The Art of Teasing - Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Ye Ling saw that Wen Zhengyu had frozen up. She smiled and said, "Don't let go; if you let go, it's easy for the fish to slip off the hook." She set down the fruit, baited Wen Zhengyu's hook again, and motioned for her to cast.

Lian Zhenxing was shouting loudly, "Wow, Dad's caught a fish too, Dad's caught a fish too!" He ran excitedly to Lian Xin's side, leaned over the gunwale to take a look, then turned back toward the cabin and hollered, "A huge one. Mom, come quick, Dad caught a big fish." He raced over to grab the landing net, ready to help his dad scoop up the fish.

Ye Ling's two bodyguards, seeing the children bouncing around so exuberantly, quietly moved closer to keep them from falling overboard.

Lian Xin nodded slightly at the two bodyguards in thanks, then went back to reeling in his fish.

His wife, hearing the child's shouts, hurried over as well.

The float on Lian Xin's other fishing rod suddenly plunged completely underwater, even the rod tip dipping down. Instinctively, he reached out with his left hand and yanked the rod up, then held one rod in each hand, fighting fish on both sides.

Lian Zhenxing's mouth dropped into a perfect circle, and then he yelled, "Wow, Dad is amazing, wow, Dad is amazing."

The fish on both rods were not small; Lian Xin couldn't haul them both up at once. He was just about to call out, "Honey, come help," when his wife had already nimbly taken hold of the rod, asking excitedly, "Honey, honey, how do I pull it up? Yu'er, come help, come on, come on, I've got a fish." She was even more worked up than her son.

Lian Xin: "…" He glanced at his wife, and while managing his own fish, he guided her on how to play hers. Comparing the sizes of the two fish, he handed the rod with the slightly smaller fish to his wife and kept the rod with the larger one to reel in himself.

Before long, his wife had pulled her fish alongside the boat and shouted excitedly again, "Son, come help, your dad's busy."

Wen Zhengyu thought her fourth sister-in-law was going to go completely wild again today.

Lian Zhenxing shouted, "I'm coming, Mom!" He charged over, reaching out with the landing net to scoop up the fish. He was small, short, with stubby arms, his feet dangling, half his body leaning out over the gunwale—extremely dangerous.

A bodyguard stepped up in two strides and grabbed Lian Zhenxing from behind.

Lian Zhenxing called, "Thanks, Uncle." He gripped the net handle tightly, scooped the fish up, and yelled, "Mom, I got it, I got it. Ah, it's so heavy."

Lian Xin's wife dropped her rod, and together with her son, hauled the net up and landed the fish.

Lian Zhenxing was drenched in sweat, shouting, "Dad, Dad, look, look, Mom and I scooped it up together."

Wen Zhengyu saw that her own float was still, Lian Xin was too busy to help, and the landed fish still had the hook in its mouth, so she went over to guide mother and son in removing the hook.

Ye Ling: "…"

Lian Xin: "…"

The two of them turned in unison to stare at the little cluster of three novice anglers.

Lian Xin couldn't help but ask, "Yu'er, you've already mastered it…?" Before the word "mastered" was fully out, his wife, under Wen Zhengyu's guidance, had already removed the hook.

Mother and son expertly fetched a portable bucket and an aerator from Lian Xin's large tackle bag, filled it with water, switched on the oxygen, and tipped the fish in.

Wen Zhengyu finally understood. So all along, when Lian Xin went fishing, her sister-in-law and nephew had always been his support crew.

Having just caught a fish with her own two hands, Lian Xin's wife was suddenly bubbling with enthusiasm and asked Wen Zhengyu to help her bait the hook again.

Wen Zhengyu helped her fourth sister-in-law thread bait onto the hook, and the sister-in-law, beaming with delight, cast the bait over the side.

Lian Zhenjie came running over with tiny steps, trying to act very serious, and said to Lian Zhenxing, "Zhenxing gege, my dad caught a fish too."

Lian Zhenxing said, "Come, look at the fish I landed. Isn't it big?"

The little boy gestured, "My dad's fish is bigger—this big!" He stretched his arms so far back they were behind his back.

Lian Zhenxing raced over to the bow to take a look, then dashed back shouting, "Dad, Seventh Uncle's fish isn't as big as yours, Sixth Uncle still hasn't caught one."

After helping her fourth sister-in-law, Wen Zhengyu returned to her own spot and sat down.

Ye Ling teased her with a laugh, "Yo, you've already turned pro this quickly?"

Wen Zhengyu felt a little bashful, but secretly a bit pleased. She said quietly to Ye Ling, "Thank you."

Lian Xin pulled in a black carp that weighed around three jin. He put the black carp into the oxygenated bucket, and while he was rebaiting his hook, he heard his wife yelling excitedly, "Yu'er, Yu'er, I've got a fish… come help…"

Wen Zhengyu called back, "Fourth Sister-in-law, I'm busy." She, too, was reeling in a fish.

Lian Xin saw his wife holding the rod with the tip bent sharply down. He hurried over to help, but seeing his wife in such high spirits, he didn't dare take the rod from her. Obediently, he guided her from the side, helping her bring the fish in.

Ye Ling's bait was superb; fish were hitting almost every few minutes. Everyone was so glued to their rods, intent on fishing, that no one could bear to break for lunch. Seeing that Wen Zhengyu could now catch fish unaided, she asked Wen Zhengyu to watch her rod, went to the galley to rustle up ingredients, and made a simple meal. She figured the people chained to their fishing rods would have no time, so she made toast with slices of bread, asked the kids to deliver it, and then prepared a pan-fried steak for each of the two children and Wen Zhengyu.

Lian Zhenxing took his younger brother to sit at the dining table and eat their steak.

Ye Ling helped Lian Zhenjie cut his steak into small pieces, and, worried the child might choke, she asked a bodyguard to keep an eye on them. Then she carried Wen Zhengyu's portion of steak to the stern.

Lian Ming's wife couldn't find her son; when she went searching in the cabin, she found him sitting at the dining table eating happily, with Ye Ling's bodyguard still standing watch nearby.

Wen Zhengyu, tending two rods, was very busy.

Most of the time, before swallowing the bait, fish would test it first, making the float bob lightly. Whenever she saw the float move, she had to watch closely, reading the float to judge whether the fish had taken the bait into its mouth. Keeping an eye on two rods at once was a bit overwhelming; sometimes, after one rod hooked a fish and she cast the bait back in, the float on the other rod had already sunk beneath the surface, and when she lifted that rod, she'd find yet another fish on it. The spot was swarming with fish; often both rods would dip at the same time and she'd have to lift both to check. After lifting, she'd have to rebait the hooks, leaving her no idle moment.

When Ye Ling came up after making lunch, she saw that the oxygenated cooler she and Wen Zhengyu shared now held a few more fish, and Wen Zhengyu was staring fixedly at the floats. She brought the steak over and sat down beside Wen Zhengyu. Picking her moment carefully, she held a piece of steak up to Wen Zhengyu's lips.

In all her life, Wen Zhengyu had never eaten steak like this and felt terribly embarrassed. She said, "Why don't I go back to the dining room and eat?" She was having too much fun fishing to want to break for lunch; going off to eat now would spoil the mood.

Ye Ling said, "The dining room is taken over by the two little ones. Lian Zong and the others are also eating lunch while guarding their rods."

Wen Zhengyu looked over at Lian Xin and saw him holding his rod, reeling in a fish, with breadcrumbs clinging to his lips. Mumbling around the food in his mouth, he called indistinctly, "Honey, water."

Her fourth sister-in-law immediately picked up a water glass and held it to Lian Xin's lips.

Lian Xin's eyes were fixed on the fish in the water. He turned his head, drank a mouthful of water, swallowed the food stuck in his throat, then went back to cranking the reel and working the rod, battling the fish in the water.

This really was fishing and eating without missing a beat—all table manners completely fed to the fish.

Ye Ling forked a piece of steak and brought it to Wen Zhengyu's lips.

Wen Zhengyu opened her mouth to accept the food Ye Ling offered, held it in her mouth, and didn't quite dare look at Ye Ling. She knew Ye Ling didn't want her to go hungry, so she'd made lunch, and bringing it here to feed her was done on purpose.

This feeling of being indulged, of not needing to worry about etiquette or appearances, was quite nice, yet it also made Wen Zhengyu thoroughly embarrassed, and her heart knocked faster with a thump.

After feeding her the entire steak, Ye Ling touched Wen Zhengyu's stomach and asked, "Full?"

Wen Zhengyu's face flamed bright red at Ye Ling's gesture. She murmured, "Mn," and said, "I'm full."

Ye Ling took the dishes back to the galley to wash them, then returned to the stern. She picked up the ground bait, replenished the chum for both Wen Zhengyu's spot and the spots the Lian brothers had been fishing, then had the bodyguards fetch clean water. She selected some fish weighing around two to three jin and kept them separately in clean water to let them purge mud and sand. Only after that did she leisurely settle back down beside Wen Zhengyu and go on fishing.

This fishing trip could truly be called a bumper harvest.

When they finally packed in the rods at five o'clock, fish were still biting on everyone's lines, and their oxygenated coolers were packed to bursting with fish.

Lian Xi came over to inspect everyone's results and praised Ye Ling's bait several times in a row. He said, "I've been fishing for so many years, but I've never had such a satisfying session; it was simply incredible—my hands never once got a rest. Ming-ge started off with four rods, but later on, even two rods kept him too busy, and he had to get his wife to help lift them." He paused, then asked, "With this many fish, are we icing them all fresh?"

Ye Ling said, "Fish taste best when killed fresh. I've prepared live-fish oxygen bags." Saying so, she picked up a stack of heavy-duty plastic bags lying nearby.

After they finished putting the rods away, everyone busied themselves packing up all the wild live fish they had caught.

Ye Ling packed the fish that had purged mud and sand separately and marked them. Freshwater fish have a strong earthy taste; it's better to keep them in clean water for two or three days to let them purge the mud and sand. Wen Zhengyu had said they'd hold a fish feast that evening, so they'd just have to make do.

The fish they'd caught weighed several hundred jin in total. Luckily, Ye Ling had plenty of live-fish oxygen bags, and they managed to stow all the fish away—eleven bulging bags in all, several hundred jin piled up there.

After fishing all day, everyone was covered in fishy smell and scales.

Wen Zhengyu's gloves, vest, and trousers had long since gotten filthy while she was landing fish. Her mood was soaring; she didn't feel she'd been fishing long at all, yet somehow it was already afternoon. When it came time to pack, she still couldn't bear to reel in her rod and pulled in two more fish. The packing was done entirely by Ye Ling and the bodyguards. They packed the fish the two of them had caught separately and handed the bags to Wen Zhengyu to decide what to do with them.

Wen Zhengyu asked Ye Ling, "Aren't you taking any home?"

Ye Ling smiled faintly and said, "I don't cook much at my place."

Wen Zhengyu recalled the previous time Ye Ling had invited her for dinner and had even made a special trip to the supermarket. She said, "Pick some to take back. I'll come over to your place to eat fish in a few days."

Ye Ling's eyes curved into happy crescents as she laughed. She answered, "Alright." She put all the fishing gear away, gave the bait recipe to Lian Xi, and helped peel Wen Zhengyu out of her soiled vest and gloves, saying, "Recyclable—we'll use them next time."

Wen Zhengyu asked, "Aren't you going to wash them?"

Ye Ling said, "I'll take them back and wash them." She shot Wen Zhengyu another glance and whispered, "Though, I kind of don't want to wash them."

Wen Zhengyu understood the meaning behind Ye Ling's words. Pretending to be cool, she flicked a glance at Ye Ling, then turned and went to the cabin to wash her hands.

There were so many fish, but fortunately they had plenty of cars. Each trunk was stuffed with a few bags of fish, and everything fit.

Ye Ling placed the fish that had purged mud and sand into Lian Xin's car and told them, "You all head back first. We're going to make a detour to the hospital; Zhengyu's hand got pierced by a fish hook, and she needs a tetanus shot."

Lian Xin asked, "Is it deep?" He'd seen Ye Ling disinfect Wen Zhengyu's hand with alcohol and had assumed it was nothing.

Ye Ling said, "It pierced into the flesh. Getting a tetanus shot is safer."

Lian Xin nodded and said, "Alright, then you take her. We'll go back first."

Ye Ling got into Wen Zhengyu's car, smiled at Wen Zhengyu, and told Wen Jing to drive to the hospital.

The Old Madam waited until past seven before she saw the cars returning. She walked to the gate and saw Lian Xi, Lian Ming, and the other brothers hauling fish out of the trunks. Lian Xi was still chattering excitedly, "Even while I was reeling in the line, fish were still hitting. I was winding the line, and then it bit again—eventually I couldn't manage at all." He was even more excited than when Wen Zhengyu had brought back crabs. The others were no different, all in sky-high spirits, all talking about the fishing.

Clearly, they'd had an absolute blast.

The younger generation greeted the Old Madam and then started carrying the fish into the courtyard.

Seeing the Old Madam stand at the courtyard gate for a moment and then walk outside, craning her neck to look toward the end of the convoy, Lian Xin called out, "Grandmother, Yu'er and Ye Ling are still behind. They'll be back a little later."

The Old Madam saw that the rest of them had all returned, but Wen Zhengyu alone was missing, and asked, "How did you leave Yu'er behind?"

Lian Xi asked, "Right, where did she go? Why did you turn off when we got to the city?"

Lian Xin said, "A fish hook pierced her finger, so she went to get a tetanus shot."

The Old Madam immediately grew anxious. "Is it serious?"

Lian Xin said, "A fish hook piercing in is just about the size of a pinprick. It's nothing."

They carried the fish into the courtyard. Lian Ming, Lian Xi, and the others went to change out of their dirty clothes, while Lian Xin followed the Old Madam to the study.

Once inside, he closed the door behind him. Without concealing anything from the Old Madam, he recounted in full detail how Wen Zhengyu and Ye Ling had interacted during today's fishing trip, including how meticulous and thoughtful Ye Ling had been in dealing with people and arranging things.

After hearing him out, the Old Madam nodded and told Lian Xin to go change his clothes.

Hearing the sound of a car pulling up to the gate, she rose and went downstairs. By the time she reached the courtyard entrance, she saw Wen Zhengyu and Ye Ling stepping through the gate one after the other.

At the sight of the Old Madam, Wen Zhengyu instantly broke into a smile, hurried over to greet her, and supported her arm.

Ye Ling stepped forward and politely paid her respects to the Old Madam.

The Old Madam returned the greeting with a smile and said, "Good." She beckoned to Ye Ling, "Come inside and sit." Then she asked Wen Zhengyu, "Did you enjoy the fishing?"

Wen Zhengyu nodded vigorously and, once she and the Old Madam were settled on the living room sofa, launched into an account of the day's haul.

Ye Ling sat quietly to one side, listening as Wen Zhengyu tugged at her grandmother and poured out a nonstop stream of fishing anecdotes.

The Old Madam listened with a smile, occasionally casting a glance at Ye Ling, her gaze sharp and penetrating.

Meeting the Old Madam's eyes, Ye Ling understood that the Old Madam must have perceived something or come to know something.

Though she didn't know what attitude the Old Madam held, she was calm and unafraid. She wanted to be with Wen Zhengyu, so naturally she was prepared to face Wen Zhengyu's family. She wasn't afraid of opposition from Wen Zhengyu's family; the only thing she was unsure of was what choice Wen Zhengyu would make. At most, Wen Zhengyu had some favorable feelings toward her and was beginning to accept her, but as for deep feelings, that was hardly the case. In Wen Zhengyu's heart, her family's place was absolutely more important than her. She didn't know whether Wen Zhengyu would take that step if the Old Madam objected. At the very least, given the Old Madam's advanced age and frail health, Wen Zhengyu would absolutely never dare upset her.

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