Chapter 339 - 341: Unexpected Intimacy
「Shili Gou, by the river pond.」
Perhaps Jiang Xia’s silent prayers were actually working. He watched An Ning struggle, the fishing rod bending to its absolute limit. It looked like it would snap at any second.
But in the next instant, An Ning gave a sudden, forceful heave. The rod shot up, and she dragged a huge carp, about a meter long, out of the water.
"Hahahahaha! It’s huge!"
"Quick, my bucket!"
An Ning’s excitement was written all over her face. Jiang Xia, reacting with lightning speed, brought over the bucket and helped her unhook the big fish.
The fish was very much alive, its body thrashing constantly, which made it a bit difficult for Jiang Xia to hold onto.
"I’ll do it!"
An Ning tossed her rod aside and opened her arms to grab the fish.
Just then, the fish gave a mighty flick of its tail. SLAP! Jiang Xia’s face was covered in slimy water, and he couldn’t even open his eyes.
At that same moment, the big fish escaped Jiang Xia’s grasp, fell onto the grass, and struggled for its life.
An Ning instinctively squatted down to grab the fish. Not wanting her to lose, Jiang Xia, with his eyes shut and vision blurred, lunged forward with all his might.
"AH—"
"Are you okay?"
Their heads bumped together. Carried by the momentum, Jiang Xia’s slimy face collided with An Ning’s lips.
And so, with the help of a fish, their first intimate contact was complete.
Unfortunately, neither of them felt a thing.
Jiang Xia worriedly tried to help An Ning up, but An Ning was solely focused on catching that big fish.
When Jiang Xia wiped the slime off his face with his sleeve and opened his eyes, he saw An Ning with the big fish held firmly under one arm, her other hand stroking its belly.
"Alright, now, stop struggling. I’m going to let you go."
An Ning stood up, carrying the fish to the riverbank. She said to it, "Remember to swim far away. Being so plump just makes people want to eat you."
As she spoke, An Ning released the fish into the water. The moment it hit the water, it swam away with all its might, as if ruing it couldn’t swim even faster.
An Ning watched the big fish swim away, ready to concede the competition.
"Holy crap— It’s over."
Jiang Xia’s cry of "It’s over" made An Ning spin around, only to see that the bucket full of small fish had been knocked over.
Judging by the way Jiang Xia was sitting on the ground, he must have tripped over it himself.
The turn of events was so sudden that An Ning had to look several times to be sure.
’Are the heavens helping me?’
She walked over to Jiang Xia and checked the bucket. It was spotless, not a single fish left.
"How did you manage to fall? Not one fish is left?"
"I’d like to know that myself."
Jiang Xia got to his feet, holding up his hands in disgust. "Look at all this mud on my hands! This is your fault. If it wasn’t for your big fish, would I have had to close my eyes? If it wasn’t for your fish, would I have fallen? And if I hadn’t fallen, would my fish have gotten away?"
"By that logic, you could say the Earth revolving around the sun has something to do with you too."
"I don’t care! You don’t have any fish, and I don’t have any fish. It’s a draw!"
An Ning said with feigned reluctance, "Alright, a draw it is."
She gave a mischievous little smile, completely ignoring Jiang Xia’s grumbling behind her.
One walked ahead, full of cheer, while the other trailed behind, muttering nonstop.
From a short distance away, Hua Cheng looked at the clueless An Guoping and said, "I’m so full."
"What did you eat, bro?"
Hua Cheng met An Guoping’s clear, innocent eyes and said with mock mystery, "You wouldn’t understand. You’re still too young."
"Guys my age are already fathers."
An Guoping’s retort sent Hua Cheng off on a gossipy tangent, pestering him for a good while about who had become a father and which families were fighting.
In a boring life where he couldn’t flirt with girls, a man had to find some other pillar of support.
Meanwhile, An Ning and Jiang Xia, both reeking of fish, were looking at each other with mutual disgust.
Standing more than a meter apart, they said in unison, "A draw. Let’s go home."
Jiang Xia’s gaze met An Ning’s, then fixed on the corner of her mouth.
"Why is your mouth bleeding?"
"Huh?"
An Ning wiped the back of her hand across her mouth. There was indeed a tiny bit of blood. "It’s nothing," she said, unconcerned.
Across from her, the scene of their earlier collision flashed through Jiang Xia’s mind.
’It seemed like... it felt like... Did An Ning kiss my face?’
The moment that thought arose, Jiang Xia’s heart felt like it was on fire. A wave of heat rushed through him, and his face instantly turned bright red, the blush spreading to his neck and ears.
"Why is your face so red? And your neck too! What’s wrong?"
An Ning stepped forward, a little worried, and reached out with the back of her hand to feel Jiang Xia’s forehead.
Jiang Xia stumbled back two steps, stammering for the first time in his life.
"I-I’m... I’m fine. It’s... it’s... an allergic reaction."
An Ning asked, her eyes full of doubt, "An allergic reaction to what?"
"I don’t know. Probably from being slapped by the fish."
An allergic reaction... from a fish slap?
That was a new allergen for An Ning.
"My face feels weird. I’m heading back first."
And with that, Jiang Xia ran off.
Watching his retreating back, which looked for all the world like he was fleeing in a panic, An Ning muttered, "Is it that serious?"
She packed up the bucket and fishing rod, then asked Hua Cheng and An Guoping if they were staying. They said they wanted to fish a while longer, so she took the gear and headed back first.
Thanks to Jiang Xia’s fishing plan, An Ning had spent the entire morning without a moment to feel sentimental or nostalgic.
By the time she got home, it was already noon, and the workers had returned for lunch.
After lunch, An Ning first returned the fishing rod and bucket next door, planning to ask about Jiang Xia’s "allergic reaction" at the same time.
But when she went over, Jiang Xia wasn’t home. Master Tang said he had gone up the mountain to work.
However, Master Tang, who was quite the gossip, casually asked An Ning what had happened that morning.
An Ning didn’t hide anything and gave Master Tang a simple rundown of the events.
As a single man in his forties, Master Tang had a grin on his face that clearly showed he was enjoying the drama. It made An Ning feel so uncomfortable that she quickly excused herself from the Jiang family’s kitchen.
"Master Tang, I kind of miss the cold, aloof version of you from the train."
"That’s all in the past. We must all look to the future."
Master Tang’s words made An Ning shake her head with a laugh before she headed home.
Back home, An Ning first spent some time reading books and newspapers.
She had been away for a while, and there were many newspapers and magazines sent by Director Zhao that she hadn’t looked at yet.
In the afternoon, An Ning was home alone.
Lin Cuihua had taken Hei Dan’er out for a stroll, and her sister-in-law had gone to work at the breeding farm.
Only Xiao Lang was left by An Ning’s side.
He was an expert at finding the best spots, having chosen a sunny patch on the heated brick bed to laze around and sunbathe.
His comfortable little appearance made An Ning think that taking an afternoon nap would be a wonderful idea.
"I suspect you only followed me down the mountain because you couldn’t stand the conditions up there."
"You’re living such a pampered life."
Xiao Lang’s life—eating until full, then sleeping; waking up to play; playing until tired, then eating again; and after eating, sleeping once more—was one that even An Ning felt a little envious of.
"CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK— CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK—"
The big rooster in the yard suddenly started crowing. An Ning looked up and saw a stranger.
She quickly got up and went outside. A man dressed in tattered, patched clothes, with hair that looked like it hadn’t been washed in years, had entered the yard holding a rice bowl and was currently in a standoff with the rooster.
"Who are you looking for?"