"By the way, should we go check out the fresh market and see what the seafood prices are like here?"

"Aren't you hungry? Why don't we buy some groceries and go back to cook first?"

"Oh, it won't take long. Let's go have a look first!"

With that, Jiang Luoluo changed course and headed for the seafood market.

The market wasn't far, and they arrived quickly.

As soon as they walked in, the smell of the sea hit them. Because of the iced fish, there was also a fishy odor.

Chu Mingcheng was used to the smell, but he was surprised to see that Jiang Luoluo didn't seem to react at all, instead starting to browse right away.

Following her in, he noticed that the variety of fish here was much greater than in Wenshi.

"Wow, what a huge earth dragon!" Jiang Luoluo had just arrived at a seafood stall when she spotted something good. "Boss, how much for this earth dragon?"

【TN: Earth dragon (土龙) is a type of eel considered a delicacy in Fujian cuisine】

"This is a wild earth dragon, six hundred a jin!"

Chu Mingcheng walked over just then. Seeing that a yellowish eel, only about two or three jin, was selling for six hundred yuan per jin, even he couldn't help but be surprised. That was too expensive!

Jiang Luoluo also smacked her lips, speechless. "Too expensive, I can't afford it!"

The boss, hearing her say it was expensive, said, "We have farmed ones, only a little over two hundred a jin."

"I can't afford two hundred either. Let's look at something else!" Jiang Luoluo waved her hand, speechless, and left with Chu Mingcheng, then began to introduce a famous Minnan delicacy.

【TN: Minnan refers to the Southern Fujian region】

"There's a famous Minnan dish called Muscovy Duck and Earth Dragon Soup, which is made with this earth dragon. But I didn't expect wild earth dragons to be so expensive. I was thinking of learning how to make it and trying it sometime."

"It is expensive, but this earth dragon is probably a local specialty, right? Maybe I'll have a chance to catch one!" Chu Mingcheng secretly memorized what the earth dragon looked like, thinking that if he ever encountered one while spearfishing, he'd have to get some.

The average monthly salary in Xiamen was only five thousand yuan. One of these would cost a third of someone's salary. Most people could probably only afford the farmed ones.

"Mm-hmm, catch a lot and sell them to rich people, then treat me to a big meal, hehe!" Jiang Luoluo's calculations were clever, and Chu Mingcheng was amused by her mischievous look.

But if he did catch one, he was interested in trying this Muscovy Duck and Earth Dragon Soup himself.

The two continued to browse the market. Most of the seafood here was very common.

For example, there were sea bream the size of small door panels. This type of fish was common, but ones this large were not, and he had never encountered any before.

There was also the ugly-cute leather jacket fish, which at first glance looked like a sculpin.

In the end, the two didn't buy any seafood. Instead, they bought some pork ribs, cheese, garlic sauce, and vermicelli noodles.

Jiang Luoluo bought some fruit and yogurt to make two fruit salads for dessert.

Back at the apartment, Chu Mingcheng first soaked the vermicelli noodles to soften them, then started to prepare the lobster.

The two lobsters were not small, each weighing over a jin and a half.

Chu Mingcheng dismantled it first, removing all the meat. He put the head tomalley and roe into a bowl to steam with eggs later.

He cut the meat into small pieces, put it back into the shell, placed it on a baking sheet, and covered it with foil to prevent the tail from burning.

He put it in the oven and baked it at 200 degrees Celsius for three minutes.

Jiang Luoluo was next to him, making the fruit salad. She peeled the fruit, cut it into small pieces, poured yogurt over it, and put it in the refrigerator to cool. They could take it out whenever they wanted to eat it.

Chu Mingcheng then made the mayonnaise. He took a small bowl and first added salad dressing, egg yolk, and sugar, then a little bit of seven-spice powder.

Unfortunately, he hadn't bought any crab roe; otherwise, adding some would have given it a nice texture.

After preparing the mayonnaise, the lobster was also ready.

He took it out, poured the mayonnaise over the lobster meat, added some cheese, and put it back in the oven at 250 degrees Celsius until the cheese was golden brown.

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

"It smells so good, so good." Jiang Luoluo's stomach was already growling. Smelling the aroma, she immediately put down the fruit she was holding and pressed her face against the oven, staring intently at the fragrant cheese lobster inside.

Chu Mingcheng was cutting the vermicelli noodles with scissors. Seeing how hungry she was, he came over to take a look.

Seeing that the cheese was almost ready, he said, "Wait another thirty seconds and you can take it out. You can try it first and see if it's good."

"Okay!" Jiang Luoluo knew Chu Mingcheng was looking out for her, letting her eat something to fill her stomach first. She agreed and gave him a sweet smile.

Her sweet smile was very healing, and Chu Mingcheng felt even more motivated to cook.

Garlic vermicelli lobster was very simple. Just put the vermicelli and lobster in, pour the garlic sauce over it, add some seasoned broth, and bake it in the oven until cooked.

He marinated the pork ribs, then heated a pan with oil and fried them until fragrant.

Finally, Jiang Luoluo went home to get some ice cubes and made two glasses of white vinegar and apple juice. It tasted quite good, but it changed color easily.

But as long as it tasted good, the appearance didn't matter.

Jiang Luoluo picked up a piece of pork rib and chewed on it, her mouth full of grease. "Mmm! Your cooking is so good. I'm so envious of myself—I can come here for free food every day from now on!"

Chu Mingcheng was dumbfounded. What did she mean, envious of herself?

"Luoluo, are you free tomorrow? If not, can I borrow your car? I need to go to the maritime bureau to register for my driver's license exam, and also go to the shipyard to buy a boat."

"Didn't I tell you? I'm off for the next two days. Let's go together tomorrow. I still don't know what the inside of a boat looks like!"

"Alright, we'll go together after lunch tomorrow."

While they were eating, Chu Mingcheng's customer group chat became very lively.

He opened it and saw that the customers had already received their fish and were all posting photos.

Customer 1: "Boss Chu, I received the fish. It's very fresh, and the weight is right. My family loves it."

Customer 2: "I was shocked when I received the fish. I didn't realize how big it was from the photos, but it's huge. The fish is fine, very well preserved. Boss Chu, you have to post in the group first next time you have good stuff!"

Customer 3: "It's completely worth the money. You can't buy fish like this in Wenshi at all. I bought one online before, and it wasn't fresh at all. Boss Chu's fish is the best."

Without exception, the group was full of praise and compliments.

Jiang Luoluo saw him looking at his phone for a long time and said, "What are you looking at? Let's eat first; the food is getting cold."

"It's nothing, just that the customers who bought the fish from Xisha have received them, and they all seem very satisfied."

"Let me see, let me see!" Jiang Luoluo was immediately interested and leaned over.

When she saw that there were twenty-three customers in the group and they were all giving positive reviews, her big eyes curved into crescents, and she was also happy for Chu Mingcheng.

It was clear that he had completed the initial accumulation of customers. As long as he kept at it, his business would surely get better and better.

"By the way, how are your videos coming along? I saw you registered your account, but haven't posted anything."

On this point, Chu Mingcheng was a bit embarrassed. "I've shot some videos, but I haven't had time to edit them and do the voiceover, so I've just left it for now."

Jiang Luoluo nodded, knowing he had been very busy lately and didn't have time to work on videos.

"How about this? As payment for my daily freeloading, I'll spend some time every day helping you edit the videos. But you have to write the script for the video commentary in advance and give it to me, and I'll help you with the voiceover."

Chu Mingcheng shook his head and refused. "Didn't you buy a robotic vacuum cleaner?"

"And you're very busy yourself, and dancing is tiring. You need to rest more."

"I'll have more time after I settle here. Fishing depends on the weather and sea conditions. There will be a period every month when it's not suitable to go out to sea, and then I can make videos at home."

"Mmm! Well, if you need my help, don't be shy." Jiang Luoluo didn't insist. After all, they lived close by, and it was convenient for them to help each other out.

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

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

He had originally planned to borrow eight hundred thousand, but because he had earned a lot in Xisha, he was now borrowing seven hundred thousand.

The night passed. The next day, Chu Mingcheng woke up early, first going for a run to get familiar with the surrounding environment.

After exercising, he returned to the hotel to shower, picked up his suitcase, checked out, and then walked to his new home.

He bought breakfast on the way. He estimated that Jiang Luoluo was still sleeping.

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

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

She stopped beside Chu Mingcheng, looked at his suitcase and the breakfast he was holding, and smiled. "Is that for me?"

"Yeah, I thought you were still in bed. I didn't expect you to be up so early today."

Chu Mingcheng looked at Jiang Luoluo, who had gotten out of the car, and found that her style had changed again today.

She wore a black mesh long-sleeved off-the-shoulder shirt, with casual, loose-fitting jeans on the bottom. Her long hair was tied in a high ponytail, giving her a cool-girl vibe.

She took the breakfast. "You drive today. The maritime bureau is just down University Road. The shipyard is in Haicang District—we have to cross the Haicang Bridge. We can use the navigation to get there."

Chu Mingcheng had no objections. He put his luggage in the trunk first.

Because the money had already arrived, he drove to the shipyard first.

With navigation, he wouldn't get lost.

On the way, Chu Mingcheng passed some small roads and several piers, but he basically didn't see any tricycles, so he asked, "Luoluo, are electric tricycles not allowed here?"

Jiang Luoluo thought for a moment and said, "I don't think so. You get fined if you're caught. You can use my car for now for your fishing. Anyway, besides filming videos, I'm usually at home."

Chu Mingcheng didn't refuse her kind offer. For now, he would only be using it for a while before the end of the year.

When he came back next year, he would drive his car over, and then it wouldn't be so much trouble.

From home to the shipyard, it was about a thirty-kilometer drive. Chu Mingcheng didn't drive fast, and with the traffic lights, it took him fifty minutes to get there.

When he paid the deposit, the salesperson had given him the contact information of the person in charge here. He made a call, and soon someone came out to greet them.