Chapter 287 Part 2: Wei Jiaguo: Ah Cheng, You Want a Dog?

Just as he was chatting with Chen Yang about the dog, Wei Jiaguo suddenly sent a few messages.

Chu Mingcheng curiously opened them. Two photos showed a few puppies. Then Wei Jiaguo asked if he was interested in getting a dog.

Chu Mingcheng was speechless. He'd just picked up a dog yesterday, and today someone was asking if he wanted another one. He looked closely at the picture. It was a litter of five puppies, and based on their breed, they looked like Chinese Rural Dogs.

"These puppies are all purebred rural dogs. Two of them are 'Four-Eyed Iron-Clad Gold,' with excellent coloring."

"My friend has too many dogs; otherwise, he'd be reluctant to give these two away."

[TN: "Iron-Clad Gold" refers to the black-and-tan coat, and "Four-Eyed" refers to the two distinct tan spots above the eyes, which resemble a second pair of eyes.]

Hearing they were purebred rural dogs, Chu Mingcheng's interest was immediately piqued. The intelligence and loyalty of the Chinese Rural Dog were well-known, but most of the ones you saw were mutts, so he hadn't been interested before.

Now he looked closely at the "Four-Eyed Iron-Clad Gold" Wei Jiaguo mentioned. The puppy was jet-black, with two yellow dots on its brows, making it look like it had four eyes. Perhaps that's where the name came from.

Chu Mingcheng found a picture of an adult dog and saw that a full-grown "Four-Eyed Iron-Clad Gold" was actually incredibly handsome—even more so than a Labrador.

This immediately sparked his interest.

It was the same amount of effort to raise one dog as two. As long as the dog looked good, Chu Mingcheng didn't mind raising another one.

It was just a pity that the laws in China weren't accommodating; he couldn't raise big cats. Otherwise, he'd definitely get one.

"Sure, Agong. I'll take both of those 'Four-Eyed Iron-Clad Gold' pups."

Wei Jiaguo: "In your dreams. You can only pick one; the others are spoken for. I just thought that since you go out to sea so often, having a dog to keep watch at night would make you safer on the water."

Chu Mingcheng raised an eyebrow. Agong's last sentence was full of meaning. It seemed he knew a lot of stories.

Things weren't like they used to be, but just as he said, having a dog to help keep watch at night would indeed be beneficial.

In that regard, a Chinese Rural Dog was probably even better than a Labrador.

In the end, Chu Mingcheng asked for the male "Four-Eyed Iron-Clad Gold."

Blacknight was male. To avoid any Labrador–Rural Dog mutts in the future, he decided to standardize the gender first.

So he'd just have to hope they wouldn't get any funny ideas and start breeding later on.

After lunch, Jiang Luoluo went out with her team to work.

Chu Mingcheng took the opportunity to drive to Wei Jiaguo's house to pick up the dog.

"Agong, Shanghai is holding a Tuna Fishing Competition recently. Aren't you going to check it out?"

Wei Jiaguo paused, then waved his hand. "I'm getting old; I won't join in the fun. But if you boy manage to get any rare seafood, remember to send it my way."

"How about some Giant Spider Crabs and Japanese Rubyfish? If you want them, I'll find a chance to get you a couple of big ones."

"Oh? That sounds good. I'll be waiting for your good news then."

After chatting for a bit, Chu Mingcheng followed him into the villa and saw the relatively quiet rural dog in the yard.

Wei Jiaguo pointed at it and said, "That's the one. He's two months old now. You can feed him puppy food, or just make some extra rice when you eat. Rural dogs aren't picky; they're easy to raise."

"Got it." Chu Mingcheng agreed verbally, but one look at the rural dog told him it had been well cared for. Its coat was glossy, and the puppy had some good meat on its bones.

He squatted down, clapped his hands at the little rural dog, and made a sound to call it over.

The little rural dog cutely tilted its head, then got up and trotted over, tail wagging, acting very friendly.

But from its temperament, you could tell it was much calmer than Blacknight. It would indeed make a good guard dog when it grew up.

Afterward, Chu Mingcheng took the dog, said goodbye to Wei Jiaguo, and went to the pet hospital again.

He named this rural dog Wujin, based on its color.

[TN: The name is a pun, meaning "hardware" or "five metals," relating to the "Iron-Clad Gold" coloration.]

Wujin had already had his first vaccination, so today was perfect for his second. He also got another full check-up to confirm he was healthy.

Leaving the hospital, he took Wujin to Jiang Luoluo's dance shoot. Blacknight was very excited to see one of his own kind and quickly started playing with Wujin.

Jiang Luoluo finished her dance shoot and immediately ran over. "Where did this dog come from?"

Chu Mingcheng explained, "I got him from Agong. A friend of his had a litter of puppies—too many to keep—so he was giving them away. Agong said we need a dog to keep watch at night when we're out at sea, and a rural dog is perfect for that."

"This one's purebred and good-looking, so I brought him back to keep Blacknight company."

Jiang Luoluo petted Wujin and nodded. "That's nice. By the way, does he have a name?"

"He does. I'm calling him Wujin."

"Wujin? That's a decent name."

…

For the next two days, Chu Mingcheng's life was relatively quiet. He either took care of the dogs or went to watch Jiang Luoluo film her dances.

He also posted on his own social media account, shooting the breeze with his followers.

His account had decent popularity, though not all his followers were anglers. Many were just curious about aquatic life and drawn to the idea of spearfishing. When Chu Mingcheng had a string of good harvests, they also got a certain satisfaction from watching the videos.

But he quickly grew bored of such a quiet life.

So he borrowed a bass boat from Wei Jiaguo and found a wide, fishable body of water.

This was a good spot he'd found on a map—a freshwater river, quite wide. Today, Jiang Luoluo had taken the dogs, so he was enjoying the peace and quiet.

There were quite a few anglers along the riverbank. After getting out of his car, Chu Mingcheng spotted three of them.

One even had a fishing platform set up on the water. You could tell he wasn't fishing fair and square, landing a fish every now and then. How were the two skunked anglers on the bank supposed to feel?

But now someone even less fair had arrived.

The moment the bass boat appeared, it immediately caught the attention of all three anglers.

The envy in their eyes was obvious. After all, most people fished just for fun. Among anglers, only a minority could afford a bass boat.

Chu Mingcheng didn't immediately put the boat in the water. Instead, he walked over to the two guys fishing on the bank.

"Hey brothers, how's the catch? What kind of fish are in here?"

Their keepnets were in the water, so he couldn't tell what their harvest was like.

"Not bad, not bad..." The angler he asked had a bead of sweat on his temple. How could he possibly admit he was skunked and hadn't caught anything? Don't anglers have pride?

To save face, they'd all become regulars with the fish vendors at multiple markets.

The angler on the fishing platform wasn't far away. He heard their conversation and chuckled inwardly. Just then, his rod suddenly twitched. He quickly reached out and lifted it. The fish wasn't heavy, so he pulled it straight up.

"Aiya, another bass! The catch is pretty good today!"

His obvious gloating tone was clearly meant to show off.

But Chu Mingcheng was a bit surprised. "There are freshwater bass in here?"

"The fisheries department stocked the river with them. Quite a few," one of the skunked anglers said with a nod.

"Right, quite a lot. I've already caught five this morning," the angler on the platform agreed loudly, making the two skunked anglers on the bank grind their teeth in frustration.

Just then, the angler next to Chu Mingcheng suddenly made a decision.

He looked at Chu Mingcheng with a slightly embarrassed expression. "Brother, I see you came with a boat. Could you let me come on board and try it out later? That bass boat is so cool—I've never been on one!"

"It would be even better if I could fish from it! If you're willing, I'll give you fifty. How about it?"

As an enthusiastic angler himself, how could Chu Mingcheng cruelly refuse the request of another angler?

He smiled and held up one finger. "One hundred!"

"Huh?" The angler was stunned. Why did the price double just like that?

"From now until four in the afternoon. Only one hundred bucks. It's a great deal," Chu Mingcheng said with a grin.

"Well..." The angler hesitated, calculating whether spending a hundred to fish from a boat was worth it.

But then he thought about the guy on the fishing platform who'd been showing off all morning. He gritted his teeth and immediately pulled out his phone. "Alright, I'll transfer it to you now."

The other angler, who wasn't far away, had been paying attention.

Seeing that he could get on the boat to fish, he also ran over. "Hey, hey, add me, add me! I'll pay too."

"No problem, no problem. Phone or cash?" Chu Mingcheng accepted all comers. At least he'd have his gas money for the afternoon.

"Phone works!"

After receiving two hundred total, Chu Mingcheng immediately went to his car and put the boat in the water.

Then he parked, got on the boat first.

The two anglers moved their gear on, put on life jackets, and sat down, their faces filled with excitement.

Chu Mingcheng smiled, started the bass boat, and sped past the angler on the fishing platform, looking for a suitable spot.

After a while, he found a large patch of weeds in the middle of the river, slightly to the south, and stopped, preparing to fish there.

Since there were freshwater bass in this river, there was a good chance of catching them near the weeds.

"This spot should be good. Let's try it first. If not, we'll move later."

The two anglers had no objections and, just like him, took out their lure rods.

It was easy to catch snakehead, mandarin fish, and freshwater bass near the weeds. These were all decent freshwater fish, so you definitely had to use lures.

Chu Mingcheng was also using a lure today: an offset hook with a skirted grub—a soft rubber lure. To better attract the fish below, the soft lure had many tentacles. As it moved through the water, the tentacles would spread out, looking like they were dancing—very flashy.

The sluice gate at the river mouth must have been closed, as the river's surface was very calm. With a light flick of his wrist, Chu Mingcheng cast his lure right to the edge of the weeds.

The two anglers beside him, meanwhile, had just finished hanging their keepnets on the side of the boat and placing them in the water.

Then they followed Chu Mingcheng's lead and started lure fishing. But lure fishing had a high degree of uncertainty; after three consecutive casts, there were still no fish.

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