Maybe Which Dog Did Wrong to the Fish

"Dad, my classmate is over there. I’m going to chat with them for a bit."

After confirming it was Shen Nian, Chen Qiuyu informed Chen Guangming.

"What classmate?"

"Just a regular classmate." Chen Qiuyu pointed.

Chen Guangming took one look and immediately lost his composure. Wasn’t that the high school kid from before?

So he was actually his daughter’s classmate?

Chen Guangming wasn’t too keen on letting Chen Qiuyu go over. After all, this kid seemed to have a thing for his daughter, even telling her to "prepare for their meeting"—anyone would think it was a blind date.

But they were classmates...

How could they be classmates?!

After some deliberation, he asked, "You two... aren’t particularly close, right?"

"We’re just regular classmates. What are you thinking, Dad?"

"Oh, heh, that’s a relief. Go ahead then. Once you’re done chatting, head straight home. It’s too sunny here." Then, awkwardly, he added, "Don’t mention I’m here."

"Why not?"

"No reason. Just go."

After that embarrassing incident with the smelly sock earlier, he couldn’t bear to show his face in front of Shen Nian again.

That "fishing competition gold medal" was all a lie. The truth was, he’d gone fishing twice and came back empty-handed both times. If Shen Nian saw him now, his reputation as a failure would be set in stone.

Chen Qiuyu tilted her head, confused. Her dad was acting weird, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on why.

"Dad, do you know him?"

"Nope!"

"Okay, then. I’ll head over."

She’d assumed her dad and Shen Nian might have crossed paths since they both came here to fish.

Chen Qiuyu walked over and greeted Shen Nian.

"Shen Nian, I didn’t expect to see you fishing here."

Shen Nian glanced at her. "Been here twice."

"Did you catch all these?"

"Yep."

The bucket was filled with several big fish. Compared to this, Chen Qiuyu couldn’t help but feel her dad’s fishing skills weren’t all that impressive anymore.

"You never mentioned you were into fishing before."

"Well, it’s not like we ever talked about fishing. Randomly bringing it up would be like walking up to you and doing a fake jump shot for no reason..." Shen Nian wiped his brow. That was something only a gym bro would do, and he was just a cheerful guy who liked anime.

"...Haha." Chen Qiuyu felt a bit awkward.

"So why are you here?"

"I came with my dad." She pointed.

Chen Guangming, who had been stealthily watching from a distance, stiffened. What were they talking about? Why was he being brought up?

Oh no!

He could only pray Shen Nian was nearsighted and wouldn’t recognize him—or worse, walk over and see his empty bucket.

His gold-medal angler reputation would be ruined. If word got out, his fishing buddies would never let him live it down.

Shen Nian already knew the older man was Chen Qiuyu’s dad, so he just gave a casual "Oh."

After chatting for a bit, Chen Qiuyu leaned on the railing and started reading a novel. There was something oddly satisfying about the scene—a male classmate fishing leisurely while she immersed herself in literature.

Youth, relaxation, books...

So nice!

Then she saw it: a fish the size of two palms bit Shen Nian’s hook and immediately started flopping belly-up like it was having the time of its life.

Wasn’t a fish floating belly-up supposed to mean it was dead? Why did this one look like it was just playing around?

As she watched Shen Nian casually scoop it up, Chen Qiuyu covered her mouth. "Shen Nian... did you electrocute the fish?"

"Nope."

"Then why is it flipping over like a dog?"

"No idea." Shen Nian stroked his chin. "Maybe a dog did something to it."

"?"

The well-read (questionably so) literary girl immediately got the joke. She couldn’t help but giggle before catching herself and straightening her face.

"Did all the fish in your bucket get caught like this?"

"Yeah, they just bit the hook on their own."

"Oh—"

This was bizarre.

Chen Qiuyu stayed by Shen Nian’s side for a while, enjoying the youthful vibe while reading. After about ten minutes, the heat got to her, so she said her goodbyes and left. Before going, she returned to Chen Guangming and glanced at his "bountiful" bucket—filled with nothing but water and air—then walked away without a word.

She loved her dad, but when it came to fishing, he wasn’t exactly skilled.

She remembered a time when he used to bring home big fish every few days to cook.

But lately, his fishing abilities had declined as steadily as his hairline.

Nothing summed up midlife stagnation quite like this.

Shen Nian on one end, Chen Guangming on the other—like the most familiar strangers.

Though "strangers" wasn’t far off. They’d only met once before.

Shen Nian had considered asking the older man for some bait, but since he wasn’t being approached, he didn’t bother either.

With his bucket full, Shen Nian headed to a nearby market.

"Fresh fish, just caught! Cheap prices!"

He’d become a fishmonger for the day—except unlike the professionals, he had no stall, couldn’t gut the fish, and couldn’t even make change.

Some fishing enthusiasts didn’t actually like eating fish; they were just addicted to the sport. They’d either give their catch to neighbors or sell it cheap at the market. Locals were used to anglers selling their haul, but a teenager doing it was a first.

A bespectacled man passing by eyed the belly-up fish in Shen Nian’s bucket.

"You’re saying these were just caught? Fresh?"

"Guaranteed fresh."

Shen Nian flicked one of the fish on the head. The seemingly lifeless fish suddenly sprang to life, thrashing wildly before flipping belly-up again.

Bespectacled man: "?"

Normally, he’d ignore weird fish, but this one was too strange to pass up.

"How much per pound?"

"Hold on, sir."

Shen Nian ran to another stall, picked out a similar-looking fish, and asked, "How much for this one?"

"Thirteen per pound. This one’s about three pounds. I’ll clean and slice it for you," the vendor said with a smile.

"Thanks!"

Shen Nian ran off.

The vendor chuckled in disbelief.

Back at his makeshift spot, Shen Nian flashed a professional smile at the bespectacled man.

"Alright, this one’s thirty. First time selling, so I’ll give it to you at cost since you seem like a good guy."

"Sounds fair—wait, what?"

The man was speechless.

This little brat.

Should I thank you or something?

He’d met all kinds of characters, but this one took the cake.

"Which high school do you go to?"

"Sir, I’m in college. Do my eyes not radiate pure innocence?"

"College kids should be gaming in their dorms right now." The man kept a straight face, thinking, This kid’s sharp.

He wanted to know which school produced such a student so he could report it to the education board.

Our Cinan No. 2 High students are all honest and bright. This guy’s definitely not one of ours. Must be from No. 1 High.

Weird seller aside, the fish was still a good deal—much cheaper than the market price, probably because of the kid’s inexperience.

Disrupting market prices was indeed a thing, but scoring a good deal for himself was equally true. As a consumer, he believed the lower prices dropped in the market competition, the better.

Buy fish like there's no tomorrow!

The bespectacled uncle bought three fish in one go.

"Uncle, I don’t clean the fish, and I don’t have bags either."

"Why are you looking at me? If there are no bags, just go buy a bundle from the grocery store next door!"

"Wow, Uncle, you’re really sharp."

Shen Nian swiftly bought the bags and packed them up for the old man. Thankfully, mobile payments were the norm now—otherwise, Shen Nian wouldn’t even have change to give.

Selling fish was way harder than catching them. Shen Nian spent the entire afternoon just to sell off all the fish, adjusting prices on the fly—selling if the offer was decent, slashing prices if no one bit. By the end of the day, he proudly pocketed 260 gold coins.

Yan Xi reminds you: Due to Tomato’s request for 3 million+ daily visits overwhelming the server, we now recommend switching to other top-tier sources.