Wanqing City, riverside.
The next day, just sober from last night, Ji Yuenian was driven by Ji Haotong to the riverside of Wanqing City.
They set up various fishing gear, ready to start fishing.
Ji Haotong skillfully hooked the bait onto the fishing hook, then deftly cast the fishing line into the water. He turned to Ji Yuenian with a smile and said, “Little brother, fishing is quite the art. As the saying goes, finance is just like fishing—the bigger the waves…”
“The more expensive the fish, right.” Ji Yuenian rolled his eyes at him and casually flicked the bait from his fishing rod into the water.
“Bro, if you’ve got something to say, just say it. I still have classes this afternoon.”
“You’ve become so self-disciplined lately? If only you’d been this serious about studying before, you wouldn’t have needed Uncle Jiang to pull strings for you when you entered high school.”
“That was a long time ago. Stop bringing it up. I’ve already turned over a new leaf and started studying properly. Those stacks of certificates in my room are proof enough.”
Hearing this, Ji Haotong’s mouth twitched slightly.
Others might not know what kind of temper Ji Yuenian had, but he did. Back in elementary and middle school, Ji Yuenian was the school bully, and since he had a decent allowance, he formed gangs, got into fights every day, basically a little demon running wild.
If he hadn’t suffered some setbacks later on, and if his mom hadn’t cut his high school allowance to a bare minimum, he’d probably be even more reckless now than back then.
This fishing trip was actually because their mother had called suspicious that Ji Yuenian might be up to something sneaky, so she sent Ji Haotong to check the situation.
At the same time, Ji Haotong was worried about his younger brother’s mental state. Their hereditary mental illness tends to peak around 18 years old, but thinking about both Ji Yuenian and their mother—both rebellious in their youth, both liking to be called “big sister” or “big brother,” both prone to violent tendencies—though not exactly the same, they were 90% alike.
Just then, Ji Yuenian’s fishing float suddenly twitched violently, jumping up and down as if it was about to be pulled completely underwater.
He instantly got excited, his eyes widening with excitement as he shouted loudly, “It’s hooked! It’s hooked! At least twenty jin!”
With that, he panicked and started reeling in frantically, gripping the rod tightly and turning the reel over and over as if afraid the fish would escape.
But in his eagerness and panic, he lost all control and composure. Suddenly, there was a “pop” sound—he had broken the fishing line by force.
The fish, still attached to half the fishing line, splashed lightly on the surface before quickly disappearing into the river.
Ji Haotong watched the dramatic scene, first stunned, then couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Little brother, you’re way too impatient. That’s not how you fish. You have to stay calm.”
He stepped forward, gently patted Ji Yuenian’s shoulder as if not wanting to discourage him, and comforted him, “Take it slow. Don’t rush. When I first went fishing with Dad, I wasn’t much better than you.”
Ji Yuenian sat down sullenly holding the broken fishing rod, took the new fishing line handed to him, reassembled it, and cast again.
“Bro, you still have time to fish with Dad? Don’t you always complain that Dad’s a workaholic?”
“Those are client meetings. You know, this world is all about relationships and connections. I don’t know if I’m capable or not, but I’m good at handling relationships.”
“Hmm.” Ji Yuenian nodded, then suddenly looked up at Ji Haotong. “Big brother, what do you think about love?”
Right after asking, his lips suddenly felt a warm phantom sensation, as if something had just touched them.
The young man instinctively touched his lips.
“Love?”
Ji Haotong was momentarily stunned, then laughed and scolded, “How old are you, thinking about love already? Wait until you’re a real man.”
He reached out and patted Ji Yuenian’s shoulder again. “And what about your girlfriend? You’ve been dating for so long—you should at least bring her home to meet everyone.”
“Mom’s been itching to compare your little girlfriend with the one from the Jiang family. She says whichever daughter-in-law it is, she won’t be any weaker.”
“She’s shy. Maybe later…” Ji Yuenian scratched his nose shyly, ears slightly flushed. “Ahem, back to the question—what do you think is the essence of love?”
“For me, love is like fishing. Both parties are both the fisher and the fish, tugging each other in marriage until one is exhausted.”
Ji Haotong’s eyes darkened, his tone lingering. “Of course, I’m not married yet, so I’m not sure if that’s really how love is.”
“I think love is more about growing feelings over time, but there was this pretty boy who said love’s essence is tolerance. I think that’s nonsense.” Ji Yuenian interrupted.
“Hahaha, a thousand people, a thousand Hamlets. That’s normal.”
“By the way, little brother, why are you asking this?”
Just joking around.
Ji Yuenian dodged the question. Of course, he wouldn’t say that his life had been a bit confusing lately because of Jiang Chi, especially with their meeting tomorrow making him a little nervous.
Time quickly passed to dusk. The sunset’s afterglow dyed the entire river surface in shades of orange and red—breathtakingly beautiful.
Along the riverside, many couples and spouses strolled hand in hand, leisurely enjoying the moment.
Down by the riverbank, Ji Yuenian casually stuck his fishing rod in the ground, sitting very relaxed with his legs crossed, scrolling through some ridiculously funny videos.
Next to him, Ji Haotong was completely absorbed, as if enchanted, turning into a bait master, going through bag after bag of fish feed at his feet.
After scrolling on his phone for a while, Ji Yuenian stood up to stretch.
Just as he casually turned his head, he suddenly noticed a pair of pedestrians on the riverbank walking at a steady pace—one of the figures vaguely resembled Luo Yikang.
On the riverbank.
A slightly thin and tall “boy” quietly stood beside Luo Yikang. He slowly reached out and ruffled Luo Yikang’s hair, who was noticeably shorter, with a complex, indescribable emotion in his voice.
“Two years no see, you’ve grown so tall.”
“You too. Two years no see, didn’t expect you…”
Luo Yikang’s voice was a bit uncertain, especially when his eyes accidentally glanced at the two conspicuous mounds on the other’s chest, making him even more uneasy.
“Uh… quite a change.”
“Mm.” Liu Yao gently nodded, smoothing back the short hair hanging beside his ear. He smiled and said, “I’ve become a lot more handsome. After all, girls nowadays like guys like me—those creamy pretty boys.”
“Ha ha.” Luo Yikang laughed dryly a few times, then changed the subject. “A Yao, how have you been these two years since starting high school?”
“Had a minor surgery first, then slowly went back to studying. Don’t worry, it’s not a big deal.”
The two then walked slowly along the riverbank for a while longer, before Luo Yikang hurried off, citing evening study sessions as his reason.
Liu Yao quietly watched Luo Yikang’s receding figure, the faint smile on his face gradually turning into a burning love.
He slowly raised the hand that had just ruffled Luo Yikang’s hair, brought it gently to his nose, inhaled softly, and a trace of obsession flickered in his eyes as he whispered, “Still the same familiar scent.”
“I really like him so much!!”