Chu Mingcheng's sudden change of heart brought the smile back to Jiang Yuqi's face.

"Okay, okay! It's a deal then."

"By the way, Cheng-ge, can you teach me how to fish? How does this reel work?"

"Cheng-ge???" Chu Mingcheng shuddered involuntarily. "You can call me Ming-ge, or just Ah Cheng is fine, but please—don't call me Cheng-ge!"

Ever since he'd accidentally watched a certain anime, he couldn't shake the feeling that whenever someone called him that, his neck felt cold, as if his head wasn't quite his own anymore.

【TN: "Cheng-ge" (Brother Cheng) references Makoto Itou from the infamous anime School Days, whose betrayals led to his grim fate. The nickname became a Chinese internet meme for betrayal and bad endings.】

Jiang Yuqi tilted her head, not quite understanding, but obediently switched to "Ming-ge." After all, Chu Mingcheng was several years older than her, and calling him by name alone felt a bit awkward.

With one teaching and one learning, the Sky High soon reached its destination.

Jiang Yuqi already knew the basics—baiting a hook and adding krill to the chum cage. What she needed to learn now was how to recognize a bite from the rod's movement, and that required hands-on experience.

Chu Mingcheng cast his own line into the water. He had just finished adjusting the height off the bottom when he heard Jiang Yuqi's excited voice.

"I got one, I got one! The rod is moving! Should I press this button?"

Chu Mingcheng glanced over and saw the rod bend slowly before lifting again. It was just the underwater current pulling on the sinker—completely different from the movement of a fish taking the hook. He explained the difference.

"That's not what a fish bite looks like. A real bite will have continuous tremors, and the shaking frequency will speed up!"

Understanding dawned on Jiang Yuqi's face, and she gave a slightly embarrassed smile. "Oh, I see!"

But the next moment, she saw her rod tip twitching rapidly. "Hey, hey, hey—is this it?"

"Yes! Hurry up and press the button." Chu Mingcheng was genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected her to get a bite so quickly.

They were using Antarctic krill bait today, so it was unlikely the line would tangle like it might with live bait. If there was a tangle, it would probably be his line getting mixed up with hers.

The electric reel whirred continuously. Chu Mingcheng watched the retrieval speed and noticed it wasn't very fast.

Then, as she was reeling it in, the rod suddenly bounced upward.

"Huh? What's going on?"

"Damn it, it got off the hook. You probably didn't press the button in time, so the hook was spat out before it could set properly."

"Ah, how could that happen!"

She had been so excited about hooking a fish, and now it had gotten away. Jiang Yuqi looked dejected.

But she had a good attitude and wasn't a true fishing addict. In less than ten seconds, she was back to her cheerful self, reeling in the line and re-baiting it with Antarctic krill.

Chu Mingcheng had shown her how to bait the hook before, and she managed it without any problems this time.

She cast her line back into the water, and after a short while, the rod tip began twitching again.

This time, her reaction was swift. She pressed the button the moment the rod tip twitched and bent downward, then fixed her eyes on the numbers displayed on the electric reel, which indicated the water depth.

Seeing her get back-to-back bites in such a short time while his line remained still, Chu Mingcheng couldn't help but ask, "Ah Qi, is this your first time fishing?"

Jiang Yuqi shook her head. "No. I went fishing once before for a video collaboration. Everyone else was catching fish nonstop, but I only managed to get one."

Hearing it wasn't her first time, Chu Mingcheng breathed a small sigh of relief. At least he didn't have to deal with beginner's luck. He had no interest in watching someone else land a massive haul while he came up empty-handed.

As if to prove her point, his rod finally showed signs of a bite. He quickly pressed the button to reel it in.

The difference in power between their electric reels was immediately apparent. His was stronger and reeled in faster, so his fish was the first to reach the surface.

The first catch wasn't a grouper, but a brilliantly red fish.

"Wow, what a beautiful fish!" Jiang Yuqi exclaimed when she saw it. "It must be delicious!"

"..."

Chu Mingcheng was slightly speechless. No wonder she was a food vlogger—she must have turned her hobby into her profession! Ever since he'd met Jiang Yuqi, he'd noticed that eighty percent of her thoughts revolved around food.

He complained inwardly but still examined the fish he had thrown onto the deck.

It was a crimson snapper. He'd heard it was once a major commercial fish in the South China Sea, and its population must have been quite high back then. Perhaps this was the "ruby fish" the crewman had mentioned.

The one he had caught was about fifty centimeters long and weighed six or seven jin. It also added a point of experience to his Premium Aquatic Species Codex, which meant it qualified as a premium fish.

Between the fishing from early morning and the spearfishing this afternoon, Chu Mingcheng's Premium Codex experience had increased significantly.

[Premium Aquatic Species Codex (Level 1)]

[Current Experience: (73/200)]

[Usable Tools: Hand, Fishing Gear (Can be hand-strung), Speargun (Includes fish spear, snare, etc.), Longline (Not Unlocked)]

[Fish Gathering (Level 1): Aquatic species within range that meet the premium standard will have a one percent chance of being actively attracted, thus appearing in the Host's line of sight (They will still flee if startled by the Host)][Area of Effect: 10 cubic meters]

[Note: Only aquatic species defined as "premium" by the Aquatic Species Codex can increase the experience points of the Premium Aquatic Species Codex.]

[Deliciousness: +1% (Fish with higher fat content and better meat quality will be preferentially attracted)]

[Size: +1% (Larger fish of the same species will be preferentially attracted)]

His Experience jumped from twenty-five to seventy-three. It looked like this trip to Xisha might finally give him the chance to reach Level 2.

Chu Mingcheng called over a crewman and asked him to bring a large, square foam box.

The fish today probably wouldn't be particularly large. He would use his zip ties and put them in the box for now. When it was full, he would have the crewman take it to the ice storage.

The crewman hadn't even brought the foam box yet when Jiang Yuqi's fish reached the surface. It was another crimson snapper, slightly smaller than his. It seemed there was a school of them beneath their spot!

Jiang Yuqi, overjoyed with her catch, happily held up the fish and had her assistant take a picture. After all, this was the first time she had ever caught such a large fish.

Chu Mingcheng called these fish small because he was fishing in the Xisha environment, where there were too many big fish lurking about. In comparison, a five or six-jin fish was indeed small.

If they were fishing along the coast, fish weighing seven or eight liang to a jin would be the norm.

With a school of fish below, the subsequent harvest wouldn't be disappointing.

Chu Mingcheng and Jiang Yuqi would occasionally land a crimson snapper. At similar spots, using the same bait, they caught similar numbers of fish.

An hour passed. Including the first one, Chu Mingcheng had caught a total of five crimson snappers, all around five or six jin.

Jiang Yuqi had caught three, also of similar size.

The two-fish difference wasn't because Chu Mingcheng's luck was better, but due to the difference in efficiency between their electric reels.

After these eight crimson snappers were caught, the small school of fish at the bottom seemed to have been depleted. Chu Mingcheng didn't get another bite for the next half hour.

With no fish biting on his side, Jiang Yuqi naturally didn't have any luck either.

Chu Mingcheng looked around at the other fishing spots and saw that some anglers were still catching fish. Logically, since everyone had bottom chumming devices, schools of fish should have gathered beneath the boat.