Chapter 289 Part 2: King Zhou's Happiness

Chu Mingcheng couldn't tell if the neighbors were quoting such a high price because they didn't want to sell or if they were just being greedy.

"Dad, I mostly go to the far seas now. Every time I sell fish, I either go to Shanghai or Wenzhou; I hardly ever sell in Xiamen. So I don't really care about buying a house there. But we do need a place at home. It'll be easier to park my boat when I sail over, right?"

Hearing his son say this, Chu Yongxin thought about it and realized it would indeed be more convenient for his son to live here.

So he said, "Alright, I'll find some time to talk to them again."

Chu Mingcheng nodded. The matter was settled. It would be best if the price came down, but if not, he was prepared to overpay anyway. After all, having the neighbors next door wasn't pleasant. It was best to use money to make them go away.

However, coincidentally, that evening, while the family was chatting in the yard after dinner, lighting mosquito coils and playing with the dogs, the neighbors took the initiative to come over.

After a bit of small talk, the couple asked Chu Yongxin to come over to their house to discuss selling the house.

The couple had never expected that someone would be willing to buy their house here. They actually had an older house elsewhere. Plus, they'd met their future daughter-in-law near year's end, and the engagement was set. All that was missing now was a new house for the marriage, but they didn't have the funds.

But then, unexpectedly, Chu Yongxin had shown up like a pleasant surprise, proposing to buy their house.

They had quoted three hundred thousand because they were still short two hundred and thirty thousand for a house in the city. If they sold this house, they would still have a place to live, and they'd even have an extra seventy thousand left for their retirement fund. Why wouldn't they agree?

Who knew that Chu Yongxin would be scared off immediately and stop asking? And so, from the time he asked about the price until now, there hadn't been a peep. Days passed, their son was pressing them for money, but still no word from Chu Yongxin.

Plus, with one party living on the island and the other in town, it was hard to contact each other except by phone. That's why they had immediately rushed over when they heard the commotion in the yard today.

In the end, the house plus the yard went for a total of two hundred and twenty thousand yuan. The extra twenty thousand was something Chu Mingcheng intentionally added after learning about their family's situation. They had been neighbors for many years—they'd argued and fought, but they'd also helped his family out before, so he didn't mind adding the extra twenty thousand.

As for the other house, Chu Mingcheng got it for only two hundred thousand. The house area was the same, but those owners had moved out of Yanmen Island long ago. He didn't know them, so he naturally wouldn't pay extra.

With the trouble over the old houses settled, he immediately transferred two million to Chu Yongxin for construction and the swimming pool. Chu Mingcheng didn't need to worry about the construction details. After staying in Wenzhou for two days, the two headed off to Hangzhou.

When Jiang Luoluo's parents saw them arrive, their expressions were even more surprised and delighted than Chu Mingcheng's parents. After all, even when Chu Mingcheng was working elsewhere, he came home from time to time and wasn't that far away. But Jiang Luoluo was in Xiamen and basically only came home for New Year—not at all like a "thoughtful little padded jacket."

Jiang Bo had even regretted letting his daughter go so far away for school.

The days of "lying flat" at home passed in the blink of an eye, and the eve of the fishing competition arrived.

Chu Mingcheng and Jiang Luoluo, along with the dogs, arrived in Shanghai on the afternoon before the competition to meet up with Chen Yang and the others. He drove directly to the port. To save money, they had been staying on the boat during their rest periods.

Arriving at the port again, Chu Mingcheng was stunned to find it filled with all kinds of fishing yachts. These fishing yachts were all at least fifteen meters long, and some looked even more luxurious than his Poseidon. It was clear that even some wealthy people who enjoyed sea fishing had joined this time.

They might not care about the prize money, but they were very interested in the sea fishing competition itself.

However, these types of people weren't considered rivals by the veteran sea anglers. Being at sea for long periods is tough work, and these rich people might not be able to endure it.

Even fishing competition champions like Master Deng and Master Liu weren't considered true rivals in the eyes of some veteran anglers who made their living from sea fishing. After all, they mostly fished from the shore and hadn't truly spent long periods at sea catching large fish. Plus, they were getting older.

Even if they recruited some competitive people, they were still a bit lacking compared to the veterans.

Therefore, in the eyes of these veteran anglers, their only real rivals were their peers. Of course, thinking the fishing champions weren't rivals was just their own opinion.

Naturally, none of the fishing masters who came to participate were simple. It wasn't that they had never caught tuna. They were all quite wealthy; it's not like they couldn't afford to go boat fishing. It was just that the rules forbade the use of electric reels, which put them at a disadvantage due to their age.

So if Chu Mingcheng didn't go all out, it was really hard to say who would take first place in this fishing competition.

Of course, a guy bringing his girlfriend along was naturally not an opponent they needed to worry about. Some of the captains living on their boats lost all vigilance when they saw the two of them and went back to their own business.

He also saw a newly erected stage, though he didn't know what it was for.

Chu Mingcheng hadn't notified Chen Yang and the others immediately upon arriving today. Instead, he first put the dogs on his boat, closed the cabin door, and then went over to the White Dragon.

Chen Yang and the others were in the saloon and were a bit surprised to see them arrive unannounced.

"You're finally here! I thought you were going to cut it close and show up tomorrow!" Zhang Wei immediately grumbled when he saw them.

"How could I cut it close? The Poseidon needs to be cleaned, the bedding needs to be aired out, and I still need to refuel and buy bait. Of course, I had to come a day early." Chu Mingcheng looked at Zhang Wei with a mischievous smile. "You seem pretty free. Aren't you going to help me out?"

Zhang Wei immediately exclaimed, "Damn, so you just came over to find free labor!"

Chu Mingcheng smiled and didn't respond. Instead, he greeted Zhao Jun and his wife, who were nearby.

But what surprised him the most was the fifth person they had found—a man he had met once but didn't know well. Zhang Wei noticed his gaze, and his mouth twitched. He then introduced him with a pained expression, "This is Shu Zichen's younger brother, Shu Ziqiang. You've probably met."

Chu Mingcheng nodded, first greeting Shu Ziqiang. He then noticed Chen Yang looking at him meaningfully and immediately understood a few things.

But it wasn't a good time to ask certain questions, so he could only call them over to help him clean his boat first.

This was the trouble with a big boat—it wasn't easy to clean.

After cleaning, Chu Mingcheng invited them over for dinner, then went to buy bait and refuel the boat.

This trip would last at least a week. After finishing all the chores on his boat, he went to the market with Jiang Luoluo for a big shopping trip. He bought plenty of food and drinks. He couldn't let himself suffer.

After returning from shopping, Chu Mingcheng had just gotten out of the car when he heard the miserable cries of a puppy, which sounded like Little Blacknight.

"Did something happen to Little Blacknight?" Jiang Luoluo immediately ran toward the boat in a panic.

Seeing this, Chu Mingcheng didn't bother with the groceries and quickly followed.

Then the two of them, who had rushed back to the boat, speechlessly watched Zhang Wei holding one of Mimi's kittens and terrorizing Little Blacknight and Wujin, who were cowering in the corner.

Compared to Little Blacknight, although Wujin was scared, he wasn't wailing quite so miserably.

"That's enough!" Chu Mingcheng couldn't help but kick Zhang Wei, who had a mischievous grin plastered across his face.

Jiang Luoluo was rendered speechless. "You really have too much time on your hands!"

"Damn, it's not what you think! I brought Mimi and her family back, but who knew Mimi's kitten would bully these two puppies? I was the one who stopped Snowy! You don't even thank me, and now you're blaming me?"

Chu Mingcheng looked at Snowy in Zhang Wei's arms and believed his words.

Knowing Mimi, she most likely wouldn't attack the puppies. Only if it were an unfamiliar animal larger than her would her instinct to protect her young be triggered. Generally, mother cats have fairly high tolerance for other animals' young.

But Snowy was a male cat, and his temperament wasn't as easygoing.

Jiang Luoluo clearly understood the temperaments of her cats. Knowing she had misunderstood Zhang Wei, she took Snowy from his hands and started scolding him.

"Little Blacknight and Little Wujin are your little brothers. How could you bully them!"

Meanwhile, Chu Mingcheng saw Mimi already lying comfortably on the sofa. He thought for a moment, picked up Blacknight and Wujin, and placed them next to Mimi.

Little Blacknight let out another terrified wail, his little tail tucked between his legs. Wujin wasn't much better, trembling all over.

Fortunately, Mimi didn't disappoint him. After seeing the puppies, she got up, sniffed them, and then pulled Little Blacknight into a hug and started licking him.

Perhaps the lingering smell of milk on him triggered Mimi's maternal instincts, making her treat him as one of her own kittens.

Seeing this, Chu Mingcheng felt slightly relieved. With Mimi protecting them, if Snowy dared to bully the dogs, he'd probably get a beating from Mimi.

As for Mimi's other two kittens, one was aloof and probably wouldn't bother with the dogs. The other one, Big Orange, was too lazy to care.

Jiang Luoluo saw this and tried placing Snowy on the sofa as well.

Snowy had been scolded but was still unrepentant. Seeing the dogs, he slowly crept over and tentatively batted Little Blacknight's butt twice with his paws.

Little Blacknight's emotions had just stabilized under Mimi's grooming. After being swatted twice, he started wailing again.

Mimi immediately lifted her head and fixed Snowy—who was about to strike again—with a death glare.

Snowy's outstretched paw froze. After a moment, as if testing Mimi's authority, he swatted again.

Mimi was instantly furious. She released her hold on Little Blacknight, lunged forward, and delivered several big slaps right to Snowy's face.

Snowy seemed stunned by the blows, shrinking his neck and taking several hits before he finally reacted and scrambled away.

"Looks like with Mimi protecting them, the dogs probably won't be bullied." Jiang Luoluo nodded, satisfied and relieved.

Zhang Wei, however, was incredulous. "Your cat is so weird. Why would she beat up her own kid for a dog?"

Chu Mingcheng smiled. "It's probably because Snowy is already a sub-adult, while the dogs are still in their milk-drinking phase. It triggered her instinct to protect the young."

"I see!" Zhang Wei realized. No wonder Mimi was hugging and licking Little Blacknight.

The fact that the cats and dogs could get along put both Chu Mingcheng and Jiang Luoluo at ease.

It was a good thing the dogs were still young. If they had adopted adult dogs, they might have chased the kittens all over the place.

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