As Jiang Luoluo scattered chum into the water, the school of cobia that had been ready to disperse was drawn back.

Cobia, also known as black kingfish, are generally large fish, with the longest reaching up to two meters in length.

This fish is now widely farmed, so the price of wild cobia has dropped from the previous one hundred yuan per jin to thirty or forty yuan per jin.

Fresh ones like these could sell for forty—a relatively good price.

Cobia, like Spanish mackerel, are particularly fragrant when pan-fried.

But Chu Mingcheng chose to hunt this fish because of their size.

Meter-long specimens were basically twenty jin and up, selling for eight hundred to a thousand yuan each.

Although stone bream and similar fish commanded high unit prices, they were too small—even the larger ones only weighed five or six jin.

The seabream he'd encountered today weren't small, but their average size was only about four jin.

The water he had to dive in was deep, making them difficult targets.

Cobia were large, so the hit rate was naturally higher, and the hunting experience was different.

Now, among the school of cobia in front of Chu Mingcheng, many were around a meter long, and he occasionally spotted even larger specimens.

With his speargun loaded, he approached the edge of the school.

Through careful observation, he locked onto one nearly one and a half meters long—the largest he'd seen so far.

He aimed for the head. A head shot would incapacitate it quickly; hitting elsewhere would guarantee a struggle.

He pulled the trigger, and the spear shot out instantly. The large cobia suddenly flicked its tail and turned its head, barely dodging the strike.

Chu Mingcheng didn't even have time to feel disappointment before he saw his spear pierce a cobia further ahead—and it happened to strike the head perfectly.

The school scattered instantly, but after a few seconds, they regrouped.

With so many fish, losing one or two didn't seem to affect them.

Chu Mingcheng hadn't expected a substitute target. Although much smaller—only a meter long—it was still excellent.

Pierced through the head, the fish was quickly hauled up. Seeing it surface, Jiang Luoluo ran to the steps to help pull the catch aboard.

The stone bream from earlier had all been placed in the fish box and covered with crushed ice, but the cobia was too large, so she had to stack it with the Spanish mackerel. The only problem was insufficient crushed ice.

Fortunately, it would only be for a few hours—not a problem.

Whenever the school showed signs of leaving, Chu Mingcheng had Jiang Luoluo scatter more chum.

Unfortunately, they hadn't expected to encounter such a large school and hadn't prepared enough bait. Within an hour, it was all used up.

During this period, Jiang Luoluo caught another fish, smaller than the previous one—only eighty centimeters long, probably about fifteen jin.

Chu Mingcheng had speared quite a few. Including the first one, he'd taken eight total.

Except for one measuring one and a half meters and weighing forty-three jin, the rest were all around a meter long, each weighing over twenty jin.

Cobia, like Spanish mackerel, have slender bodies, so for the same length, they weigh about half as much as a grouper.

"Luoluo, set the autopilot to return. I'm going to take a shower."

"Okay!"

Jiang Luoluo had taken several good photos of her catches and saved them. This would be perfect material to show off to her friends later.

She was slowly beginning to understand another joy of being an angler.

After Chu Mingcheng went in to shower, she headed to the helm, started the fishing boat, and set course for home.

She already knew how to operate a boat—what she lacked was a license.

However, if she always went out to sea with Chu Mingcheng, having a license didn't really matter. Still, getting one would be more reassuring, and she wouldn't worry about Coast Guard inspections.

When Chu Mingcheng emerged from his shower, he let her continue driving while reminding her to watch for any fishing boats that might appear.

He settled onto the sofa to rest. The big fish today had left him somewhat tired.

Two hours later, they were approaching shore—about ten nautical miles from the pier.

The signal was available here, though weak, but sufficient.

He sent photos of today's catch directly to the group chat.

"I speared some striped beakfish and spotted beakfish today—not many, just twelve. Also, some Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel and cobia, but these two species are quite large, basically all meter-long. Anyone interested?"

He wouldn't sell the swimming crabs to them. Some might die during transport, making loss calculations difficult. Besides, Wenshi had local suppliers, so it was better to sell them locally.

Hearing there was finally a catch, the group chat immediately came alive.

"I've been waiting so long my flowers have withered. Boss Chu has finally gone out to sea to work! I want the beakfish, and I want the mackerel too, but one mackerel is too big. Is anyone willing to split it with me?"

"Yes, yes, I was just worried one would be too much. I'll split it with you."

How they divided it wasn't Chu Mingcheng's concern. At worst, they could split it—half each.

The beakfish sold quickly; all twelve were claimed instantly.

There were seven striped beakfish in total. Weighed live on video, they totaled thirty-one jin and three liang, selling for exactly five thousand yuan, one hundred sixty per jin.

These were all quite large, and seafood prices in Wenshi were generally higher than elsewhere, justifying this price.

Five spotted beakfish totaled seventeen jin and seven liang.

Spotted beakfish prices varied dramatically by region. Three- to four-jin specimens sold for over two hundred in some places, over three hundred in others.

Some even reached over four hundred per jin. A certain "Ah Kuangshan" had bought some before.

This fish was also uncommon in Wenshi, commanding high prices. He sold them for three hundred twenty per jin, totaling five thousand six hundred sixty yuan.

For the remaining mackerel, a group split five fish weighing one hundred eighteen jin and three liang. These were all meter-long specimens; the one-and-a-half-meter giant remained.

The price for meter-long ones was sixty per jin, totaling seven thousand ninety yuan.

Only two people were interested in the cobia, so he sold just two small ones.

Chu Mingcheng simply sold the two that Jiang Luoluo had caught. Together they weighed exactly thirty-six jin. At forty per jin, they sold for one thousand four hundred forty yuan. He transferred the money directly to her.

Jiang Luoluo was thrilled to receive the payment. She'd spent a day having fun and earned over one thousand four hundred yuan—much better than doing commercial performances.

After the group chat, customers bought their fish, Chu Mingcheng had received seventeen thousand seven hundred fifty yuan total, excluding Jiang Luoluo's earnings.

Next, Chu Mingcheng immediately contacted a shipping company. When the boat returned to the pier, he navigated to his berth and docked.

"Luoluo, watch the fish here. I'll go buy packing materials."

"Okay, leave it to me. Go quickly!"

Chu Mingcheng left Jiang Luoluo behind and drove to buy foam boxes and thick, transparent plastic bags.

The five mackerel needed two foam boxes, the beakfish one. These would ship to Wenshi via cold chain—no need for air freight.

There was also a large plastic box for the tiger grouper. After a full day of oxygen running, it remained very healthy.

Being close to Fuzhou, he wouldn't use air freight either. It would arrive tomorrow morning anyway.

Vehicles could transport live fish, with door-to-door delivery guaranteed alive.

Shipping costs weren't cheap, but the Sea King covered these, so it didn't concern him.

He also bought small insurance policies for the fish. If he handed over live fish that arrived dead tomorrow, the shipping company would compensate.

Total shipping cost for the Sea King's fish approached one thousand yuan. Including the eleven thousand purchase price, he'd really bled money this time—his funds burning rapidly.

Returning to the pier, Chu Mingcheng passed the seafood restaurant where he'd sold fish before. Seeing the familiar young waiter, he smiled and greeted him.

"Hey, brother, I'm selling fish today, but they're quite large and numerous, so I can't transport them myself. Can you ask your manager if she's interested, and if so, whether she can arrange trucks to come to the pier?"

"How big are the fish that you can't transport them yourself?" the young waiter asked curiously.

"They're all meter-long big fish, more than a dozen of them. Think my car can handle that?"

"Hiss! So many?"

The young waiter looked shocked. Instead of calling the manager, he approached and asked quietly, "Bro, I want to ask—is spearfishing profitable? Are you hiring?"

Chu Mingcheng looked at him with a half-smile. "Whether spearfishing is profitable depends on finding schools of fish."

"Besides, learning to spearfish isn't easy. First, you must learn to hold your breath and dive without oxygen tanks. I'm not planning to hire anyone right now, sorry."

He'd just started his career and definitely didn't plan on finding a novice to create problems.

As for the future—who knew what it held.

Maybe he'd assemble a small team, or maybe he'd remain a lone wolf.

The rejected young waiter looked disappointed but didn't press further. After a simple "oh," he returned to the shop to call the manager.

Shortly after, the female manager emerged and smiled at Chu Mingcheng. "Boss Chu, next time, just come directly to my office. I heard your fish today are quite large and numerous. What kind are they?"

Chu Mingcheng smiled, not taking her first comment seriously.

Who knew if her boss was around? If so, disturbing them wouldn't be appropriate. After selling the red seabream the second time, he'd heard plenty of gossip.

So he directly reported his catch quantities.

"Five Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel, all meter-long, with one over one and a half meters. Eight cobia, also basically meter-long."

"Plus about forty jin of swimming crabs, all carefully selected and very plump."

"Can you handle so many fish?"

After hearing this, the female manager nodded immediately. "Spanish mackerel and cobia are both popular fish. Of course, we can take them. I'll arrange transportation now."

Seeing that she wanted everything, Chu Mingcheng told her which pier and return to first.

When he got back to the pier and exited his car, he found many people gathered around his boat, including the pier's security guard.

The noisy sounds suggested some kind of dispute had occurred.

Worried something had happened to Jiang Luoluo, Chu Mingcheng rushed over. "Make way! Why are you all crowding around my boat?"

His urgent tone came out harsh.

The onlookers heard his words and realized the boat owner had returned. As they made way, they all wore expressions of anticipation for a good show.

Chu Mingcheng squeezed through the crowd and finally saw the scene. Jiang Luoluo had closed the small gate at the boat's stern and held a long-handled landing net.

She was unharmed, which made him sigh in relief.

"Who are you yelling at?"

The speaker was a thin, dark-skinned middle-aged man. He pointed at Jiang Luoluo with a fierce expression, even attempting to climb aboard.

But Jiang Luoluo defended herself with the landing net. Whenever he reached out, she used the long handle like a staff to strike him.

"What do you mean, yelling at you? You're insane!"

The pier's security guard was just an elderly man trying to mediate from the side but unable to do anything effective.

Chu Mingcheng's eyes flashed with anger. He immediately stepped forward and shoved the thin, dark man away. "What the hell do you want?"

The thin, dark man staggered from the push. Looking up to see a tall man with an intimidating expression standing before the boat, he realized the boat owner had returned.

"Ah Cheng, you're back!" Jiang Luoluo also spotted Chu Mingcheng. Relieved, she immediately complained, "Ah Cheng, this guy's a scoundrel. He saw we had so many fish on our boat and insisted on buying them."

"Originally, I thought you still had half the fish unsold, so I asked his price. But what he offered was less than half the market rate."

"I refused to sell, but he kept lingering, not only speaking rudely but also trying to force his way onto your boat."

"Several people nearby even advised me to just let it go and sell the fish. They were clearly his accomplices."

Jiang Luoluo quickly explained the cause of the dispute, helping Chu Mingcheng understand what had happened.

The thin, dark man knew he was in the wrong. Originally, seeing only a young girl on the boat, he'd wanted to take advantage of the situation.

Who knew Jiang Luoluo would insist on market prices? No matter how much he offered below market rate, she refused to sell.

Later, he thought about causing a scene, and with several fishmongers he knew egging her on, maybe the girl would panic and sell the fish.