"Alright! I was overthinking it!"
Lu Chang'sheng popped up out of the river.
Just a moment ago, a long-tailed fish slipped right past his eyes and got away, leaving him a little bummed.
"Maybe I should put together some tools for catching fish!"
Lu Chang'sheng stopped slacking off in the water.
He wanted to take some time to make fishing gear, but after searching everywhere, he ran into a bunch of problems.
Most of the tools were basically impossible to find.
As for using a sewing needle as a hook, that was no easy task either.
Because, well, that thing was his old mom's prized possession, the only one in the house. If he could guarantee catching fish every day, fine, but if not, it wouldn't take long for him to feel his mom's wrath.
If he got unlucky and some fish ran off with it, that would be losing both the bride and the army!
Way too expensive!
With resources this scarce, just wanting to fish was already super hard!
No wonder slacking off in the water became a way to survive in the village.
Lu Chang'sheng went back to slacking off in the river.
Today, Wang Heihou wasn't so lucky—he didn't catch a fish, so his plan to nap with a book was straight out the window.
Funny enough, it was usually not-so-swift Niu Dazhuang who actually caught a white carp, holding it to his chest with a huge grin, making Wang Heihou super jealous.
"What's he so happy about? Look at that doofy face! It's just a fish!"
He definitely had a reason to be resentful.
Niu Dazhuang was always known as the slow kid in the village, usually just around as comic relief.
So a guy like that catching a fish? Yeah, that's jealousy fuel for sure.
Luckily, Zhao Family Village was pretty chill—there wasn't really any backstabbing going on.
Otherwise, who knows what could happen.
······
Lu Chang'sheng walked in the group, not bothering to dodge the pack of younger kids.
Fitting into society was just natural, and honestly, kind of a strategy too.
Like, if he hadn't been hanging out with the Monkey Wang back then, he never would've known there was even a book at his house.
Word gets around through people, after all.
More friends are always better than more enemies.
Lu Chang'sheng totally understood this.
Actually, he kind of blamed the Golden Finger for this. If it was like Dark Blue, just letting you add points, or if you could just level up from effort, making friends wouldn't even be a big deal.
But this Golden Finger is just unreliable!
One point every five years, and it only boosts talent—if he didn't get along with people, he'd seriously just be making life harder for himself.
"When it comes to slacking off in the water, Black Monkey, you're hands-down the best!"
"Of course!"
Wang Heihou had no idea what the word 'modest' even meant.
Lu Chang'sheng just kept pouring on the flattery, and Black Monkey soaked it all up.
So, Lu Chang'sheng just casually asked the real question he wanted to ask.
"You got any tricks for catching fish?"
Wang Heihou was floating on cloud nine thanks to all the compliments, so he didn't hide anything.
Besides, there wasn't much to hide anyway.
The ins and outs of fishing are always more or less the same—the real key is your own talent.
Some people know what to do in theory, but when they actually get there, they just can't pull it off.
There's always a gap between theory and practice.
Listening to Wang Heihou rattle off his honest experiences, Lu Chang'sheng made mental notes of everything.
That's just how kids are—once someone starts a topic, everyone jumps in.
With a little nudging from Lu Chang'sheng, pretty soon it turned into a full-blown fish-catching conference.
A group of kids crouched at the entrance to the village, arguing back and forth.
This one said: "You're doing it all wrong! You gotta move ahead of the fish!"
That one said: "No no! You need to do it like this, like this!"
······
Lu Chang'sheng was loving it, soaking up every tip and trick.
The next day, when it came time to go slacking off in the river, he tried out each tip one by one.
Then he pulled all the lessons together.
In short—speed, precision, and boldness!
Move fast, watch fast, react fast, shoot your hands out quick, be precise, be fast, be bold...
The rest was all about leveling up his own fishing skills!
Lu Chang'sheng found his hands really did get quicker—he always felt a step behind before, but now he was starting to catch up.
"Is this what high-level talent does? Man, what a waste just using it for fishing!"
Lu Chang'sheng thought to himself.
······
Time flew by.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
In those three days, the village kids would head out early every morning, off to the river to slack off and try to catch fish.
Sometimes someone would snag something, but it was usually just a tiny fish or two.
The Monkey Wang had the skills, but maybe not the luck.
All three days, he just couldn't catch anything.
No one made fun of him or anything.
Catching fish takes technique, but you also need some luck.
Missing out for a few days isn't weird at all.
Otherwise, folks in the village wouldn't be drooling at the sight of a single fish.
Meanwhile, Lu Chang'sheng just kept a good attitude. He could tell his talent was really helping—not just his swimming, but his fishing skills had grown a lot.
He was hooked on the thrill of improving, and he had a hunch that he was getting closer and closer to actually catching a fish.
That day, Lu Chang'sheng had a little something to eat in the morning, then went out to work with his parents.
Lately, the work in the fields had been all heavy labor. Kids his age didn't have the strength for that, so they didn't have to go out. But now, things were different.
So, except for Heitu, everyone else had to head out.
By the end of the day, Lu Chang'sheng dragged his tired, hungry self back home.
For dinner, it was still wild vegetable root soup, plus a bit of watery porridge.
"We don't have much rice left. Tomorrow I'll see if they're heading out, and maybe tag along," said Mr. Lu, poking through the greens in his bowl.
Crops from the fields didn't yield much, and if wild animals or bandits showed up, most of the harvest was gone anyway. To keep from starving, everyone had to skimp as much as they could.
"Hold on just a little longer. After the harvest in a few months, things will get better," Mrs. Lu said, patting Heitu on the head.
Lu Chang'sheng saw the whole thing and felt a little sad, but he didn't say much. He just went to bed and lay down.
The next day, right after heading out, he ran into Niu Dazhuang.
"Er Dan, let's go catch some fish!"
"Sure!"
Lu Chang'sheng didn't mind that Niu Dazhuang was a bit of a doofus.
In fact, he kind of liked that sort of personality.
Of course, out in the real world, he'd probably end up getting taken advantage of.
When they got to Wang Heihou's place, the Wang Family aunt said Black Monkey was still in bed.
Lu Chang'sheng didn't bother waiting.
This was a little early, after all. Usually only the village women were up cooking breakfast at this hour—the men were mostly still dreaming.
If they waited around, it'd be at least half an hour.
The two of them headed to the river by themselves.
"With fewer of us, we gotta be extra careful in the water!" He gave Niu Dazhuang a heads up, then Lu Chang'sheng got in and went about fishing like usual.
After diving under a few times, he suddenly saw a school of fish darting through the water nearby.
He sprung into action, shooting his hands forward right in front of the fish.
One panicked fish landed smack in his palm.
With his fingers curled, he clamped the three-inch-long fish tight by its gills.
"Splash!"
Lu Chang'sheng burst to the surface, his face lit up with joy.
After days of trying, he finally caught a fish!
That was a big breakthrough!