The Art of Teasing - Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Ye Ling meticulously cleaned Wen Zhengyu's wound with alcohol, then removed the fingerless fishing gloves Wen Zhengyu had been wearing and found another pair that completely covered her fingers.

These gloves were tightly sealed, so breathability and dexterity naturally suffered, but safety came first.

Wen Zhengyu's face was a little gray. She'd just started and already had a fishhook jabbed into her finger.

Ye Ling said, "Fishhooks are very sharp. Be careful when handling them, and be careful not to get snagged by the hook when you retrieve the line. Some people aren't paying attention when they cast and the hook flies into someone's face—I've seen it scrape flesh right off." She paused, then added another warning: "When you're choosing a fishing spot, you absolutely must make sure there are no power lines or utility poles within the range your line can reach, otherwise there's a risk of electric shock. Also, try to avoid anything around you that your line can snag on. Hooking tree branches or overhead structures happens all the time, and hooking water plants, rocks, and reefs is just as common."

Wen Zhengyu asked, "Reefs?"

Ye Ling said, "Sea fishing. Reef-heavy spots have more fish, but you'll lose hooks easily."

She noticed Wen Zhengyu looking at her with confusion, as if wondering how she knew about sea fishing, and explained, "My brother's father-in-law loves to fish. Every winter he spends a while in Sanya and always organizes several sea-fishing trips. The Ye family is such a mess that if I stayed at the Ye house for the New Year, nobody would have a good time. So I just go with my brother to his father-in-law's place instead."

Wen Zhengyu was completely speechless. She couldn't even spend the New Year in her own home—that was just…

Lian Xin had already tied a hook and sorted out his line. He glanced unobtrusively at the two of them and understood in that moment that Wen Zhengyu knew about the Ye family's situation.

Ye Ling mentioned these extraneous matters, then returned her attention to teaching Wen Zhengyu how to fish. First she taught her how to hold the hook, then how to thread the line, how to tie the knot, and how to cinch the hook tight.

The boat was still moving across the lake, and Ye Ling and Lian Xin continued their preparations.

Lian Xin's wife washed some fruit, brought it over, set it on the side table, invited everyone to help themselves, then went over to Lian Xin's side to watch the activity, glancing back from time to time at her son and nephew.

The two little boys were dashing excitedly around the boat. Lian Ming's son was only three, but following his older brother he dared to try anything, even climbing up the gunwales. She rushed over in alarm, scooped up the little guy, and gave Lian Zhenxing, who had been leading his little brother into all this mischief, a thorough scolding.

Watching children, even on land, requires constant supervision; on a boat you absolutely cannot let your guard down. Lian Xin called out a few times, but it didn't rein in the two wildly overexcited children. Not long after, Wen Zhengyu's fourth sister-in-law was completely drawn away by the two little troublemakers.

Lian Xi came over and said to Lian Xin, "Fourth Brother, the fish finder's broken. Did you bring any chum?"

Lian Xin asked with some surprise, "It broke?"

Lian Xi said, "Those two little brats ran past and each one stomped right on the probe. You didn't bring yours either?"

Lian Xin shot a look at Lian Xi. From the way Ye Ling was doing everything with such meticulous care, he figured she had probably prepared for this. He turned and called out toward Ye Ling: "CEO Ye?"

Ye Ling turned around, opened the aerated live well, and pulled out an oversized bag. The bag was open, and inside were various plastic bags of different colors, each containing different bait.

Lian Xi went over, opened the bag, checked the contents, and exclaimed, "CEO Ye, you've brought a really complete set."

Wen Zhengyu leaned in to look. Inside were many bags of powder or granular materials, and she even saw a small box with earthworms inside. She asked, puzzled, "You use earthworms for fishing?"

Lian Xin and Lian Xi both turned their heads to look at her, expressions unmistakably astonished. Then Lian Xin looked at Lian Xi as if to say: you dared to bring her fishing?

Wen Zhengyu: "…" She suspected she had just asked a very stupid question.

Ye Ling said, "Earthworms are known as the universal bait. Most fish will take them, and they work all year round. Sometimes when the bait you've brought isn't working well, switching to earthworms can give you good results." Once she was on the subject of bait, she added for Wen Zhengyu: "Nowadays, most people fishing use commercial bait. Tackle shops have bait recipes for all kinds of fish—you buy it and use it on the spot, very convenient. Seasoned anglers who fish year-round like to mix their own bait. Bait formulas need to be adjusted according to the season; it's the same principle as people preferring high-calorie food in winter and light flavors in summer."

Lian Xi understood and grinned at Ye Ling: "You brought a secret family recipe?"

Wen Zhengyu thought that Lian Xi's grin was a little sly, like someone eyeing someone else's good stuff.

Ye Ling smiled and replied, "Not really." She pointed to one of the bags and said, "That small black bag has pre-mixed fishing bait. You can give it a try. If it doesn't work well, I also brought base ingredients and flavoring additives—you can mix it however you like. The big bag is pre-mixed chum. I added tofu residue and let it ferment."

Lian Xi said, "Thanks." Without any formality, he helped himself to some of Ye Ling's fishing bait, took half of the chum, gave some to Lian Xin, and took the rest back for him and Lian Ming to use.

By the time the boat stopped, Wen Zhengyu had finally, under Ye Ling's patient guidance, gotten her fishing rod set up. She saw that Lian Xin had already cast his hook into the water, while Ye Ling's rod was still in the bag, and felt very embarrassed. She said to Ye Ling, "You should set up your own rod first."

Ye Ling said, "No rush. I haven't chummed the water yet."

Wen Zhengyu asked, "Chummed the water?"

Ye Ling said, "Mm, it's putting chum into your fishing area to draw the surrounding fish in and form a fish nest. We're fishing in deep water now. Usually there are bigger fish, but they're more scattered and come very slowly. Often you have to wait for the small fish to gather into a school before the big ones arrive. If you have a fish finder, you don't need to chum; you just find a school of fish and start fishing."

Wen Zhengyu looked at Lian Xin with puzzlement. He had started fishing without chumming?

Ye Ling followed Wen Zhengyu's gaze, glanced over, and explained, "General Manager Lian is measuring the water depth and adjusting the float and sinker. Whether there's a fish on the line is usually judged by the float. The sinker is close to the hook and makes the hook sink to the bottom. The float needs to ride on the water's surface. When a fish bites the bait, it will yank the float. If it's a big fish, it often pulls the float completely underwater in one sudden movement and might even drag the rod away." After saying this, she took out the chum and set it aside, then taught Wen Zhengyu how to adjust the float and sinker. Once Wen Zhengyu had the float and sinker adjusted, she taught her how to cast.

Wen Zhengyu said, "There's no bait on the hook."

Ye Ling said, "Don't put bait on yet. Right now you need to map out your casting range. Cast a few times and get an idea of the area you can reach. When we lay the chum in a bit, you'll want to drop it in the same area your hook lands." She paused, then added, "Once the hook sinks into the water, you won't be able to see it, so judge by the float."

After Wen Zhengyu mapped out her casting range, she asked Ye Ling, "Can we chum now?"

Ye Ling brought over the special rod holder for the yacht, set it beside Wen Zhengyu, and taught her to rest the rod on the holder. Then she indicated the chum and said, "This is loose chum. First knead it into balls with your hands, throw it at the spot where your float is, and then scatter a little around the float." As she spoke, she scooped up a big double handful, compressed it firmly into a ball, and threw it into the area where Wen Zhengyu had been casting.

The chum dispersed in a cloud the moment it hit the water and slowly sank.

Wen Zhengyu followed suit, but she wasn't as strong as Ye Ling and didn't throw it far enough.

Ye Ling said, "It's fine. If your chumming spot ends up closer than your casting range, just reel in a bit. Turn the reel, bring the line in a little, so the hook falls into the area you chummed. Generally, small fish like to eat the bait inside the chum zone, while bigger fish are more cautious and will circle outside the zone and watch. After chumming, the small fish show up first. If you see the small fish suddenly diminish, that means a big fish has arrived. Also, bubbles will rise from the bottom…" She went on to explain how to tell when fish had come into the chummed area.

Once the chum was laid, Ye Ling taught Wen Zhengyu how to bait the hook. "There are two kinds of bait. One is live bait—small fish, shrimp, earthworms, grasshoppers, caterpillars, and the like can all be used as live bait." She gave Wen Zhengyu a rough run-through of how to hook each type of live bait. "For black carp, grasshoppers and caterpillars work quite well. In freshwater, earthworms are the most common live bait and catch the most fish. There are multiple ways to use earthworms. For small fish, you thread just half a worm or a small piece and use a small hook. The hook you're using is sized for fish over two jin; fish under half a jin can't even get it into their mouths. So you need to use a whole large earthworm. To prevent small fish from bothering you, the bait should be a bit bigger—it's best to make a bait ball."

Wen Zhengyu looked at the earthworms in the box and didn't dare reach for them.

Ye Ling saw Wen Zhengyu staring at the earthworms, a little scared and a little uncertain because she couldn't bring herself to handle the bait, and in that moment Wen Zhengyu seemed even more pitiful than the earthworms. She didn't dare laugh. She held back the smile, took out the dough bait she had prepared, mixed it with water, kneaded it into a dough ball, and handed it to Wen Zhengyu. "Use this. Shape it into a small ball and wrap it around the hook. If you want to keep fishing without re-chumming, before you cast you can wrap another layer of chum around the outside. You can also toss in chum separately at intervals." She asked Wen Zhengyu, "I've said a lot; can you remember it all? Are you dizzy?"

Wen Zhengyu shook her head. "Not dizzy, I can remember it." Ye Ling had explained everything very thoroughly, teaching as she went, and basically once she heard it once she retained it all. She was also paying close attention to the cautions. She kneaded the dough into a small ball, wrapped it around the hook, and asked, "Is this okay?"

Ye Ling nodded. "That's fine."

Wen Zhengyu thought for a moment—she had just put down chum, so she didn't need to add more immediately—and cast the line. The placement was perfect, right where she had chummed. She rested the rod on the holder and asked, "That's it?"

Ye Ling nodded. "That's it. Now just wait for the fish."

Lian Xin heard this and looked back. Sure enough, his cousin was already fishing.

This complete beginner at fishing had actually been the first to bait and cast. He glanced at Ye Ling again and saw her standing at Wen Zhengyu's side, the two of them shoulder to shoulder, backs to him, looking inexplicably well-matched.

Wen Zhengyu asked, "Ye Ling, is there a fish biting? Why is the float sinking?"

Lian Xin: "…"

Ye Ling said, "Yes."

Lian Xin: "…" A fish came the moment she chummed and cast?

Wen Zhengyu hurriedly picked up the rod and lifted.

Lian Xin saw Wen's rod bend until it was almost at a ninety-degree angle, the tip shaking and twisting—clearly a big fish had taken the hook.

Ye Ling stood beside her and said, "Keep your hands steady. Let it pull the line and run. It's got a lot of power right now; forcing it up will be very exhausting. Wear it out first. This is called playing the fish."

Wen Zhengyu's hands were trembling. "I can't hold steady. I'm nervous."

Ye Ling took hold of the rod with one hand, helped Wen Zhengyu steady it, and guided her hands through the process of playing the fish.

"This controls the tightness of the reel. Tighten it a bit so it's harder for the fish to pull, but don't lock the line completely; let the reel still turn, otherwise all the force will transfer to the line and the rod." She paused. "You can pull it back and forth, make it swim along with your rod. Once it's exhausted, drag it to the side of the boat, pull it out of the water, and scoop it up with the net."

Wen Zhengyu was so tense she hardly dared to breathe. She heard what Ye Ling said and followed instinctively. A great force pulled underwater, making the rod shake and the reel spin so fast the line flew out. After a while, the line went slack.

Ye Ling told her: "Turn the reel, bring the line in, pull it back."

Wen Zhengyu hurried to comply. As she reeled it in, a heavy drag beneath the water moved closer along with the line. Then suddenly another plunge, and it pulled away again. She let out line.

Ye Ling saw that Wen Zhengyu was too tense and said, "No need to be nervous. When it struggles, just let out line in the direction it's pulling."

Wen Zhengyu followed the instruction. When the line felt a little slack, she reeled in again. This time, halfway through reeling, she saw a fish at least half a meter long break the surface, the line trailing straight into its mouth. Once it surfaced, it thrashed its tail violently, sending water splashing everywhere with a loud commotion.

From the stern came Lian Xi's voice: "What's going on? A fish?"

Lian Xi came running over. He leaned over the gunwale to look, and his eyes went wide. He turned to Wen Zhengyu and asked, "You caught this?"

Wen Zhengyu was pouring all her effort into struggling with the fish and didn't even spare a glance for him. "Mm," she grunted.

Lian Xin put his rod down and joined his brothers, coming over to watch.

Lian Ming stepped forward with the landing net, scooped up the fish that Wen Zhengyu had dragged alongside the boat, and lifted it in.

The fish, out of water, still struggled fiercely.

Lian Xi brought over the aerated fish box, lifted out the bait inside, filled a portable bucket with lake water, poured it into the box, and turned on the aerator.

Lian Ming held the fish down, removed the hook, and tipped it from the net into the oxygenated box. He called to Wen Zhengyu: "Yu'er, impressive!"

Wen Zhengyu's two sisters-in-law and nephews all came over. Three-year-old Lian Zhenjie reached out to grab, but Lian Zhenxing blocked him. The group clustered around the fish, making a lively fuss for a while.

Wen Zhengyu's eyes widened as she looked at the big carp in the oxygenated box. She turned to Ye Ling in near disbelief. "That's it? I caught one?"

Ye Ling nodded. She figured there had probably been a fish right underneath, and just like that, immediately after chumming and casting, it bit.

The Lian Xin brothers, after admiring the fish, went back to their own rods.

Ye Ling baited Wen Zhengyu's hook and pointed toward the lake.

Only then did Wen Zhengyu come back to herself. She smiled at Ye Ling in a way she couldn't hide, then cast the hook into the chummed area again. The moment the bait landed, the float started sinking, kept sinking until it disappeared beneath the surface, and then continued to go down.

Ye Ling said, "Pull." Her voice wasn't loud, very steady, but crisp and decisive.

Wen Zhengyu heard that "pull," tightened her grip on the rod, lifted, and felt a weight on the line—a fish was pulling below. She asked, "Is there another fish?"

Ye Ling made a sound of confirmation.

Lian Xin: "…" He walked a few steps to the gunwale and saw Wen Zhengyu very unceremoniously pull a roughly one-jin-plus carp out of the water.

Ye Ling took up the landing net, scooped up the fish, and then taught Wen Zhengyu how to remove the hook from the fish's mouth.

Lian Xin looked at the fish, then at the two of them, and went back to his own fishing.

Under Ye Ling's guidance, Wen Zhengyu removed the hook, personally placed the fish into the oxygenated box. She looked at Ye Ling, still finding it hard to believe.

Ye Ling smiled at her and said, "That's your luck. Probably there was a fish right below. With this kind of loose chum, it usually takes about half an hour for fish to show up. But if there are fish schools nearby or lots of fish, they come faster." She glanced at the water, then re-baited Wen Zhengyu's hook and told her to cast again.

Wen Zhengyu cast her line, rested the rod on the holder, and turned to look at Ye Ling.

Ye Ling smiled at her, pointed to the fishing poles in the bag, and then took out a reel and rod, swiftly assembling them.

Wen Zhengyu noticed that Ye Ling's movements were very practiced, and in no time at all she had the hook baited.

Ye Ling found it amusing, looked up at Wen Zhengyu, and said, "What are you looking at me for? Watch your rod, there's a fish."

Wen Zhengyu let out an "Ah!", quickly turned back and lifted the rod, but when it came up it was empty—nothing there. Was she teasing her? She looked toward Ye Ling.

Ye Ling would never admit she was teasing her. She said, "If you don't believe me, look at your bait. The fish ate the bait and spit out the hook."

Wen Zhengyu said "Oh," baited the hook herself, cast again, and focused intently on the float.

Lian Xin glanced back at Ye Ling. He couldn't exactly call her out. You hook on some dough bait, toss it in the water where it gets soft, and then you lift the rod—of course it's gone.

Ye Ling acted as if she hadn't noticed Lian Xin looking back. Without raising her head, she finished setting up her rod, measured the water depth, and dropped her hook right beside Wen Zhengyu's chum spot. She rested her rod on the holder, then brought over the fruit plate, placed it next to Wen Zhengyu, and said, "Have some fruit. We'll have to wait a while. Even if there had been fish, after you pulled up two in a row, they'd have been scared off. We need to wait for the nearby fish to catch the scent of the chum and come over; then we'll have fish."

Wen Zhengyu immediately understood. She said, "Then just now…"

Ye Ling swiftly popped a slice of fruit into Wen Zhengyu's mouth and said, "This dragon fruit is pretty good, give it a try."

Wen Zhengyu swallowed the fruit and saw that Ye Ling was glancing at the gloves she was wearing, then fed her another piece. She said, "I can do it myself."

Ye Ling said, "Don't take the gloves off. You'll still be handling fish, don't get your fingers stabbed."

Wen Zhengyu looked at her gloves, now grimy from removing the fishhooks, and felt it was just too awkward to let Ye Ling feed her fruit, but she couldn't very well eat with such dirty gloves on herself—so she simply kept her eyes on the float on the lake surface.

Ye Ling also watched her own float. She pulled over a stool, set the fruit platter on it, and while eating fruit herself, kept popping pieces into Wen Zhengyu's mouth.

Ye Ling's left hand was holding a fork just as she pierced a piece of fruit when she saw her float plunge. Her right hand grabbed the rod, lifted, and she had a fish on the line.

Wen Zhengyu was staring at the water; when she saw Ye Ling's float sink, her eyes lit up. She cried, "Fish coming!" She turned her head and saw Ye Ling—fork in her left hand with a piece of fruit, rod in her right hand pulling back—looking like someone who could eat fruit and catch fish at the same time. She stared for a moment, then watched as Ye Ling unhurriedly put the fruit into her mouth, set down the fork, and only then calmly reeled in the line. When the fish reached the side of the boat, she didn't even use the landing net; she just lifted a roughly one-jin-plus black carp straight out of the water and into the oxygenated box. Ye Ling switched hands on the rod, picked up the hook remover, reached into the fish's mouth, and plucked the hook out with ease—she didn't get her hands dirty at all.

Ye Ling re-baited the hook, cast back into the water, wiped her fingertips—stained with bait and fishhook—with a wet wipe, and then resumed her dual campaign of eating fruit and feeding fruit.

Lian Xin looked back at these two fishing oddballs and thought: Why does Ye Ling seem more and more irritating the longer I watch her today? If Ye Ling weren't a woman, he really would want to go over and kick her into the water. You come fishing, then fishing's what you do—why are there so many extra antics! Suddenly, his reel emitted the sound of high-speed spinning. Lian Xin turned and saw the line on his rod shooting out like an arrow from a bowstring, zipping away. He quickly grabbed the rod and felt it was extremely heavy in his hands.

Ye Ling heard the reel behind her spin, very calmly glanced back, and prepared to keep feeding Wen Zhengyu—only to find that Wen Zhengyu had gotten up from her stool and was already heading toward Lian Xin.

Ye Ling: "…" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Wen Zhengyu's float sink and immediately grinned. She called out, "Zhengyu, you've got a fish."

Wen Zhengyu thought: Liar. I don't believe you. She'd just tricked her a moment ago.

Ye Ling: "…" She had no choice but to lift Wen Zhengyu's rod herself and called, "Wen Zhengyu."

Wen Zhengyu heard, for the first time ever, Ye Ling call her by her full name. She turned to see Ye Ling holding her rod, its tip twisting and shaking—clearly a real fish had taken the hook. She hurried back, took the rod Ye Ling passed back to her.

Ye Ling said, "When you're fishing, you need to focus. Don't let there be a fish on the line without you even knowing it."

Focus? Wen Zhengyu glanced at the fruit platter, which was now half empty. Suddenly her hand loosened, and she felt the rod go light. She reeled in—there was no fish on the line.

Wen Zhengyu: "…"

Ye Ling said to her, "Just now when you got distracted and turned your head, your hand loosened. The fish threw the hook."

Wen Zhengyu: "…"

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