37: Chapter 37 Awaken! The Hunt Has Begun!

"Good son?" Chen Sheng, multitasking, sneered, "Thinking of swapping now? It's too late even if you kneel and call me Godfather."

"Pah~ It's just a spot. I, Old Yu, wouldn't go as far as selling my dignity," Old Yu said stubbornly.

Who was he?

A man of integrity, unyielding to force and unmoved by poverty...

One wonders if he still remembers back in university, when two steamed buns for breakfast could make him call someone 'Dad', and a BBQ meal could have him hugging a leg and singing 'Only Papa is Good in This World'.

The elasticity of this dignity...

One could only say it was ridiculously high!

"Heh~ I'm waiting to see how your dignity shatters into pieces." After dropping those words, Chen Sheng began to focus on walking the fish.

No... more accurately, from this moment on, he was entering the hunting moment.

Three minutes later, another 'Black Float' appeared. With the rod bent into a 'Big Bow' and the whistling sound of the line cutting through the water, Old Yu couldn't help but swallow hard.

Ten minutes later, the scene repeated. Looking at the fifteen-pound Silver Carp being netted, Old Yu couldn't help but drool with envy.

Twenty minutes later, the familiar scene recurred. A Silver Carp weighing only 6.7 pounds was forcefully hauled ashore by Chen Sheng, relying on his superior gear. Old Yu's throat tightened; several times he wanted to speak, but Chen Sheng shut him down every time.

Twenty-five minutes...

Thirty-two minutes...

Thirty-eight minutes...

Forty-five minutes...

Fifty-six minutes...

Watching one Silver Carp after another being hauled, dragged, or netted ashore, Old Yu was completely stunned.

Is this freaking fishing?

This is freaking stocking up!

This is too freaking brutal.

At this moment, Old Yu looked at the Topmouth Culter he had just pulled up. Its mouth, opening and closing, was as ridiculous as he was right now.

He wanted to slap himself and ask why he hadn't swapped spots back then.

Fine! He regretted it.

But...

He couldn't bring himself to say it!

So he simply stood up and said to Chen Sheng, "It's getting late. I'll take a walk around and bring lunch back in a bit."

"Go ahead!" Chen Sheng, who had just netted another Silver Carp, stopped Old Yu as he was about to leave. "Old Yu, wait a sec, dig half a basin of Groundbait for me first."

"Didn't you say you wouldn't use my Groundbait?" Despite his words, Old Yu filled an empty basin with Groundbait and placed it next to Chen Sheng, though his tone remained disdainful: "Let's get this straight, just this one basin, no more. I don't even have enough for myself!"

Chen Sheng unceremoniously stabbed a knife into Old Yu's heart, "Using it yourself is just a waste. Those trash fish you catch aren't even worth as much as the Groundbait!"

"Holy crap!" Old Yu, who had already pulled out a cigarette to give to Chen Sheng, heard this and immediately put it in his own mouth instead. "You catch a lot, you're the man, you're amazing, you're noble, happy now?"

Old Yu turned and walked toward a nearby fishing spot without looking back.

Although he tried his best to straighten his back and strike a cool pose, the breeze from the reservoir gave him a desolate aura, like 'The wind blows, and the Yi River is cold...'

"Tch~" Chen Sheng snorted, re-baited his hook, and began his fishing again... no, he should say, his grand endeavor of 'Cleaning out the boss'.

Soon, another Black Float appeared. Unfortunately, the 'Big Bow' from striking the fish could no longer stir his heart.

At this point, it was more of a habit formed after a thousand practices.

Habitually seeing the Black Float, habitually striking the fish, habitually choosing to either 'fly' the fish or walk it based on the feel.

One fish, two fish, three fish...

During the time Old Yu was away, he had lost track of how many fish he had caught. He only remembered that the first Keepnet was full, and now he was filling the second one.

In the blink of an eye, it was 1:00 PM. Old Yu, with oil stains still on the corner of his mouth, strolled over carrying a box lunch. "Old Chen! The fish the chef cooked for lunch tastes good. Try it while it's hot."

Chen Sheng stubbed out his cigarette and rubbed his arms, which were a bit sore from hauling so many fish. He said crossly, "I thought you'd been so discouraged that you'd packed up and run!"

Fishing was physical labor, and his stomach had been grumbling in protest for quite a while.

If he hadn't needed to guard his gear and catch, he would have gone to the canteen to find food long ago.

"Discouraged? Please, what haven't I seen?" Old Yu handed the box lunch to Chen Sheng and defended himself, "I went to chat with some Fishing Buddies. I just found another fishing spot over in Xindu. They say it's full of giants. Someone just caught a monster over sixty pounds a few days ago."

"How about it? Want to follow your Godfather in a couple of days to experience the joy of wrestling with giants?"

"Can't go. My hands are shot. I won't recover without a month of rest," Chen Sheng replied nonchalantly.

Old Yu raised an eyebrow and looked at Chen Sheng, who was wolfing down his food. His hand holding the chopsticks showed the tremors that only appear after heavy physical labor. Silently, Old Yu walked to the Keepnet and tried to pull it up by the rope...

"Hiss~" Old Yu clutched his waist and gasped.

He actually couldn't move the Keepnet.

"Holy crap! Old Chen, how freaking much did you catch?"

Old Yu wanted to slap his own hand.

Why did 'you' have to go and try to lift it!

"Not much, just that Keepnet you just tried to lift is full, that's all."

"Holy crap! That's insane!" Old Yu's eyes widened.

No wonder he couldn't lift it.

This Keepnet could hold 400 pounds of fish. With the water resistance added in, it would be a miracle if he could move it.

But...

*Slap~*

Old Yu lightly slapped his own mouth.

Why did 'you' have to ask him!

Now you're depressed, aren't you!

But the even more depressing part was yet to come.

Seeing that Old Yu was silent, Chen Sheng swallowed his food and reminded him, "If you've got nothing to do, hurry up and empty a Keepnet. Don't just stand there occupying the latrine without doing your business. Also, that lure rod you just got, hurry up and wipe the dust off it."

"Bullshit, I maintain my 'wife' every day..." Old Yu choked. The thought that if this trend continued, his 'wife' would be lost, made his heart ache.

"Damn it! I don't know what kind of dog shit luck you're having today?" Thinking the description wasn't accurate enough, Old Yu added, "You didn't freaking eat dog shit recently, did you? Otherwise, how could you pull a rare card worth tens of thousands on your first draw, and freaking hit the jackpot fishing in a reservoir like this..."

'Stepping in it' wasn't enough to describe it; 'eating it' was necessary.

Old Yu felt even more stifled.

This is too freaking unfair.

Why does everyone else get a selective window opened for them, while for Chen Sheng, the roof gets ripped right off?

"I don't know either. Maybe Heaven is being merciful and I'm finally hitting rock bottom and bouncing back. You know how unlucky I've been all these years." Anything that couldn't be explained could be attributed to the supernatural.

"True!" Old Yu nodded in agreement. "A person can't be down on their luck forever."

Old Yu still felt quite strongly about his university roommate's bad luck.

He himself was the type who didn't strive for progress, but Chen Sheng had always been proactive about work and had the ability. Yet, after so many years of working, his salary wouldn't go up, his position wouldn't rise, and then he hit that special period...

Thinking about it, he couldn't help but sigh, "Sigh! It's all fate and timing~"

...