Chapter 3: Want to Go Fishing

"Big brother, what is this?"

Xiao Yan had been watching Lu Qing work obediently from the side. Once he finished making the fishing rod, she couldn't help but ask curiously.

"This is called a fishing rod. It's for catching fish. Whether we have anything to eat today depends entirely on it."

Lu Qing waved the bamboo pole, testing the feel, and felt quite satisfied.

In his past life, he was an avid fishing enthusiast. Whenever the mood struck him, he enjoyed crafting his own small rods to play with.

He never expected this skill to come in handy here.

The little girl's eyes lit up instantly: "Big brother knows how to catch fish?"

"It's hard to say if we'll catch anything yet. Let's try it out first. If we really catch a fish, we'll have fish soup to drink."

"Fish soup..." Upon hearing those two words, Xiao Yan was already lost in fantasy, and drool couldn't help but leak from the corner of her mouth.

"Big brother, let's go fishing quickly!"

The little one was already impatient.

The last time she ate fish was a long, long time ago, during the New Year, when Father bought a big fish from the market.

In her memory, fish was delicious, so very delicious.

"Don't be so anxious; we still need to prepare some bait."

Bait wasn't hard to find. Lu Qing went to a cool, fertile patch of soil in the corner of the courtyard, and after two digs with a shovel, he found the bait he needed.

[Red Earthworm: A great helper for loosening soil, seems to also have medicinal uses.]

Ignoring the information floating above the earthworm, Lu Qing placed it into a bamboo tube.

He wasn't digging these up to use as medicine; he didn't know anything about medical arts.

After sealing the bamboo tube, leaving only a small air hole, he shouldered the fishing rod and picked up an old wooden bucket. The siblings then marched out, full of spirit.

Just as they left the small courtyard and hadn't gone far into the village, they were stopped by a woman.

"Lu Qing, your illness is better? You can walk?"

The woman was carrying a basin of clothes, clearly having just returned from washing them.

Her tone was filled with astonishment.

Wasn't it said that the Lu boy was critically ill and barely had any breath left? Even Old Doctor Chen had seen him and said it was up to fate.

How could he be up and about, able to go out, after only one day?

Just last night, the villagers were discussing when to go and collect his body.

"Yes, Auntie Wang. I don't know how, but after sleeping for two days, my illness slowly improved. I was able to get up this morning."

Lu Qing replied in the tone the original owner used to have.

Fortunately, the original owner had a somewhat quiet and gloomy personality, which wasn't hard to imitate.

"Big brother drank Grandpa Chen's medicine and his illness got better all of a sudden!" Xiao Yan interjected from the side.

Auntie Wang didn't have the heart to notice any changes in Lu Qing's personality. Seeing that he really seemed better, she also revealed a smile.

She said repeatedly, "It's good that you're better, it's good that you're better."

At the same time, she felt a weight lift from her heart.

Over the past two days, several elders in the village had visited Lu Qing and later said he likely wouldn't make it through this ordeal.

Everyone had been discussing what would happen to Lu Xiao Yan if the Lu boy really passed away.

The elders' opinion was that a family in the village should adopt Xiao Yan, and the others would chip in some money as her living expenses.

As luck would have it, her own husband had come back saying he wanted to adopt Xiao Yan, claiming that when they were all fleeing from famine, the elder Mr. Lu had done him a favor, and he couldn't watch his last bloodline go uncared for.

Auntie Wang naturally wasn't happy about having an extra burden for no reason.

But she didn't dare to openly contradict her husband, so she could only pray that Lu Qing would pull through.

Now that she saw Lu Qing was indeed better, she was sincerely happy.

Thinking of this, Auntie Wang said earnestly to Lu Qing, "Lu Qing, you must take good care of your health from now on. Xiao Yan only has you as a relative to rely on now. If you were gone, what would she do, all alone in this world?"

Lu Qing was a bit surprised.

In the original owner's memories, this Auntie Wang didn't seem like such a warm-hearted person.

However, he still replied politely, "I know, thank you for your concern, Auntie Wang. I will take good care of Xiao Yan."

"Mm, that's a good boy." Auntie Wang was satisfied.

As long as Lu Qing was still around, her husband wouldn't get the idea to adopt Xiao Yan, and she wouldn't have to worry anymore.

Once her mood improved, Auntie Wang noticed what the siblings were holding.

"You're carrying a wooden bucket and a bamboo pole; what are you going to do?"

"Auntie Wang, Big brother and I are going to catch fish!" Xiao Yan said happily.

"Catch fish?" Auntie Wang asked, puzzled.

With just a bamboo pole and a broken wooden bucket, what kind of fish could they catch?

She thought of the Lu family's current situation and suddenly realized.

Could it be that these two siblings were so hungry they wanted to go down to the river to catch fish to eat?

Auntie Wang quickly said, "You're hungry, aren't you? Come, come home with me. I have some food at my place. Lu Qing, your body has only just recovered, why go down to the river? Don't catch a cold and get sick again."

"Don't worry, Auntie Wang. We won't go into the river; we'll just try to see if we can catch fish from the bank," Lu Qing refused with a smile.

Getting a free meal would be nice, but the two of them couldn't rely on the villagers' charity forever.

If they did, even the deepest goodwill would eventually be exhausted.

"Fishing? You know how to do that, Lu Qing?" Auntie Wang was surprised.

She naturally knew what fishing was, but no one in the village was skilled at it. Lu Qing actually knew how?

"I only know a little bit. I heard my father talk about it before, so I wanted to try," Lu Qing replied.

Auntie Wang then remembered that Lu Qing's father was literate and often traveled outside; his knowledge was far greater than theirs.

Perhaps he knew some special method.

However, Auntie Wang was still worried: "There's no rush for this. Your body has only just recovered, you should rest more. Is fish really that easy to catch? Don't end up catching a cold from the river breeze before you even catch a fish."

If Lu Qing fell ill again, it was hard to say if his frail body could survive another round.

Lu Qing heard the concern in her tone and felt moved.

"Don't worry, Auntie Wang. I'll be careful and definitely won't push myself."

Auntie Wang tried to persuade him a bit more, but seeing she couldn't stop him, she could only say, "Then you must promise Auntie Wang that you won't go into the river."

"Alright, we definitely won't go into the river. Goodbye, Auntie Wang."

Auntie Wang watched the two siblings walk toward the edge of the village, and suddenly she had a realization.

"Right, I need to hurry and tell that stubborn man at home that the Lu boy is alive, so he can give up the idea of adopting the little girl."

Auntie Wang hurried home, while Lu Qing and his sister, as they walked out, ran into several other villagers.

Every villager who saw Lu Qing expressed shock and asked how his illness had been cured.

Whenever this happened, Xiao Yan would happily tell them that her big brother got better after drinking Grandpa Chen's medicine.

This made the crowd, in addition to being surprised, feel even more respect for Old Doctor Chen.

The old doctor's medical skills were becoming increasingly superb; he could even save someone like Lu Qing, who had been on his last breath. It was truly amazing.

After their exclamations, everyone felt happy for the Lu family. After all, since Lu Qing didn't die, the Lu family's bloodline was preserved.

Upon learning that Lu Qing was going to the river to catch fish, they all advised him that since he had just recovered from a serious illness, he shouldn't touch cold water.

It wasn't until Lu Qing promised repeatedly that he wouldn't go into the river that they stopped trying to dissuade him.

Moreover, once they heard Lu Qing was going fishing, they lost interest.

Fishing? Everyone knew what that was.

Some villagers had even tried fishing themselves.

After all, river fish were plump and delicious, and they were ownerless property—who wouldn't covet them?

But everyone who had tried eventually gave up.

Because in their eyes, fishing was just too difficult.

Often, one could wait for half a day and only catch one or two small fish.

Even if they occasionally caught a bigger fish, it wasn't worth it.

Who didn't have a pile of farm work to do? To waste so much time for just one or two fish—how were they supposed to live?

It was only because Lu Qing's family fields were abandoned, he had no farm work to do, and he had no food left, that he would think of catching a couple of fish to stave off hunger.

Knowing Lu Qing's intentions, everyone stopped blocking him and, after a few words of advice, dispersed.

On the contrary, several older children, upon hearing Lu Qing's words, became very interested.

They followed behind them toward the river, wanting to see exactly how he would fish.