As a Fisherman, My Fish Can Level Up

Chapter 105: Chapter 105 I Envy Myself

“Right, shall we go to the fresh market to check out the seafood prices here?”

“Aren’t you hungry? Why don’t we buy some groceries and go back to cook?”

“Oh, it won’t make much difference. Let’s go take a look first!”

Having said that, Jiang Luoluo headed towards the seafood market.

The seafood market was not far, and they arrived quickly.

As soon as they walked in, the smell of the ocean hit their noses. Because of the iced fish, there was a bit of a fishy smell.

Chu Mingcheng was used to this smell, but he was surprised to see Jiang Luoluo walking around as if unaffected.

Following her inside, he noticed that the variety of fish in this market was far greater than in Wen City.

“Wow, look at the size of that Earth Dragon!” Jiang Luoluo just reached a seafood shop and spotted something good, “Boss, how much for this Earth Dragon?”

“This wild Earth Dragon is six hundred per pound!”

Chu Mingcheng also came over, and seeing that the sandy yellow eel was only two to three pounds but was being sold for six hundred, he couldn’t help but be astounded by the high price!

Jiang Luoluo also grimaced, “Too pricey, can’t afford it!”

Hearing her remark about the price, the owner said, “There are farm raised ones too, just over two hundred per pound.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on ṅονǤ0.сο

“Over two hundred is still too expensive, let’s look at something else!” Jiang Luoluo waved her hand dismissively and moved on with Chu Mingcheng, then started to talk about a Southern Fujian delicacy.

“There’s a famous dish in Southern Fujian called ‘Pomfret Earth Dragon Soup’ that uses this Earth Dragon. Though, I didn’t expect the wild ones to be so expensive; I had wanted to learn to make it myself if there was a chance.”

“It is expensive, but this Earth Dragon must be a specialty here; maybe I’ll have a chance to catch some!” Chu Mingcheng noted the appearance of the Earth Dragon, thinking about catching some if he came across them while diving for fish.

In Xia City, the average monthly salary of ordinary people is only five thousand, a single one would cost them a third of their wages, so probably only the farm-raised ones are affordable for most people.

“Yeah, catch more and sell it to the rich, then treat me to a big meal, hehe!” Jiang Luoluo’s planning was spot on, which amused Chu Mingcheng with her calculative little antics.

However, if he did catch some, he was indeed interested in trying out the Pomfret Earth Dragon Soup himself.

After that, the two continued to browse the market, where most of the seafood was quite common.

Like the True Sea Bream as big as small doors, this type of fish was common, but ones this large were rare, and he had never encountered them before.

The funny-looking armored catfish, on the first glance one might mistake it for a Daddy Fish.

Eventually, they didn’t buy much seafood, but bought some pork ribs, cheese, garlic sauce, and vermicelli.

Jiang Luoluo also bought some fruits and yogurt to make two servings of fruit salad as a dessert after the meal.

Back at home, Chu Mingcheng first soaked the vermicelli in water to soften it, then started processing the lobster.

Both lobsters were quite large, each weighing over a pound and a half.

Chu Mingcheng first dismantled one, removed all the meat, and poured the lobster brains and roe into a bowl for later to steam with eggs.

The lobster meat was cut into small pieces, then placed back in the shell on a baking tray, covered with foil to prevent the tails from burning.

Put into the oven, baked at 200 degrees Celsius for three minutes.

Jiang Luoluo was preparing the fruit salad next to him, peeling the fruits, cutting them into small pieces, pouring yogurt over them, and placing them in the fridge’s preservation compartment to cool down, so they could grab and eat them whenever they wanted.

Chu Mingcheng then prepared the egg yolk sauce, took a small bowl, added some mayonnaise, egg yolks, and sugar, followed by some shichimi.

It was a pity he didn’t buy crab roe; otherwise, it would have added a nice texture.

After preparing the egg yolk sauce, the lobster was ready.

He took it out, poured the egg yolk sauce over the lobster meat, added some cheese, and continued baking in the oven at 250 degrees, just until the cheese browned.

Soon, the aroma of the cheese wafted from the oven.

“It smells so good.” Jiang Luoluo was already starving, and upon smelling the delicious scent, immediately dropped her fruits and pressed herself against the oven, closely watching the cheesy lobster inside.

Chu Mingcheng was cutting the vermicelli with scissors and seeing her cravings, came over to check.

Noticing that the cheese was almost done, he said, “Just another thirty seconds and it can be taken out; you try the taste first, see if it’s good.”

“Sure!” Jiang Luoluo, all too aware that Chu Mingcheng was looking out for her by letting her eat first to satisfy her hunger, agreed cheerfully and gave him a sweet smile.

Her sweet smile was incredibly healing, and it motivated Chu Mingcheng more as he cooked.

Garlic vermicelli lobster was simple—vermicelli and lobster topped with garlic sauce and some seasoned broth, then baked until done.

He marinated the pork ribs and then heated the pot with oil; frying pork ribs was also very fragrant.

Finally, Jiang Luoluo brought some ice cubes from her house and made two glasses of apple vinegar juice, which tasted quite delightful, even though it changed color easily.

But as long as it tasted good, looks didn’t matter.

Jiang Luoluo picked up a piece of pork ribs and gnawed on it, her mouth oily, “Mmm~your cooking skills are still so good, I envy myself; I can come here to mooch meals every day!”

Chu Mingcheng couldn’t help but chuckle, What does it mean to envy oneself?

“Luoluo, are you free tomorrow? If you are, can I borrow your car? I need to go to the Maritime Bureau to register for a driving test and while I’m at it, buy a boat.”

“Didn’t I tell you, I’m off for the next couple of days. Let’s go together tomorrow, I don’t even know what the interior of the boat looks like!”

“Alright, after we eat lunch tomorrow, we’ll go together.”

While they were eating, Chu Mingcheng’s customer group suddenly became very lively.

He opened it to find that the customers had already received their fish, each of them posting photos.

Customer one: “Boss Chu, the fish has arrived, it’s very fresh, and there’s no shortage in weight, my family loves it.”

Customer two: “I got a shock when I received the fish. It didn’t look that big in the photos, but it was huge when I picked it up. The fish is fine, preserved very well. Boss Chu, make sure to post in the group first when you have good stuff in the future!”

Customer three: “Completely worth it, these fish are simply not available in Wen City. I bought one online before, and it wasn’t fresh at all, Boss Chu’s fish is much better.”

Without exception, the group was filled with praises and positive reviews.

Seeing him looking down at his phone for a long time, Jiang Luoluo asked, “What are you looking at? Eat first, the dishes are getting cold.”

“Nothing much, the customers from Xisha have already received the fish, and everyone seems very satisfied.”

“Let me see, let me see!” Jiang Luoluo suddenly became interested upon hearing this and quickly leaned over.

Seeing there were twenty-three customers in the group, all giving good reviews, her eyes curved into crescents, and she too felt happy for Chu Mingcheng.

Clearly, he had successfully built up an initial customer base, and as long as he kept at it, his career would surely get better and better.

“By the way, how’s your video shooting going? I noticed you registered your account but haven’t seen much activity.”

Regarding this, Chu Mingcheng felt a bit embarrassed, “I did shoot some videos, but I haven’t really had time to edit and do the voiceovers, so I just left it for now.”

Jiang Luoluo nodded, understanding his recent busyness, indeed leaving no time for videos.

“How about this, as a token of appreciation for me mooching meals off you every day, I’ll set aside some time every day to edit your videos. But you have to write the script for the video text in advance, and then I’ll do the voiceover when the time comes.”

Chu Mingcheng shook his head in refusal, “Didn’t you buy a robot vacuum cleaner?

“And you’re also busy, and dancing is exhausting, you need to rest more.”

“I’ll have more time after coming here. Fishing really depends on the weather and sea conditions. There will be times each month when it’s not suitable to go out to sea, and then I could make videos at home.”

“Hmm~ don’t hesitate to ask for my help then.” Jiang Luoluo wasn’t insistent, as they lived close by, it was convenient to help each other anyway.

After eating, Jiang Luoluo helped clean up the dishes and then drove Chu Mingcheng to the hotel.

At the hotel, Chu Mingcheng updated his parents on his current situation and asked them to transfer the money to him.

Originally borrowing eight hundred thousand, but since he made a good sum at Xisha, he now only needed seven hundred thousand.

A night passed, and the next day Chu Mingcheng woke up early, went for a run to exercise and familiarize himself with the surroundings.

After the exercise, he returned to the hotel, took a shower, packed his luggage, checked out, and headed to his new home.

On the way, he bought breakfast, guessing that Jiang Luoluo was probably still sleeping.

But this time, he guessed wrong. She also woke up early today and was putting on makeup.

Coincidentally, as Chu Mingcheng arrived outside the complex, he saw Jiang Luoluo’s car just driving out.

She stopped next to Chu Mingcheng, looked at the luggage and breakfast he was holding, and smiled brightly, “Is that for me?”

“Yeah, I thought you weren’t awake yet, I didn’t expect you to be up so early.”

Chu Mingcheng looked at Jiang Luoluo as she got out of the car, and noticed her style had changed again today.

She wore a black mesh long-sleeve off-the-shoulder shirt, casual loose jeans, and her long hair was tied into a high ponytail, giving her a cool girl vibe.

She took the breakfast, “Today, you drive. The Maritime Bureau is straight along University Road, and the boatyard is in Hai Cang District. We have to cross Hai Cang Bridge, then navigate there.”

Chu Mingcheng naturally had no objections, and placed the luggage into the trunk of the car.

Since the money had been transferred, he first drove towards the boatyard.

Having navigation, they wouldn’t get lost.

On the way, Chu Mingcheng passed several small roads and a few docks but barely saw any tricycles, so he asked, “Luoluo, are electric tricycles not allowed here?”

Jiang Luoluo thought for a moment and answered, “Seems like they’re not, you get fined if caught. You can use my car for fishing in the meantime, I only need it for shooting videos, otherwise I’m mostly at home.”

Chu Mingcheng didn’t refuse her kind offer as he only needed to use it until the end of the year.

Next year, when he comes back, he will drive himself over, so it won’t be so troublesome.

It was about thirty kilometers from home to the boatyard, Chu Mingcheng drove at a moderate speed, and due to traffic lights, it took them fifty minutes to arrive.

When he had made the down payment, the salesperson had given him the contact of the person in charge here. After he made a call, someone quickly came out to greet them.