Chapter 64: Catching Fish and Groping for Shrimp, Every Man Loves It!

By the fishpond, Luo Yingsi flicked her small hand, and the flash of silver vanished from her grip.

Well, the water monster was dead—as long as people were safe, that was all that mattered!

Yet, apparently, not a single soul had bothered to consider whether this blockhead Liu Haizhu actually knew how to swim.

Villagers raised by the sea: ...Damn it, is there anyone in this world who can't swim? Isn't that something you're born knowing how to do?

A-Gang looked at Yingsi in shock, then turned his shocked gaze back to the rippling water surface, thinking quite naturally: ...If you, girl, can leap that high, swimming must be a piece of cake for you, right?

Luo Yingsi: He's bouncing around like a lively rabbit, he'll definitely be fine.

Splash!

In the murky pond, Liu Haizhu soared into the sky once more!

The children by the pond: Wow!

Three minutes later,

Liu Haizhu hauled the water monkey and dragged it step by step out of the pond, climbing onto the bank.

A-Gang sprinted over like an ox, looking at the dripping-wet Liu Haizhu, then down at the water monkey in his grip with its head thoroughly bashed in.

He exclaimed in shock, "You're a beast!"

Thwack!

Liu Haizhu tossed the water monkey right in front of Old Hu, demanding coldly, "What do you have to say for yourself!"

"Ah!"

Old Hu jumped in fright, landing flat on his backside, and scrambled backward in a frenzy!

This—this legendary creature...

Didn't it only exist in great rivers, lakes, and oceans?

Had his ancestors smoked high-grade incense for him to get this in his tiny fishpond of less than ten acres?!

Right now wasn't the time to dwell on that, however.

Old Hu wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and yelled at Liu Haizhu, "Y-You, are you alright?"

A-Gang stepped forward, grabbed him by the collar, hoisted him halfway into the air, and roared furiously, "You were trying to get me killed!"

"No, no, no," Old Hu was practically in tears by now. "I didn't know either! The money, the money, I'll refund it to you!"

"Sound good?" A-Gang turned his head to look at Liu Haizhu.

Liu Haizhu gritted his teeth as he looked at the weeping family, and the anger in his chest dissipated by more than half. He decided not to bicker with them any further.

He opened his mouth and said, "It was my own fault for accidentally slipping in."

A-Gang turned his head back and bellowed at Old Hu, "Well? What do you say now!"

With his neck constricted until it turned red, Old Hu wheezed, "Money refunded, pond is yours, alright?"

Only then did A-Gang put Old Hu down, glaring fiercely, "Don't let there be a next time!"

"Alright, alright!"

Once his feet touched the ground, Old Hu was yanked away by his wife, putting distance between themselves and this god of carnage. He then bowed repeatedly to Liu Haizhu, expressing his gratitude: "Thank you, thank you!"

Liu Haizhu thought for a moment and said, "Keep the money, just get lost."

"Thank, thank you!"

Watching the couple scurry away like a puff of smoke, A-Gang turned around angrily and snapped, "That was my money!"

***

By the edge of the fishpond, Liu Haizhu sat by a bonfire clad only in his undershorts while Yingsi roasted his clothes for him.

Ring-ring!~

Yingsi pulled her phone from her pocket, frowned, and left it unanswered.

Liu Haizhu asked, "Who is it?"

Yingsi answered, "My grandfather."

"Oh." Liu Haizhu glanced down guiltily at his bare skin and wisely shut his mouth.

A moment later, A-Gang ran over and handed him a phone, shouting, "Answer it, it's your uncle!"

Liu Haizhu blinked and took the device. "Hello? ...Oh, ...My phone fell in the water, ...What? They're here? ...Really, Uncle? Haha, ...Alright then, ...Send them over, it's all settled, totally settled!"

Two hours later,

On the concrete ground by the fishpond, Old Hu's son eagerly lugged over several plastic backrest chairs and set up a large parasol.

Yingsi and her sister sat there lazily, sipping sweet beverages.

These sweet drinks were brought over by Old Hu's son, Xiao Hu. Terrified—perhaps because he had never laid eyes on such stunning girls before—the fellow was running around doing chores as submissively as a dog.

And right over there,

His plump wife was weeping so hard she looked on the verge of a breakdown.

Watching the water in the pond being drained down to the dregs, silver flashes leaped about everywhere amidst the mud.

Old Hu, sneaking over in a cowardly fashion, was utterly bewildered.

There really was stuff in here?!

Liu Haizhu, dressed in his washed and dried clothes with waterproof waders pulled over them, arched an eyebrow at the two sisters. "Little Nini, aren't you coming over?"

"You go play, brother-in-law," Luo Nini's face was plastered with utter disdain. "It's all mud!"

"Hehe!"

Crowning himself with a massive basin, this blockhead followed right behind A-Gang, preparing to wade into the water.

Screech!

A van stopped not far away, and hearing the sound, Liu Haizhu turned his head!

"Aha!"

Liu Haizhu abruptly dropped the basin, broke into a run toward the vehicle, and hollered with excitement, "Haozi! Haozi! I'm right here!"

Getting out of the car,

Guo Minghao blinked as he looked at Liu Haizhu's bizarre attire. "What on earth are you up to?"

Standing nearby, Yang Peng—sporting a calf-licked hairstyle and wearing flashy little red shorts—also bounced over. "Zhu, I'm here too."

Liu Haizhu grinned and punched him lightly. "Good, good, glad you're here!"

"Come, come, come, A-Gang, get over here!"

Liu Haizhu called out warmly, gesturing to A-Gang as he announced, "These two are my childhood buddies. This is A-Gang, a friend I made here!"

Guo Minghao slapped the back of his head and scolded, "Who the hell are you calling 'older brother' to?"

"You stupid Hao, hit me again and I'll bloody skin you alive!" Liu Haizhu nearly threw a tantrum.

Yang Peng chuckled and stepped forward, taking the initiative to shake hands with A-Gang.

"Hehe, nice to meet you," A-Gang extended a grimy, massive hand. "Just call me A-Gang!"

Guo Minghao walked up. "You can call me Haozi!"

Yang Peng beamed from ear to ear. "I'm Dapeng!"

"Nice to meet you."

"Haha, awesome!"

A-Gang pointed at the now-drained fishpond. "Since you're here, let's catch some fish together!"

Liu Haizhu looked at the two of them and asked, "Are you guys getting in the pond or not?"

Guo Minghao looked back at Zhu with a smiling expression that clearly said he was dying to try.

"Let's go, let's dig in!"

Splash! Splash! ...!

The fishpond was a lively scene.

Big fish after big fish were tossed into the basins until they were packed to the brim, and the group carried them to the bank with laughs as wild as maniacs.

As the old saying goes:

Catching fish and groping for shrimp—from kids of five or six to old men of eighty or ninety, there's not a single male who doesn't love it.

Big silver carp, grass carp, and cruciferous carp came basket after basket, alongside plenty of turtles and soft-shelled turtles.

Trip after trip, the faces of Old Hu's family by the bank turned green with every load.

A crowd of villagers waited by the shore to buy cheap fish, while some children amused themselves by poking the long-dead water monkey with wooden sticks.

Old Hu's wife was fuming with rage and gave him a hard shove. "Look at the mess you've made!"

Old Hu, the fishpond owner, wore a face as long as a funeral's. That muscular brute A-Gang looked like someone you didn't want to mess with, and rumor had it his backing was Dongsheng!

He couldn't afford to provoke them!

Yet thinking of the trouble he had brought upon himself...

Old Hu felt so wronged he was on the verge of tears!

That evening,

By the fishpond,

A glowing-faced A-Gang felt a profound sense of satisfaction. Subtracting costs, both he and Liu Haizhu had made a tidy profit; their haul could only be described as bountiful.

They had made a killing.

Most importantly of all, everyone present had thoroughly scratched their itch!

If you've never drained a pond, you'll never understand.

A single pond, a crowd of people,

Watching the water get pumped dry as those big fish thrash about in the mud.

Then you leap in uninhibitedly to grab them one by one—that is a pure, unadulterated sense of harvest.

That feeling of fullness, that thrill of chasing fish while wading through the mud, was easily superior to feasting on exotic delicacies!

A word from the author: Of course, if there are any fish lovers present, Broken Finger apologizes here.

If all else fails, I'll have A-Gang kowtow to you to express my sincere apologies.