"Mmm, this Purple Sea Bream sashimi is way better than the stuff we had at the Japanese place yesterday," Zhang Wei comnted after taking a bite of the fresh fish.
"Of course it is," Chu Mingcheng said with a laugh. "Purple Sea Bream costs over a hundred yuan a jin. What we had yesterday was probably Black Sea Bream, which is only a few dozen. They're not even in the sa league." The two ingredients were on completely different levels, and since Purple Sea Bream was a specialized sashimi fish, the difference in texture and flavor was huge.
As for Jiang Luoluo and Zhou Jiayi, they were too busy to talk. Each was ard with a crab claw bigger than her hand, getting a mouthful of sweet at with every bite.
It brought a knowing smile to Chu Mingcheng's face, the host of the feast. Both girls were easily on par with the heavily filtered online starlets you'd see on social dia, but without any of the annoying affectations. They were just genuinely easy and comfortable to be around.
Still, he hadn't gone fishing last night or dug for sea worms today, and he was starting to feel restless.
Thankfully, the two of them were leaving tomorrow. He could finally get back to the grind without any more interruptions.
After eating for a while, Jiang Luoluo subtly watched Chu Mingcheng as he drank his soup. After a mont's thought, she asked tentatively, "Hey, Mingcheng, have you ever thought about recording your fishing and beachcombing adventures, editing them into videos, and posting them online?"
"You an beco a content creator?"
Chu Mingcheng paused, glancing at Jiang Luoluo, who was staring at him intently. He had a feeling he knew what she was getting at. The girl wanted him to be more "ambitious."
But with a golden ticket like Aquatic Codex that guaranteed success as long as he kept grinding, how could he not be ambitious? He might just beco the king of the fishing grind soday.
Still, from a practical standpoint, being a content creator was a legitimate career. It sounded a lot better than what he was doing now. "Beachcombing and fishing" just gave off the vibe of soone who wasn't serious about life. No parents would ever agree to their daughter marrying soone like that—unless, of course, the guy was rich enough to throw money at any problem.
"Yeah, being a content creator is actually a pretty good path," Jiang Luoluo said, launching into her pitch. "People love watching beachcombing videos, and later on, you could film deep-sea fishing trips. You'd get a stable inco. Personally, I think it would be better than what you're doing now."
As her best friend, Zhou Jiayi could more or less guess what Jiang Luoluo was thinking. She'd been single her whole life, and now that she'd finally t soone who caught her eye, she naturally wanted to get to know him better. But his "profession" was a bit of a hang-up, making her hesitate to take things further.
"You've actually got a good point," Chu Mingcheng admitted. "Making videos could definitely beco a stable career. It's just that I'm still new to beachcombing and fishing myself. I'm not familiar enough with it all yet."
"Once I get the hang of it, I might consider making so videos."
"It's like with your dance videos. You can choreograph dances that everyone loves because you're a professional at what you do, right?"
The idea of making videos did appeal to Chu Mingcheng. Once he had a boat and could go deep-sea fishing for big ga, filming it would be a great way to docunt his experiences and make so extra cash on the side. Most importantly, posting videos wasn't like live-streaming. He wouldn't have to constantly interact with viewers. He could just post once a week, or even less frequently, and he could ignore the comnts if he wanted. There weren't many strings attached.
Seeing that Chu Mingcheng had taken her suggestion to heart, Jiang Luoluo bead. "Mhm, that's a great way to think about it. When you decide to start posting, you have to let know. I want to be the first to watch!"
They chatted and laughed, and the al stretched on until past seven in the evening. The two girls even helped clear the table and wash the dishes, proving to be quite thoughtful.
After dropping them off at their hotel, Chu Mingcheng went ho and started researching iso rods and techniques online. As he was browsing, his eyes suddenly lit up. He had a new target.
Translator’s Note:
The “ISO rod” (矶竿 jīgān) is a versatile fishing rod used for rock fishing, especially along East Asian coastlines. Nad after the Japanese word iso (rocky shore), it blends features of spinning and fly rods to handle rough coastal waters.
The next morning at eight, Jiang Luoluo sent Chu Mingcheng a ssage saying goodbye. They were heading to their next stop, Jiacheng, to film the rest of their video and, incidentally, to eat so roasted whole lamb.
Chu Mingcheng exchanged a few ssages with her before taking Zhang Wei to the tackle shop. He bought a size 3 iso fishing rod, along with the matching line, sinkers, and other accessories. Since a size 3 rod was only ant for small to dium-sized fish, he didn't splurge, spending only six hundred yuan in total. Seeing this, Zhang Wei's hands started to itch, and he picked out a rod for himself, though a cheaper one.
"Ah-Cheng, are you starting to sea fish now?" Zhang Wei asked as they got into the car.
"Yeah, just to practice. You know that water inlet near the sea worm mudflats? We can't dig for worms when the tide is in, so we might as well fish!"
With that, Chu Mingcheng drove to the market first. He bought a jin of shrimp, packed them in ice, and then wandered around until he finally spotted his target. He walked up to the vendor to inquire.
"Boss, how much for these crab gobies? And why are so so light-colored while others are so dark?"
The boss replied, "The light ones are wild, two hundred a jin. The dark ones are fard, eighty a jin."
Chu Mingcheng balked. "Eighty for fard? That's so expensive. Never mind, I can't afford it!"
The boss: "..."
Having gotten the market price, Chu Mingcheng and a snickering Zhang Wei left the market.
"Ah-Cheng, so you bought a rock fishing rod to go for gobies! Why didn't you tell ? I know a way to catch them that doesn't even need a rod."
"With chopsticks?"
"Damn, how'd you know?"
"Every video I've seen calls it their 'secret technique.' How could I not know? But that thod isn't suitable for the spot where we dig for sea worms. A rock fishing rod or a hand rod is better there."
Catching gobies wasn't that difficult. Their favorite food was shrimp, and their peak feeding ti was the two hours before sunset in October, when they would bite most aggressively. However, factors like the tide and wind direction also affected the fishing conditions. As a beginner, Chu Mingcheng couldn't figure out all those complexities yet. He'd just have to fish and learn as he went.
The two arrived at the Dongyue mudflats just as the tide was going out. Chu Mingcheng grabbed his bucket and short-handled hoe and started digging. His sea worm skill was already at Level 14, which had significantly increased his chances of finding larger ones.
Since he'd had a big breakfast, Chu Mingcheng worked with a burst of energy, digging straight through until two in the afternoon, when the rising tide finally flooded the flats. The other diggers had to move to areas untouched by the water, where there were still sea worms, but far fewer.
Chu Mingcheng, however, had already dug up over five jin, raising his skill to Level 17, so he decided to call it a day.
Zhang Wei was not one to sit still, but he hated hard labor like digging for sea worms. He had wandered off to fish sowhere else much earlier. He was using a lure rod, so naturally, he ca back empty-handed.
Chu Mingcheng was carrying his bucket back, planning to drive sowhere for a bite to eat, when he saw Zhang Wei returning in his car, a container of fried rice in hand.
After eating, the two of them pulled out their new rock fishing rods, took the shrimp they'd bought that morning, and headed back to the mudflats to fish for gobies.
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