Give Me a Lift!

After breakfast.

Madam Zheng cleared away the bowls and chopsticks.

Shen Xiuhan gathered his fishing rod and fish basket, ready to head out and fish.

"Eldest..."

Madam Zheng came out of the kitchen, carrying the oiled paper that had wrapped yesterday's grilled fish bones. It bulged with two hard flatbreads inside.

"Take some provisions with you. If you get hungry at noon, have something to tide you over."

Poor families usually ate only two meals a day. Madam Zheng was clearly adding an extra meal because he had only just recovered from a serious illness and needed nourishment.

Warmth stirred in Shen Xiuhan's heart. He took the bundle and tucked it into his clothes, then nodded.

"I know, Mother."

The two left the house together.

They had only just stepped out of the fenced yard when Shen Momo's crisp little voice called from inside.

"Big brother, catch lots and lots of big fish! Momo still wants to eat fish..."

Turning around, he saw the little girl clinging to the window frame, only half her tiny face visible, along with that tuft of silly hair sticking up.

Shen Xiuhan burst out laughing and waved at her. "Got it. Be good and wait at home."

"That greedy little thing..."

Madam Zheng shook her head helplessly.

When they reached Uncle Chen's house.

Aunt Li happened to be carrying a wooden basin out to pour water. Seeing the mother and son, she greeted them warmly.

"Brother Han, Gui Ping, off to work?"

Gui Ping...

That was Madam Zheng's given name.

Madam Zheng stopped and smiled. "Aunt Li, keeping busy? Where's Chen An?"

At the mention of Chen An, Aunt Li's face immediately lit up, and she straightened her back a little more.

"Chen An? He went to the martial arts school at dawn to temper his muscles and bones. That boy is truly mad for martial arts, so diligent. Last night, he didn't even close his eyes. He stayed in his room and practiced martial arts all night..."

Madam Zheng had no reason to doubt her and sincerely praised him. "Chen An is striving so hard. He'll surely achieve great things in the martial path someday!"

"Thank you for the kind words, thank you!"

Aunt Li was overjoyed, grinning from ear to ear. She even forgot that she had specifically waited for them to come by so she could urge them about the money they owed.

Standing to the side, Shen Xiuhan's expression was somewhat strange.

He did not know whether Chen An had truly practiced martial arts all night.

But he did know a thing or two about what Aunt Li and Uncle Chen had practiced last night.

After parting with Aunt Li and walking a little farther, Madam Zheng turned south and headed to work at the cloth workshop in Bai Estate, outside the city.

Shen Xiuhan, meanwhile, made his way with practiced ease into the depths of the reed marsh at Little Path Bay.

The morning mist had yet to disperse, and the withered yellow reeds were covered in frost.

He pushed aside the reeds and looked up. A pale golden point of light representing a Silver-backed Fish was leisurely circling beneath the water not far away.

Shen Xiuhan's spirits rose.

He found a rock and smashed open an ice hole directly above the marker.

The ice was about four fingers thick. With several cracking sounds, a large opening split apart, and lake water spilled out.

Shen Xiuhan took a small handful of millet from his clothes and scattered it through the ice hole.

Beneath the ice, the pale golden point of light immediately became active.

One moment it darted left, the next it swam right. From time to time it approached, only to retreat warily again.

"This beast is clever..." Shen Xiuhan narrowed his eyes as he watched.

After about the time it took to brew a cup of tea, having sensed no danger, the Silver-backed Fish gradually relaxed and drifted lazily beneath the ice hole.

Shen Xiuhan could practically picture it pecking at the millet on the lakebed.

"Eat. Eat more. You'll need a full belly before you set off..."

He took out his hook, threaded several grains of millet onto it, and gently tossed it into the ice hole.

But what Shen Xiuhan had not expected was...

The Silver-backed Fish was extremely alert!

After circling the hook twice, it hid far away to one side and refused to come near no matter what.

"Has this Treasure Fish turned into a spirit? Has it truly gained intelligence?"

Shen Xiuhan frowned slightly.

He was considering whether to try the Black Bighead Carp innards he had saved from last night.

The reed float on the surface suddenly plunged without warning. The float had gone black!

"A fish?"

Shen Xiuhan instinctively flicked his wrist and yanked the rod hard.

Splash!

Water sprayed everywhere.

A plump Silver-striped Fish burst from the water, the five silver stripes along its back clear and distinct.

Not the Silver-backed Fish!

Shen Xiuhan's expression changed slightly as he instinctively looked toward the pale golden point beneath the water.

Sure enough.

The instant the Silver-striped Fish broke the surface, the Silver-backed Fish sensed the danger. Like a startled bird, it shot several yards away from the ice hole into the deep water.

"Damn it!"

"I can't keep this fish!"

Shen Xiuhan made the decision at once.

Before the Silver-striped Fish froze stiff, he swiftly dug out the hook and threw this fish, worth over forty copper coins, back into the ice hole!

Plop!

You had to give up the child to catch the wolf.

Shen Xiuhan held his breath and focused, his gaze fixed on the water beneath the ice.

The Silver-striped Fish slipped into the water, flicked its tail, and slowly swam away.

The Silver-backed Fish remained motionless in the distance.

One breath.

Two breaths.

About half an incense stick later.

The Silver-backed Fish finally moved.

First, it cautiously swam forward a foot or so, then stopped.

Then it swam another foot, and stopped again.

Repeating this over and over, it gradually approached the underside of the ice hole.

Seeing that nothing had happened, it finally let down its guard and returned to peck at the millet.

"Perfect chance!"

Shen Xiuhan took out the fish innards he had deliberately saved last night and hung them on the iron hook.

He cast the line into the hole.

The blood-scented bait had barely sunk to the bottom.

The Silver-backed Fish shot several yards away in fright.

But immediately after, the scent of blood spread through the water, drifting out in thin wisps.

The Silver-backed Fish jerked to a halt and paused in place for a moment. At last, unable to resist, it edged closer and swam circles around the bait, testing it.

Shen Xiuhan did not dare even breathe.

He did not know how much guard this Treasure Fish, clever as a spirit, had lowered after his earlier trick of letting it go only to lure it back.

He could only wait.

Then he saw that the pale golden point of light ultimately could not withstand the pull of instinct.

It moved closer to the hook bit by bit...

Closer...

Then, they overlapped.

The reed float abruptly vanished, and the bamboo rod sank sharply downward!

A massive force several times greater than that of the Silver-striped Fish surged along the line into his palm, instantly bending the bamboo rod into a full arc!

It had taken the bait!

"What terrifying strength!"

Shen Xiuhan had just been about to lift the rod when he immediately sensed something wrong.

With the brute force the Silver-backed Fish had unleashed, he absolutely could not meet it head-on.

Otherwise, the bamboo rod and the hemp-rope line would likely snap on the spot!

Left with no choice.

He could only grit his teeth, steady his stance, and begin circling with the Silver-backed Fish.

When the enemy advanced, he retreated. When the enemy paused, he harried it.

Pull for a while, then give it slack for a while.

Man and fish, separated by a layer of ice, began a grueling tug-of-war of endurance!

Shen Xiuhan had only recently recovered from a serious illness. His vitality was depleted, and his body was terribly weak.

After barely holding out for the time it took to burn an incense stick, he felt his arms turn limp as mud, while his lungs heaved like bellows.

The first to fail was actually himself!

"No..."

"If this keeps up, it'll drag me into the ice hole!"

Shen Xiuhan gripped the fishing rod tightly with one hand and reached into his clothes with the other, pulling out a cornmeal flatbread.

He opened his mouth, took a huge savage bite, and swallowed it down, chewing and gulping all at once!

The moment the flatbread entered his stomach, he immediately felt the effects. His arms no longer shook quite so badly.

Supported by the food, he forcibly held on for another tea's time.

At last, the tremendous force beneath the water began to weaken.

The Silver-backed Fish could not endure the drain forever. Its struggling gradually grew feeble.

"Get up!"