Page 49

"Then take a seat." Gu Bai handed the fishing rod to Chu Zeshen and sat on the fish box himself. "They say beginners get a fishing buff. I'll coach you and borrow some of your luck."

Chu Zeshen looked in amusement at the thoroughly bundled-up man. "Trying to reap the rewards without doing any work?"

Gu Bai said without a trace of embarrassment, "I'm coaching you. I'm the teacher, and you're the student. Does that count as not doing any work?"

Holding the rod, Chu Zeshen resigned himself to sitting down. "It certainly doesn't."

Gu Bai pulled down his face covering to take a sip of water, then leaned against the side of the boat to rest for a while, fulfilling his coaching duties along the way.

"You have to be able to handle the solitude when you fish. You can't give up halfway through."

Chu Zeshen chuckled. "Got it."

Since Gu Bai was tucked off to one side, he wasn't fully exposed to the overhead sun. He unfastened his sun hat, stood up, and put it on Chu Zeshen's head.

"You need to protect yourself from the sun."

Before this, Chu Zeshen had seen the float move, but hadn't had time to tell Gu Bai.

Now, Chu Zeshen had even less reason to mention it. His attention was no longer on the float.

They were very close. Gu Bai raised his hands to secure the sun shield for Chu Zeshen, fiddling with it beneath his chin.

Chu Zeshen stayed perfectly still and let Gu Bai work, merely lowering his eyes to gaze at the bridge of Gu Bai's nose.

There wasn't much difference in their heights. Chu Zeshen was two or three centimeters taller, while Gu Bai was fully equipped, his face wrapped up tightly, leaving only his forehead and the uncovered bridge of his nose exposed.

With such comprehensive sun protection, his face showed no signs of sunburn, his complexion as fair as ever.

Gu Bai's face was almost excessively small. His sunglasses nearly covered its entire upper half.

If I put my hand over his face, it would probably cover the whole thing.

Chu Zeshen instinctively raised his hand, but Gu Bai sat down the next second. "Keep it on."

His newly raised hand hung awkwardly in midair before Chu Zeshen moved it to grip the fishing rod instead.

Gu Bai had no idea what Chu Zeshen wanted to do. All he knew was that when he looked out at the water, the float had already sunk completely beneath the surface.

"Reel it in."

By the time Chu Zeshen reeled it in, it was too late. The prey had eaten the bait and escaped.

Gu Bai helped Chu Zeshen bait the hook. "You need to concentrate when you fish, or all the fish will get away."

Once the bait was in place, Chu Zeshen cast the line for another round.

"When did you get into sea fishing?" Chu Zeshen asked.

Gu Bai continued leaning back leisurely. "Not that long ago. I watched some videos before and thought it looked interesting. That trip a little while ago was my first time actually trying it out at sea."

Chu Zeshen smiled. "Looks like you have quite a talent for fishing."

Gu Bai narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses. "Having fun is all I have a talent for."

Chu Zeshen had noticed this long ago. Rather than having a talent for having fun, it was more that Gu Bai excelled at the things that interested him. Gaming, fishing, and so on were all things Gu Bai was interested in, and he did them exceptionally well.

When something interested Gu Bai, he showed it, letting everyone see. If something didn't interest him, he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't even try.

That wasn't to say this was bad, only that he already had a clear idea of what he wanted.

One fish had escaped, but within a few minutes, another took the bait, proving the saying that fishing beginners had a buff.

Mocha grew excited again. He was the busiest of them all.

Hearing the commotion Mocha was making, the others came over with their gear to join in the fun.

Xie Wen still hadn't caught a single fish, and most of his earlier enthusiasm had already worn off.

"Oh, you've got another one? Not bad. What luck."

The envy in his words was practically spilling over. Chu Zeshen caught it and glanced at him. "My junior taught me well."

Xie Wen: ...

"Gu Bai, teach me too. I'm not greedy. Just one. I'll be happy with one."

Gu Bai said, "I haven't even started teaching him yet. He just has an innate beginner's buff."

Xie Wen pursed his lips. "How come I don't have a beginner's buff?"

The others could only look on with envy. They weren't close to Gu Bai and felt awkward disturbing him. The people who socialized with Chu Zeshen all came from prominent families, far beyond the likes of their newly established businesses.

Chu Hanjin lightly patted Song Xiuling. "Let's go back and keep fishing. The captain said you have to take your time with things like this."

Song Xiuling's gaze swept over Gu Bai and Chu Zeshen. "Did those two graduate from the same university?"

Chu Hanjin nodded. "Yes. Gu Bai and my cousin both graduated from B University."

The others couldn't help looking shocked. "B University! Were they both in the Finance Department?"

Since they were all Song Xiuling's friends, Chu Hanjin patiently explained, "Gu Bai was in the Literature Department, and my cousin was in the Finance Department. But they weren't in the same graduating class. They were seven years apart."

Song Xiuling had known Gu Bai was young, but he hadn't expected him to be this young. He had only graduated from university this year.

Chu Hanjin urged them along with a smile. "All right, let's go over there."

For some reason, neither Gu Jiazi and Gu Ruilin nor Chu Ningwei and Chu Hanjin had mentioned Gu Bai's identity. Perhaps it was because attaching the Gu Family and Chu Family names to Gu Bai would attract attention, and they didn't want more eyes on him.

For the former pair, if Gu Bai became well known, securing the Gu Family inheritance would become that much harder. For the latter pair, if Gu Bai established a firm position, their own standing in the Chu Family would become precarious.

It was just fine to let Gu Bai carry on as an idle young master who left everything to others.

Some of the group gave up on sea fishing altogether, putting down their rods and heading inside to find other entertainment.

Xie Wen shamelessly intruded on Chu Zeshen and Gu Bai's time alone, teaming up with Mocha.

Finally, after enduring the test of time, he caught the first fish of his life half an hour later.

Xie Wen happily showed off to Mocha. "Mocha, I'll cook fish for you tonight."

The owner of a great stockpile of sea fish ignored him, silently lying beside the fish box, which was half full of fish.

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