"Hm? What are you doing here?" Pei Ye deliberately asked with a smile. "Are you treating me to a meal? How did you know I hadn't had breakfast?"
Li Wuyan was a little bewildered. She had not eaten either; she had rushed over impatiently to ask this big brother to take her fishing. But if he had not eaten yet... She thought for a while, then lowered her head and rummaged in her pocket for ages, pulling out three candies. After another moment's hesitation, she put one back and offered him the other two.
What a devastating bribe. Pei Ye accepted them with a smile and took her little hand. "All right, let's go fishing. But first we need to make fishing rods."
The youth led her around the gardens for quite a while before finally selecting two suitable bamboo stalks. These proud, unyielding plants neither bent nor broke even in bitter winter, but unfortunately, before [Jade Tiger], they obediently lay down.
Pei Ye stripped away the tangled branches and leaves, leaving two green poles. Yet although the bamboo had looked straight while standing, once felled, it turned out to have bends here and there. Fortunately, Black Cat was there. The flames nurtured in its belly could be breathed out without Spirit Profound power, and by heating and bending the poles, he gradually worked them into the shape he wanted.
"To give the rod a nice curve, you have to heat it over a fire." Although the little child most likely could not understand, Pei Ye still explained every step to her with a smile. Li Wuyan leaned against the table and watched, wearing that familiar expression of a child earnestly trying to understand, occasionally asking about details from peculiar angles.
"This is what they mean by 'wood straight enough