By the time Zhang Wei had satisfied his craving with a couple more casts, and two more crucian carps were added to the tally, Chu Mingcheng urged him to pack up their gear and head home.
"The bite is so good, let me fish a bit longer!"
Zhang Wei was reluctant to leave, as no Fishing Man wants to leave when the fish are biting!
This wasn't some pretty girl, and Chu Mingcheng wasn't going to indulge him. He immediately stepped forward and took the fishing rod back, "I resigned, I have no source of income now, so I plan to rise early tomorrow and go to the market to sell these fish. I can't afford to sleep in."
"You resigned?" Zhang Wei was startled, "Then what are you planning to do next?"
"I have no plans for the moment, just thinking of fishing and selling fish to make some money. If I earn enough to maintain a living, I'll keep doing that for now!"
"This..." Zhang Wei was at a loss for words.
Suggest a job?
He himself was working for a friend.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up as an idea struck him, "Right, why not start an online store! Some of Chen Yang's friends have online stores. They get goods from him, and depending on the month, they can make a few thousand, even tens of thousands."
"No way, too much trouble!" Chu Mingcheng shook his head in refusal.
Chen Yang had been his childhood friend, and they had played video games together as kids.
Zhang Wei was currently working at Chen Yang's Store, and their relationship was even closer than before.
It was the kind of relationship where they would light incense on the bed and smash a TV screen with marbles.
Chen Yang's family had been in the electronics business, a brand that has been passed down three generations starting from his grandfather.
He had also suggested that Chu Mingcheng consider online selling for an extra source of income.
But Chu Mingcheng wasn't interested in all that, and often he was too busy with overtime to have the time or money to invest in boosting online sales, so nothing ever came of it.
Seeing that he was still not convinced, Zhang Wei sighed softly, flicked his hair, and pulled out his phone, "Ah Cheng, you must know, being handsome and suave has always been my trademark."
"Over the years, I've been so handsome that I almost had no friends, except for you, who could almost compare."
"Now I'm not hiding it from you, I know a few wealthy women. With your looks, hooking up with them would be easy. Are you interested? "
"..."
"What, you're not?"
"Why wouldn't I be! Lately, my stomach hasn't been great, I need to eat something soft."
Chu Mingcheng immediately got the numbers of a few rich women. It didn't matter if it was being a gigolo, as it was mainly to prove his own charm.
But a good opportunity to make some money was available; it wasn't much, but every little bit helps!
"Let's go fish for alligator gar tomorrow, maybe we'll get lucky and actually catch one," he suggested.
Zhang Wei hesitated after hearing this, "I've been fishing for two days and haven't caught one, haven't even seen anyone else catch one. I'm starting to think these parks made up the reward just to attract people."
"Whether it's there or not, let's just go take a look. It'd be a pity not to let the beauties see how gorgeous you are!"
"Speaking nothing but the truth, my good looks are indeed a waste to keep at home!"
The two of them joked and laughed as they drove home. The reservoir in the middle of the night didn't muster even a ghost, perhaps because it saw the two good-looking guys and just convulsed in the water themselves.
The next morning at six o'clock, Chu Mingcheng was groggily awakened by the alarm on his phone.
Having not gotten up this early in a long time, he wanted to continue sleeping, but the thought of having to sell fish motivated him to struggle out of bed.
He came down from the attic to the bedroom on the second floor on the left, opened the door, and walked in. There was Zhang Wei, deeply asleep, hugging a pillow.
Chu Mingcheng thought about it and decided not to wake him. He would go and sell the fish first.
Having checked the crucian carp he had caught last night on the first floor, because he had split them into two buckets, there was much more room. In addition, since there was continuous oxygen supply, their vitality was still quite good.
There was a small vegetable market on Yanmen Island as well, but the islanders preferred sea fish and crucian carp were not easy to sell, so he drove across the sea bridge to the town's vegetable market.
He first bought an electronic scale and a large plastic box which could be used to store fish in the future, since buckets were still a bit too small.
Unlike sea fish, people generally prefer that freshwater fish like crucian carp be killed and processed on-site.
Chu Mingcheng did not plan to set up a stall here to slowly kill and sell fish, as it would be a waste of time.
He wandered around the vegetable market and found a stall selling freshwater fish.
"Boss, do you take wild crucian carp? I caught them myself last night."
The fish seller became interested upon hearing this, as he had sold fish for a long time and rarely had someone come directly to him to sell fish.
"Let me see the fish first."
Wild crucian carp and farmed crucian carp differed significantly. Wild crucian carp were generally paler, turning yellow under the sun, with a higher back and more agility.
Farmed crucian carp were darker, larger, with big and soft bellies, and less agility. It was evident that their usual routine was eating and sleeping.
The fish shop owner fished around in the bucket for a bit and knew immediately that these crucian carp were indeed wild, and even the smallest looked to be about half a pound, truly a good batch.
"I'll take this batch of fish for fifteen yuan per half kilogram," he said.
"Twenty-five yuan per half kilogram from you. Nowadays, everything is farmed. For wild products like these, I'm never short of buyers. I've got something on today that's why I'm directly selling these fish to you; otherwise, if I set up a stall outside, I could get up to thirty-five yuan per half kilogram," Chu Mingcheng reported his price without mincing words.
He needed to rush to the city to catch alligator gar, planning to catch them all today, so he had no time to waste here.
Like he said, selling wild crucian carp wasn't difficult.
After all, his fish were a decent size and very fresh. The only hassle was having to kill and prepare the fish himself, unlike sea fish, which could be sold directly.
"Okay, okay, twenty-five then. I'll take them all." The price was always negotiable. Seeing that Chu Mingcheng knew the market, and a price of twenty-five yuan was indeed profitable, the shop owner didn't haggle and accepted his offer right away.
Wild crucian carp could indeed sell for thirty-five presently; the general price online stated thirty-one per half kilogram, but prices varied by region.
With the shop owner's straightforward acceptance, Chu Mingcheng felt no regret over having possibly underpriced his fish.
While negotiating further could indeed have netted him a few more yuan, it wasn't worth the effort, especially since the shop owner wasn't a beauty; it was best not to waste his words.
Chu Mingcheng brought out the new electronic scale he had just bought. The fish shop owner's eye twitched when he saw this, but he said nothing.
Last night, Zhang Wei had also caught two, so there were 29 fish in total. Weighing them, they were surprised to find a total of 18.3 kilograms, averaging just about 300 grams per fish, totaling 457.5 yuan.
However, the shop owner rounded down, making it an even 450 yuan. Chu Mingcheng didn't complain about the few lost yuan, as stallholders often fuss over small amounts, and more discussion would have been pointless.
After borrowing some clean water to rinse the buckets, Chu Mingcheng bought two breakfasts and then drove to the fishing equipment store first.
"Boss, do you have any recommended spinning rods?"
"Are you going fishing on a boat or from the shore?"
"What's the difference?"
"Well, of course there's a difference. If you're fishing from a boat, the rods don't need to be too long, 2.1 and 2.4 meters are fine. If you're fishing from the shore, you'll need a longer rod for casting, so a 2.7 meter one would work better."
After thinking it over, Chu Mingcheng decided to buy a 2.4 meter rod, which he could use for boat fishing and that could cast twenty to thirty meters, which was sufficient.
If he really needed to do long-distance casting from the shore, he would rather buy another sea rod.
"Then I'll take a 2.4 meter one."
"Sure, I recommend an M-action straight handle spinning rod, especially for beginners. It pairs well with a spinning reel as it doesn't 'scatter rice noodles' like a baitcasting reel, but the downside is that casts aren't as precise, and the sensitivity is also slightly lower."