Chapter 338 - 340: Competition
Hua Cheng didn’t understand why Jiang Xia went out in the middle of the night to buy a fishing rod, nor why he’d engineered a "chance encounter" to invite An Ning fishing. He simply thought Jiang Xia was just finding creative ways to spend more time with An Ning.
As for the deeper reason, only Jiang Xia himself understood.
Even An Ning had only realized in that one instant that her Master was truly gone.
Even the tears she shed yesterday hadn’t been as painful as that single moment today.
As for Jiang Xia’s fishing trip, she thought it was a coincidence.
A coincidence engineered by Jiang Xia. And so, the fishing began.
Among the group, Hua Cheng and Jiang Xia both knew how to fish, while An Guoping and An Ning weren’t very skilled. Hua Cheng enthusiastically called An Guoping over to teach him.
Hua Cheng’s intentions were good: to give An Ning and Jiang Xia some space to themselves.
’One teaches, one learns. That ought to take some time, right?’
Just as he was starting his explanation for An Guoping, An Ning’s voice came from the side. "I’ve got it."
Hua Cheng looked at An Ning in disbelief and subconsciously blurted out, "That fast?"
"That’s normal. My sister learns everything fast. She gets it after seeing it just once."
After saying this, An Guoping pointed to a part on the fishing rod and asked, "What’s this thing for?"
Hua Cheng pulled his attention back, thinking helplessly, ’Bro, I did my best.’
He began explaining to An Guoping.
Meanwhile, An Ning and Jiang Xia had officially started fishing. But fishing is a tedious, boring process that requires a lot of waiting.
And the last thing An Ning needed was quiet waiting—the kind of quiet that lets your mind wander.
"An Ning, how about a little competition?"
"Compete over what?"
An Ning turned her head to look at Jiang Xia.
Jiang Xia pointed to his rod and said, "Fishing, of course. I might be a bit behind you in academics, but I can’t be worse than you at fishing, too, right?"
After speaking, Jiang Xia wore a smug expression and said, "Let me tell you, back in Beijing, yours truly has out-fished a whole bunch of old-timers."
An Ning was amused by Jiang Xia’s unique way of describing himself and let out a laugh.
"Impressive. I’ve clearly underestimated you."
"So tell me, what are the rules?"
Seeing An Ning take an interest, Jiang Xia felt a bit of relief and began explaining the rules of the competition.
"We have a two-hour time limit. We’ll see who catches the heavier total."
"Remember, it’s not about the number of fish, but the total weight."
After listening, An Ning nodded. "Okay, that’s fair. Do we start now?"
"Yep, we start now."
Jiang Xia held out his wrist, checked the time, and very seriously synchronized his watch with An Ning.
"9:58 AM."
"No problem. 9:58. Let’s begin."
The two of them turned their heads at the same time and peered into the river, but the water was a bit murky, so they couldn’t see anything clearly.
’I can’t just do nothing. While it wouldn’t be right to cheat with my spiritual power, I can at least put some effort into the bait,’ An Ning thought.
After setting her rod securely, she took a bucket and a small shovel, walked over to a muddy spot by the riverbank, and started digging for earthworms.
Jiang Xia, who was beside her, was also about to get up to dig for some worms when his bobber moved.
"Whoa, whoa—a bite!"
"HAHAHA! When your luck is in, nothing can stop you."
Jiang Xia reeled in his line with exaggerated movements. An Ning, who was digging for worms, looked over just in time to see Jiang Xia give a hard tug, pulling the line out of the water.
A small, palm-sized fish flapped its tail in mid-air.
Upon seeing the tiny fish, An Ning said, her voice dripping with undisguised sarcasm, "Wow, what a huge fish!"
Jiang Xia gave a haughty huff, unhooking the little fish. "At least I caught something."
Jiang Xia’s smug look spurred on the equally competitive An Ning, who dug her shovel forcefully into the mud.
The next second, An Ning had an earthworm pinched between her fingers. She walked back happily and reeled in her own line.
"Just wait until I put this fragrant feast on the hook. It’s sure to attract the biggest fish."
"Heh, I can only wish you the best of luck."
The smug Jiang Xia showed no intention of going easy on An Ning, which left Hua Cheng, who was watching them intently, feeling confused.
’Is this some new way of chasing girls? Have I fallen behind the times?’
"Brother Hua Cheng, how do you do this part?"
An Guoping, who still hadn’t gotten the hang of it, held up his rod and asked Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng casually replied, "How have you not learned yet?"
An Guoping said very matter-of-factly, "Not everyone is my sister. You and I could never learn to be as amazing as she is."
After hearing this, Hua Cheng nodded in complete agreement. ’Makes sense. Makes perfect sense.’
The instruction continued on one side, while on the other, two normally composed and intelligent people were childishly bickering while they fished.
Hua Cheng, a veteran of the dating scene, watched for a while and began to see what was going on.
’Actually, Jiang Xia might not be completely without a chance.’
"Brother Hua Cheng, why do you keep staring at my sister?"
An Guoping stared at Hua Cheng with suspicion in his eyes, his tone turning serious.
"My sister can kill a wild boar with a single punch. And one wild boar is equal to three of you."
Hua Cheng precisely understood An Guoping’s "subtle" meaning and immediately tried to clear his name.
’I can’t afford to offend either of those two over there.’
"I know, I was just wondering which of them will win."
"Really?"
"Really! I swear to God! If I have even the slightest ulterior motive, may I never find a partner for the rest of my life."
The moment An Guoping heard Hua Cheng’s oath, his expression changed completely.
"Brother Hua Cheng, what’s this thing again?"
The lesson continued, and Hua Cheng didn’t dare to let his eyes wander anymore.
Meanwhile, the battle between Jiang Xia and An Ning was heating up.
Jiang Xia didn’t know if he was on a lucky streak or what, but fish were biting his line one after another. They weren’t big, but compared to An Ning’s record of zero catches, he was starting to feel genuinely smug.
He had always been a competitive person. It was because of this desire to compete with An Ning that the two of them started interacting more and more, slowly arriving at where they were today.
After being academically overshadowed by An Ning for so long, he finally had a chance to score a point back today.
"Oh dear, how embarrassing. I don’t even want to fish anymore, but they just insist on getting hooked."
Jiang Xia casually tossed the small fish in his hand into his bucket.
Though his words said he was done fishing, his movements as he baited the hook and cast the line were quicker than anyone’s.
This hypocritical, posturing act from Jiang Xia was genuinely starting to get on An Ning’s nerves.
’This is so weird. I’ve even caught you guys some earthworms, so why won’t you bite?’
Two hours passed by quickly.
On Jiang Xia’s side, he kept catching one after another, as if the entire school of fish was blind.
As for An Ning, it seemed the school of fish was blind there as well.
An Ning looked at the bucket next to Jiang Xia, where small fish were thrashing their tails and splashing about, then looked at her own bucket, which didn’t even have a ripple in it. She sighed in resignation.
’Defeat—’
"A bite!"
An Ning shot to her feet. The rod in her hand was bent taut.
The immense pulling force from her hands sent a jolt of ecstasy through An Ning.
’Defeat? To hell with that.’
She just loved to win.
Beside her, Jiang Xia had also stood up at some point, his heart pounding with tension.
He found himself tense, hoping and wishing it would be a big one.