Chapter 3 – 3: Want to Go Fishing
Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Want to Go Fishing
“Brother, what is this?” Little Yan had been quietly watching Lu Qing busily working away, and when he finished making the fishing rod, she couldn’t help but ask with curiosity.
“This is called a fishing rod; it’s used for fishing. Whether we’ll have anything to eat today depends entirely on this.” Lu Qing waved the bamboo rod, testing its feel in his hand, and he was somewhat satisfied.
In his previous life, he was an angling enthusiast and would sometimes enjoy making small rods for fun.
He hadn’t expected this skill would actually come in handy here.
The little one’s eyes suddenly sparkled, “Brother, can you catch fish?”
“Whether I can catch any is still uncertain; let’s try and see. If we really catch fish, we’ll have fish soup to drink.”
“Fish soup…” Upon hearing these two words, Little Yan had already drifted into a fantasy, her saliva almost spilling from the corner of her mouth.
“Brother, let’s go fishing quickly!”
The little one was becoming impatient.
The last time she had fish was a long, long time ago, during the New Year, when their father had bought a big fish from the market.
In her memory, fish was incredibly delicious.
“Don’t be in such a hurry, we still need to prepare some bait.”
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Bait wasn’t hard to find. Lu Qing went to a cooler, fertile patch of earth in the corner of the courtyard and after digging a couple of times, found the bait he needed.
[Red earthworm: A great helper for loosening soil, seemingly can also be used as medicine.]
Ignoring the peculiar information that appeared about the earthworm, Lu Qing placed it into a bamboo tube.
He was digging up this creature not to use as medicine; he didn’t understand medical skills.
After sealing the bamboo tube, leaving only a small hole for air, Lu Qing shouldered the fishing rod and carried an old wooden bucket in his hand. The siblings set off, walking proudly to the outside.
No sooner had they left the small courtyard and not gone far in the village, they were stopped by a woman.
“Lu Qing, you’re better, able to walk?”
The woman was cradling a basket of clothes, clearly just back from washing them.
Her tone was full of surprise.
Wasn’t it said that the Lu family boy was seriously ill, and barely had any breath left, even Elder Doctor Chen had seen him and said it was up to fate.
How come in just one day, he was bouncing around, able to go outside?
Just last night, the villagers were discussing when to go collect his body.
“Yes, Aunt Wang, I don’t know how, but after sleeping for two days, my illness slowly got better, and this morning I could get out of bed,” Lu Qing answered in the previous owner’s usual tone of voice.
It was fortunate that the former host was somewhat reserved by nature and not difficult to imitate.
“Brother got better after drinking Grandpa Chen’s medicine!” Little Yan interjected from the side.
Aunt Wang didn’t pay attention to any changes in Lu Qing’s character; seeing that Lu Qing seemed truly better, she also smiled.
She repeatedly said, “It’s good that you’re better, really good.”
At the same time, she let out a sigh of relief.
The last two days, a few elderly people in the village had visited Lu Qing and afterwards had said that he probably wouldn’t make it through the ordeal.
Everyone was discussing what would become of Lu Xiaoyan if the Lu family boy really didn’t make it.
The consensus among the elders was that one of the village families should take in Little Yan, with the rest pitching in some money as a nutritional stipend.
To her dismay, her own man came back saying he wanted to adopt Little Yan, claiming that during a previous famine when everyone fled the village together, the Lu family’s patriarch had been kind to him and he couldn’t stand to see his last bloodline go uncared for.
Naturally, Aunt Wang was not pleased with the idea of an unexpected burden.
But she dared not openly rebuke her man, so all she could do was pray that Lu Qing would pull through.
Now seeing that Lu Qing had indeed recovered, she sincerely felt happy.
Thinking of this, Aunt Wang said earnestly to Lu Qing, “Ah, Lu Qing, you must take good care of yourself in the future. Little Yan only has you to rely on now. If you were not here either, what would she do, all alone?”
Lu Qing was somewhat surprised.
In the original host’s memory, this Aunt Wang didn’t seem to be such a warm-hearted person.
However, he still politely responded, “I understand, thank you for your concern, Aunt Wang, I will take good care of Little Yan.”
“Good, that’s a smart boy,” Aunt Wang was satisfied.
As long as Lu Qing was still around, her man wouldn’t get the idea of adopting Little Yan, and she wouldn’t have to worry anymore.
As her spirits lifted, Aunt Wang finally noticed the items the siblings were holding in their hands.
“You are holding buckets and bamboo poles; what are you going to do with those?”
“Aunt Wang, my brother and I are going to catch fish!” Little Yan happily exclaimed.
“Catch fish?” Aunt Wang asked, puzzled.
With just a bamboo pole and a broken bucket, what kind of fish could they possibly catch?
She thought about the current conditions of the Lu Family and suddenly realized.
Could it be that these two siblings were so hungry that they wanted to go down to the river to catch fish to eat?
Aunt Wang quickly said, “You must be hungry, come on, come back to my house with me, I still have some food there. Lu Qing, you’ve only just begun to feel better, what are you doing going down to the river? Don’t catch a cold and get sick again.”
“Don’t worry, Aunt Wang, we’re not going into the river, we just want to try fishing from the shore,” Lu Qing said with a smile, declining the offer.
A free meal would naturally be lovely, but he and his sister couldn’t keep relying on the villagers forever.
Otherwise, even the warmest of relations would one day run dry.
“Fishing? Lu Qing, do you even know that skill?” Aunt Wang was surprised.
She, of course, knew what fishing was, but it seemed that no one in the village was particularly skilled in it; did Lu Qing understand?
“I only know a little, heard about it from my father before and wanted to try,” Lu Qing replied.
Aunt Wang then remembered that Lu Qing’s father could read some and often traveled outside the village, surely his experiences were much broader than those of the other villagers.
Maybe he knew some special method.
Still, Aunt Wang was somewhat worried, “There’s no hurry at the moment. Your health has just started to improve; you need to rest more. Is fishing really that easy? Don’t end up catching a cold again because you stood by the river for too long without catching fish.”
If Lu Qing fell ill again, with his frail body, it was uncertain whether he could survive another bout.
Lu Qing heard the concern in her voice and felt touched.
“Don’t worry, Aunt Wang, I’ll be careful and won’t overdo it.”
Aunt Wang tried persuading him further, but seeing that it was to no avail, she could only say, “Then you have to promise Aunt Wang, you absolutely must not go into the river.”
“Okay, we absolutely won’t go into the river. Goodbye, Aunt Wang.”
Aunt Wang watched as Lu Qing and his sister walked toward the village outskirts when suddenly, she had a realization.
“Right, I must hurry and tell that stubborn man at home that the Lu boy has recovered, so he can drop the idea of adopting the little girl.”
Aunt Wang rushed home hastily, while the Lu siblings, on their way out, also ran into a few more people from the village.
Every villager who saw Lu Qing was shocked and asked how he had recovered from his sickness.
Each time, Little Yan would happily tell them that her brother got better after taking Grandpa Chen’s medicine.
This made the crowd not only surprised but also gave them even more respect for Old Doctor Chen.
The elder doctor’s medical skill had truly become exquisite; he could even save someone like Lu Qing, who was at death’s door — that was incredible.
After expressing their astonishment, everyone was also happy for the Lu Family, because with Lu Qing alive, the family’s lineage was preserved.
When they learned that Lu Qing was going to the riverside to catch fish, they all urged him not to, as it was not suitable to get into cold water just after recovering from a serious illness.
Only after Lu Qing promised repeatedly that he wouldn’t go into the river did they stop dissuading him.
Moreover, when they heard that Lu Qing was going to fish, they lost interest.
Who didn’t know how to fish?
Some of the villagers had even tried to fish themselves.
After all, river fish were plump and delicious, free for the taking — who wouldn’t be tempted?
But in the end, all who had tried gave up.
They felt fishing was just too difficult.
They often waited half a day only to catch one or two small fish.
Even if they did catch a bigger fish, it wasn’t worth the effort.
Didn’t everyone have loads of farming work to do? Spending so much time for a fish or two was a waste; life had to go on.
It was probably because Lu Qing’s family fields were fallow, with no farm work to be done and not a grain of surplus food left, that he thought of fishing for something to eat.
After understanding Lu Qing’s intentions, people stopped trying to stop him, and after a few more reminders, they dispersed.
On the other hand, a few older children became very interested upon hearing Lu Qing’s words.
They followed behind the siblings and headed for the riverside, eager to see how he would fish.