Page 48

Xie Wen stood up and said, "We can go out now."

Song Xiuling's friend couldn't help exclaiming, "He even knows how to come and tell us?"

Xie Wen looked proud. "Of course. Mocha is very smart."

Everyone followed Mocha outside, whether they were interested in sea fishing or not.

The yacht came equipped with fishing rods, while Gu Bai had brought his own. With his full set of gear, he looked like a professional.

When Xie Wen came out, he almost didn't recognize Gu Bai. He was wearing a sun hat and a face covering, along with sunglasses against the dazzling sunlight. Not a bit of him was exposed.

"Are you settling in for the long haul?" Xie Wen asked.

Gu Bai was preparing his bait. "Sea fishing is a long-haul affair to begin with."

Xie Wen knew his own limits very well. "I'm better suited to waiting for the food."

Still, since they were already here, they had to give it a try.

Few of them had any sea-fishing experience, and they didn't even know how to handle the rods or bait. Gu Bai paid them no attention and focused on his own fishing.

Fortunately, the captain was there, but there was only one of him. With everyone calling for the captain, he was struggling to keep up.

Among the calls were several cries of "senior." Chu Hanjin and Song Xiuling had graduated from the same university, and their meeting on this outing had been entirely unexpected.

Xie Wen said cheerfully, "Looks like your family's third young lady has stumbled into a chance encounter on her day out."

"Envious?" Chu Zeshen asked.

"As a single man, of course I'm hoping for a chance encounter," Xie Wen said. "But you, a married man, had better rein yourself in. Chance encounters have nothing to do with you."

Chu Zeshen glanced at him, then turned to Gu Bai. "Junior, how do I put this bait on?"

Gu Bai ignored everyone else, but he responded to Chu Zeshen and showed him how, hand over hand.

Holding his fully prepared fishing rod, Chu Zeshen glanced at Xie Wen again.

Xie Wen: ...

He laughed in exasperation, then turned to complain to Lu Shengfan. "How is he any different right now from Mocha showing off his necklace this morning?"

Lu Shengfan looked entirely used to it. "There's no difference."

Chapter 24

Fishing was an extreme test of patience, staying in one spot and enduring the loneliness and frustration of getting no bites.

At first, the group chatted and laughed, talking about how many fish they would catch and having an all-fish feast that evening.

The sea was calm, the floats sat motionless on the surface, and the sun beat down overhead. Gradually, they lost patience.

"Don't tell me there isn't a single fish in these waters."

"Captain, is there something wrong with our bait?"

"It's already been half an hour. Anything would be better than standing here waiting like idiots."

Several people couldn't stand the boredom and went back inside. At least they wouldn't be sitting in the sun there, and it had a full range of entertainment facilities.

The group had been noisy when they arrived, and they were just as noisy when they left.

"Remember to call us out when you catch something."

"Hahaha, we might not catch a single fish before we leave."

Gu Bai leaned against the side of the boat, watching the water without looking away.

Chu Zeshen stood one spot away from him. Xie Wen went inside and came back out with two bottles of drinks.

"Hey, have something to drink. You've been standing here so long, a little break won't hurt."

Suddenly, the float on the water dipped a little.

Xie Wen's hand froze as he held out a drink, and he held his breath. "Did that float just move?"

Gu Bai calmly watched the water without immediately lifting his rod.

Xie Wen, however, was unusually anxious. "Didn't you see it? I really saw it move."

Lu Shengfan held Xie Wen back. "Calm down. You'll scare away any fish that are there."

The rod in Gu Bai's hands dipped repeatedly, and he promptly lifted it. The water here was deep, and only after lifting the rod twice could he make out the faint shape of the fish.

Once Xie Wen saw that he really had caught a fish, he fell silent instead, feeling nervous and hoping he would pull it up quickly.

Beside them, Mocha couldn't hold back his barks anymore, hopping from side to side in excitement.

The first fish was his.

Just as Gu Bai pulled his fish up, Chu Zeshen finally got a bite beside him.

Chu Zeshen instinctively started pulling up, only to hear Gu Bai say, "Wait a moment first. Don't lift the rod until you feel a continuous downward pull."

Hearing Gu Bai, Chu Zeshen stopped and waited until he felt a continuous tug through the line before lifting his rod.

Mocha bounded over to Chu Zeshen's feet again.

The second fish was his too.

After more than half an hour, they finally had their first success. Everyone inside and everyone fishing on the same deck came over to join the excitement.

They all looked enviously at the two freshly caught fish flopping about in the fish box.

How had they caught fish as soon as the others left?

With this first success, they came back to try fishing again, all choosing to stand where Gu Bai was.

Song Xiuling came over beside Gu Bai with his fishing rod. "I wanted to come borrow some of your luck. You don't mind if I stand here, do you?"

Gu Bai's face covering hid his expression. He simply nodded and said, "Not at all. You can stand here. I'll go take a look somewhere else."

Gu Bai reeled in his line and pulled the fish box over to where Song Xiuling had been standing, on the other side of the boat.

Seeing fish get caught made Xie Wen want to try too. Chu Zeshen gave him his rod and went over to Gu Bai empty-handed.

Gu Bai had no other intention in moving to the other side. He simply felt that having so many people crowded together made casting difficult, and the lines could easily get tangled.

Chu Zeshen brought a chair and set it beside Gu Bai. The captain had told him to bring it along on his way over.

Gu Bai cast his line and began another long wait. Seeing Chu Zeshen approach, he asked, "Are you done fishing?"

Chu Zeshen unfolded the chair. "Xie Wen said he wanted to try too, so I gave him the rod. I brought you a chair."

Gu Bai didn't sit down right away. "Do you want to fish?"

Chu Zeshen said, "I still haven't gotten over the excitement of catching that fish just now."