37: Continue tonight?

In Xiushui Village, the sun rose, quickly dispelling the trace of chill from the night.

Wisps of cooking smoke drifted from the chimney of a house. Anyone who had lived in the countryside could tell at a glance that breakfast had just been prepared.

The people from the Program Production Crew stood in line holding steamed buns and bowls of porridge, either squatting or standing. Every face bore a hint of drowsiness.

"Did you smell that last night?"

"You smelled it too? I thought I was just so hungry I was hallucinating last night."

"Tell me about it. I smelled it in my sleep, and after I woke up, I couldn't get back to sleep until morning."

Qu Lang, Chen Cheng, and Gao Xiaofan sat at the only table. Listening to the surrounding chatter, the three of them said nothing and buried their heads in their large bowls.

Once the crowd had thinned out a bit, Chen Cheng yawned.

"Brother Xiaofan, why did you get up so early?"

Gao Xiaofan looked up and glanced at Qu Lang across from him, then said softly.

"To go fishing. Don't you want to eat? If not, I'm going back to sleep."

Chen Cheng's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and she hurriedly said.

"No, no, I still want to eat it."

Gao Xiaofan smiled and looked at Qu Lang, who was also looking over.

Qu Lang: "Ahem, anyway, you must stay safe. How about this: Cheng, you go with Xiaofan so you two can look out for each other."

Hearing this, Chen Cheng jumped up.

"Oh yeah~ Uncle Qu is the best."

Gao Xiaofan smiled and nodded. As long as Qu Lang agreed, there would be no problem. On someone else's turf, one had to consider their thoughts.

He stood up and went back into the house for another bowl of porridge; what he'd eaten last night had long since been digested.

Qu Lang watched Gao Xiaofan, who was buried in his porridge, opening his mouth to speak several times but saying nothing.

Having eaten his fill, Gao Xiaofan looked up just in time to see this. He paused for a moment, then smiled.

"Director Qu, shall we continue tonight?"

Qu Lang rubbed his chin and laughed. "Just call me Brother Lang. I'll follow your lead tonight."

Gao Xiaofan chuckled, then was immediately dragged away by Chen Cheng, who had been waiting impatiently beside him.

On the way back, Gao Xiaofan was thinking. The system hadn't given a mission in a long time; it was probably the trashiest system in history.

He spent a long time thinking about it in his mind, just so the system would know how much he, as the Host, craved a mission.

Although it was completely useless.

Gao Xiaofan returned to the house, grabbed an entrenching tool, and then went back to where the car was parked.

After some thought, he started the car and drove it directly to his front door. This way, it would be easier to get things and avoid a repeat of yesterday's situation.

He had learned about yesterday's events through Little Orange. Qu Lang had been so worried about an accident that he'd mobilized the entire Program Production Crew to find him, which led to the scene where Little Orange saw his butt.

After parking the car, Gao Xiaofan rummaged through the clutter inside, hoping to find something useful.

Catching one yesterday had caused the school of Sturgeon in the pool to vanish. To prevent this from happening again, he had to be well-prepared.

After searching for a while, Gao Xiaofan's eyes lit up. He grabbed a package, stuffed it into a box, and closed the car door.

Gao Xiaofan led Chen Cheng behind the house and followed the mountain spring water upstream.

Chen Cheng carried the entrenching tool and the Landing Net, skipping along and muttering incessantly.

Gao Xiaofan carried the live fish box, shouldered the little yellow rod, and followed slowly behind with a cigarette in his mouth.

"Wait a moment." Gao Xiaofan called out to Chen Cheng ahead, his eyes fixed on several moss-covered stone tiles on the path.

Chen Cheng jogged back and watched him curiously as he squatted on the ground.

Gao Xiaofan gently lifted a tile and looked pleased. Several fat earthworms were slowly wriggling in the soil.

He reached back with his left hand, but only felt something warm and soft.

With a face full of black lines, Gao Xiaofan turned around to see Chen Cheng blinking her big eyes and looking at him curiously, one of her hands resting on his outstretched left hand.

"...The shovel." Gao Xiaofan was on the verge of a breakdown.

"Oh, oh."

Realizing her mistake, Chen Cheng hurriedly handed over the entrenching tool.

Gao Xiaofan took the entrenching tool with an annoyed expression and dug down hard, scooping out the earthworms along with a patch of soil.

He then placed the soil on the stone tile and handed the entrenching tool back.

The two set off again, but this time the fishing rod and the entrenching tool were given to Chen Cheng, while Gao Xiaofan followed behind carrying the box containing the large clump of mud on the stone tile.

Before long, they reached the pool. Gao Xiaofan set down the stone tile and glanced at Chen Cheng, who was standing obediently nearby.

Fortunately, she wasn't being airheaded at this moment.

He leaned over to look into the pool, but there wasn't a fish in sight. Gao Xiaofan sighed.

It seemed the waters connected beneath this deep pool were quite vast; otherwise, they wouldn't have disappeared so completely.

Chen Cheng also leaned in and whispered.

"Brother Xiaofan, there aren't any fish here at all."

Gao Xiaofan chuckled and pulled a bag of red worm groundbait from the box.

Before he could speak, Chen Cheng's eyes lit up.

"Wow, Brother Xiaofan, you're so nice, you even brought snacks."

Gao Xiaofan: ???

He began to wonder if bringing Chen Cheng along was a mistake.

After patiently explaining what it was, he knelt down, opened the packaging, took out a handful, and scattered it into the pool.

After realizing it wasn't a snack, Chen Cheng pouted and squatted to the side.

"So it's snacks for the fish?"

Gao Xiaofan blinked and began to ponder the question, only later realizing he'd been confused by Little Orange again.

Still, he made an effort to organize the information he'd Baidu-ed yesterday and explained it to her.

"Sturgeon like fishy and pungent smells. We'll use this groundbait to attract them, and then we can catch them~"

Chen Cheng nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

In mountain spring water like this, the effect of this groundbait was absolutely insane. As the groundbait dissolved and atomized, the entire water became murky, and the red particles spread out in all directions.

Seeing the water lose its clarity, Gao Xiaofan sighed. He had considered that it would muddy the spring water along the way, so he only threw in a small handful.

Fortunately, it was flowing spring water. After a few hours, the water quality would return to normal.

There was no other way. The pool was connected to various places and seemed more like a usual hiding spot for the school of Sturgeon, but there was no sign of small fish; they must have gone out to feed. Now, he could only use the fishy smell of the groundbait to lure them back.

The two found a shady spot and chatted, waiting quietly. Gao Xiaofan felt that this kind of life was actually quite nice.

Every so often, Chen Cheng would tiptoe to the edge of the pool and peek down to see if there were any fish, but she returned disappointed every time.

"Brother Xiaofan, are you teasing me? There are no fish here at all." Chen Cheng pouted.

"It takes at least half an hour for the bait to work, and at least an hour for the particles," Gao Xiaofan said boredly, chewing on the stem of a foxtail grass.

"Then why didn't you tell me? You let me run back and forth so many times."

"If I had told you, would you have stopped looking?"

"I'd still go."

"There you go, then."

Spending time together had given him a sufficient understanding of Chen Cheng's personality.