Chapter 45: Outrageous Reasons Summer Summer comes quietly without any little secrets. In the hot summer, the lotus flowers bloom shyly, looking particularly beautiful in their pink and tender color. The lotus leaves are endless and green, and the lotus flowers are red in the sun. The scale of the lotus pond in Mei Mansion is not as good as the one in this poem, but it also has its own charm. Mei Cheng'an has recently become fascinated with a sport suitable for all ages, which is fishing by the lotus pond in Mei Mansion. He found that fishing in the lotus pond was much more interesting than fishing in the Yongding River outside the city. When fishing in the Yongding River, fish would be caught from time to time and there was no challenge at all. The lotus pond in the Mei Mansion is different. There are so many fish in the pond. He has been fishing for two months. He comes here every holiday, but he hasn't caught a single fish in such a long time. Tell me, is this interesting or not? Mei Cheng'an was in a dispute with the lotus pond. Were the fish in the pond so picky about food? Could they have become spirits? He just refused to believe it and would not stop until he caught one. It was a day off, the weather was clear and cloudless, and after breakfast, Mei Chengan took her maids straight to the lotus pond. Sitting under the huge parasol, he skillfully hung the bait, cast the hook, and set up the rod. He lay down on the recliner, took the book handed to him by Hongshu, started reading, drank a sip of iced sour plum soup, and then ate a bite of iced watermelon. It was so comfortable. Under another smaller parasol next to them, Bluebird, Cucumber, and Green Ant were each sitting on a small stool, also fishing.
This was the task Mei Chengan gave them. He wanted to see if the turtle fish in the pond would not bite anyone's hook. "I'm telling you, if these fish dare to eat your bait and take your hook, have them scoop up all the fish in the pond and fry, stir-fry, deep-fry, or roast them. Don't leave a single one." The three of them looked at each other and realized that the young master was finally going crazy. "Yes." Half an hour later, there was still no movement from the four people's fishing rods. Suddenly a servant came to report that someone wanted to see Mei Cheng'an. Mei Chengan didn't even raise his eyes. "What's that man's name?" The servant returned. "He said his name was Wang Qinian." "..." The sun really rose from the west, and Wang Qinian finally came through the main gate. "Let him in." Not long after, the servant brought Wang Qinian over. After sending him away, the servant left. "Old Wang, long time no see, I miss you so much." Wang Qinian bowed with a familiar smile on his face. "Hehe, Wang calculated with his fingers and knew that Master Xiaomei missed me, so I hurried over to see you." "..." It still has to be you, Lao Wang. Mei Chengan's mouth corners raised.
"Go get a stool and sit down to talk!" "Eh!" Wang Qinian moved a small stool and sat next to Mei Chengan. "There's sour plum soup and watermelon on the table, help yourself." "okay." Wang Qinian took a piece of watermelon and finished it in two or three bites. "The watermelons from Master Xiaomei's house are just sweet." "If you like it, eat more. If you don't like it, there's more." "That's enough, eh? Master Xiaomei, are you fishing? How elegant." So it took you so long to see it. "Would you like to have a go?" Wang Qinian rubbed his hands and said expectantly, "Speaking of which, I haven't fished for a long time. My hands are really itchy." Mei Cheng'an gave Hongshu a wink, and Hongshu turned around to get a fishing rod and handed it to Wang Qinian. This fishing rod was originally prepared for Hongshu. Wang Qinian took the fishing rod, put the bait on it, cast the hook, and raised the rod with skillful movements. It was obvious that he was an experienced fisherman. Mei Chengan couldn't help but complain to him. "I'm telling you, this lotus pond is really weird. There are obviously a lot of fish, but I just can't catch any." Wang Qinian was surprised and looked into the pool. "It shouldn't be." "You'll find out if you try fishing. By the way, what do you want from me?" "Oh, look at my brain, I almost forgot the important thing." Wang Qinian wiped his hands on his body, took out an invitation from his arms and handed it to Mei Chengan. "Tomorrow is Baba's second birthday. Madam asked me to deliver the invitation to Master Xiaomei." Mei Cheng'an took the invitation, looked at it, and put it on the table beside him. "It's not your birthday, is it necessary to hold a birthday party?" Wang Qinian said seriously. "Of course it's necessary. It can earn a lot of money." Mei Chengan was speechless. "You two should just focus on money."
Wang Qinian chuckled. "Mr. Xiaomei asked me to drill, so I drilled." "..." Mei Cheng'an was too lazy to complain anymore, so he changed the subject. "The last time I saw Little Pork Belly, she couldn't speak. Can she speak now?" When talking about his precious daughter, Wang Qinian showed a doting smile. "Now I can call people. Little Nian Nian, little Nian Nian, I keep calling." "Then you must be so happy that you want to die." Wang Qinian laughed non-stop, looking very happy. "I wonder if she still remembers me." "Of course I remember. Sometimes I'll say 'Little An'." "Is this true? You can't be lying to me." Mei Cheng'an held Little Pork Belly and taught him several times at the one-year-old party. At that time, Little Pork Belly could only babbled. "Of course it's true. You'll know when Young Master Mei meets Baba tomorrow." Mei Cheng'an nodded. "Then it seems I have to go tomorrow." He picked up the fishing rod, pulled it up, looked at the position of the hook, confirmed that the bait was still there, and threw it down again. Mei Cheng'an asked Wang Qinian who was eating melon on the side. "Have you sent out all the invitations?" "I finished the assignment yesterday, so today is a day off." "Are there many people who have agreed to come? If there are many, I would like to stagger my time with them." Wang Qinian chuckled. "They all said they were busy and couldn't take leave. The gifts came but the guests didn't. It's a good opportunity to not prepare so much wine and food, which saves money again." Mei Cheng'an had just breathed a sigh of relief, but Wang Qinian added another sentence. "But Dean Chen only accepted the invitation and didn't say whether he could come." Mei Chengan was surprised. "It's fine if you cheated your colleagues at this little birthday party just for gifts, but you dare to ask your dean for help?" "Hehe, the dean gave a lot of gift money." "..."
This is what Mei Cheng'an admires most about Wang Qinian. Wang Qinian is using the equality of life to trick everyone. No matter who you are, as long as it can be profitable, he doesn't know what fear is. The group fished for the whole morning, but as expected, no one caught any fish. Wang Qinian finally recognized the strength of the lotus pond; the fish in this pond were something special. Mei Cheng'an invited him to have lunch here, but Wang Qinian refused, saying he wanted to bring some snacks for his wife Baba, and went out with a piece of watermelon. Dining hall. A family of four is having lunch. Mei Zhili put down his bowl and chopsticks, and a maid came forward with a basin of water with a towel hanging by the side. Mei Zhili picked up the towel, dipped it in water, and then wiped his mouth. Throwing the towel back into the basin, the maid carried it away. Mei Zhili glanced at Mei Chengan who was still eating in silence, and said, "Come to the study after dinner." Mei Cheng'an was stunned for a moment and nodded. He quickly finished the last few mouthfuls of rice in the bowl, stood up, bowed to his mother and went straight to the study. Enter the study and bow first. "Dad, what do you want from me?" "I heard that you've been fishing in the lotus pond for two months and haven't caught a single fish. Are you still not going to give up?" Mei Cheng'an thought it was some big deal, but it turned out to be this. "I have nothing else to do, so I'll just use this as a way to kill time." The words were spoken politely, but Mei Zhili understood the stubbornness in them. “Do you have to fish it out?” Mei Chengan nodded. “We must catch it.” "Give up, you can't catch it." Mei Cheng'an raised his eyebrows when he heard this. "Dad, have you tried fishing too?" Mei Zhili shook his head. "Never." "Why are you so sure? I just don't believe it." Mei Zhili looked at him strangely for a while and then spoke.
"I raise those fish. The fish food I use is a bit special. It emits a smell that fish particularly like. After feeding them for a long time, those fish will only eat this kind of fish food. So, let alone two months, you won't be able to catch them even if you fish for two years." Mei Cheng'an was stunned. He was really picky about food. So what’s the point of his persistence for the past two months? "Why didn't you tell me this earlier? If you knew I couldn't catch any fish, why didn't you tell me when I first started fishing? I was like a fool fishing for two months." "At first I thought it was good for you to go fishing. Whether you can catch fish or not is not important. The main thing is that it can train your patience and improve your character, so I didn't tell you." "Even so, why are you saying it now? Isn't it good for me to continue to exercise my patience and cultivate my character?" "Who would have thought you were so stupid? A normal person would find something wrong after fishing three or five times at most, and would either give up or look for the cause. But you've been fishing for two months and haven't found anything unusual, and you're still fighting with that fish. I'm wondering, where has your former intelligence gone?" "..." Mei Cheng'an felt that he was stupid and wronged. He found something wrong, but he had ruled out the correct answer. Mei Zhili sighed. "I don't know what to say to you. Recently, a servant in the mansion spread gossip about you in private. I heard it and asked me to deal with it. If I don't tell you, I am Mei Zhili's son. You are a fifth-rank official in the court and a child prodigy. I am afraid that you will be regarded as a paranoid fool with poor fishing skills by the servants in the mansion." Mei Chengan's mouth twitched. Killing people is heart-breaking. Who would have thought that there was something wrong with the fish food. Because of this incident, Mei Chengan felt too embarrassed to face anyone. Mei Zhili took a sip of tea. "Tear down those two sheds this afternoon, and then take your people back to your yard and reflect on what went wrong." Mei Chengan raised his head. "Dad, I can't leave now. If I leave now, I'll be a fool. I have to catch some fish and then retreat in an orderly manner to save face." Mei Zhili was angry. "Still thinking about fishing? All the things I just said were in vain?" "It's all in vain. What I mean is that we should finish what we start. Since the problem is with the fish food, why don't you give me some fish food to use as bait? I will only catch one fish, and I promise to leave after I finish fishing." Mei Zhili was silent for a few seconds and then looked at Mei Chengan with satisfaction. "Your intelligence is finally back." "..." (End of this chapter)