Chapter 195: No, Buddy

Wu Ping was very excited.

He knows how to fish.

But he hasn't fished for a long time.

First, he rarely feels the urge to fish and doesn't have much time; the older he gets, the more he thinks fishing is time‑consuming, labor‑intensive, and offers no benefit.

Gradually, the idea faded away.

But the moment he got the fishing rod, Wu Ping realized his mood had changed and he was eager to cast a line.

It turned out

He actually likes fishing.

Cast down.

Hook a fish.

Reel it in.

Cast again.

Hook another fish.

So satisfying!

It feels incredibly satisfying.

Especially when battling the fish, adrenaline surges, the whole body tingles, it's intoxicating, and all worries are completely forgotten.

Fishing is such a stress reliever.

And you can make money!

How did he never realize before that fishing could be this great!

These years he has been working on the front lines of education, and Mei Yueqin handles everything at home and elsewhere, so he isn't very familiar with many sea fish.

He's good at plating, and he probably doesn't even recognize them.

This lively, wriggling one, he's still hesitant to identify; after pulling up a fish, he holds it and asks, "A An, what kind of fish is this?"

"It's Black Bream."

"Is it valuable?"

"About forty to fifty yuan per jin, I guess."

"Oh, this one is about one to two jin, hehe, not bad at all."

He reels up another one.

"What about this one?"

"Yellow-footed La, same price, about forty to fifty yuan per jin."

"And this one?"

"Sea Bass, cheaper, around twenty yuan."

"That's not bad either; this one I caught earns more than what I made in my last class."

Wu Ping mutters happily.

Wu An and A Qing also listen with delight.

Only Lin Bin suffers.

He went first, yet Wu Ping kept catching five fish in a row; his rod showed no sign of movement, not even a bite on the bait!

Does the sea have anyone in charge!

These fish are bullying people!

Wu An and A Qing are relatively calm; common fish like Black Bream, Yellow-footed La, Red Friend Fish, Stone Nine Public, etc., hardly excite them.

Unless they catch a Grouper.

So they occasionally get excited.

A Qing holds a large Grouper and says, "Brother, look, look, the one I caught is huge, probably the biggest, at least four or five jin!"

Wu An glances, about to speak, when the rod tip suddenly sinks and a fish bites.

And the pull is strong.

He steadies his stance and wrestles the fish; with such force, the fish must be sizable.

After a while of struggling, he finally brings the fish to the surface, instantly stunned by its vivid colors; it's the first time he's ever caught such a beautiful fish.

"Brother, what kind of fish did you catch?"

"It looks like an ornamental fish."

Wu An says as he lifts the fish, not using a scoop net; such a beautiful fish, if he accidentally damages it, would be a waste of a treasure.

He gently sets the fish down, quickly grabs it to prevent it from thrashing on the reef and injuring itself; such a gorgeous fish surely lives off its looks.

Lin Bin saw it, his jealous eyes reddening: "Damn, I'm also impressed; you guys don't understand anything, how is your luck this good."

"It's a Qingyi (Blue-clad fish) (Blue-clad fish)."

"It can be eaten or admired."

Wu An laughed; seeing Lin Bin's jealous look, he knew the fish must be valuable, and A Qing's water bucket kept this fish separately.

Lin Bin couldn't stand watching.

He shamelessly asks, "A An, could you give me some guidance?"

Wu An looks at him, "Guidance on what?"

Lin Bin snickers, "Guide me in fishing."

"We're not buddies; I've only fished a handful of times, how could you ask me to guide you?"

"……" Lin Bin didn't know how to reply.

"Hold on, you can't still not have caught a fish, can you?"

"......" He didn't really feel like talking.

"I didn't mean to ask like that; I just caught a fish with the Linked Rod Technique earlier and wasn't paying much attention to you."

"......"

Guess whether I believe it!

"Not catching fish is fine; after all you're unmarried, unlike Lin Hu, who goes home empty‑handed and gets nagged by his wife."

"......"

Damn, you think you can comfort someone by staying silent!

In less than a minute, he could no longer count how many times Wu An had offended him.

Lin Bin, growing increasingly angry, asked, "Are you actually going to give me any guidance?"

Wu An replied, "I don't give guidance to outsiders."

Lin Bin immediately hauled in his line, intending to leave.

Wu An shouted, "Wait, don't you ask—do I count as an outsider in my eyes?"

Lin Bin paused, "Count as one?"

Wu An: "Of course you do."

"......" Lin Bin's forehead bulged with angry veins; what exactly had he been hoping for just now?

A Qing burst out laughing, "Lin Bin, you're even dumber than me."

Wu Ping laughed along.

Lin Bin left in a rage, wishing he could strangle the version of himself who had just asked Wu An for guidance!

As the Luck Value depleted, the rate of catching fish slowed.

A Qing also hauled up a Qingyi (Blue-clad fish) (Blue-clad fish); with two Qingyi (Blue-clad fish) (Blue-clad fish) in the bucket, the bucket looked considerably more upscale.

Without Luck Value, the three of them stayed and kept fishing stubbornly.

Around five o'clock, Wu An's phone rang with a series of dings; when he checked, it was a message from Gu Anran asking if he was okay.

She had overheard villagers discussing the news of his arrest.

He called her directly.

He briefly explained the situation; after listening, Gu Anran exhaled, "So that's it. The version I heard was that you were caught for smuggling crimes."

Wu An shook his head, "The rumors are way too far‑fetched."

The two kept chatting and couldn't stop.

Wu An simply reeled in his Fishing Line, set the rod down, and kept talking with Gu Anran while watching Wu Ping and A Qing fish, only hanging up when his phone felt scorching hot.

"Big brother, A Qing, stop, it's getting late," he called.

A Qing obeyed and immediately stopped.

Wu Ping, having just done the Lower Rod Technique, said, "I'll pull up another one."

A Qing ran off to ride his bike.

Wu An began to tidy up.

After packing everything neatly and loading the catch into the motorcycle compartment, A Qing asked, "Brother, aren't we going to town?"

Wu An nodded, "No, not bothering anymore."

"Let's go to Lao Xie's place."

"And while we're at it, I have something to discuss with him."

Lao Xie saw the two big Qingyi (Blue-clad fish) (Blue-clad fish) and was overjoyed; other vendors gathered to look, each exclaiming they were a masterpiece, a rarity.

Praising them to that extent, Lao Xie offered a good price, buying them at the rate for ornamental Qingyi (Blue-clad fish) (Blue-clad fish).

Including other assorted fish, the total came to 9,950 yuan.

Lao Xie rounded it up and handed over 10,000 yuan.

The income wasn't high.

But it was decent.

After taking the money, Wu An explained the matter briefly; there was nothing else—just asked Lao Xie to spread the rumor that Chen Gui was behind it, and Lao Xie readily agreed, believing it was indeed Chen Gui's doing.

He made several preparations; barring any mishap, idle gossip will spread throughout the Village by early tomorrow.

Doing so not only speeds up the news dissemination but also protects Lao Meng; with more people spreading it, Chen Gui will have a harder time tracking down who is "talking nonsense."

Lao Meng said he heard it from Lao Xie, Lao Xie said he heard it from Lin Bin, Lin Bin said he heard it from Lao Meng, forming a closed loop that leaves Chen Gui with no trace to investigate.

After finishing with Lao Xie, Wu An set the matter aside and pondered when to detonate the "green hat" bomb over Lin Hu's head.

He must not be impatient.

He needs to find the most suitable timing!

He must make this bomb explode sufficiently to hurt Chen Gui.