201: Gift giving

Gao Xiaofan gripped the rod, the force on it making his heart tremble involuntarily.

It wasn't snagged on the bottom. There was something on the hook. This feeling was exactly the same as last time's Hundred-Jin Giant Catch. The only difference was that the pulling force felt much weaker.

If it were snagged, the rod wouldn't be able to pull at all. Gao Xiaofan could clearly sense that the thing on the hook was continuously moving under his pull.

As for whether it was a fish, Gao Xiaofan dismissed that thought immediately. Having fished for so long, how could he not know? If it were a fish, it couldn't possibly have zero struggling force. What was on the hook was clearly an inanimate object.

Gao Xiaofan's face turned ashen as he held the rod. Even though he'd experienced this before, he still panicked this time.

Qiu Gu, noticing the commotion from the side, picked up the Gimbal to frame the shot, his expression excited. But when he walked up to Gao Xiaofan and saw his face, he was momentarily confused about what was happening.

Until he saw the bullet screen on the screen in front of him.

"I was wondering why this rod looked so odd. Seeing Brother Wo Zi's face, I think I understand~"

"Brother Wo Zi, could this be a repeat of the Legendary Scene!!!"

"What Legendary Scene? Can someone explain!"

"You don't know about Brother Wo Zi's Hundred-Jin Giant Catch??"

...Looking at the content in the barrage, Qiu Gu's expression turned strange. He naturally knew about Gao Xiaofan's past glorious deeds. By the looks of it, could it really be another corpse?

While Qiu Gu was still brainstorming, he heard Gao Xiaofan let out a sigh. Looking up, he saw Gao Xiaofan had finally taken a deep, relieved breath.

Qiu Gu turned to look at the water's surface. Following the pull of the fishing line, the object underwater had been brought to the surface—a large cardboard box, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, seemingly for waterproofing.

As long as it wasn't a corpse, that was good. Qiu Gu couldn't help but sigh in relief too.

But when he saw the barrage in the livestream room again, his whole body couldn't help but tremble.

"Sigh, not a corpse~ Wasted my high expectations!"

"Never jump to conclusions too early watching Brother Wo Zi's streams. He knows how to create hype~ Before the last corpse was fished up, everyone thought it was an Inflatable Doll, but it turned out to be a corpse. So this time, who knows, maybe it's a Dismemberment Package Box~"

"...Damn, now I'm getting excited again!"

"...Bro, you're amazing! I bow to your superior analysis!"

"...The reasoning is sound! Adding my anticipation!"

Holding the Gimbal, Qiu Gu was momentarily at a loss for words, occasionally glancing at Gao Xiaofan and the box steadily approaching the shore on the water.

Li Yuer also put down her rod and walked over, blinking her big eyes as she watched.

"Brother Gu, you go and haul it up." Gao Xiaofan wiped his sweat, then spoke with a pained expression. What was up with this Qiu Gu? He wasn't even coming to help.

Hesitating, Qiu Gu handed the Gimbal to Gao Xiaofan, then walked to the shore. With a conflicted look, he picked up the box, exerted force, and lifted the entire box out of the water.

When he looked back, he saw Gao Xiaofan staring at his phone, his expression not great, probably also quite shaken by the comments in the barrage.

"Got it up, Xiaofan~"

Qiu Gu shouted, then saw Gao Xiaofan smile at him.

"You open it up and see what's inside~"

Qiu Gu's face darkened. He took scissors from the nearby Fishing Box and, trembling, cut open the outer layer of plastic wrap.

Both Gao Xiaofan and Li Yuer stood far away, watching Qiu Gu's actions.

After cutting through the outer plastic wrap, the box immediately fell apart on the ground. It seemed water had already gotten in long ago; it was only the tightly wrapped plastic film that had kept the box from disintegrating.

Looking at the items scattered from the box, the three of them were stunned. None of them expected it to be this... Guo Shu lay on the sofa in his room, feeling the warm air from the AC vent, his mood improving slightly.

Two years ago, he was just a food delivery guy. The sudden fishing ban on Wanfo Lake transformed him into the boss of this Reservoir Bay.

His uncle worked in the Wanfo Lake Fishery Administration, and his own father was highly respected in the village. Back when the villagers hadn't yet reacted, Guo Shu's family directly contracted the largest Reservoir Bay. There really wasn't the slightest bit of resistance.

From then on, Guo Shu directly began a life of picking up money, and the kind where he could do it lying down.

The money he earned in a single day was enough to match a whole week's income from food delivery. The key was how easy it was.

Other Fishing Grounds needed to buy fish, adjust water quality, feed fish food. His Reservoir Bay was a surefire, immensely profitable business with virtually no capital investment.

After doing this for over a year, he had a car, a house, and even a wife.

But the good times didn't last long. His uncle told him he needed to grease some palms, otherwise such a large Reservoir Bay couldn't just be given to him alone for no reason.

Guo Shu thought about it and felt it made sense. Recently, he'd heard many people in the village gossiping. But because he had this Fishery Administration connection, others who wanted to do it now couldn't.

At first, he only gave gifts to his uncle's colleagues of the same rank and their superiors. But as Guo Shu kept giving, he realized the people he dealt with most frequently were actually the lower-level Clerks and errand runners. Giving to the leaders was for name recognition, but he couldn't not give to these lower-level people either. Later, he even started giving to ordinary Clerks.

It went from initially getting ten cartons from the tobacco and liquor store to now taking them by the case.

From the initial hard-pack Huazi cigarettes to soft-pack Huazi, and now, directly starting with the 100-yuan-per-pack Golden Leaf cigarettes.

But just the night before last, when Guo Shu stepped onto the Small Wooden Boat planning to deliver gifts again, an accident happened. A whole case of Golden Leaf cigarettes plopped into the water.

Wasn't the New Year approaching soon? Guo Shu thought he'd deliver early and be done with it. This gift-giving business had quite a lot of nuances. Every time these lower-level Clerks saw Guo Shu, they'd call him Brother Guo, Brother Guo. But Guo Shu couldn't really act like he was their elder brother~

He frequently interacted with these lower-level Clerks. Gifts definitely had to be given, but not right at New Year's. His uncle held a not-insignificant position in the Fishery Administration. Him giving gifts to leaders was fine, but shamelessly giving gifts to subordinates? What would that look like? He still had to consider his uncle's face a bit.

So Guo Shu usually delivered the gifts a month before holidays. Then, around the holiday itself, this whole group of Fishery Administration Clerks would get together to pay Guo Shu a New Year's visit or something, and Guo Shu would book a restaurant for everyone to eat, drink, and sing together.

This was considered a mutual understanding between both sides.

The night before last, Guo Shu carefully carried a case of cigarettes, moved onto the small boat. That night, the Fishery Administration Clerks happened to be on patrol, perfect for delivery.

The box was tightly wrapped in plastic wrap,Fear (fearing) it would get wet.