I've been fishing for ten minutes, but the float hasn't moved at all.
Teacher Huang was sitting there chanting, "Cuttlefish, cuttlefish, bite the hook!" when an old fisherman on a nearby fishing boat couldn't stand it anymore and came over to pat him on the shoulder.
"Boss, you can't catch anything near the dock. If you want to go out to sea, you need to go out to the middle of the ocean."
Teacher Huang paused for a moment, glanced down at the fishing rod he had cast, then at the motionless float beside him, and then silently put the fishing rod away.
Why didn't you say so sooner?
The fisherman smiled but didn't reply.
He turned around and started the engine. The small fishing boat sputtered and turned, heading towards the middle of the sea.
The dock receded into the distance, and the houses on the shore and the laughter of the fisherwomen were carried away by the wind.
The seawater changed from light green to dark blue, the waves grew larger, and the boat rocked much more violently than before.
The guests' expressions began to turn sour.
A male actor leaned against the ship's side, gripping the railing, his face pale.
The female singer sat next to him, her eyes closed and her lips tightly pursed.
Cheng Che glanced at them and thought they were alright. With their stamina of eighty and [ Immunity to Heat and Cold ], this little bit of wind and waves was like sitting in a cradle.
The ship stopped.
The fisherman said "We're here," then helped them bait the hooks and handed them the fishing rods.
"Go fishing. This water is deep, there's plenty."
Teacher Huang cast the rod again, muttering, "This time it should work, right?"
The others also cast their fishing rods and then waited.
After waiting for twenty minutes, the float didn't move at all.
The actor lifted his rod to look at it; the bait was still there. He cast it back and sighed, "I suspect this sea is empty."
The female singer whispered to herself, "I think so too. And I'm a little seasick."
Another guest reeled in the rod and cast it out again, muttering to himself:
"Are these fish having a meeting?"
Teacher Huang turned and glanced at the fishermen on the boat, his tone very sincere:
"Master, are you sure there are fish in this area?"
The fisherman leaned against the gunwale, a cigarette dangling from his lips, and said slowly:
"Yes, but fish need to eat too. If you put such a big piece of bait on the hook, the fish won't be able to bite it."
Teacher Huang glanced down at the bait he had hung up, paused for a moment, and then began to re-hang the bait.
Cheng Che's float remained still.
He propped the fishing rod on the gunwale, leaned back in his chair, and looked out at the sea.
I was a little puzzled. My luck stat was nine points, so why was it stuck at fishing?
Just then, a very soft whistle sounded from the sea.
He looked up.
A dozen meters away, at the bow of the boat, a familiar dorsal fin sliced through the water.
A pod of dolphins.
It's the same group I saw this morning.
Cheng Che remembered the little dolphin that jumped particularly high; he recalled the sound of its tail slapping the water.
They were swimming towards us from the bow of the boat, not very fast, and occasionally one of them would leap out of the water, splashing up a small white spray.
Everyone on the ship saw it.
"Dolphins again!" the actor shouted, pointing at the sea.
Teacher Huang saw it too, put down his fishing rod, stood up and looked over there. "Are they following our boat?"
The production team was filming on a nearby boat, carrying equipment. Their expressions weren't as excited as they had been in the morning, but they were still filming.
Then, the lead dolphin swam to a spot very close to Cheng Che's boat.
It stopped, spun halfway around in the water, then slapped its tail hard, and a dark thing flew up from the water, drew an arc, and landed with a thud on the deck at Cheng Che's feet.
Everyone was stunned.
The dark thing twisted twice on the deck and sprayed out a small stream of ink.
The fisherman was the first to react, walked over to take a look, and then laughed loudly, with the straightforwardness typical of Zhoushan fishermen:
"A cuttlefish! Alive! The one that dolphin just threw up!"
There was a moment of silence on the ship. Then it exploded.
Teacher Huang rushed over, squatted down and glanced at the cuttlefish, then looked up at Cheng Che, then looked down at the cuttlefish again.
He opened his mouth twice, but no words came out.
The male actor stood up from his chair, looked at the squid, then at the dolphin, then at Cheng Che, and finally said:
Did a dolphin throw you a squid?
The female singer also came over for a look, her expression complicated. "I fished for twenty minutes and got nothing, and the dolphin just threw him up?"
Teacher Huang finally found his voice. He patted Cheng Che on the shoulder, his tone serious:
"Brother, I've really seen something today. You're the kind of guy who even makes dolphins work for him."
Needless to say, the directing team was also involved.
The assistant director stared at the monitor for a long time without saying a word, then turned to the person next to him and asked, "Did you get it on camera?"
"Got it! Got it all!"
The assistant director took a deep breath and said, "When this show airs, the comments section will go crazy."
Cheng Che squatted down, glanced at the squid still wriggling on the deck, and then at the dolphin pod that had already swum far away on the sea.
Then he thought to himself: Okay, so that's how these nine points of luck are triggered.
The other ships fared much worse.
When they returned, the fishing rods of several guests were still empty.
Some people even had their bait eaten, and they didn't catch any fish.
Someone caught a piece of seaweed, was happy for a second, and then their face fell.
Teacher Huang caught a crab, but it was too small, smaller than the palm of his hand, so he glanced at it and put it back.
When they finally returned to Zhoushan Wharf, all they had was a cuttlefish.
Cheng Che's.
The production team glanced at the empty fish buckets, then at the squid in Cheng Che's hand, paused for a moment in silence, and then the director picked up the megaphone:
"Alright. We'll have squid for dinner tonight."
Teacher Huang smiled, turned to everyone, and said, "One cuttlefish and one vegetable dish. That's what we'll have for dinner tonight."
Back in the kitchen next to the dock, Teacher Huang stood in front of the stove, wearing an apron, facing a whole squid, her expression complex.
Cheng Che stood to the side, took the squid, rinsed it clean, and then began to cut it.
With a few swift strokes, cut the meat into even strips.
Teacher Huang glanced at his knife skills, nodded, and then started heating the oil in the wok.
"There are no green beans this time," Teacher Huang suddenly said, her tone very serious. "Absolutely safe."
A few people nearby laughed.
Cheng Che smiled and handed over the sliced squid.
Teacher Huang poured the squid into the pot, and with a sizzle, white smoke rose up.
He stir-fried it a couple of times, added some scallions, ginger, and garlic, and poured in a little soy sauce. His movements weren't exactly nimble, but nothing major went wrong.
Cheng Che stood by, helping to pass the seasonings and occasionally lending a hand.
When it was ready, the plate of stir-fried squid with chives looked quite appealing. Several guests gathered around, each taking a bite with their chopsticks and chewing a couple of times.
The actor nodded. "Better than I expected."
Teacher Huang breathed a sigh of relief, turned to the camera and said, "From now on, if anyone says I can't cook, I'll make them watch this episode."
After recording " Let's Eat," Cheng Che flew off again to record " Keep Running, Youth."
Nothing out of the ordinary happened in that episode; it was a normal run and play session. Cheng Che was the fastest runner and won the name tag ripping game. There's not much else to say.
Then I went back to Capital City for classes and practice.
Sometimes he goes to grass courts, sometimes clay courts. Qin Lie helped him find a training ground in Shunyi, which is quiet and less crowded, making it suitable for practicing.
Clay and grass are completely different from hard courts; you have to readjust to the ball speed, bounce, and movement.
He practiced sliding steps on the clay court for a few days, and his knees were bruised, but he mastered the basic movements.
It's already mid-April.
On the day he joined the crew, Cheng Che appeared at the airport dragging his suitcase.
Qin Lie followed beside him, holding an itinerary in his hand.
"The filming period for ' The Realm and Old Friends ' was four months. Two months were spent filming in Hengdian, one month in Xiangshan, and the remaining month was spent filming on location in Northwest China."
Cheng Che nodded, put on his mask, and walked towards the boarding gate.