To his surprise, Jiang Luoluo proved unexpectedly difficult to deal with. As they argued, his temper flared.

To put it bluntly, she was just a young girl here alone. He felt emboldened to bully her.

If Chu Mingcheng had been present, he would have left when they couldn't agree on a price.

Now, having been pushed and nearly falling, the thin, dark man became even more aggressive. "Hey, my back's hurt. You pushed me. Not only do you curse and hit people, but now you're trying to stop me from leaving. Today, you either sell me the fish or pay me compensation."

"Disturbing the peace should get you a few days in detention, right? You don't have to call the police—we will! Luoluo, make the call. The pier has surveillance cameras!" Chu Mingcheng sneered.

This thin, dark man looked old, probably in his fifties.

Judging by his behavior, he was probably still living in the past.

Did he think he could get away with throwing a tantrum and playing the victim?

"Hey, I'm calling the police right now!" Jiang Luoluo hadn't called the police before because she was afraid the thin, dark man would take the opportunity to climb onto the boat.

Now that Chu Mingcheng was back and had told her to call the police, she didn't hesitate.

Hearing about surveillance cameras and the police being called, the thin, dark man immediately panicked and tried to leave.

Chu Mingcheng had no intention of letting him go so easily. He immediately grabbed him by the collar.

He had plenty of time now. Even if it took until midnight, he was ready to see it through.

"Hey, what are you doing? Cursing and hitting people wasn't enough—now you won't let me leave?"

"Why didn't you think about this when you were bullying my friend?" Chu Mingcheng sneered and looked around.

The people surrounding them were clearly fishermen and fishmongers. They'd been enjoying the show, and some had even joined the thin, dark man in heckling Jiang Luoluo to sell the fish.

Chu Mingcheng didn't know who they were, but he wanted to make it clear to everyone at this pier that just because they were young didn't mean they were easy targets.

They all made their living from the sea. With tens of thousands of yuan worth of fish on his boat, it wasn't surprising that some people with poor character would be envious—and these people weren't young.

It wasn't that Chu Mingcheng looked down on people from the past, but those who made their living from the sea in that era were born in small local fishing villages.

Some of those rural areas back then were actually quite chaotic, with low education levels, and many were illiterate.

All sorts of outrageous things could happen, and the evil in some people could be astonishing.

Of course, there were also simple, honest people—quite a few of them. You couldn't paint everyone with the same brush.

Just then, seeing the thin, dark man being held by Chu Mingcheng, an old woman nearby spoke up. "Young man, that's enough. You just had a little argument—no need to call the police."

As soon as one person spoke up, another immediately followed, turning the tables. "What kind of logic is it to hold someone and not let them go? First, you hit and curse them—isn't that just bullying?"

"That's right, young people these days have no manners!"

Chu Mingcheng looked at the people speaking and chuckled. "No wonder there's a saying now: it's not that old people have gone bad, it's that bad people have gotten old. You few who are speaking probably weren't good people in the past either!"

A wave of mockery made the onlookers laugh, while the few who'd spoken were immediately triggered and started cursing loudly.

The thin, dark man being held saw his chance and was about to slip away when police from nearby happened to arrive.

It wasn't a big deal, and the police had come to mediate.

Chu Mingcheng's earlier talk of calling the police and mentioning surveillance was partly a bluff. He'd only guessed that the pier would have cameras, but he wasn't sure if they could capture this area.

His main goal was to accuse the other party of disturbing the peace. Even if there was no evidence and he couldn't press charges, at least it would make it clear to the people who worked at this pier that messing with him would be troublesome.

As long as he appeared strong, at least he could have some peace at the pier in the future. He didn't rely on fishmongers to sell his goods anyway.

As it turned out, this was not a small pier.

There were indeed surveillance cameras, mainly to prevent boats docked here from being maliciously damaged without finding the culprit. Basically, every berth could be filmed. He hadn't expected the evidence to come so easily.

The thin, dark man was taken away. The few who'd been cursing loudly had already slipped away when they saw the situation turn bad.

Chu Mingcheng was supposed to go with them to give a statement, but after he negotiated with the police, they agreed to let him sell his fish first.

As for Jiang Luoluo, she went ahead.

The shipping company had actually arrived long ago, but had to wait because of the incident.

After the police left, Chu Mingcheng immediately started packing. The ordered fish were quickly sent out.

Half an hour later, the seafood restaurant manager arrived late in a pickup truck with two waiters.

Of the remaining five mackerel, four were meter-long, totaling ninety-six jin, for five thousand seven hundred sixty yuan.

The one-and-a-half-meter specimen weighed thirty-seven jin and nine liang. At eighty per jin, it came to three thousand thirty-two yuan.

The eight cobia were all priced at forty yuan per jin. The one-and-a-third-meter one didn't get a price increase—even a one-and-a-half-meter one would be the same.

The total weight was two hundred seven jin, which came to eight thousand two hundred eighty yuan.

Chu Mingcheng was happy with their cooperation, so he didn't mind this pricing.

For the jin-class swimming crabs, the price differed for males and females.

Males were eighty, females one hundred. Twenty-seven jin sold for two thousand two hundred seventy yuan total.

The smaller ones were sold together at sixty yuan per jin. Sixteen jin came to nine hundred sixty yuan.

Chu Mingcheng calculated his income for the day and found it had reached forty-eight thousand yuan, and his savings had broken one hundred thousand.

He then drove Jiang Luoluo's car to the police station to give his statement and pick her up.

As for the thin, dark man, he had a good attitude about admitting his mistake.

But his actions still constituted forcibly taking another's property, insulting and intimidating others, and causing a disturbance in a public place, leading to chaos.

However, the circumstances weren't serious. According to the police, he would probably be detained for one to six days. The specific result would take some time.

Chu Mingcheng's act of pushing the man was also captured by surveillance cameras, so he was also warned, but fortunately, nothing serious happened.

In today's society, it is better to talk than to fight—the opposite of how things used to be.

After giving their statements, the two left the police station.

It was already completely dark, and their stomachs had long been protesting.

Chu Mingcheng drove while glancing at Jiang Luoluo, who sat quietly in the passenger seat. He thought she might have been scared by the afternoon's events and felt somewhat sorry and apologetic.

"Luoluo, I made so much money today. Whatever you want to eat, just say the word. My treat!"

Hearing this, Jiang Luoluo's originally vacant eyes became lively again. Apparently, she'd been spacing out. As for whether she'd been scared by the afternoon's events, only she knew.

She tilted her head cutely and thought for a moment. "I want to eat barbecue skewers with beer. Can you have a few bottles with me tonight?"

"By the way, let's buy them and eat at home. I don't want to drink outside."

"Sure, whatever you want!"

Jiang Luoluo gave him the address, and they went to an open-air barbecue stall. The business was booming, so the owner's barbecue skills must be excellent.

"Boss, twenty lamb skewers, ten corn skewers, five chicken hearts, two lamb chops…"

Jiang Luoluo went up and rattled off a long list, as if she were going to eat a mountain.

But in reality, barbecue skewers in some parts of the South were quite modest.

In some parts of the north, a hundred skewers might be enough to feed five or more southerners.

But in the south, a hundred skewers might not even fill one northerner's stomach.

Jiang Luoluo seemed to have ordered a lot, but it only cost Chu Mingcheng a little over two hundred yuan.

They took the grilled food to go. Chu Mingcheng also bought a case of beer, and they headed home.

"Cheers!"

With a thud, two beer cans clinked together.

The two had returned home and were now sitting on the sofa in Jiang Luoluo's house, with the barbecue skewers and beer on the coffee table.

After a few sips to wet his throat, Chu Mingcheng began to feast.

One skewer per bite, one skewer per bite. It felt troublesome and not satisfying enough. Didn't these southern barbecue stall owners understand the pleasure of eating meat in big bites?

Jiang Luoluo had been eating quite elegantly, but seeing him eat like a reincarnated hungry ghost, she forgot about her image and joined the fray.

"You've already eaten more than ten lamb skewers—give me the rest! Sob, sob, sob, that dried tofu is mine…"

But how could a woman's eating speed compare to a man's? Unable to compete, Jiang Luoluo became flustered and started pounding on Chu Mingcheng.

"You're too much, you Chu Mingcheng! You said you'd treat me to dinner!"

Chu Mingcheng laughed and lay down on the sofa, letting her have her way. "Didn't I treat you?"

"You ate more than half of it yourself. You call that treating me to dinner?"

"I only said I'd treat…"

"I don't care!"

After a while, Jiang Luoluo was tired of hitting him. She caught her breath, tidied her messy hair, and went back to her seat to continue eating her barbecue.

But as she ate, she saw Chu Mingcheng deliberately put on a pitiful, bullied expression and burst out laughing, almost spitting out the barbecue in her mouth.

"Hey, what's with that expression?"

"Isn't that how people in TV shows act after they've been bullied?"

"You're not that exaggerated."

"Sigh, it seems I have no talent for acting. Otherwise, with a face that's only a little bit worse than the readers', wouldn't I be able to crush all the pretty boys in the entertainment industry?"

Chu Mingcheng sat up, straightened his clothes, and sighed.

"Your shamelessness has already crushed over ninety percent of the people in the country, okay? How many people are there in the entertainment industry? They're nothing!" Jiang Luoluo rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face had grown.

Seeing this, Chu Mingcheng knew she probably wasn't affected by the afternoon's events and relaxed.

They chatted, drank beer, watched a ball game, and complained about the national football team.

But after they finished the barbecue and were halfway through their drinks, Jiang Luoluo "passed out."

Looking at her slightly trembling eyelashes, Chu Mingcheng sighed lightly. Was this a test for a cadre?

But it was getting late. He went over and picked her up in his arms.

He saw her hands subconsciously wrap around his neck. The corners of Chu Mingcheng's mouth curved up slightly. She was a good actress!

Sure enough, a hundred-jin fish was too heavy to carry, but a hundred-jin woman was easy to hold.

Carrying Jiang Luoluo into her room, Chu Mingcheng turned on the light and looked around. It had a very girly feel.

He gently placed her on the bed and was about to get up and leave.

But her hands were still wrapped around his neck, not letting him go.

Chu Mingcheng's eyebrows shot up. Were they skipping the relationship part and getting straight to the point?