Chapter 154: What Bad Intentions Could an Old Classmate Have?

The water pump started up with a loud rumbling operation.

The sound was still quite loud.

Not far away was the coastal highway; occasionally vehicles and pedestrians passed by, hearing the water pump's sound, most people found it nothing unusual.

Occasionally someone would stop to watch, but they'd leave after just a moment.

Compared to fishing and gathering seafood, the water pump pit was actually quite boring, mainly because you just had to wait.

And you could only wait idly.

Wu An and A Qing had nothing to do, heads down playing on their phones to kill time.

A Qing took out a cigarette: "Brother, want one?"

Wu An shook his head.

After about a month, his body's nicotine addiction had basically disappeared.

He had no intention of smoking anymore.

The body is the foundation of everything; he didn't want to drink a lot of liquor and end up drinking himself into oblivion.

A Qing hadn't managed to quit.

Especially when idle with nothing to do, he wanted to smoke to pass the time, otherwise he always felt his mouth was too empty.

A Qing puffed on his cigarette and said, "Brother, I remember when we were kids we used to fetch water for the pit with a bucket and ladle."

Wu An nodded.

Thinking about it now, it seems quite interesting.

Although being busy all day didn't yield much seafood, it felt like each day was full and happy.

After waiting about ten or so minutes, the water level had dropped a significant amount, but when he checked the water pump, he found the luck value hadn't moved at all.

There was a problem.

He thought it over and decisively shut off the water pump.

A Qing turned his head over and asked, "Brother, what's wrong?"

Wu An said, "I feel this water pit probably doesn't have any seafood."

"I plan to switch to another one; come over and help me move it."

"Just that one."

A Qing followed the direction Wu An pointed and saw that the water pit was slightly larger than the one they were currently pumping.

Aside from that, there was nothing particularly special about it.

He didn't say anything, tossed away his cigarette, and hurried over to help.

Soon the water pump's pipe was laid out, and it started up again with a loud rumbling.

Wu An kept watching it.

Only five minutes had passed when the luck value dropped by one notch.

He couldn't help but feel delighted.

After waiting another ten minutes or so, the luck value decreased again.

Seeing this, Wu An let out a breath; if nothing unexpected happened, this water pit should be a sure thing.

A Qing saw Wu An's smile and asked, "Brother, does this water pit have potential?"

Wu An nodded.

A Qing stared at the water pit, silently praying in his heart, hoping desperately for a catch, hoping desperately for a catch.

Judging by the speed of the water level dropping, they estimated it would take about an hour to pump it dry.

Wu An took out his phone and started playing Temple Run.

This game is quite popular these days; once you start, you basically can't stop.

It's just that occasionally he'd be interrupted, as passersby would ask how the haul was.

If he diverted even a little attention to reply, his game character would die.

He was about to have A Qing handle it when he heard someone call his name.

He looked up and saw his classmate Cao Zhiqiang riding a scooter, with an unfamiliar woman behind him.

Wu An gave a greeting, then lowered his head and continued playing the game.

"You're pumping a water pit?"

Wu An responded with an affirmative.

"Can this thing make money?"

Wu An nodded.

"You couldn't possibly be relying on this to make money now, could you?"

Wu An ignored him.

Seeing Wu An not respond, Cao Zhiqiang thought he was reluctant to speak, felt secretly pleased, believed the chance to regain favor had arrived, smiled, and said, "Wu An, why do you seem to be giving me the cold shoulder?"

"After all, we were classmates for three years; it's been a while since we last saw each other, and last time we were in a rush we barely exchanged a few words."

"I mean nothing else; I just want to chat and catch up."

Wu An frowned.

It wasn't because Cao Zhiqiang kept nagging; it was because Mai Hangyu called, which caused his game character to die again.

He answered the call.

Mai Hangyu excitedly said there was progress; he had some information about a house and hoped to meet up to discuss it.

Wu An said he couldn't leave, regarding the water pit; Mai Hangyu asked where it was, he gave the location, and Mai Hangyu said he'd be there soon before hanging up.

Wu An put away his phone, A Qing glanced at Cao Zhiqiang and whispered, "Brother, I feel this guy speaks in a weird, sarcastic way."

Wu An nodded.

The hypocrisy was a bit more obvious, but as the saying goes, you don't hit a smiling face, so he couldn't say much.

Cao Zhiqiang parked the scooter by the road, brought the woman over, looked at the operating water pump, and clicked his tongue: "Wu An, your gear is complete, are you really going to be a fisherman?"

Wu An said: "Yeah."

Cao Zhiqiang chuckled: "Nowadays few people work as fishermen; among our classmates, you're probably the only one."

"I'm being honest, you should find another job as soon as possible."

"If we weren't struggling to get by, no one would want to be a fisherman."

"How could the 'heaven's chosen' the teacher once talked about end up doing this kind of work?"

Wu An narrowed his eyes.

This feeling...

It's very familiar.

It's a bit like a skit a future short-video blogger would film—desperate, delivering takeout, running into an old classmate...

In many people's eyes, delivering takeout isn't a glamorous or respectable job.

Being a fisherman is the same.

Fishermen who go out to sea face wind and sun, and it's even harder than delivering takeout.

Moreover, going out to sea to fish means facing the unpredictable marine environment, with high danger; almost every year there are incidents at sea.

What Cao Zhiqiang said is correct; nowadays few young people are willing to do this work.

Like Cao Zhiqiang and them, most go into factories, where they have steady income rain or shine, sheltered from wind and rain.

Saying what job you do also sounds more respectable.

The woman beside him looked surprised: "He... the heaven's chosen?"

Cao Zhiqiang said in an exaggerated tone: "Don't look at him like this now; back in school his grades were excellent, and the teacher constantly held him up as an example for us."

A Qing looked displeased: "Brother, this kid is hiding something nasty."

"He's still smiling... seeing that smile makes me want to hit him."

Wu An nodded.

Actually, Cao Zhiqiang doesn't really have ill intentions; it's just that back in school, teachers and parents constantly used him as the "other people's child" to educate us.

As a result, seeing him now in such a sorry state, they naturally want to "take revenge" to gain a sense of superiority.

Faced with this situation, he feels it's necessary to let Cao Zhiqiang know the lesson "never look down on others."

Cao Zhiqiang seemed to suddenly think of something, put his arm around the woman's shoulder, and said: "After all that talk, I forgot to introduce her—this is my girlfriend."

"We work at the same factory."

"I've secretly liked her for a long time, but never had the courage to confess."

"Not long ago I just got promoted to team leader, my salary went up a lot, I could support a family, so I gathered the courage to confess—I didn't expect it to succeed."

Wu An realized: promotion, raise, successful confession—no wonder Cao Zhiqiang acts like a "successful person"; he thinks he's already reached the pinnacle of life.

It's a pity he just drank a lot of water; otherwise he would have wanted to piss a yellow bubble at Cao Zhiqiang to show him how far he is from the "pinnacle of life."