was offer them a meal.

He went straight to the kitchen, brought out the bucket of scallops and sea snails, and handed them a knife and a cutting board.

"Captain Liu, Brother Li, I'll leave these to you. You can wash them at the well in the front yard."

Liu Jianjun peered at the half-full bucket of shellfish, a strange look on his face. "You caught these yourself? You didn't buy them at the market?"

Chu Mingcheng spread his hands. "You've both seen what I can do in the water. If I could pull Brother Li out of the turbulent Ou River, isn't it normal for me to dive in the sea and pick up a few scallops and snails from the bottom?"

"Besides, I always tie a safety rope and use a diving pole. There won't be any problems."

Liu Jianjun was about to warn him against being so reckless. The ocean's undercurrents were nothing like a river's; they could drag a person under in an instant. They could pull someone from the shore to a hundred meters out in just a dozen seconds.

But hearing that Chu Mingcheng used a safety rope put his mind at ease. With a safety line and his swimming skills, it was unlikely anything would go wrong.

And if it did... well, you could get hit by a car just walking out the door. Life was full of risks. It was his fate.

"Just be safe. In that case, we'll trouble you for dinner tonight."

"It's no trouble at all, just a simple meal." Chu Mingcheng waved his hand with a smile and went to the kitchen to prepare the other ingredients.

Li Bin carried the bucket to the front yard and began scrubbing the scallops. As he worked, a thought seemed to strike him. "You know," he said with a smile, "Brother Chu reminds me of Little Zhao. He loves diving, too."

Hearing this, Liu Jianjun also recalled his former colleague. "He does, doesn't he? If Little Zhao had been there that day, you wouldn't have been in danger."

"I hear he's a coach at a club now?"

"Yeah. Turning his hobby into his job. That kid must be pretty happy."

The two chatted about interesting stories from the past as they cleaned the scallops and snails.

Meanwhile, Chu Mingcheng was in the kitchen, preparing the cuttlefish for a braised dish. He preferred his sea bass steamed, not braised. He also took out some vermicelli noodles to soak; he planned to grill the scallops. After preparing everything, he took out several large garlic cloves, smashed them with the side of his knife, peeled them, and minced them to make a garlic sauce.

As dinner was being prepared in an orderly fashion, a government vehicle was crossing the sea bridge, unbeknownst to them.

It was the fisheries patrol. They had received a report, and the caller had even provided the suspected violator's home address. Naturally, they had to investigate. Cracking down on illegal fishing had always been their mandate, and enforcement had gotten stricter over the years. It had to; otherwise, the waters around the country would soon be fished out completely.

But when they arrived at their destination, the team leader saw a familiar face grilling scallops in the yard and froze.

"Jianjun, what are you doing here?"

Liu Jianjun was just as stunned to see the man. "Zhao Qiang, what brings you here?"

"We received a report that someone was illegally fishing, so we came to check it out."

Hearing this, Liu Jianjun's brow furrowed. He sensed this wasn't a simple matter. "It might be a misunderstanding. Li Bin, go get A'Cheng."

A moment later, Chu Mingcheng came out to the front yard, completely bewildered by the sight of several men in uniform. The commotion had also attracted the attention of the neighbors, who gathered around, speculating about what illegal thing Chu Mingcheng might have done to bring the authorities to his door.

Seeing the crowd, Zhao Qiang asked them to disperse, then ushered everyone inside to talk. Normally, they would have taken Chu Mingcheng to the fisheries office for questioning and searched his house for illegal equipment. But out of respect for Liu Jianjun, he decided to conduct the initial inquiry right there.

Looking at Chu Mingcheng's confused face, Zhao Qiang said, "We received a report that you were illegally spearfishing. We're here to ask you about it."

Chu Mingcheng was stunned, and his mind immediately flashed to the wiry man who had stopped him earlier.

"I did go spearfishing, but I used a fish spear. That shouldn't be illegal."

With that, he went to the storage room and brought out his fish spear and snare, even telling Zhao Qiang they were free to search the house.

"You caught four thousand yuan worth of fish with this?" Zhao Qiang picked up the spear and examined it doubtfully.

Chu Mingcheng nodded. "Of course. You see a fish, you spear it. What's the problem?"

The men around him exchanged glances, but Liu Jianjun, who knew of his swimming prowess, quickly explained, "Zhao Qiang, A'Cheng is an excellent swimmer. My colleague here was drowning in the Ou River, and in that current, A'Cheng managed to pull him out of the water."

"We came here today to thank him. You don't need to doubt his story."

"So this is the young man who saved him?" Zhao Qiang's face cleared with understanding. His colleagues at the fisheries patrol had all discussed the incident.

The consensus had been that even a professional swimmer might not have been able to do it. Just staying stable in that kind of current was difficult enough due to the physical exertion, let alone finding a drowning person at the bottom of the river.

With that, the suspicion against Chu Mingcheng naturally evaporated. If he could save a person, spearing a fish would be child's play. Besides, they hadn't found a speargun or any other illegal hunting equipment.

"It seems this was a misunderstanding. Sorry to have disturbed you. We'll be on our way."

"Wait," Chu Mingcheng said. "I'd like to ask, what are the consequences for malicious reporting?" He had a good idea who was behind this, and if the penalty was severe, he wasn't going to let it slide.

Zhao Qiang understood what he was thinking and explained the law. "If a malicious report leads to criminal charges, it constitutes the crime of making a false accusation. But your case isn't that serious, mainly because the weight of your catch was too small. Even if you were caught, the penalty would just be confiscation of your tools and a fine."

"So even if you find the person who reported you and have evidence, you can't do much to them. At most, they'd be detained for a few days and fined. If you sued, you might get some monetary compensation."

"Okay, I understand." The light penalty was what he had expected. And without any concrete evidence that the report was malicious, filing a police report would be useless. He would have to let the matter go for now.