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Chapter 552: Chapter 358: Preparation before slacking off
Saturday morning.
The morning by the river dam was very quiet, without the bustle of the city, and the air carried a touch of chilliness.
Jiang Ning pushed open the gate, as the early sun rose from the east, before him lay the vast expanse of fields, instantly feeling a sense of euphoria and exhilaration.
The pale blue sky was dotted with fluffy white clouds, and on the high-voltage power lines, a few birds preened their feathers.
At the same time, the door next door swung open.
Xue Yuantong glanced at him and immediately turned her face away, puckering her lips.
Because of Jiang Ning’s tattling, she was punished by her mother last night, forced to wash his clothes late into the evening, which made her so mad that she didn’t go to Jiang Ning’s room to play video games.
Jiang Ning remained cheerful, "Is the meal ready? After we eat, let’s go fishing for fun."
Xue Yuantong couldn’t be bothered with him and turned back inside, leaving only her proud, high ponytail for Jiang Ning.
The meal had just been finished, and she actually planned to call Jiang Ning over to eat.
Jiang Ning walked into the kitchen, where the meal was already laid out on the table, fried rice with eggs, paired with fresh vegetable and meatball soup.
The meatballs floating in the bowl were not the frozen kind bought from outside but were made by Xue Yuantong from minced meat, very smooth to the taste, her cooking skills were always excellent.
Even if she had an argument with Jiang Ning, she would never intentionally make a bad meal to spite him.
Because they shared meals.
At the dining table, Jiang Ning was the one talking, "Today, my cousin is coming over to visit, and possibly another classmate, Shen Qing’e from our class."
"I plan to go fishing, I know a pretty good spot, it’s a bit off the beaten path, but I think there are fish there."
Listening to his prattle, especially about fishing, Xue Yuantong’s eyes lit up, itching to talk with Jiang Ning for days and nights non-stop, to showcase her interest.
But last night, in revenge against Jiang Ning, she secretly decided to give him the cold shoulder for the entire breakfast.
Thus, she had to forcibly suppress the urge to discuss it.
"When the time comes, I’ll ride the bicycle and take you there, and once we catch the fish, we can rush back to cook lunch."
Xue Yuantong wanted to ask, ’Can we really catch any fish?’
Fishing with hands requires the right spot, and nowadays, finding a suitable stream or ditch for fishing is quite challenging.
If the water is too deep, you can’t fish by hand; if the water is too dirty, the fish are inedible; and if you are not aware of what’s at the bottom, you might get injured.
In Xue Yuantong’s village, someone once went down into a ditch to fish and ended up cutting the soles of their feet on broken glass bottles, bleeding profusely.
And in unknown waters, there can be terrifying creatures, like water snakes or bloodsucking leeches!
The thought alone can be terrifying!
And even if the conditions are met and the water has no fish, you’d only end up ’fishing’ in vain.
Xue Yuantong was filled with doubts; she really wanted to discuss it with Jiang Ning, but she couldn’t speak up.
She felt so frustrated that she could only focus on eating the fried rice and the meatballs.
Before long, all the meatballs in the soup bowl were eaten, and she was left with only the vegetable leaves.
Xue Yuantong sneakily peered at the meatballs in his bowl.
Noticing this, Jiang Ning picked up a meatball with his chopsticks, "Want one?"
Xue Yuantong was still annoyed, "Hmph, I don’t want it."
After hearing this, Jiang Ning brought the meatball close to her mouth, saying, "Open up."
"Ugh," Xue Yuantong couldn’t resist the temptation and opened her mouth, biting into the meatball.
She chewed the meatball happily, puffing her cheeks, and only after finishing it did she realize what a foolish thing she had just done.
Xue Yuantong felt angry, ashamed, and embarrassed, a mix of emotions swirling inside her.
She had agreed not to pay attention to him, yet she couldn’t resist.
It was all Jiang Ning’s fault for tempting her.
’He offered me a meatball as an apology. Since he apologized, I’ll forgive him.’
""
Comforting herself in this way, Xue Yuantong felt righteously emboldened, and her expression finally returned to normal. With her pose put aside, she was at last able to talk to Jiang Ning in a friendly manner.
She talked at length about the key points of catching fish by hand, attempting to impress Jiang Ning with her wealth of experience, to make him marvel at her.
Jiang Ning didn’t burst her theoretical bubble.
If it had been Xue Chuchu, Jiang Ning might have believed her, after all Xue Chuchu had some skills in shrimp-catching.
As for Xue Yuantong? She would probably just cheer on Xue Chuchu while she fished.
After the meal, Jiang Ning took the initiative to take on the dishwashing.
Not long after he finished washing the dishes, he received a message from his cousin:
"Brother Ning, we’re on our way now, riding an electric bike, should be there in about ten minutes."
"Okay, I’ll meet you up at the dam," Jiang Ning replied.
Xue Yuantong was still looking for a bucket. She knew very well that finding the right spot for fishing was difficult, but she had great confidence in Jiang Ning.
As the logistics team leader, she wouldn’t hold Jiang Ning back. Everything that needed to be brought, had to be prepared thoroughly.
When she found the fishing net, it brought back memories, recalling the times in the park when she had caught nothing with the net.
So embarrassing! Looking at the fishing net, Xue Yuantong really wanted to hide it in a corner, to block out the memories of failure.
But, that was impossible; the more difficult it was, the more she strived to go upstream!
"Fishing doesn’t require a net, and I refuse to believe that’s the case for catching fish by hand." Xue Yuantong was determined to best it, resolved to regain her dignity in front of Jiang Ning.
By then, when Jiang Ning was shocked beyond words, she would take a photo of a bucket full of fish and send it to Chuchu, who was on a trip, telling her, "You can’t underestimate someone who has grown over just three days."
Jiang Ning looked at her silly smile and was speechless in his heart, thankfully she rarely made a fool of herself in front of strangers, otherwise she might have been mistaken for being seriously ill.
After discussing the fish-catching strategy with Xue Yuantong, Jiang Ning walked towards the river dam to meet his cousin.
The scenery at the river dam was nice, with scattered pedestrians on top of the dam.
From a distance, two electric bikes approached. Jiang Ning, with his exceptional vision far beyond human limits, already clearly saw them.
"Brother Ning," Jiang Junlong braked, his face full of excitement, as if liberated from a cage.
Behind him, Shen Qing’e rode a white electric bike, dressed in black sportswear, looking like she was already informed about the fishing trip.
She nodded gently in greeting, with a pretty smile on her face, but her expression was slightly unnatural; neither the reunion of old friends nor the confrontation of foes. The complexity of her feelings could only be understood by those involved.
"Let’s go to where I’m staying first to prepare some things before we set out," Jiang Ning said.
Jiang Junlong asked, "Where are we going to catch fish? Is there a place nearby?"
Jiang Ning pointed far off to the southeast.
Shen Qing’e looked in that direction, only seeing endless fields and a row of faintly visible trees at the end of her vision.
"About fifteen li away, is there enough charge in your electric bikes?" Jiang Ning asked.
Shen Qing’e: "Just fully charged."
"Then that’s settled," Jiang Ning said as he descended the river dam, leading them back to the bungalow first.
Shen Qing’e rode along the gravel-paved path, her gaze fixed on the row of bungalows. The breeze brushed past, as she smelled the scent of grass from the surrounding fields, her skin seemingly breathing along.
She had never visited where Jiang Ning lived. Previously, hearing descriptions from his aunt and others, she always thought that the place Jiang Ning rented by the river dam would be an old rural house.
It was only during their last Qingming outing when she passed by that she realized it wasn’t, and now, it was her first time visiting.
To her surprise, she discovered that the nearby environment was nice, the houses weren’t new, but they were tidy, and the surroundings were clean. In the distance, the flat ground was equipped with large green garbage bins.
Xue Yuantong waited at the door, holding two bottles of purified water.
Jiang Ning took the purified water, handing it to the two of them, and Shen Qing’e declined, "I brought water."
Cousin Jiang Junlong happily took it, not being shy about accepting a bottle of water.
Jiang Ning took them around his house, Xue Yuantong didn’t follow along.
She wasn’t familiar with the two of them, and although she could talk a lot in front of Jiang Ning, she was like a mute in front of strangers, appearing much more honest.
She stayed home, continuing to prepare things.
