As a Fisherman, My Fish Can Level Up

Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Shore Fishing: Targeting Black Sea Bream

“Heh, eight thousand?” Chu Mingcheng scoffed and pulled out his phone to show the photo of the large tortoise he had caught. “Everyone, take a look. How much do you think this thing is worth?”

“Holy shit!” X2

Zhang Wei and Chen Yang cursed in unison upon seeing the photo. It wasn’t their fault they couldn’t contain themselves; such a large tortoise was indeed rare.

“Did you sell this thing?”

“Ah Cheng, where did you catch it? Are there more? Take me with you tomorrow night!”

The latter part was naturally said by Zhang Wei, as the tortoise was almost as attractive to fishermen as large grouper.

“You think these old tortoises are just everywhere? Try fishing at the reservoir with some pork liver tomorrow night, there might be some,” retorted Chu Mingcheng with a roll of his eyes, then he added to Chen Yang, “Sold it, just for eight thousand.”

After hearing this, Chen Yang wore a look of regret: “Ah, what a pity. Next time you get ahold of something good, give me a shout. My family is big, and we like to eat rare stuff.”

“Alright, next time I get something good, I’ll show you first. If you want it, it’s yours; if not, I’ll sell it to someone else,” Chu Mingcheng readily agreed.

Chen Yang wasn’t short of money, and he wouldn’t shortchange him. Besides, as they were good friends for many years, Chu Mingcheng was naturally willing to sell to him.

The three of them chatted for a while longer and didn’t leave for their late-night snack until ten o’clock. Chu Mingcheng also took out four fish to share with the two, asking them to drive them home first to store in the fridge.

The location for their late-night meal wasn’t far, just an old and well-known food stall in town. They had some stir-fried dishes and drinks, and afterward, Chu Mingcheng called a designated driver to take him back to Yanmen Island. The other two lived nearby, so they had walked there.

Back at home, Chu Mingcheng suddenly remembered the Fushouluo he had burnt earlier in the front yard.

He went to the front yard where the charcoal had completely cooled down. Taking a shovel from the storehouse, he smashed the charred Fushouluo and shoveled it up to pile under the mango tree.

After finishing, he yawned and went back inside to wash up and go to sleep.

…

Since he had drunk quite a bit the previous night, Chu Mingcheng slept until past nine o’clock, missing his morning run.

But it was only this once, so it was no big deal. He got up and got rid of the alcohol piled up in his stomach, then brushed his teeth and washed his face before heading to the kitchen to boil some water.

This was a hangover from drinking beer and eating late at night. It didn’t give him a headache, but he was especially thirsty in the morning.

He poured some cat food for Mimi but didn’t give her the canned cat food; he’d give her some fish later.

He went upstairs to check on the mackerel that had been drying overnight and found it was almost dry, slightly soft, but he preferred that texture. So, he bagged them all and stored them in the fridge.

Then he took out a frozen mackerel, as it was getting late. Time to prepare lunch! @@novelbin@@

He cooked the rice, then began to work on the fish,

First, he deboned the fish, setting the flesh aside on a plate. When the rice was almost done, he’d steam the fish flesh in a pot. He put the fish head and bones back in the fridge.

When he had gathered more, he could take them out all at once, cook them soft in a pressure cooker, then dry and grind them to a powder to feed the cats.

Recently, Chu Mingcheng had also read up on quite a few tips about caring for cats. Even though calico cats could handle eating raw fish and mice—they naturally weren’t as delicate as pet cats—it was still important to be cautious about parasites, especially since he often petted the household cat, and this was also a matter of being responsible for himself.

Of course, occasionally feeding it one or two fish was okay.

This mackerel had quite a lot of meat. He let half of it cool down a bit without seasoning and gave it to Mimi.

Watching her eat delightfully, making smacking noises, Chu Mingcheng couldn’t help but smile contentedly and took another video of her.

He now had three videos. Maybe when he had some free time, he could look into getting a head-mounted camera to start recording his fishing adventures.

With the other half of the fish, he added some seafood soy sauce and poured hot oil over it to eat himself.

Picking up a piece of fish and putting it into his mouth, Chu Mingcheng’s eyebrows raised—so fragrant and unexpectedly delicious, very rich in fats.

The fatter the fish, the tastier it is, but he had not expected such cheap mackerel to taste so good, with its tender and smooth flesh devoid of any fishy smell.

Generally, for fish like mackerel and saury, grilling is the most common method, especially in Japanese cuisine.

The Japanese cuisine Jiang Luoluo had treated them to previously included a dish of grilled flower fish, but its flesh was rather dry, and the fish was lean and tasted mediocre—it was definitely wild.

It is said that flower fish and squid, when farmed, taste better than their wild counterparts due to their thicker fat, and the prices of the farmed ones are also several times more expensive.

But the one he caught now was not inferior to the farmed ones. Chu Mingcheng decided that he should buy a small barbecue grill when he returned in the afternoon as it would be a waste not to grill such a fatty mackerel.

In fact, the flower fish eaten in Japanese cuisine is actually mackerel, also known as white-bellied mackerel, which, according to the Japanese, is the true mackerel.

This kind of mackerel prefers cold water and is mostly caught in northern regions.

The one caught by Chu Mingcheng was called Australian mackerel, which prefers warm water and is more commonly found in the south.

After lunch, the remaining three mackerels were taken away by Chu Mingcheng, with two sent for his parents to try.

“Mom, I caught a few mackerels at the dock yesterday. They are fatty and taste very good; you can just steam them directly.”

An Xiuwen happily took the fish and laughed, “Ever since you resigned, I don’t even need to buy vegetables.”

“Haha, that’s to save you some money, how great is that?”

“Yes, yes, remember to bring more home in the future. Come inside, why are you standing out there?”

“Not now, I plan to go fishing by the sea this afternoon, and Ah Wei will join me later tonight.”

“Ah Wei will be with you too? Your dad said the turtle can be eaten now; why don’t you invite Ah Wei and Ah Yang over for dinner tonight as well? It’s been a long time since those boys came over.”

When Chu Mingcheng and the others were children, they often went to each other’s houses for meals, and their families knew each other well, so An Xiuwen invited Zhang Wei over upon hearing that he would be with her son tonight.

In fact, Zhang Wei and Chen Yang loved to mooch meals at his house because Mr. Chu was a good cook.

“Sure, I’ll tell them later to come over for dinner.”

“Great, I’ll go buy a chicken and let your dad cook a ‘Hero Farewell’.”

Chu Mingcheng left home, bought a charcoal grill, put it in his car, and then drove back to Yanmen Island, heading towards the other side of the island.

That area was less populated, and since fishermen didn’t cast their nets there, it might have better fish resources.

It had been several days since he bought a rock fishing rod, but he hadn’t really used it. Today, Chu Mingcheng was determined to find a cliff for fishing.

For this, he specially went to a fishing gear shop to buy a telescopic landing net, which is specifically used for rock fishing by the sea, and he also didn’t forget to buy shrimp bricks for baiting.

He didn’t need to buy bait since even if marine resources were depleted, there would still be shellfish and sea snails.

After parking, carrying a fishing rod, and toting one large and one small fishing box, Chu Mingcheng started searching for a suitable fishing spot along the coast.

The smaller fishing box held tools like fishing lines and hooks, which could also be used as a stool.

The larger fishing box contained some ice blocks he had frozen the day before to store his catch.

Soon, he found a suitable fishing spot and took out the shrimp brick to let it gradually thaw before testing the water depth.

Chu Mingcheng was a novice, and unable to gauge the depth by the color of the sea water, he had to use his fishing rod for that purpose.

After measuring, the spot was about seven to eight meters deep—a very good fishing spot.

Then he took out a bleeding knife, intending to collect some small sea oysters, but as soon as he flipped a rock, he saw a cluster of mussels densely packed together.

The mussels were small, but they were perfect for bait.

He went back and dug out a bag from the fishing box. This bag, previously used for selling black fish, had been specially stored in the smaller box, and he had not expected to use it again today.