However, as the person was gradually pulled ashore, the expressions of the men present turned a little strange, while the women blushed, wanting to look but feeling too embarrassed.

Jiang Luoluo immediately covered Chu Mingcheng's eyes and scolded, "No peeking!"

"..."

Although his eyes were covered, the image was already seared into Chu Mingcheng's mind.

It was fake, but the craftsmanship was excellent, looking just like the real thing. The body hadn't even discolored from being in the water, so it had probably been thrown in recently.

No wonder it had scared off that novice fisherman earlier; even he hadn't realized it was a mannequin.

That's right. As the police officers pulled the "female corpse" onto the bank, its true nature was revealed to everyone.

It was a discarded life-sized doll, extremely realistic in its construction. It must have been expensive.

Although it was a huge misunderstanding, it was good news for the police.

After all, a real murder case would have cast a grim shadow over everything.

Chu Mingcheng and Jiang Luoluo left the scene, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. The incident had killed their mood for any more strolling, so they headed back to the hotel early.

Back in the room, the image from earlier made Chu Mingcheng feel a little hot all over.

If it had been a real person, it would have been horrifying.

But since it was a completely naked doll, and with his girlfriend right there, it was somewhat... invigorating.

"Luoluo, you're not escaping today!" The moment Chu Mingcheng closed the door, he pressed Jiang Luoluo against the wall.

Jiang Luoluo blinked and glanced around the room. "Aren't you afraid of hidden cameras in the hotel?"

"Oh, right. I should check that!" Chu Mingcheng turned off the lights and used his phone's anti-surveillance feature to scan every inch of the room, including every corner of the bathroom.

Finding nothing, he turned the lights back on.

Seeing Chu Mingcheng's gaze return to her, Jiang Luoluo said with a chuckle, "Why don't you take a shower first?"

"Why don't we go together?"

"In your dreams! Go on!"

His shower only took a few minutes. Chu Mingcheng lay on the bed with an excited expression. His girlfriend was being so cooperative today; it seemed his wish was about to be granted!

Then, he waited on the bed for nearly an hour before Jiang Luoluo finally emerged from the bathroom.

"Ah Cheng, I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

Chu Mingcheng's face stiffened. For some reason, he had a feeling that whatever came next would be bad news.

"Well... how about the good news first?"

"The good news is you can get a full night's rest and prepare for our fishing trip."

"..." What kind of good news was that? Chu Mingcheng could already sense the bad news coming.

Sure enough, Jiang Luoluo told him that it was that time of the month...

It dawned on Chu Mingcheng instantly. No wonder she wasn't nervous at all; her period had started.

As her boyfriend, he was aware of her cycle, and after a quick mental calculation, he realized it was indeed that time.

It was like having a bucket of cold water dumped on him. Chu Mingcheng immediately deflated.

Jiang Luoluo came over and hugged him gently, comforting him, “I know you're eager, but don't be. Anyway, I wasn't going to give it to you before we're married, so I would have rejected you today even if this hadn't happened.”

"Doesn't that make you feel a little better?"

Chu Mingcheng looked up at his stunning girlfriend. "Luoluo, listen to me... thank you!"

"No need to thank me. We're past that!" Jiang Luoluo replied with a sweet smile.

But in the next moment, she let out a sudden shriek as Chu Mingcheng pinned her down.

"What are you doing?"

"A full battle is out of the question, but I'm going to collect some interest today."

...

The next day, Chu Mingcheng woke up and couldn't help but lament that ancient times were better.

Before marrying a wife, you could legally and properly take a few concubines first.

It was nothing like modern times, where if your girlfriend said no, you just had to accept your fate and endure the frustration.

Seeing his listless state, Jiang Luoluo felt a pang of guilt.

She slapped him playfully. "Stop daydreaming and get ready. We don't want to be late and make everyone wait for us."

Glancing at his source of future happiness, Chu Mingcheng grinned and hurried to wash up.

Last night, he thought, wasn't a total loss after all!

At nine o'clock, the four of them gathered downstairs, checked out of their rooms, and took a taxi to the pier.

The Sky was already anchored in the nearby waters, and the boat owner was waiting on the dock for his booked clients.

Chu Mingcheng led the group over, paid the fee, and then they all took a small boat piloted by a crew member out to the Sky.

"You can't tell from a distance, but this boat is huge up close!" Chen Yang exclaimed, tilting his head back as the small boat approached the massive vessel.

"It's alright. It's just that I can't afford an aircraft carrier, otherwise I'd get one of those," Zhang Wei said with an air of nonchalance.

He probably hadn't found a "little sweetie" last night; he was the most energetic of the four of them today.

"An aircraft carrier? You couldn't buy one even if you had the money!" Chen Yang's eyelid twitched. He was speechless at his friend's nonsense.

Afterward, the four of them slowly moved their equipment and luggage onto the boat.

There was no need to worry about catching small fish in Nansha, so Chu Mingcheng had brought a total of five rods. Two were for Jiang Luoluo, equipped with the electric reels he had bought in Hangzhou.

He himself had an extra trolling rod for targeting big tuna.

Of course, the three of them who could spearfish had also brought their gear.

This trip to Nansha was for a month. Excluding the six days of travel time, there were twenty-four days left.

Fishing every single day would get monotonous, so trolling and spearfishing were planned as special activities.

Jiang Luoluo had also brought her diving gear. The water in Nansha wasn't cold, and it would be a shame not to dive. She had even prepared her underwater camera.

After boarding the boat, a crew member led them to their rooms on the second floor.

Since they had arrived early, they got rooms 1 through 4, from the innermost to the outermost.

Jiang Luoluo chose the innermost room, number 1, and Chu Mingcheng's was number 2.

Chen Yang picked number 3, and Zhang Wei was stuck with number 4.

After stowing their luggage, Chu Mingcheng took them on a tour to familiarize them with the boat.

They first went up the adjacent staircase to the third deck.

There was a large platform with a few tables where the anglers could have a barbecue.

Their previous trip to Xisha had been too short for such an activity.

But since this trip to Nansha was longer, there would likely be a few barbecue parties.

Inward from the platform was the bridge.

Chu Mingcheng walked in and found it empty. He didn't recognize most of the machinery, which looked incredibly complex.

In reality, however, one person could operate it, though it required a higher-level captain's license.

Next, Chu Mingcheng led them downstairs, showing them the galley and other areas so they wouldn't get lost at mealtimes.

The overall layout of the fishing boat was simple. There were no entertainment rooms, so being on board could get quite boring.

But Chen Yang and Zhang Wei had come prepared. They had each brought a laptop loaded with several large single-player games.

They had also paid for Wi-Fi, and with an internet connection, it was easy to pass the time on the computer.

A short while later, the two of them went back to their rooms to play games, and Chu Mingcheng joined Jiang Luoluo to do the same.

The journey from Hainan to Nansha was a full thousand nautical miles. The Sky wasn't a fast boat, so even traveling day and night, it would take seventy hours.

The boat had one captain and two first mates, allowing them to work in three shifts.

Thus, on the morning of the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, they finally arrived at the Twin Pagoda Reefs in the northwestern part of the Nansha Islands.

"Nansha is so beautiful!" Jiang Luoluo exclaimed repeatedly as she observed the nearby reefs through her binoculars.

She had already found Xisha beautiful when they passed through before. But now that she was in Nansha, she realized it was no less stunning.

Besides, they had only been passing through before, so the view wasn't as direct.

Now, seeing Nansha up close, she understood what true maritime beauty was.

Girls love to share, so Jiang Luoluo immediately made a video call to Zhou Jiayi to show her the stunning scenery.

But someone else was faster. The moment Chen Yang stepped out, he was already on a video call with Zhou Jiayi, sharing the view.

"Looks like they're getting along well," Chu Mingcheng said with a smile.

"Oh, never mind them. Are we fishing or diving today?" Jiang Luoluo put down her phone and asked.

"We'll wait for the crew's announcement, but I think this spot is probably better for trolling or diving."

As Chu Mingcheng had predicted, they could fish from the boat today, or they could go trolling.

Of course, those with the skills could rent a small boat for spearfishing. Being close to the reefs, it was an excellent location for it.

"Then let's rent a small boat and go spearfishing. We've been on this boat for days—I feel like my bones are getting rusty!"

Hearing that spearfishing was an option, Chu Mingcheng immediately chose that activity.

For boat fishing, deep-sea night fishing was the most exciting. The seven-banded grouper he had seen in Wenzhou had left a deep impression on him.

As for trolling, it was only fun when there were schools of tuna. Mackerel and the like were not interesting at all.

With Chu Mingcheng choosing to spearfish, Zhang Wei and Chen Yang naturally joined in. Renting one boat for the four of them was very cost-effective.

They first changed into their gear in their rooms, then, carrying their spearguns, they were lowered into the water on a small boat.

Since they weren't trolling, they didn't need a crew member to pilot the boat. Chu Mingcheng drove the small boat himself towards the nearest coral reef cluster.

In just over ten minutes, they were above a stretch of coral reef.

This was another area of crystal-clear water, where you could see the underwater scenery clearly from the boat.

"Ah Wei, you two team up and be careful. I'll take Luoluo to the shallows nearby for a bit."

"Don't worry, the deepest it gets around here is about ten meters. We'll be fine."

After splitting into groups, Chen Yang and Zhang Wei were the first to get into the water, swimming towards the deeper areas with their float buoys, though they didn't go too far.

Chu Mingcheng then got into the water as well, tying a rope to a piece of coral to anchor the boat.

Then, he stabilized the boat so that Jiang Luoluo could safely get into the water.