Chapter 3: This moral blackmail—who can bear it?

Lin Hu had a short temper; seeing Wu An deliberately scare them, he couldn't help cursing: "Wu Erzai, can you act like a human!"

"All you do is cause trouble, and now you're pretending to be mystical to scare people."

"If your father found out, he'd have to scold you over the loudspeaker."

"Can't you do something that would bring your father some honor?"

Earlier, Elder Wu's angry loudspeaker broadcast that severed the father-son relationship became village gossip after meals, mainly mocking him.

Since then, whenever he does something in the village, the villagers bring up the loudspeaker to talk about him.

Lin Bin coughed twice and said earnestly: "Your brother Hu is right."

"From now on, don't steal chickens or dogs, and certainly don't steal fish."

"Think about how you are; could your mother rest in peace in the underworld?"

Wu An snorted twice.

Stealing fish was wrong, but he also risked his life and ruined his reputation for the rest of his life; those two saw someone in danger and didn't help, then fled—what right do they have to lecture him? We're equals; they just keep bringing up his parents. Even if he's lived two lives, hearing it still feels really unpleasant.

Lin Hu glared: "What are you laughing at?"

Wu An's smile didn't fade: "I'm laughing because you're right."

"After hearing your words, I intend to mend my ways and start anew."

"So, can you support me?"

Lin Hu froze.

"This kid changed too fast; he couldn't adapt, and after a moment he asked: 'Support? Support what?'"

Wu An said: "As the saying goes, giving a man a fish is not as good as teaching him to fish."

"The fish you catch taste great; I still want to keep eating them."

"So I'd like to borrow two sets of your fishing rods."

Lin Hu and Lin Bin felt their heads buzzing.

"Wait."

"Those fish weren't even given by us—they were stolen. We let it go, but you're pushing your luck?"

Seeing the two say nothing, Wu An immediately intensified: "What you just said was good; you surely didn't just say it offhand, did you?"

"Whether I turn out good or bad now is entirely up to you."

"You don't want me to keep falling, do you?"

"What is this moral blackmail?"

Lin Hu and Lin Bin felt their scalps tingle, as if a heavy weight pressed on their shoulders, like a mountain pressing down.

"They really were just speaking offhand."

"I didn't expect Wu An to seize the opportunity and put them over the fire, leaving them no way to get down."

"The two had no choice but to steel themselves and say: 'You can borrow them, but you have to return them.'"

Wu An nodded with a smile: "Of course, of course."

"I, Wu An, have turned over a new leaf; before I spoke nonsense, now my words are solid as nails."

"You can rest easy."

The two brought out the two worst sets of fishing rods.

Wu An: "As the saying goes, see a good deed through to the end, send the Buddha all the way west; plus I need bait, a scoop net, and a fish bucket, otherwise if I catch a big fish I can't pull it up and have nowhere to put it."

"This kind of moral blackmail is more than Lin Hu and Lin Bin can bear."

"Borrow."

"Only borrow."

Holding the full set of fishing gear, Wu An and A Qing walked cheerfully toward the seaside.

Lin Bin and Lin Hu looked at each other.

"Even though it's just a loan, they somehow feel like they've been robbed."

"They feel awful inside."

"How do I feel that Wu Erzai got worse after his head injury?"

"Don't just feel it—it's true."

"This move is too fierce; we two can't withstand it."

"Will he sell our fishing gear?"

"Hard to say."

"Then let's follow and see."

The two agreed and also walked toward the seaside.

"Ahead."

A Qing carried the scoop net and fish bucket, curious: "Brother, why are we heading to the seaside?"

Wu An countered: "If not the seaside, where else?"

A Qing said: "To sell them in town."

"We should be able to make a good amount of money."

"Then we can eat well for several days."

Wu An shook his head: "Stealing chickens and dogs is one thing, but selling this fishing gear would incur criminal liability……"

"Forget it, telling you this is useless."

"A Qing, I plan to change my way of life."

"I'll bring you to earn big money with down-to-earth effort."

A Qing scratched his head, as if he didn't quite understand, but soon he had an epiphany and said, "I understand, brother—if we live our lives well, that's definitely better than anything."

But can we two catch any fish?

Wu An twitched the corner of his mouth, too lazy to correct A Qing, and confidently said, "We can."

A Qing said, "Brother, you used to take me fishing; after a few days without catching any fish, you got angry and swore when you sold our fishing rod that you'd never fish again in this life, and if you did fish then… then…"

Wu An twitched the corner of his mouth—let's not mention that dark history.

Anyway.

Wu An's oath is none of his business.

They arrived at the beach.

The tide is still coming in, so only a little of the beach is visible; there's definitely no way to fish, not even to go foraging, but luckily we ran into the two brothers Lin Bin and Lin Hu.

If we hadn't managed to get these two sets of fishing gear, bringing A Qing to the seaside would just be a shot in the dark.

Wu An looked around; to the east of the beach is the pier, to the west is the rocky shore— that's where he fell to his death, with many large reefs suitable for fishing; basically the villagers fish there.

Arriving at the rocky shore, the waves surged back and forth, striking the reefs and sending up spray.

At this time the sun was at its fiercest; glancing at the sun, Wu An guessed it was around two or three in the afternoon.

There weren't many people at the seaside.

Pretty good.

He casually found a big rock to stand on, was fiddling with the fishing line and hook, when A Qing quietly shouted, "Brother, Lin Bin and Lin Hu have come too."

Wu An turned his head to look.

Lin Bin and Lin Hu were about twenty meters away; they also found a rock to climb up on. Lin Bin had his tackle ready, quickly cast his line and bait, his motions smooth and flowing, deliberately showing off for him.

After Lin Hu also cast his line and bait, he then shouted at him: "Wu Erzi, I'll give you an hour; if you can't catch any fish, you have to return the tackle to us."

Wu An ignored him.

He adjusted the fishing line and hook, hooked a rotten shrimp as bait, cast the line, gave the reel a slight turn, and then it was just a matter of waiting for the fish to bite.

After waiting a while, there was no movement at all.

A Qing did the same.

The two of them stood sideways, spacing their bait positions far apart to prevent the line from tangling if a fish bit.

Time passed minute by minute.

A Qing anxiously scratched his ears and cheeks, occasionally glancing at Lin Bin and the others.

Lin Bin and the others also occasionally glanced over; Lin Hu hooked a fish, pulled it up, and laughed, shouting, "His luck isn't great—after so long he only pulled up a palm-sized Stone Nine Public."

"Wu Erzi, A Qing, keep it up!"

"Forty minutes left."

"You don't have much time left."

A Qing asked, "Brother, what should we do?"

"Or we could make a run for it while they're catching fish, then go to town and sell the gear."

"They definitely won't be able to catch up."

Wu An sighed in his heart.

The sea!

You're really all water.

I just wanted to be an ordinary person and get along with you.

But reality doesn't allow it.

No choice, I have to turn on the cheat.

"Yeah, just this fishing rod—please add all the luck onto it."

"Thanks."