The sun gradually became scorching hot.
A breeze blew over, and the entire field rippled.
Zhou Li saw the line on the fishing rod in front of him gradually becoming taut, as if something underwater was tugging on it. He paused, then turned his head to look at Huai Xu on his left. After a moment, he twisted his head the other way to look at Brother Nan.
"Brother Nan, do I have a bite?"
"Yes, you've got one. I've given you an X-ray," Huai Xu interjected.
"Indeed, you have," Brother Nan said.
"So I should reel it in slowly, right?" Zhou Li completely ignored Huai Xu. In his view, this Old monster couldn't even tell the difference between an X-ray and an ultrasound for pregnancy, yet he dared to tease people. Trash.
"Right, one hand on the rod, the other holding the net," Brother Nan instructed. "Pull slowly and gently, dip the net down softly too. Once you see the crayfish, just move the net over slowly and trap it."
"Got it," Zhou Li said.
"I'll help you pull!" Huai Xu volunteered eagerly.
"I've already given you an X-ray," Huai Xu said, staring at the water. "It's a very small one, a shrimp that hasn't grown up yet."
As he glanced at his own line of rods, none of which showed any signs of a bite, he continued, "How about we just forget it? It's not fully grown yet. We can catch it once it's bigger."
Zhou Li slowly pulled the rod.
Since he was the first to get a bite, everyone was watching him, which put a certain amount of psychological pressure on him.
Gradually, he could see the crayfish.
It was indeed a small one, probably only the size of his pinky finger, its shell a light color, suggesting it was a juvenile—a youngster unable to resist temptation.
Zhou Li carefully extended the net towards it.
But just as the net was about to touch the crayfish, SWOOSH! The crayfish suddenly darted away, leaving behind a faint white streak in the water.
"Don't place the net so close to it," Brother Nan taught him. "Move the net behind its tail, keep it about a good ten centimeters or even a foot away, and scoop quickly when you do it. Don't worry about it escaping, because crayfish walk backward in the water. If it gets startled and starts to flee, it'll run right into your net."
Zhou Li learned something new. For more chapters visıt 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝗇𝗲𝘵
Just then, one of Brother Nan's lines also tightened. As she picked up her rod, she said to Zhou Li, "Come here, watch me. I'll show you how it's done."
"...This one doesn't count. My hand is a bit stiff."
"Hey! Jiang Han has one! I'll show you again!"
"...This one doesn't count either."
Brother Nan's expression stiffened. Losing face in front of Zhou Li was particularly hard for her to bear.
So she tried pulling up Zhang Hao's rod.
Finally, this time she succeeded.
"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH..."
Brother Nan coughed dryly a couple of times, sneaking a glance at Zhou Li, and said, "Did you see that? Just like how I pulled it."
Brother Nan nodded, falling silent. This year's crayfish seemed a bit smarter than in previous years; she couldn't be blamed for that.
She risked a sidelong glance: Kang Xue'er on the very edge had already caught four or five, and even Li Dong had caught two.
I won't look, I won't look...
The Old monster was the one who felt the worst.
Brother Nan had distributed seven or eight rods to each person. Up until now, everyone's rods had been visited by crayfish except his; his remained motionless.
Zhou Li also got on the scoreboard. The crayfish, once in the bucket, struggled nonstop, creating a flapping noise.
Huai Xu gradually furrowed his eyebrows and said to Zhou Li, "What's going on? Is the killing aura I'm emitting too strong? Are they too scared to bite?"
"Maybe your X-ray is too dazzling?"
Huai Xu continued to stare at the water's surface. His gaze penetrated the murky pond water, and he saw an old crayfish walking leisurely along the bottom, seemingly oblivious to the aroma of the bait, which made him very anxious.
Fishing for crayfish is really fun, Zhou Li thought. Even if each person has to manage seven or eight rods, it doesn't make you flustered. Even if several rods get a bite at the same time, there's no need to panic. It suits my lazy nature. And it's not as boring as fishing; at most, every few minutes, a foolish crayfish will pull the line. Sometimes you even get several on one rod.
The sun grew hotter, making foreheads sizzle.
There was a cypress tree behind Brother Nan, so she took shelter in its shade, only coming out when it was time to pull the lines.
Soon, Zhou Li also took refuge under the cypress tree.
Brother Nan yelled to Huai Xu, "Come and get some shade from the sun!"
Huai Xu turned a deaf ear. He just sat under a cluster of small mulberry trees about a meter tall, his body balled up to stay in the shade, intently staring at the water's surface—his record was the worst so far; he had only caught five in total.
They went back for a meal and then returned to continue fishing.
They changed spots, and on average, each person caught twenty to thirty crayfish an hour. By that calculation, they could catch hundreds a day. Brother Nan said this was because fewer people were fishing for crayfish now; in the past, when there were more people, they couldn't catch so many.
Zhou Li silently calculated. Hundreds of crayfish! Even if we eat some tonight, there will surely be plenty left over. When we divide them, Huai Xu and I count as two people. After taking them home, we can at least make a thirteen-spice dish, a garlic one, and a braised one. That'll be more than enough for the five people and one cat at home to eat their fill.
「At five in the afternoon, everyone called it a day.」
That evening, Brother Nan personally cooked. Following a video her dad had sent her, she made a big pot of spicy crayfish and succeeded on the first try.
In the meantime, she also tried quite a few variations.
For instance, she had Zhou Li pick some pumpkin leaves, then mixed the crayfish meat with various rich seasonings, wrapped it in the leaves, and cooked it on the stove, calling it Brother Nan's special baked crayfish.
The taste of everything was surprisingly good, earning everyone's praise.
Only Grandma complained that Brother Nan couldn't do any real work all day but was very skilled at coming up with all sorts of outlandish things.
「After dinner, dusk was just winding down.」
Everyone went to the rooftop to enjoy the cool air. The rooftop had a flat area convenient for sun-drying grain. Laundry hung on a straightened, discarded electric wire, swaying gently in the wind, while a few swallows chased each other under the clouds.
Zhou Li watched the swallows and thought for a moment. It seemed that when they returned this afternoon, there were already residents in the swallows' nest at Brother Nan's home. But he had a doubt. "Are these returning swallows the same ones from before?"
"They are the same swallows," Brother Nan affirmed.
"How do you know?" Zhou Li asked.
"When I was little, I tied a thin string to the leg of one of our old swallows. The next year, it flew back," Brother Nan recalled. "One year, our house was being renovated, and the swallows' nest was ruined. I was furious. The following year, it returned and painstakingly rebuilt its nest from scratch over several days."
"Maybe it's because they built the nests themselves; they have a connection to them. Swallows are said to be very home-loving animals. They remember their own home and are reluctant to occupy someone else's," Brother Nan said. "In this respect, we humans could learn a lot from swallows."
"Is that old swallow still around?"
After a moment's thought, Zhou Li asked Brother Nan, "When are you going back to your maternal grandmother's?"
Brother Nan tilted her head, looking at him quizzically. "Why? Want to see my grandma again?"
Zhou Li chose his words carefully. "I borrowed a box of books from the elder of the observatory before, and I don't need them anymore. I'd like to return them to the Temple master. If you're going to your grandma's, we could go together since it's on the way."
"Oh~~ When do you want to return them?"
"In a few days. Before school starts, at the latest."
"We could also stop by Little Zheng's place while we're at it!" Brother Nan felt very sorry for that little girl as well.
"Sigh, I wonder when school will start again." Brother Nan felt a little melancholic. A few days ago, they received news that the return to school would be staggered, but only graduate students and those about to graduate this year were scheduled to return. There was no mention of them. With half the semester already gone, it seemed indefinitely delayed.
"It seems like we're returning to school on May 20th," Jiang Han said.
"Us too," Kang Xue'er added.
"They said we could voluntarily return after May Day, but from the teacher's tone, it seems like they don't want us back," Zhang Hao said.
"I'm envious," Brother Nan said. "I was looking forward to visiting the flea market this semester. The seniors are graduating, and you can get a lot of good stuff at low prices at the flea market."