Chapter 205 - 92: Catching Some Frogs
On the second day of the holiday, it happened to be 5.21.
In the 21st century, because it sounds like "I love you" in Chinese, this date became a "second Valentine's Day" for couples to exchange gifts and enhance their relationships.
But for Chen Zhou on the isolated island, on 5.21, there wouldn't be anyone saying they love him, let alone gifts.
If you dig deeper, the situation might be worse; not only is there no affection, there's also a group of creatures that hate him to the core—fish.
...
A seasoned fisherman often doesn't fish for the sake of fish, but to enjoy the process of fishing.
Of course, it might also be because the fisherman can't catch big fish, and it's embarrassing to bring home small fish, so he uses this reason to comfort himself.
Compared to veteran fishermen, Chen Zhou barely counts as a "rookie."
He's only in his twenties, nowhere near developing the leisurely mindset of someone in their fifties or sixties nearing retirement.
His goal in fishing is clear: to catch big and catch many.
From the first attempt at fishing, after much effort catching a big fish, he accidentally let it escape, and it even slapped him in the face with its fin. Since then, he's harbored a resolve—one day he must seek revenge and restore his dignity.
Regrettably, even though he later improved his fishing rod, installed a float and a reeling device, and prepared a landing net, after many trips to fish at the small lake, he never again saw a fish as large. Even smaller fish were scarce.
In such a resource-rich paradise as Air Force Island, it would be embarrassing to tell others his skills weren't up to par.
For this, Chen Zhou could only blame the lack of catches on too short fishing times, too many distractions, and being unable to settle down.
Or like the bros on Tieba, he gives reasonable explanations from the perspectives of fishing spot environment, bait, weather, air pressure, and even mysticism.
In any case, it's not his own lack of skill.
...
On the morning of the 21st, after breakfast, he took care of the household's "Divine Beasts."
Fully equipped, with all kinds of tools and Lai Fu, he headed straight for the small lake.
After digging up a big box of worm bait, Chen Zhou's fishing journey began.
After passing the so-called newbie protection period, he felt that successfully catching fish was becoming increasingly difficult.
Especially when sitting in place, waiting for more than ten minutes without a bite, he felt anxious and helpless, leading to all sorts of doubts—as if his posture and fishing actions could influence whether fish would bite.
After a morning of effort, to say he gained nothing would be unfair, but what he caught wasn't any impressive big fish; they were all finger-length small fries.
This type of small fish is fierce in nature, always the first to bite the wiggling bait; nothing could beat their swiftness.
Upon catching them, they looked quite beautiful, with fine scales all over their bodies shimmering in the sunlight in a kaleidoscope of colors. If sold as ornamental fish now, their price surely wouldn't be low.
But unfortunately, Chen Zhou wanted not good-looking ones, but tasty ones.
He'd already kept enough pets.
Just yesterday, he added eight new mouths at home. Once they grow up, just feeding one dog, two cats, chinchillas, and mice would require considerable effort and resources. Before solving these many problems, he didn't want to bring back new animals, not even relatively easy-going fish.
Presently, the poison tester at home was already prepared. For a whole day of fishing, he must catch a decent fish to feed the young mice, to first test for toxicity.
For this kind of small fish, catching seventy or eighty might fill a plate, but there's no need to test them for poison.
...
By noon, around two or three in the afternoon, the sun grew fiercer, and even a brimmed hat couldn't shield him from the scorching sunlight.
Watching the float sway with the water's movement under the shimmering light, Chen Zhou propped his chin with one hand, gripping the fishing rod with the other, sitting at the edge of the tree's shade.
The environment was warm.
Listening to the sound of insects and rustling leaves, baked by the heat, he nearly fell asleep.
Lai Fu coaxed him several times to play, but he waved him off each time, resolutely waiting there for the fish to bite.
Actually, he wasn't entirely without good luck during his lengthy fishing session.
For instance, half an hour ago, he thankfully encountered a school of fish, catching five small fish in succession, only for Lai Fu to suddenly jump into the lake for a bath, wrecking his good fortune.
Consequently, Lai Fu inevitably caught a reprimand.
This guy knew he'd misbehaved and ran upstream to catch frogs.
From afar, only the sound of frogs and dog barks could be heard, occasionally followed by its frustrated, angry barks when failing to catch the frogs, and the splash sound of it leaping into the water, reminding Chen Zhou—it was still around.
Chen Zhou felt Lai Fu must bear some responsibility for not catching fish.
He didn't know how good fish hearing was, but figured with a giant creature causing such havoc nearby, except for fish with intelligence issues, any normal fish wouldn't be in the mood to bite the hook.
...
Having endured the hottest part of the day, by around four in the afternoon, a few clouds suddenly rolled in, shielding the sun and slightly dropping the temperature.
Lai Fu, having had enough play, lay exhausted with its fur and water plants soaked behind Chen Zhou, closing its eyes to wait for the sun to dry it.
With about an hour and a half gone without catching a fish, Chen Zhou was prepared to leave empty-handed. He found a patch of soft soil by the lake, planted the fishing rod there, allowing the fish to decide for themselves whether to bite, and went off to the side to make a meal.
Since acquiring a lighter, he always carried both a fire striker and a lighter for starting fires.
According to his plan, when the environment was dry and starting a fire was easy, he would use the fire striker.
If he encountered damp weather or needed a fire quickly, he used the lighter.
In actual use, the convenience and fire-starting speed of the lighter completely outperformed the fire striker.