In the afternoon, Qin Ziwen went to the riverside with Deng Guang's family.
"Just you? Where's your neighbor?"
Deng Guang gave an awkward smile.
Xiao Xuemei didn't hold back. "Hmph, that Liu Changgen. I told you we couldn't be close with him. We might as well have fed that meat to a dog! You risked your life to get that crocodile meat, and he wasn't even satisfied after you gave him two pounds of it. The way he was acting, you might as well have given him the whole lot! He's a grown man, perfectly able-bodied, so why is he acting like a shameless mooch?!"
Qin Ziwen got the picture. He'd been a little annoyed himself when Liu Changgen came asking him for meat the day before. It was their first meeting, they were strangers, yet Liu Changgen had just come right out and demanded it.
Anyone could have signed up back then; there were no restrictions.
Old Deng had shown up, so he got forty pounds of meat, regardless of how many times he had actually stabbed the crocodile.
But the fact that he was willing to step forward at that Node was what earned him his share.
Qin Ziwen teased, "Brother Deng, you're pretty generous. Did you lend him that meat or give it to him?"
The topic made Xiao Xuemei fume. "He might have said he was 'borrowing' it, but in my eyes, it was a handout to that man Liu."
Deng Guang chuckled. "We're all neighbors."
When they arrived at the riverside, Deng Guang wasn't smiling anymore.
For the past few days, he and Liu Changgen had often fished together on a large boulder by the bank. The top of the boulder was wide enough for two or three people.
But now, the top of the boulder was full.
Besides Liu Changgen, there were two other strangers with fishing rods.
Xiao Xuemei sneered, "So this is your 'good neighbor'?"
Deng Guang stared blankly at Liu Changgen's back, then gave a self-deprecating laugh and explained in a low voice, "I didn't come this morning, so maybe someone else came over."
Xiao Xuemei said, "Well, go on then. See if he'll give you your spot back."
Deng Guang hesitated for a long time, but in the end, he didn't go ask.
He turned his head and said cheerfully to Qin Ziwen, "Younger Brother Qin, I saw another good spot when I was fishing here before. We can go there."
Qin Ziwen nodded. "Anywhere is fine, as long as it's not easy for crocodiles to sneak up on us."
"Haha, of course."
Deng Guang picked up his bucket and fishing rod, walked a few dozen meters along the riverbank, and stopped at a small hillock.
The south side of the hillock was the river, with a sheer drop of three or four meters to the water's surface. For a crocodile to get to them, it would have to circle around from the gentler slopes on either side.
According to the area's layout, this was directly below the Gated Community, not too far from the riverbank.
To the north was a thicket of bushes and a small grove of trees, and beyond that was the southeastern wall of the Gated Community.
Deng Guang found a long stick and beat the grass to scare away any snakes. "With all the commotion these past few days, there shouldn't be any large animals left. We just have to make sure no snakes are hiding in there."
Qin Ziwen squatted down and grabbed a handful of soft, dark earth. "Can we dig up any earthworms in this soil?"
Deng Guang smiled confidently. "Yes! Not only are there a lot of earthworms here, but they're fat, too."
He then showed the Qin Family brothers how to dig for earthworms, demonstrating himself and quickly unearthing more than twenty plump, juicy ones.
Just as he'd said, the earthworms here were not only thick, but long.
Deng Wen hit the nail on the head: "Dad, you're not that great at fishing, but you're amazing at digging for worms!"
Deng Guang's face flushed. "Nonsense! Your dad is a great fisherman! How many people have ever gotten their hands on a five-meter-long crocodile?"
He then muttered something about how crocodiles were a type of fish too, which made everyone laugh.
Liu Changgen's child, who was digging for worms nearby, heard the commotion. The kid spotted Deng Wen and started to come over and say hello, but then seemed to think better of it. The child stopped awkwardly, ducked their head, and turned back, running over to Liu Changgen and whispering something to him.
Liu Changgen turned to look toward Deng Guang's group. Seeing Deng Guang and Qin Ziwen laughing and talking, he snorted coldly and turned back around.
Deng Guang helped Qin Ziwen bait his hook with an earthworm and adjust the float. "You haven't fished much before, have you?"
Qin Ziwen thought back. 'My most memorable fishing experience was taking my younger brother to fish for goldfish at a park back in middle school.'
'I haven't had much contact with the sport since then.'
Qin Ziwen took the rod. "Not really."
Deng Guang clapped Qin Ziwen on the shoulder. "No problem. You'll get the hang of it after fishing with me a few times."
Not long after he took hold of the rod, Qin Ziwen saw the float start to move.
Like a chicken pecking at grain,
It dipped and rose.
He instinctively pulled up and felt resistance from the other end of the rod.
"Fish on!"
Deng Guang, who had been waiting bitterly for a fish to bite, quickly placed his rod on its stand, walked over to stand behind Qin Ziwen, and stared intently at the water's surface.
SPLASH!
The fishing line, pulling a silver fish, broke the surface of the water.
Its silver scales glittered dazzlingly in the sunlight. After being pulled ashore, the fish, about two palms long, was still frantically thrashing its tail.
Deng Guang sighed. "Looks to be about five or six ounces."
This was only the beginning. In less than half an hour, Qin Ziwen caught several more fish in quick succession.
Qin Ziwen remarked, "We should have come earlier. There are so many fish here."
Deng Guang glanced at his own empty bucket and felt that the sun was a bit too blinding today.
Xiao Xuemei pointed to the river. "There's a crocodile."
A crocodile glided brazenly across the surface of the water. From its silhouette, it seemed slightly smaller than the one killed at the south gate of the Gated Community, but its presence in the water was no less intimidating.
After a few days of observation, it had discovered that these two-legged beasts on the shore posed no real threat to it.
The crocodile roamed a circle on the water's surface, as if patrolling its territory.
After it swam past, the fish in the water all stopped biting. Qin Ziwen got skunked for the rest of the afternoon.
As evening fell, a cool breeze drifted along the riverbank.
Ripples creased the water's surface.
Suddenly, the fishing rod jolted violently. A Giant Strength far greater than before shot up from the depths, instantly bending the rod into a deep arc!
Qin Ziwen instinctively tightened his grip on the rod with both hands.
"It's a big one! With that much pull, it's gotta be huge!" Deng Guang hurried over to help. "Slowly, don't rush it! Just wear down its stamina. Whatever you do, don't let it get tangled in the tree roots by the bank."
After a stalemate of nearly ten minutes, the fish underwater gradually lost its strength.
The commotion attracted the attention of many of the other anglers on the bank.
Some of them even ran over to watch.
When the large fish was finally pulled from the water, an old man in the crowd exclaimed, "Whoa, that carp's almost two feet long!"
Deng Guang helped lift the bucket to catch the fish, his voice full of envy. "Hot damn, look at the size of it! Is this beginner's luck? To land a catch this big on your first time."
After being stuffed vertically into the bucket, the fish filled it almost completely.
"This fish is pretty fat. I'd guess it's a little over ten pounds."
Qin Ziwen grabbed a few of the small fish from his own bucket and put them into Deng Guang's, then handed the rod back to him. "Brother Deng, let's go."
Deng Guang, who had only caught a single palm-sized carp all afternoon, was a little ashamed.
Qin Ziwen consoled him, "It's no big deal. Next time I get skunked, you can share some of yours with me."
Deng Guang accepted the few fish, but absolutely refused to take the fishing rod back. "I have another one at home. You use this for now."
Back at the Gated Community, an old man and an old woman were sitting at the property management desk by the south gate. They called out to everyone who passed, "Hey! There's a meeting for all the residents at 7 PM tonight. If you can make it, your household should send a representative!"
"A residents' meeting? Who's holding it?"
...
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