By the time he finished selling the fish, it was already getting late. Chu Mingcheng hurried home to feed Mimi, who was getting a steamed, dried mackerel for dinner in addition to her usual cat food.

He carefully picked the meat off the fish, removed and discarded the small bones from the spine, then cut the remaining spine into smaller pieces. He mixed it all with the fish meat and head and served it to Mimi.

She ate with great gusto. Perhaps because she'd grown up as a stray, she wasn't picky like some pets.

After giving her a few satisfying pets, Chu Mingcheng gently felt her belly. It seemed to be getting bigger. A flicker of worry went through him. He decided to skip fishing tomorrow and take her to the vet for a check-up instead.

He drove back into town and arrived home just in time to see his father deliver a swift thwack, chopping the head off the outstretched neck of the soft-shelled turtle.

Chu Mingcheng winced. That was one fast, ruthless, and precise strike.

An Xiuwen was helping out, currently preparing a black-boned chicken. Seeing him, she asked, "Where are Wei and Yang?"

"They get off work at five, so they should be here around five-thirty," Chu Mingcheng replied. A full afternoon of fishing had left him a bit tired, especially his arms. He felt like his biceps had been getting more defined lately, and he could even faintly see a four-pack on his abdomen.

Dinner was still a little while away, so Chu Mingcheng flopped onto the sofa and pulled out his phone to search for solutions to getting snagged while rock fishing. He hadn't expected to lose so many lines and get snagged so many times today. The monetary loss was nothing, but losing that big fish was a real shame.

He first found a technique using a reverse-barb hook, which required changing out his current hooks. Another method was the "A-float" technique 【TN: a type of slip-bobber fishing】. The videos provided detailed explanations, emphasizing the importance of finding the bottom and suggesting he could buy some specialized sinkers designed for depth-finding.

Having found some solutions, Chu Mingcheng saved the specifics of both methods in his phone, making a special note of the gear he needed to buy. He couldn't help but wonder why the people in the videos, who also got their hooks snagged, never seemed to get stuck on the bottom. Maybe they edited those parts out?

Just as he was finishing his research, his father's "Farewell My Concubine" 【TN: a famous dish made with turtle and chicken】 was ready. Coincidentally, Zhang Wei and Chen Yang arrived at that exact moment.

"Uncle Chu, Auntie An, we're here! Wow, something smells amazing. Uncle Chu, your cooking is incredible as always. My mouth is watering just from the smell!" Zhang Wei, the more extroverted of the two, chattered nonstop as soon as he walked in.

Chen Yang, who was more reserved, simply offered a quiet greeting.

"You're just in time," An Xiuwen said, greeting them warmly. "I was just about to have Cheng call you. The food is ready. Go wash your hands and let's eat."

Old Chu just smiled and nodded.

"You got it!" Zhang Wei made himself right at home, washing his hands and then getting bowls of rice for everyone. Chen Yang helped carry the bowls to the table. They'd done this so many times before that they fell into their old rhythm naturally. Chu Mingcheng had a job too: handing out the chopsticks.

During dinner, the three-jin turtle and three-jin chicken were completely devoured. Not even much of the soup was left. Ever since his constitution had started improving, Chu Mingcheng's appetite had grown significantly, now rivaling that of a man with a hearty appetite.

After the meal, the three of them went for a slow walk downstairs to aid their digestion.

Zhang Wei rubbed his belly and let out a satisfied burp. "That was so good. Uncle Chu's cooking is still the best. That wild soft-shelled turtle was amazing."

"Didn't you say you wanted to go turtle fishing?" Chu Mingcheng asked, still feeling the itch. "We could head to the reservoir on Yanmen Island right now." Wild turtle was known to be nourishing; eating more couldn't hurt.

At the mention of fishing, something clicked for Chen Yang. "Speaking of fishing, a client of mine gave me a secret spot. He went there night fishing the day before yesterday and filled his keepnet in just three hours. Why don't we check it out tonight?"

"Filled his keepnet?" The two fishing enthusiasts, Chu Mingcheng and Zhang Wei, were immediately intrigued. They could go turtle fishing at the reservoir any day. Tonight, they could check out this secret spot.

"What are we waiting for?" Zhang Wei said eagerly. "Let's go! I've got a keepnet in my car. We'll see if your client was bluffing or not."

And so, the three of them excitedly drove off to the so-called secret fishing spot.

When they arrived, they found it was just a small river. There were plenty of aquatic plants, and the water didn't look dirty. However, both Zhang Wei and Chu Mingcheng were skeptical they could get a full keepnet here.

But since they were already here, they might as well fish.

Chen Yang didn't usually fish, but with both his buddies fishing tonight, he'd be bored on his own. So he borrowed a handline rod from Chu Mingcheng to play with. They had bait, chum, and even bottled water in the car, so they just had to mix up a batch.

The other two, thinking there might be snakeheads in the little river, decided to try their luck with lures.

As Zhang Wei was reeling in his line, his rod suddenly dipped. He laughed. "Yang, your client wasn't lying! There are a lot of fish here. I got a hit on my first cast with a lure! I've been fishing for so long, and I've never had this kind of luck..."

Before he could finish, a plastic bottle emerged from the water, slapping him in the face, metaphorically speaking.

Chen Yang and Chu Mingcheng were silent for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha! A bottle counts as a catch! Congratulations, congratulations!"

"Don't worry, maybe I'll get a bottle too..." Chu Mingcheng's teasing words were also cut short as he felt his rod dip. But there was no struggle, which gave him a bad feeling.

Sure enough, as he reeled in his line, another plastic bottle came into view.

"..." Chu Mingcheng's mood, which had been one of amused observation, instantly turned to resignation. "I did get a bottle. People these days are so careless with their trash."

"Isn't that just how fishing is? You can't catch a fish, but you can catch everything else," Zhang Wei chuckled, pulling the bottle ashore and putting it in the keepnet. "Bring yours over, too. We'll put them in the net and take them with us later."

"Alright," Chu Mingcheng nodded, adding his bottle to the keepnet.

Chen Yang's chum hadn't taken effect yet, but he was just there for fun anyway. He baited his hook and dropped it in the water.

Less than thirty seconds later, his float started to move.

"Haha! Looks like I'm the first one to catch a fish tonight!"

Having no fishing experience, he lifted his rod before the float was fully submerged, but by a stroke of luck, he actually managed to pull up a fish.

Seeing the fish—a pale chub barely two fingers wide—Zhang Wei teased, "Whoa, what a huge fish!"

"It's still a fish, no matter how small. At worst, it can be a little snack for Cheng's cat," Chen Yang said, not minding the size. He cheerfully unhooked the fish, grabbed the cooler from Chu Mingcheng's car, and tossed it inside.

Just then, Chu Mingcheng pulled up yet another bottle. "What's with this river? Where are all these bottles coming from?"

"I have no idea!" Zhang Wei shook his head as he, too, reeled in a plastic water bottle.

The two stared at each other, convinced the spot was cursed. They split up and each moved to a different spot, leaving Chen Yang to continue catching his little pale chubs by himself.

Two hours later, Chu Mingcheng and Zhang Wei had confirmed that Chen Yang's client hadn't been lying. They really had filled the keepnet.

Zhang Wei stared blankly at the keepnet full of bottles. "How are we supposed to carry all this?"

Chen Yang sighed. "I'll drive and find a garbage collector to come get them."

Chu Mingcheng, on the other hand, was cheerfully taking out his phone and snapping pictures of their night's "haul."

Filling a keepnet with plastic bottles... this was an experience he wouldn't forget in a lifetime. It definitely needed to be documented.