Chapter 37: Buying Fishing Gear

A Qing asked, "Brother, do you know fishing gear?"

Wu An shook his head.

He had hardly fished in two lifetimes; as for fishing gear, he couldn't say he didn't know, only that he was completely ignorant.

He heard the water here was quite deep.

A Qing was a bit worried: "Will we two get scammed?"

Wu An casually said: "Compare three shops, then look first and talk later."

They bought two ice creams, the two of them eating while walking.

Previously worried about repaying debt, he had rushed along the way; after settling a major concern, he could finally walk slowly. The Fu Yuan Zhen of twelve years was no different from his memory; in his previous life he had left his hometown not long after, and now it counts as revisiting old grounds.

There wasn't much worth browsing.

It was just two streets, shaped like an L, with shops on both sides selling everything; at this time there were also quite a few stalls.

It was quite lively.

There were some discordant spots; some stall vendors seemed to be being squeezed out, the situation got quite intense, with passersby gathering to watch the commotion.

Wu An stopped to look, seeing a girl being shoved; he felt she was somewhat familiar but couldn't recall right away, thinking she probably wasn't anyone important; A Qing cursed a couple of times at those stall vendors for bullying a girl.

Wu An shook his head; Yan Zu's words were correct—out in the world you need to rely on influence, same in every trade; he didn't continue watching the spectacle, nor did he have the inclination to meddle.

After passing that stall area, he arrived at the general merchandise section.

Because it's near the sea, there are still quite a few fishing gear shops.

After asking several shops, sea fishing rods were indeed not cheap; a full set of gear at minimum cost several hundred, and expensive ones could reach ten thousand.

Wu An wasn't afraid of being scammed either.

Why?

He discovered he could use the system to filter, combining the boss's quote with the system's point‑add limit to judge a rod's value.

For example, a rod priced at 1299, the system gave it a luck‑boost limit of only 4 points—worse than a clam‑rake.

Compared to the boss's words, he trusted the system's judgment more.

That rod, anyone who buys it is an absolute idiot.

He decisively left this fishing gear shop and went to the next door.

The boss, as the two turned to leave, spat and said: "Damn, two poor losers pretending to fish—go home and fish with a bamboo stick for fun."

A Qing was angry and wanted to curse a couple of times.

Wu An pulled him outward, pushed the sliding door open wide, then they left.

The boss sat inside the counter, cursing as he got up to close the door.

The neighboring fishing gear shop was a bit smaller.

Wu An's hand glided over the rods; he actually found a piece of gear that could grant 20 luck points, priced at 3999 when he asked.

pass.

It's not that he couldn't afford it, but it lacked cost‑effectiveness.

He pointed to a rod that gave 5 luck points and asked: "Boss, how much for this one?"

The boss was a baldy, his face looked a bit fierce; he glanced and said: "399."

Wu An's eyes lit up.

This cost‑effectiveness is pretty high.

After asking around, the boss answered each question without showing impatience, so Wu An brought A Qing to other fishing gear shops.

After strolling around, they returned to the bald boss's fishing gear shop.

The bald boss saw him return and greeted him proactively: "Handsome guy, why are you back again?"

He didn't greet A Qing.

A Qing looked at him, blank‑headed, obviously a lackey.

Wu An said: "I feel the boss has an honest face; he probably won't scam people."

The bald boss stroked his chin, naturally knowing his own appearance; hearing Wu An say that, he was amused, thought this kid interesting, and said: "Then you judge people pretty well."

"How about it, which set do you want to buy?"

Wu An pointed to the 399 rod and said: "This…… how heavy a fish can it catch?"

"I do shore fishing."

The bald boss asked: "Beginner?"

Wu An nodded.

The bald boss again asked: "What weight are you planning to catch?"

Wu An thought and said: "Hard to say, but I worry that if I hook a monster the rod won't hold up."

The bald boss laughed and said: "You think monsters are easy to catch?"

"This rod is fine; it can definitely pull in sea fish of twenty‑to‑thirty catties."

"For shore fishing by the sea, monsters are rare; this is more than enough."

"Whether you can land a big fish depends not only on the rod but also on the line, hook, and other factors combined."

Wu An said: "Then please trouble the boss to set me up."

The bald boss was surprised, didn't expect Wu An to trust him so much; he immediately stood up and said: "Sure, I'll set you up."

He indeed didn't betray Wu An's trust; a full set of gear came together for only 612 bucks.

Wu An said: "I want two sets."

The bald boss was surprised, didn't expect Wu An to be a big customer, and cheerfully said: "Fine, I won't keep the change."

"Just give me 1200."

"Do you want a fishing box?"

Wu An took out cash to pay, shaking his head to indicate he wasn't selling the fishing box.

Guangtou laoban said, "Then I'll give you a set of fish bags; it's convenient to carry, but it can only hold fish, not as versatile as a fishing box, which can hold bait and also be used as a stool."

Wu An didn't stand on ceremony, decisively thanked him and accepted the fish bag.

Leaving the fishing gear shop, A Qing carried two sets of fishing gear, deliberately went to the neighboring shop and walked around; Wu An called for him to leave, he answered and left, and in his haste also forgot to close the sliding door he had opened.

The boss came over cursing to close the door again, saw Guangtou laoban smoking, and asked, "You bought two sets?"

Guangtou laoban nodded.

The boss pursed his lips: "Definitely bought cheap goods."

Guangtou laoban remained silent.

The boss muttered to himself, "Buddy, you can't do business like that……"

Blah blah.

Guangtou laoban stubbed out his cigarette, flicked the butt into the trash can with perfect aim, then turned and closed the sliding door.

Knows jack shit.

And you're lecturing me on how to do business?

Do you understand low profit, high volume sales?

Do you know the value of a newcomer?

He dared to say, as long as Wu An later gets hooked on fishing, the fishing gear will surely come to him to buy, and then this business will keep coming steadily.

Guangtou laoban snorted at the neighboring shop's boss, already plotting how to expand his store in the future.

Seeing this, the neighboring boss sullenly shut his mouth and cursed, "Showing off jack shit, it's just opened for business—I'm not jealous at all, not even a bit."

Wu An had no idea about the love‑hate feud between the two fishing‑gear shop bosses; passing a pharmacy, he told the pharmacist about his sister‑in‑law's hand condition, the pharmacist recommended an ointment that wasn't expensive—just a dozen or so bucks—so he bought two boxes directly.

He gave one box to A Qing, saying, "This box is for your mom."

"I remember your mom's hand also has a crack."

A Qing blinked: "Brother, that's not proper—I'll give you money."

Wu An waved his hand: "No need to feel awkward."

"Later you'll be the one who's tired."

"I see there's a stall selling tables and chairs by the road; let's buy a set to take home."

"We don't have a car, so we can only carry it back on foot."

Fortunately, the tables and chairs are rattan‑woven, handmade by an old man who makes and sells them himself at a roadside stall; the price asked was only sixty yuan for a table and two chairs.

He bought them without hesitation.

A Qing carried two sets of fishing gear and hugged the table, while Wu An held two chairs and the fish bag; the two walked home stepping in the sunset.

The sunset stretched their shadows longer and longer; the sun was no longer scorching, the mountain breeze blew on them, bringing a hint of coolness, and their steps home were noticeably quicker than on the way out.