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Lin Gongshang pulled out a cigarette and offered him one. "You came back to fish too? With the people from Lu Family Village?"

Lu Ao waved to indicate that he did not smoke. "I'm fishing on my own."

"Fishing alone?" Lin Manzhang glanced at him in surprise. "Have you fished before?"

"I have some experience."

Lin Manzhang could tell, so he reminded him, "The sea around here is different from other places. The conditions are more complicated, and the fish are harder to catch. It's fine if you're just doing it for fun, but it won't be easy to make a living from it."

Seeing how sincere he was, Lu Ao said, "I want to give it a try."

For the sake of his old classmate, Lin Gongshang warmly invited him. "Trying is fine. If no one on your side is fishing, you can come fish with us. It's safer when you have company."

"Thanks. I'll try it on my own first."

"Try what?" Lin Manzhang could not help persuading him. "Do you know how dangerous it is to enter an unfamiliar body of water? If you run into any kind of accident while you're alone, you'll probably lose your life."

Lin Dawu was coming out carrying a speargun. Hearing their conversation, he said as well, "Lu Ao, it'd be more convenient for you to fish with Manzhang and the others. They've been fishing here for years, and their usual catches are pretty good. They can basically bring in twenty or thirty jin of fish every day."

If Lu Ao had not turned into a lizard, he would have been happy to tag along with experienced people and learn from them. But now that he was a lizard, ordinary waters were no different from flat ground to him, even in human form.

Even in human form, he could hold his breath for more than ten minutes. Under those circumstances, let alone wandering around the nearshore waters, he would even dare to head out into the open ocean alone.

He politely declined. "I used to fish often in Xiding City too. My best record was more than fifty jin in a day. It should be fine just to give it a try. If I can't handle it, I'll come ask you for advice."

Lin Gongshang did not believe him. "You're bragging, aren't you? Diving takes so much stamina. Catching thirty jin of fish in a day is already impressive. Fifty jin? How many hours would you have to dive?"

Lu Ao calculated, doubled the time, and said, "About six hours."

"Six hours?" Lin Gongshang looked him up and down. With his clothes on, it was impossible to tell how much muscle he had, but judging by his overly handsome appearance, he did not seem like someone who could dive for more than six hours a day. "Six hours? You'd be fishing from morning until night. Wouldn't your legs turn to jelly?"

"It's fine. Maybe I'm better suited to it."

Lin Gongshang and the others still looked unconvinced, but since they did not know him well, they could not say much more.

Seeing their expressions, Lu Ao did not know how to explain himself, so he pretended not to notice.

Soon, they had bought their spearguns.

Before leaving, Lin Manzhang and Lin Gongshang both added Lu Ao on WeChat, saying that he could ask them anything there if he had questions.

Lu Ao thanked them and watched as they rode their motorcycles away.

If he planned to live here long-term, he would probably need to buy a motorcycle too.

Lin Dawu was in high spirits after selling several more spearguns. After putting everything away, he personally walked Lu Ao to his doorstep.

Lu Ao had bought a lot of things today. All the miscellaneous items together weighed at least fifty or sixty jin.

Lin Dawu had just wanted to lend a hand when he saw Lu Ao sling everything over his shoulder. Lu Ao waved at him, thanked him, and headed home with ease.

Watching him carry it all as though it took no effort at all, Lin Dawu stared enviously at his back. Young people really did have plenty of strength.

Lu Ao was indeed strong.

And with great strength came a great appetite.

He had just bought twenty jin of beef in the county town.

The beef had been fairly cheap today, thirty-five yuan per jin. Twenty jin had cost seven hundred yuan.

That was probably only enough for three or four meals.

That night, he had braised beef. He ate a quarter of it in one go, then went to sleep, since he had to get up early to fish the next day.

People in the countryside ate early. It was only a little after seven when he finished dinner. He stepped outside for a look, and there was already barely any sound in the village, aside from the occasional bark of a dog.

Lu Ao fell asleep amid the quiet, breathing in the slightly cool air. Before long, he sank into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, after getting up and washing, he simply ate a large pot of braised beef noodles. He returned to his room, picked up his wetsuit, diving knife, speargun, fish stringer with its long rope, and various other items, then silently headed out of the village.

There were basically no young people left in their village. Walking through it, one could feel its desolation.

There were plenty of dogs in the village. Catching the scent of a stranger, they should have barked, but when Lu Ao gave them a look, not only did they not dare bark, they were so frightened that they tucked their tails and lay on the ground, whimpering.

A few particularly timid dogs were scared stiff enough to wet themselves.

Lu Ao passed through the village without waking a single person and arrived at a beach some distance outside it.

There were many mountains and rocks around here. The stretch of fine sandy beach was only a short one, while most of the rest was covered in jagged rocks.

The rocks had been battered by waves year-round and were coated in moss, wet and slippery. A person could easily slip and crack their head open on them.

Villagers rarely came here. Especially after an old man from the village had come to pry off barnacles a few years ago, slipped into the sea, and died, everyone had become even more wary of this place.

Lu Ao strode across the reefs as though walking on level ground.

In only a few minutes, he reached his chosen destination—a relatively flat, large reef.

He set down his things and took off his shorts and T-shirt, leaving only his underwear.

In the faint morning light, his body was so pale it seemed to give off a soft glow. Unfortunately, there was no one around to appreciate it.

Lu Ao carefully put on his wetsuit, diving socks, and fins one by one, tied the fish stringer around his waist, equipped his diving knife, put on his mask, bit down on his snorkel, and slowly entered the water.

The moment he touched the water, he felt even more at ease than he had on shore.

The area where he entered was a reef zone. Almost as soon as he went underwater, he saw fish of all sizes swimming before his eyes.

Lu Ao observed them. The largest were only one or two jin, while the smallest were barely thicker than fingers. He had not used a speargun much before, and with fish this small, he was afraid he would not be able to aim accurately.