Chapter 5: Chapter 5 The Fish Thief
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After waiting for about fifteen minutes, Chu Mingcheng felt that the baited spot should be effective, so he let the fish hook sink into the water.
When the float resurfaced, there were roughly two 'eyes' visible, which was almost the same as what the strategy guide had described.
As someone who had swum in this reservoir many times, Chu Mingcheng had a rough idea of its depth. At this spot, about four to five meters from the shore, the water depth was around three meters—quite suitable for fishing.
Fishing required patience. Chu Mingcheng placed the fishing rod on the support, his right hand resting on the rod to detect any movement instantly, while his other hand picked up his smartphone and started reading a novel.
Just waiting around was too boring; reading a novel could at least pass the time.
After reading two chapters, which took about three minutes, there was still no movement from the fishing rod.
Chu Mingcheng was inclined to wait, but he worried that the bait might have been eaten, so he lifted the rod to check.
The previously plump bait had now partially dissolved, exposing a bit of the hook because it hadn't been properly molded.
It looked like no fish had taken the bait yet, but the bait was no longer usable and needed to be changed.
Since he had prepared plenty of bait for the day, there was no shortage.
He scraped off the old bait, rebaited the hook, and cast it back into the water.
Read two chapters, check the bait; during this process, he changed bait three times.
It seemed that the baiting finally took effect. Right after replacing the bait and throwing it back in, he had only read half a chapter when he felt a slight tremor on the fishing rod.
He immediately put his phone into his pocket and looked towards the water, only to see the float sink halfway before bobbing back up.
Chu Mingcheng's eyes brightened—there was a fish nibbling at the bait.
He did not hurry and instead tightened his grip on the rod, waiting.
The fish was merely nibbling at the bait, and if he were to reel in now, he would likely come up empty.
Suddenly, the float tilted sharply, almost getting dragged entirely under the water, while a moderate tug traveled through the fishing rod.
Then the float zipped entirely out of sight beneath the surface—the opportunity had arrived!
Seeing the float disappear, Chu Mingcheng swiftly lifted the rod, and sure enough, felt light vibrations—a fish was thrashing its tail, struggling in the water.
Chu Mingcheng easily pulled the fish out of the water. It was a crucian carp, slightly larger than his palm, weighing about seven or eight taels—quite a big one.
He reeled in the fish and checked under its jaw; there were no barbels, confirming it was indeed a crucian carp.
Crucian carp look very similar to carps; for those who are not familiar, the presence of two small barbels under the chin is enough to differentiate them as carps.
Just as Chu Mingcheng dropped the crucian carp into the bucket, the data panel in his mind underwent some changes.
[Aquatic Catalog (Level 0)]
[Current Experience: (2/50)]
[Unlocked Capturing Tools: Hand, Fishing Gear]
[Maximum Level for Aquatic Species: 50]
[Aquatic Species: Mud shrimp, Crucian Carp]
[Special Abilities: None]
As expected, the variety of aquatic species equated to experience points—each new species added one point. He was quite curious about when he would gain a special ability.
[Crucian Carp (Level 0)]
[Current Experience: 1/10]
[Size Increase: +0%]
[Deliciousness: +0%]
[Catching Chance: +0%]
He had just started fishing for crucian carp, with no bonuses yet. He imagined that as the level increased, he might attract bigger crucian carps when fishing.
After placing the crucian carp into the bucket, Chu Mingcheng continued fishing.
Half an hour had passed since he first baited the spot, and it seemed the bait mix was taking effect; the bites were quite frequent thereafter.
He could catch a fish every three to five minutes, fishing until five in the afternoon.
Chu Mingcheng unlocked two more fish species: whitebait and carp.
He caught seven whitebait, and although the carps weren't large, he managed to catch five. As for crucian carps, adding the first one he caught, he had just managed to catch ten, which leveled him up.
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[Crucian Carp (Level 1)]
[Current Experience: 0/20]
[Body Size +1%]
[Deliciousness +1%]
[Catch Probability +1%]
Chu Mingcheng found that fishing was quite simple on his first try today.
However, these freshwater fishes probably weren't worth much. He still had to check out the seaside tomorrow.
There were many more varied creatures by the seaside than in the reservoir, not only increasing the species count in his aquatic handbook but also bringing in more money.
But now it was already five in the afternoon, about time to head back.
He hadn't prepared night floats or a headlamp today, and there might be poisonous snakes around the reservoir at night. Without proper preparations, it wasn't safe.
Besides, his quilt was still out in the yard; he had to hurry and bring it in.
So he released all the Whitebait and Carps in the bucket. He didn't like eating Whitebait, and the Carps were too small and had a strong muddy smell.
He gained experience points for every fish caught, and releasing them wouldn't decrease it; there was no pressure.
As for freshwater fish, he only liked eating Crucian Carps, Blackfish, and Grass Carp. As for the rest, forget about them.
There were a total of ten Crucian Carps, somewhat numerous. Chu Mingcheng released the smaller ones and kept the five that were over half a pound each.
After fishing the whole afternoon, he had caught only one Crucian Carp, estimating it to be about one pound. Since he had resigned, he would have to rely on coastal fishing to make money, which currently seemed challenging.
Fortunately, a higher level would increase his chances of catching fish, including bigger ones. It was just the initial struggle that wasn't a big deal.
However, he still had to take the chance to fish for sea fish, which were more valuable and abundant.
After packing up his tools and loading them on the car, Chu Mingcheng drove back to the backyard.
He left the fishing gear in the car to avoid moving it back and forth.
He carried the bucket of fish to the well in the front yard to kill them, to avoid getting fish scales all over the kitchen and having a mess to clean up.
Setting down the bucket, he went back to the kitchen to grab a knife and cutting board.
However, just as he left the room, a small head popped up above the wall of the yard.
Chu Mingcheng's old home was built leaning against the mountain, so the entire left side of the house connected directly with the mountain, with the water well in the front yard situated along this side.
At this moment, on the sloped terrain by the mountain, a cat with a gray pattern on its body was peering curiously at the fish inside the bucket below.
It didn't jump down immediately but looked around with its head raised. After noticing that there was no one around, it leapt into the yard with a bound.
Then it quickly approached the bucket, its front paws resting on the rim, and its head diving in to sniff around, seemingly contemplating which fish to snatch.
When Chu Mingcheng came out with the knife and cutting board, this was the scene he saw.
"Damn! Stealing my fish!"
His intention was to yell and scare off the wild cat, but instead of running away, the cat shrank its neck, hooked a fish with its paw, pulled it out, bit it, and took off running.
Chu Mingcheng was stunned; this wild cat was audacious, wasn't it?
"Oh no, my big Crucian Carp!"
The next moment, he snapped to his senses and started to chase. That cat was clever, stealing his biggest Crucian Carp right away.
By the time he caught up, the wild cat, with the struggling Crucian Carp in its mouth, had already made it to someone else's yard. With that speeding cat, there was no hope of catching up.
Chu Mingcheng stopped helplessly but then saw the wild cat put down the fish, look back at him for a while, and even make a purring sound.
Was it amusement or fear?
But he thought it must be pleasure; after all, the cat had stolen such a big fish.
Chu Mingcheng was quite fond of cats and dogs and wasn't angry that the fish was stolen; he was just bemused.
As the cat had already left, he returned to his task of cleaning fish, killing all four that were over half a pound.
Two would become beer-battered fish, and the other two would be made into Crucian Carp tofu soup for tomorrow.
Tomorrow, he wouldn't plan to come back home at noon from sea foraging. He had a thermos at home to keep food and soup warm.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone