Fishing Studies No Longer Exists

The little figure in his arms had no thought of resisting at all. Shen Nian felt a stir of desire, his hand subconsciously climbing onto the girl's leg.

Even though he was behaving himself, it still startled Xia Yanchun. She had thought he was going to let things take their natural course and slowly escalate things. If that were the case, she would absolutely, positively have to give Shen Nian a good beating.

Fortunately, Shen Nian was truly behaving himself.

Hmm... saying Shen Nian was behaving himself in this kind of situation seemed a bit off. Anyway, Shen Nian just didn't have the guts.

Xia Yanchun's emotions were easily stirred by Shen Nian. The surrounding air became so sweet and thick that you could twirl a colorful cotton candy out of it just by waving a finger. She was in a wonderful mood.

The continuous threads of sweetness reached their end, and everything returned to normal.

"Alright, let's eat breakfast." She was still holding her chopsticks and tapped Shen Nian's head with the thick end. "Are you happy now?"

"I'm happy, Chunbao."

"Nianbao is a big idiot."

"Call me Nianbao one more time."

"Haji Nian, hurry up and eat your breakfast!"

Breakfast was eaten very quickly. For Shen Nian, it was just a matter of three bites.

After finishing his own, he even snatched a bit of Xia Yanchun's. He didn't mean anything by it; he was purely being cheeky.

He felt happy every time he saw Xia Yanchun's puffed-up, angry look.

At ten o'clock, Shen Nian drove Xia Yanchun to the park.

Even in the dead of winter, the park was still lush and green, though there were many more fallen leaves on the paths. With every step, one could hear the crisp crunch of dry leaves breaking. Even the cleaning ladies would shake their heads at the sight.

The temperature by the river was a bit lower than outside, but the sun was shining. Even Xia Yanchun unzipped her jacket, her hands and feet feeling warm.

Basking in the warm winter sun was truly a beautiful thing.

Shen Nian looked left and right, wondering aloud, "That uncle from last time actually isn't here. How strange."

"Who?"

"That uncle we saw the first time we came fishing. He used to come every day. Now I guess it's getting cold, and since he can't catch any fish, he can't be bothered to come out."

"Oh!" Xia Yanchun suddenly remembered. "Is it that skunked uncle with the medal?"

"Right, right, he's Chen Qiuyu's dad."

"Huh? How do you know?" Xia Yanchun was surprised. Was the world really this small?

While setting up his fishing rod, Shen Nian muttered, "I have him on WeChat. I saw it while looking at the pictures on his Moments a while ago, and he was also there during the parent-teacher meeting."

"Oh... that's quite a coincidence."

"It's a pity he didn't come." Shen Nian let out a long sigh. Not being able to reel in fish after fish right in front of the uncle meant losing half the fun of fishing.

Did you know? The thrill of catching a big fish in front of other anglers who can't catch anything is even better than winning two thousand bucks in the lottery.

The number of anglers had drastically decreased. There were only a scattered few, and it didn't look like they were having an easy time catching anything.

Uncle, I miss you.

Days without you are truly hard to endure.

An electric scooter slowly drove over and parked not far from Shen Nian.

Hmm?

That familiar height, familiar face, familiar bucket, familiar stool... It's you!

The newly arrived Chen Guangming felt a sudden chill... For some reason, he thought of that young man who was incredibly good at fishing.

Haha, that kid was a high school senior. He should be sleeping or playing games right now. He hadn't seen him come fishing for months.

To be that good but only have a three-minute passion for it, what a pity, what a pity.

"Uncle, here to fish? Long time no see." Shen Nian strolled over, striking up a conversation.

He really thought the fishing uncle wasn't coming anymore. It turned out he was just late, probably having slept in.

If he had known, he wouldn't have bought any bait and would have just mooched off the uncle's.

Chen Guangming looked at the overly familiar Shen Nian walking over, and then at Xia Yanchun following behind him. He was so startled he aged two seconds.

"Uh, haha, it really has been a long time."

Chen Guangming was already trying to think of a way to stay away from him. But since the boy was his daughter's classmate, he still had to be polite.

"Uncle, could you lend me a stool?"

"Cough, sure, take it."

"Thanks, Uncle. Uncle, are you going to chum the water?"

"..."

You aren't trying to mooch off my fishing spot, are you?

No, little brother, aren't you being a bit too familiar? We've only had one financial transaction, and you actually want to mooch off my chummed spot?

"Not yet. I feel like this spot isn't great. I'll pick a better spot to chum the water later."

"OK, thanks, Uncle. I'll return the stool to you soon."

"No problem, no problem." Chen Guangming originally didn't want to be a sly old wolf, but he had no choice. This was what having shrewdness was all about.

Thank goodness Shen Nian didn't have the thick skin to insist on mooching off his spot.

Shen Nian borrowed the stool and went back. Unfolding the little stool, he said, "You sit here and play on your phone. Wait for me to catch a few big fish, and later when we go to the market, you can be the one calling out to customers."

"Blegh, we'll see how many you can catch." Xia Yanchun sipped her soy milk, the warm sun falling on the fluffy top of her hair.

Shen Nian smiled, hooked the bait, and without even casting the line, just dropped it straight into the water.

The fish were inactive, he didn't chum the water, he picked a spot at random, and he kept talking. It would be a miracle if he caught anything. Chen Guangming's veins throbbed as he watched. Why on earth would this damn kid be able to catch a fish?

How could he not get skunked?

After fishing for five minutes without a bite, Shen Nian thought he was actually going to get skunked.

Fortunately, a fish took the bait.

A fish about the length of a forearm faintly appeared, blowing a bubble.

Then it was hooked without any resistance at all. Until Shen Nian scooped it up, its most intense struggle was just rolling over once.

Xia Yanchun tilted her head and watched from the side, her small mouth slightly open. "Why isn't this fish swimming? In the fishing videos I watch, they always have to tire the fish out."

"This kind of fish is a lie-flat fish. If you don't work hard, you get eliminated by society and become meat on someone else's chopping board. Did you learn anything from watching me fish?"

"I came to keep you company while fishing, not to do reading comprehension..."

Shen Nian gave a soft smile and pinched Xia Yanchun's soft, squishy cheek.

Chen Guangming looked at the big fish in Shen Nian's bucket, deep in thought.

Ah, so that was it. The science of fishing no longer existed.