"This fool got his cast net caught on reed roots underwater. He didn't know how to free it, so he just stripped and jumped in to untangle it. It's early spring, and the ice has only just melted-how could the water not be cold?" Li Jianguo explained, torn between anger and amusement. "Get inside. Heat some water to soak your feet, and wipe yourself down with hot water..."
"I'm fine, I'm fine..." Tao Daqiang protested. "That cast net cost so much, and the water wasn't that cold..."
Looking at his slightly bluish-pale face and trembling lips, Li Long couldn't help snapping at him in anger too:
"No matter how much that cast net cost, is it worth your life? What if the current had swept you away, or you'd got caught underwater and couldn't come back up? You really are a fool!"
"Hehe, I can swim. I just dove down-even if I couldn't see it, I could feel for it..." Tao Daqiang knew the Li brothers meant well. He lifted the sack beside him as though showing off a treasure:
"I caught several fish!"
"Come on, come on, soak your feet!" Liang Yuemei had already poured water from a thermos into the foot basin and mixed in some cold water. After testing the temperature with her hand, she said, "Take it into the East Room and hurry up and wipe yourself down!"
Li Long took the sack from Tao Daqiang, who bent down, picked up the basin, and went into the East Room.
"Why's he so earnest?" Liang Yuemei also thought Tao Daqiang had been a little too simple and honest about this. A cast net getting snagged on the bottom was perfectly normal. A few more shakes, perhaps from a different direction, might free it. If that really didn't