Chapter 299: Checking Luck

The fishing folk didn't think much of Wu An and their actions at Panshuikeng.

If Panshuikeng could make money, everyone would come to Panshuikeng.

In their view, it's really not as good as fishing.

Fishing at least can catch fish—you can eat it, sell it, or at worst just treat it as play.

This Panshuikeng is labor-intensive and unrewarding.

Working in the pond exhausts you half to death, leaves you filthy, offers no fun, and the water pump guzzles oil.

After a day's work, those with bad luck even lose money.

"Huh, why is there another old man?"

"Is this the Calabash Babies messing around, and the grandpa came over?"

The fishing folk laughed.

The eldest, a white-bearded old man, snorted and said, "How so, looking down on elders?"

"I wouldn't dare."

"Hey, today you have the Dragon King's blessing, and you've hooked fish with the Linked Rod Technique."

"Exactly, we youngsters feel inferior."

These people laughed and said, it's clear these fishing folk all know each other, get along well, and can joke freely.

The white-bearded old man spat and said, "Even the youngest are in their forties and still claim to be young; I feel anxious for you."

"Alright, you keep fishing, I'll take a break."

"I'm tired."

After speaking, the old man put away his fishing rod, sat on a nearby small chair to drink tea; usually he'd set up a canopy, but today the wind is too strong, so he just does this, and the old man accustomed to enjoying himself frowns uncomfortably.

At this age, fishing is truly just a pastime.

Of course, pastime is pastime, but fun is still sought; the fun of fishing is nothing more than seeing who catches more, bigger, and more valuable fish.

As people age, they actually prefer to be nitpicky.

"A bite!"

"The fish are biting well today."

"It might be because it just rained."

"It's just that the wind is strong, giving me a headache."

"Then why don't you leave?"

"Nonsense, I'm almost getting a Linked Rod hit—I'd have to be crazy to leave!"

"Mo Lao, where are you going?"

The fishing folk all turned their heads to look.

The white-bearded old man called Mo Lao stepped down from the rocks, walked toward the pond's edge, and without looking back said, "I'm going to see what's up with Panshuikeng."

He walked over.

Mo Lao approached Lao Fu Tou, saw his cigarette almost finished, took out a pack of Hua Zi from his pocket, handed one over, and asked, "You've got good fortune, you two grandsons."

He struck up a conversation with Lao Fu Tou, seeing they were about the same age, peers, glanced at Wu An and A Qing—he had little to say to the youngsters—and after Lao Fu Tou took the cigarette, he earnestly advised, "Young people, liking to tinker and make a fuss is a good thing."

"As elders, it's better to interfere less."

"The more you manage, the more you annoy the kids."

"These kids even think we're old and useless, and won't listen to us at all."

He sighed saying that.

Obviously, he wasn't just advising Lao Fu Tou, but also himself.

Lao Fu Tou instinctively shook his head, a bit absent-minded; hearing the man's many words, he didn't catch a single one.

He was mainly preoccupied with bigger matters, with no spare attention for anything else.

A Qing stood nearby, scratched his head, shifted a bit toward Wu An, and whispered, "Brother, what does he mean? I can't really understand."

Wu An kept staring at the water pump; his Luck Value dropped fast, almost one point per minute, and a starting value of 12 was nowhere near enough.

"Add more!"

Wu An was somewhat excited, eagerly watching the water level keep dropping, and thus couldn't be bothered to answer A Qing's nonsensical question.

Lao Fu Tou worried inside, his cigarette burning continuously.

Just about to light it, he saw Mo Lao nearby, realized the cigarette he'd just placed in his mouth was from Mo Lao, so he lit his lighter and first lit Mo Lao's cigarette.

Mo Lao tapped his hand to indicate it was lit.

While the two old men puffed away, the pond had already been drained to its bottom.

There were fish splashing in the water.

Seeing this, Mo Lao was somewhat surprised: "Huh, luck's not bad, looks like there might be some harvest."

Wu An and A Qing immediately went into the pond.

Lao Fu Tou tossed his cigarette aside and also went down.

Mo Lao exclaimed, "How come you also went down?"

"I guess I gave the wrong advice earlier—you're not here to stop the kids from pond‑working, but to help."

"You old man are interesting, actually accompanying the kids in their play."

Before Lao Fu Tou could reply, A Qing blurted, "Old man, what are you saying? We're not here to play; we're here to work the pond for money."

Mo Lao smiled and didn't reply to A Qing.

How would he take the youngster's words seriously?

Lao Fu Tou said, "Seeing your smooth face with hardly any wrinkles, you must be younger than me, so I'll take the liberty of calling you younger brother."

"These two are not my grandchildren; actually I am a five-guarantees household, with no sons or daughters."

"Moreover, I'm not hiding it from you; I'm currently working a job."

Mo Lao became even more bewildered.

"Working a job?"

"Yes, this is my boss; I'm just an old fisherman, the boat owner tells me what to do and I do it, anyway it's all about making money."

"Can this make money?"

"This... depends on luck."

Mo Lao looked at Wu An; this young man seemed ordinary, yet what he was doing was so puzzling—he was even hiring workers for a pond.

What's the trouble?

How much money can the pond make; are the wages enough to pay?

He had a bold thought: could it be that this young man is doing good deeds in this way, supporting the elderly by giving wages?

Wu An had no time to chat with a strange old man; with that time he'd rather catch a few more fish.

However.

There aren't many fish in this pond.

He caught a few black bream, which weren't worth much and weren't big either.

Most were shrimp crabs.

Actually, compared to the previous pond, it's a bit better—there were fewer stone crabs, more flower crabs, and he also caught two blue crabs, which were not small, and he threw them straight into the bucket.

"No, still not enough."

"With just this little catch, it's far from enough to qualify for consuming twenty points of luck value!"

"There must be some big haul undiscovered in the pond."

Wu An muttered to himself, looking at Wu An and Lao Fu Tou; the two were silently catching fish and feeling for shrimp, but neither showed much excitement, indicating they hadn't found anything valuable.

He withdrew his gaze and shifted his feet.

He took two steps, and his gaze fell on a reef in a small puddle.

He pushed it.

The reef could be pushed.

He noticed the water in the puddle was violently shaking, not like it was caused by pushing the reef.

There's goods under the reef!

He reached his hand to feel under the reef in the puddle; he indeed felt something, but it was too slippery, and before he could grab it firmly, his hand came up empty.

He felt around two more times, but found nothing.

He became anxious.

He moved the stone a bit, but not much.

He shouted to A Qing: "Come help me move a stone."

A Qing walked over through the water.

Together they exerted force and moved the stone aside.

The water surface trembled, with a fish flopping about.

Wu An reached out with both hands, clasped them together, made a precise grab—"splash"—he lifted his hand out of the water; the fish in his palm throbbed even more violently.

The fish wasn't that big.

But it was strong enough that Wu An felt his palm ache a little from the impact.

By the pond's edge.

Mo Lao, with his flowing white beard, seeing Wu An cupping the fish in both hands, couldn't help but widen his eyes: "Holy shit, how could there be such a fish in the pond!"