When the four-hour Fish Gathering effect ended, Chu Mingcheng was already two kilometers from his starting point.

The pleco count on the data panel had only increased by a few, indicating most of the buried plecos were still alive and would probably take time to die.

After burying the last few plecos, Chu Mingcheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He couldn't even calculate how many plecos there were—the number was mind-numbing.

But apart from the first spot where plecos were overwhelming, the next two locations were much less impressive.

Tomorrow morning, his Life Conversion count should be very abundant.

Feeling somewhat tired, Chu Mingcheng decisively used one charge.

The fatigue immediately lessened considerably, his stamina recovered by more than half, and his physical fitness was slightly enhanced.

He first drove to the fishing boat, retrieved the cast net, washed it clean, and then hung it on the boat's side to dry.

Back home, it was already four-thirty.

He first showered, then went to Jiang Luoluo's house and found her still working intently.

She was so absorbed that she didn't even notice his arrival. Chu Mingcheng took a bottle of yogurt from her refrigerator.

He cut some apples and bananas, poured yogurt over them, then carried the plate into the dance studio.

"Luoluo, have some fruit and take a break. It's almost five o'clock."

"Huh? Ah Cheng, when did you get back?" Jiang Luoluo was very surprised to see him, because she hadn't noticed any movement from her front door.

"Just now—you were too engrossed in your choreography," Chu Mingcheng said, handing her a fork.

"Really!" Jiang Luoluo didn't mind and sat cross-legged to eat. "By the way, is the crane on the fishing boat installed?"

"Yes, it's installed!"

"Then what were you in such a hurry to do this afternoon?"

Speaking of this, Jiang Luoluo's eyes held a hint of reproach. She'd wanted to ask during lunch, but he'd already run off before she could react.

"Nothing much. I was planning to fish for some crucian carp to make tofu soup tonight, but ended up fishing for plecos all afternoon!" Chu Mingcheng explained, half-truthfully.

There was no need to tell even the closest people about things like Life Conversion. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, but knowing more wasn't necessarily beneficial.

If she knew, Chu Mingcheng had a feeling that after he turned forty, this woman would urge him to fish for alligator gars and catch plecos during the day, then use Life Conversion to sustain himself at night while she enjoyed herself.

Jiang Luoluo shivered at his strange look and quickly crossed her arms protectively. "What bad things are you thinking about?"

"Nothing, I really wasn't!" Chu Mingcheng also shivered and after snapping back to reality, waved his hands repeatedly.

But Jiang Luoluo didn't believe him. She looked around, then down at herself.

Seeing the yogurt, she couldn't help but wipe the corner of her mouth. Seeing a bit of white on her finger, her face immediately flushed red.

"I'll show you what happens when you think bad things!" Jiang Luoluo's face went crimson as she launched herself at him, swatting with rapid little punches like an indignant kitten.

"Stop hitting me, stop hitting! I really wasn't!" Chu Mingcheng was completely bewildered by the beating and quickly got up to flee, then was driven out of the dance studio.

"You reflect on yourself. Next time you think bad things, see if I don't beat you up."

Jiang Luoluo tried to look menacing as she wagged her finger at him threateningly. Just thinking about what had happened made her heart race wildly in her chest.

Whether it was more shyness or anger, only she knew.

Chu Mingcheng was a bit confused, but regarding thinking bad things, he had indeed imagined some indescribable scenarios, so he felt slightly guilty.

But he was also incredulous. After all, he'd just imagined what married life might be like after twenty years. How could she have noticed?

Looking at the closed dance studio door, Chu Mingcheng was puzzled and could only call out, "I'll go make dinner first. Remember to come out and eat later!"

There was no answer from inside. He didn't mind and went back to prepare dinner.

He didn't know that Jiang Luoluo was inside, looking at the fruit salad, and didn't know how to continue eating it.

Fortunately, by dinner time, she'd returned to normal.

While eating, Jiang Luoluo brought up a question she'd been considering all afternoon.

"Ah Cheng, I actually think your fishing boat is too small. It's somewhat limiting."

"How so?" If Chu Mingcheng hadn't seen that large boat today, he definitely wouldn't have thought his boat was small.

But after seeing it, he did feel his boat's size was problematic.

Mainly, the range was too short—he couldn't reach distant locations.

Jiang Luoluo then presented her viewpoint: "From when you started going to sea, as long as you find places with rich resources, your harvests are particularly ideal.

"However, coastal water resources are limited. As time passes, you'll need to constantly find new resource points. If you only rely on old locations, your income will gradually decrease, and big harvests will become difficult.

"And you can't always be spearfishing and angling in coastal waters. Obviously, the open sea or even the high seas are more suitable for you.

"In that case, you need a large boat capable of reaching the open sea or high seas."

Of course, this "large boat" was relative to Jiang Luoluo's perspective. Even a twenty-four-meter fishing boat was still tiny compared to truly large fishing vessels, let alone cargo ships or aircraft carriers.

"Of course, a big boat would be better, but I can't afford it!" It wasn't that Chu Mingcheng didn't want one—the issue was money.

"I think you could get a mortgage. If that's not enough, I can lend it to you or even count it as my investment." Jiang Luoluo said seriously, "I believe if you can reach the open sea, your earning speed will be remarkable.

"And after ordering a boat, it's not launched immediately. I think if we order now, we could get the boat quite quickly after next year's fishing moratorium ends."

Not expecting Jiang Luoluo to have thought so far ahead, Chu Mingcheng said with a wry smile, "Didn't Chen Yang say he wanted to develop here? I was originally thinking of tricking him into buying a big boat, then just hitching rides when I go to the open sea."

"Why hitch rides on someone else's boat when we can buy our own?" Jiang Luoluo countered.

Seeing she was putting his interests first, Chu Mingcheng took a breath and grew serious: "A Category I fishing boat that can reach the high seas costs at least three million.

"But, if it meets our requirements, it's estimated to cost over five million. Are you sure we can afford it?

"To be honest, I don't want a mortgage. The interest is too much. After buying it, I'd become a boat slave."

"Five million..." Hearing that Chu Mingcheng didn't want a mortgage, Jiang Luoluo took out her phone and checked her account. "It's okay. Anyway, you only need to pay a deposit when ordering—just 20%.

"We can work hard for the rest. It should be about right by delivery time next year."

Chu Mingcheng was silent for three seconds, then suddenly rushed to Jiang Luoluo's side and hugged her thigh.

"My lady, I'm obviously destined to be a trophy husband! After nearly thirty years of hardship, I've finally found my meal ticket!"

God, she's so... No, bad thoughts! Though these pants are really in the way...

"You impossible man!" Jiang Luoluo's cheeks burned as she felt his wandering hand, and she immediately started swatting at him with renewed vigor.

After playing around for a while, the two discussed buying a large boat and made a verbal agreement to contribute 50% each.

Chu Mingcheng had always known Jiang Luoluo's intentions.

It was just that he'd only been building his career for a short time, and rushing things rarely worked out well.

But now that he had a capable partner willing to help accelerate his growth, Chu Mingcheng wasn't too proud to accept assistance. He'd always been practical above all else.

With them splitting costs fifty-fifty, though, the financial pressure was intense.

He probably wouldn't be able to repay his parents and might even need to borrow more from them.

...

The next day, Chu Mingcheng was dragged to the shipyard by Jiang Luoluo early in the morning.

They'd only preliminarily discussed it yesterday, and today they were looking at boats. She was truly decisive.

Ordering a boat definitely required comparing several companies, but they still went to where he'd bought his previous boat.

Hearing that Chu Mingcheng was planning to order a Category I fishing boat, the sales representative who received him was all smiles.

The specific boat model—they had a reference from yesterday.

But Chu Mingcheng had other requirements for the layout. First, he only needed two bedrooms, then he wanted a dance studio.

Hearing he wanted a dance studio, the sales representative was dumbfounded.

But looking at the beautiful Jiang Luoluo beside him, he understood somewhat.

A dance studio wasn't difficult to install—flooring, a mirror wall, air conditioning, and a sound system. As for soundproofing, it wasn't necessary. They'd be at sea—what neighbors were there to disturb?

And if they took people to sea, if rooms were insufficient, people could sleep on the dance studio floor. No worries about a lack of sleeping space.

Second, the cold storage had to be large. The livewell and live bait well could be external to avoid taking up interior space.

After discussing feasibility with the designer, they began roughly designing a 23.8-meter-long, 6.2-meter-wide Category I fishing boat.

The cold storage had to be 20 square meters—as large as a normal bedroom.

But with large cold storage, the refrigeration unit also had to be substantial, making the price much higher.

Two 1000-horsepower inboard engines, with a maximum speed of around twenty-five knots and cruising speed of eighteen knots.

The fuel tank was expanded to maximum, with a 700-nautical-mile range, which was completely sufficient.

Additionally, there were many refueling tankers at sea. Range wasn't the problem—whether their pockets had enough money to burn was.

As for seawater desalination equipment, this needed a separate addition. The more equipment added, the higher the cost.

He could also install wireless devices, so he'd have a signal at sea in the future.

Finally, for decoration, ordinary decoration plus necessary equipment brought the estimated price to five million eight hundred thousand.

Higher-grade decoration would reach six million five hundred thousand.

Second, the price difference between domestic and imported hardware, like inboard engines, was substantial.

If imported, the whole boat's price could exceed eight million. Domestic was the previous price.

After spending a morning, the boat's price was roughly estimated, but details definitely needed recalculation. Even if Chu Mingcheng wanted to finalize today, it was impossible.

After understanding the approximate price, they left and visited other shipyards.

They found that according to their requirements, several shipyards' prices were similar, some even more expensive.

At least Chu Mingcheng had bought a boat from the first one, and they were willing to offer better discounts.

Of course, mortgage discounts were more superficial, but he wasn't willing.

Finally, after discussion, they decided to buy from the first shipyard and called for a quote as soon as possible.

Back in the evening, Chu Mingcheng contacted Lu Zheqiang in Qiongzhou and asked about wooden speargun prices.

Hearing he wanted to hunt large fish, Lu Zheqiang was very thoughtful and offered many suggestions. Finally, he helped introduce an excellent wooden speargun for thirteen thousand yuan.

This price was acceptable to Chu Mingcheng. Though expensive, it could be used long-term.