As a Fisherman, My Fish Can Level Up

Chapter 72: Chapter 72: Malicious Reporting

Considering the current situation between the two of them, that girl definitely won’t budge, so that jerk’s prison tears are pretty much set in stone!

But then, Chu Mingcheng felt something wasn’t quite right, “Huh, wait a minute! If that girl is usually so generous, then it wouldn’t make sense for the guy to break up with her!”

Liu Jianjun commented with some speechlessness, “He didn’t break up with her, just gave her the cold shoulder. Plus, she isn’t the only naive girl in the world!”

“…” In this aspect, Chu Mingcheng thought Zhang Wei was smarter, knowing that a girl with love on the brain was trouble and definitely not someone he would mess with.

After understanding the situation, he invited them to stay for dinner, “Brother Liu, Brother Li, I caught some seafood today. I’ll go get it ready; why don’t you stay for dinner tonight?” @@novelbin@@

Liu Jianjun and Li Bin stood up in a hurry, “No, no, we have plans tonight, we won’t trouble you!”

“Don’t mention it; I caught it all myself while diving, it’s very fresh.” Others might bring gifts big and small, but Chu Mingcheng was not one to skimp on a meal.

He went straight to the kitchen, took out scallops and sea snails from the bucket, and handed over the kitchen knife and chopping board to them.

“Brother Liu, Brother Li, I’ll leave these to you. There’s a well in the front yard for cleaning.”

Liu Jianjun looked at the almost half-full bucket of scallops and sea snails with a curious expression, “Are you sure you caught these yourself diving? Not bought from the market?”

Chu Mingcheng spread his hands, “You’ve all seen how good I am in the water. If I can save Brother Li under the rapid currents of the Ou River, isn’t it normal for me to dive in the sea and pick up some scallops and sea snails from the seabed?”

“And I tie a safety rope and take a diving rod with me, so there won’t be any problems.”

Liu Jianjun intended to advise him not to be so reckless because the undercurrents in the ocean are not comparable to those in a river—they can drag a person under in an instant.

It only takes a dozen seconds to sweep someone from the shore to a hundred meters out.

But hearing that Chu Mingcheng used a safety rope put his mind somewhat at ease. With a safety rope and Chu’s excellent swimming skills, it was unlikely there would be an accident.

In case…

If it’s one’s fate… walking out the door could lead to getting hit by a car; life is always fraught with danger.

“Just be safe, and we’ll take you up on dinner tonight.”

“It’s no trouble; it’s just a meal.” Chu Mingcheng said with a smile as he waved his hand and went back to the kitchen to prepare other ingredients.

Li Bin carried the bucket to the front yard and began toclean the scallops.

As he scrubbed, he seemed to recall something and laughed, “I think Brother Chu is quite like Xiao Zhao—he also enjoys diving.”

As Liu Jianjun heard this, he too remembered a colleague, smilingly said, “Indeed, if Xiao Zhao had been there last time, you wouldn’t have been in danger.”

“I heard he’s now a coach at a club?”

“Yeah, turned his hobby into a job, that kid must be pretty happy!”

The two of them continued to process the scallops and sea snails while reminiscing about fun times in the past.

Meanwhile, Chu Mingcheng started with the cuttlefish in the kitchen, planning to braise it later.

The sea bass he decided to steam; he didn’t like it braised.

He also took out some vermicelli to soak in water, planning to bake the scallops with it later.

Once everything was prepared, he smashed several garlic cloves with the knife, peeled them, and chopped them up to make a garlic sauce.

While dinner was being methodically prepared, a government car was driving on the sea-crossing bridge, blissfully unaware.

It was the Fishery Administration en route. They had received a report, and the informant had provided the suspected violator’s home address, so they were naturally obliged to check it out.

Cracking down on illegal fishing has always been part of fishery management, and they’ve been getting stricter over the years.

They had to be strict; otherwise, domestic waters would indeed run out of fish.

However, when the leader of the group arrived at the destination, they were momentarily taken aback upon seeing someone barbecuing scallops in the yard.

“Jianjun, what are you doing here?”

Liu Jianjun was also confused upon seeing the newcomer, “Zhao Qiang, what brought you here?”

“I received a report that someone was fishing illegally, so I came over to check it out.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Jianjun’s brow furrowed, sensing that the situation was not simple.

“It might be a misunderstanding. Li Bin, go and call Ah Cheng over.”

After a short while, Chu Mingcheng arrived in the front yard, and was even more puzzled upon seeing several people in uniform.

The commotion also attracted the neighbors’ attention, and they all gathered around.

They each speculated whether Chu Mingcheng had done something illegal that warranted the police’s visit.

Seeing the crowd around, Zhao Qiang told them to disperse and then gestured for the group to enter the house to talk.

Initially, they were supposed to take Chu Mingcheng to the Fisheries Administration to understand the situation and search his house for illegal fishing tools.

But out of respect for Liu Jianjun, he decided to ask directly here first.

Looking at the puzzled Chu Mingcheng, Zhao Qiang said, “We received a report that you’ve been diving and fishing illegally, so we’ve come to ask you about it.”

Chu Mingcheng was shocked and immediately thought of the skinny man who had blocked his way before.

“I did go underwater hunting indeed, but I used a harpoon, which should not be considered illegal fishing.”

As he spoke, he went to the storehouse to fetch his harpoon and lasso, even indicating that Zhao Qiang and his team were welcome to search.

“With this, you can catch sea harvests worth four thousand yuan?” Zhao Qiang picked up the harpoon, examining it with skepticism.

Chu Mingcheng nodded, “Of course, you just have to aim and shoot the fish, is there a problem?”

The few people around him couldn’t help but twitch their eyelids, but Liu Jianjun, who knew of his swimming abilities, quickly clarified, “Zhao Qiang, Ah Cheng is a very good swimmer. He once rescued a drowning person. In the current of the Ou River, Ah Cheng managed to fish him out of the water.”

“We came here today to thank Ah Cheng for that, so you don’t need to doubt this matter.”

“The one who rescued people is this young man?” Zhao Qiang suddenly realized, as this incident had been discussed by his colleagues at the Fisheries Administration.

The conclusion at the time was that not even professional swimmers could necessarily do it, since it’s difficult to maintain stability in those waters, mainly due to physical strength not permitting it, let alone diving to the bottom to find a person who’s drowning.

But with this, the suspicion against Chu Mingcheng was naturally cleared.

If he could rescue people, catching a fish would be a piece of cake, wouldn’t it?

And they hadn’t found any spearguns or other hunting equipment.

“It seems to be a misunderstanding, we’ve disturbed you, so we’ll be leaving now.”

“Wait a moment, I want to ask what are the consequences for making a malicious report.” Chu Mingcheng, already guessing who was behind it, wouldn’t let it go easily if the consequences were serious.

Upon hearing him say this, Zhao Qiang understood what he was thinking and gave him a brief explanation.

“Malicious reporting, if it results in criminal responsibility for the other party, can constitute the crime of false accusation or framing. But your case isn’t severe, mainly because the fish you caught weren’t that heavy. Even if you were to be caught, it would only result in confiscation of the tools used in committing the offense and a fine.”

“So even if you find the person who made the malicious report and provide evidence, you can’t do much to them. At most, they might be detained for a few days and fined, or possibly if you sue, you might get compensated a little money.”

“Alright, I understand!” The punishment not being severe was within his expectations.

Moreover, he did not have solid evidence to prove that the other party had made a malicious complaint; reporting it would be useless, so he had to let the matter go for now!