Chapter 37: World Two – 7 Part 2

Shao Qing’s motion to loosen the line paused, quickly turning into reeling. Following Jing Ke’s instructions, she reeled the line in swiftly, finally giving a strong pull that yanked the fish out of the water.

Seeing Shao Qing land a big fish, Yu Hongjun, who had only just caught her first, secured her rod in the holder and got up to come over and watch.

“So big! This Sea Bass must be three jin! Little Shao, you really have a knack for fishing! It’s barely been half an hour, and you’ve already caught three fish,” Yu Hongjun praised.

“Maybe I’m still in the beginner’s grace period. Lots of people have great luck when they first start fishing,” Shao Qing smiled, quickly removing the fishhook and placing this, her largest catch so far, into the water tank. “It’s a pity the production team only lets us take the smallest of five fish.” Yu Hongjun couldn’t help but sigh, seeing the still-vibrant Sea Bass.

“Sister Hong, the production team didn’t specify we can’t trade items, did they?” Shao Qing suddenly asked.

Yu Hongjun thought back. “It seems not. When announcing the rules, the director even specifically emphasized that he only looks at the final results.”

After speaking, Yu Hongjun quickly caught on, raising an eyebrow at Shao Qing. “Little Shao, you mean…?”

“Anyway, the director said he only looks at the final results. When the time comes, I’ll give out the four biggest fish from my tank, and the one left will be the fruit of our labor, right?”

A hint of slyness flashed in Shao Qing’s eyes. The production team was already playing tricks by splitting hairs over wood and fish quantities; it wouldn’t be excessive at all for them to reciprocate a little, would it? They were just fully utilizing the rules!

“That’s right, you didn’t misremember, Little Shao.” Yu Hongjun smiled too. “Then let’s work hard, try to catch plenty of fish, and bring back a big one!”

The logic behind exploiting the loophole was simple: through gifting and trading, change the original rule of “choosing the smallest one from a single person’s tank” to “selecting the fifth largest fish from a combined two-person tank.”

Of course, it was also fine if they caught a lot of small fish. After all, the supply point said three fish for one clue—it didn’t specify big or small fish.

After catching that decent-sized Sea Bass, Shao Qing’s luck seemed to get better and better. She got a bite roughly every five or six minutes, all fish over two jin.

This allowed Shao Qing to fill her fish tank at an extremely fast pace. Seeing her tank about to overflow, Yu Hongjun even contributed her own tank.

[‘Wait, is Shao Qing really in a beginner’s grace period? This is ridiculous! This is sea fishing, not a fish farm!’ ‘Drop the location! The Fishing Enthusiasts are coming!’]

[‘Did the production team get bribed? First giving Shao Qing credit for the rescue, and now giving her special bait? Did they add attractants?’ ‘Come on, everyone’s bait is the same. The production team gave out pre-mixed bait.’]

“Did you do something?” Seeing the fish nearly spilling from the tank, a trace of doubt rose in Shao Qing’s heart. She had fished before; her luck wasn’t usually this good, was it?

If a school of fish was just passing by, Teacher Yu was fishing less than ten meters away; her catch rate should also have increased.

[No. It’s just that some of your Fortune has returned.] Jing Ke quickly provided an answer, also explaining the cause and effect.

[Xu Yin is currently chopping wood, trying to repay the favor of your tidal warning with a supply point clue. He originally thought chopping one tree would be enough. After he repaid the favor, the audience wouldn’t focus so much on your matter.]

[But the production team had a trick up their sleeve. Xu Yin’s progress is only at eight pieces of wood. So every time the camera cuts to Xu Yin, the audience thinks about how you helped Liu Chang’s trio pre-dawn. Quite a few neutral viewers have slightly changed their opinion of you because of this.]

Shao Qing’s eyes darkened. Just some of her Fortune returning, and she could catch fish this fast? Then what if her Fortune had never been lost? Would she be standing on a much higher, much further stage now, instead of wasting three years like this?

Reason told Shao Qing that Jing Ke was on her side now. She still had many uses for her, and it was best to maintain a good relationship; that was most beneficial for herself. But the saying held true: Shao Qing was a Human with emotions and desires. She couldn’t stop herself from resenting Jing Ke, just lightly forgiving her actions and pretending nothing had happened.

“Why? Why did you choose Xu Yin back then, and help him steal my Fortune?” Shao Qing couldn’t hold back, blurting out the question that had been bothering her and making her uncomfortable.

[I’m very sorry, but it wasn’t something I could control.]

“Not something you could control? You’re not about to tell me you were controlled by Xu Yin back then, are you?” Shao Qing asked, a guess forming in her mind. If Jing Ke really was a Ghost raised by Xu Yin, then having leverage held over her, forcing her obedience, wasn’t impossible.

[The principle is complicated. Simply put, cooperating with him and stealing your Fortune were not my original intentions. If I could have chosen from the start, I would not have chosen someone like him, but someone with more principles and a bottom line.]

[Like you, for example. You are the person I would choose after gaining Self-Awareness.]

Jing Ke didn’t know how to explain it to Shao Qing, so she could only give a shortened version.

To Shao Qing’s ears, this explanation actually further confirmed her suspicions might be true. It was precisely because Xu Yin had leverage over Jing Ke that she was used by him to do so many things against Shao Qing.

“Then are you still bound by him now?” This possibility made Shao Qing feel a tiny bit better.

[No. Once I gained full control over my own body, I left him at the first opportunity. He can’t do anything to me now, and I certainly won’t help him with anything.]

“Fine. I’ll tentatively trust your explanation. I hope you aren’t deceiving me and won’t turn around and stab me in the back later.” Shao Qing said.

[I won’t. The Contract we signed has specific clauses stating I cannot harm my partner.]

[Even without a contract between us, I wouldn’t hurt you.] Jing Ke added.

Shao Qing made a noncommittal sound, but her heart remained skeptical. Her total interaction with this Ghost was barely two days. If not for the fact Jing Ke could help her, Shao Qing might not have even felt the impulse to sign the contract.

—

Filling a fish tank to overflowing while sea fishing—such a feat was outrageous even for professional anglers, let alone for Shao Qing, a celebrity who had never cultivated an image in that area.

Seeing Shao Qing’s catch rate increase faster and faster, the director didn’t change the live stream feed anymore; he just had the cameraman continuously focus on Shao Qing. Over one hour, Shao Qing and Yu Hongjun’s combined screen time exceeded forty minutes.

Originally, the live stream regulars were fans of the six guests and passersby looking to kill time. But after Shao Qing started catching fish like crazy, an organic Trending Topic slowly climbed the charts.

Naturally, Shao Qing’s fans believed their idol was skilled and lucky, thus catching so many fish. But Paid Trolls and Malicious Trolls insisted Shao Qing’s bait was rigged, that it must have been laced with additives to cause such frantic fishing.

As both sides argued, the topic’s popularity soared, jumping from forty-something into the top ten, attracting more onlookers and, critically, Fishing Enthusiasts.

How deep a Fishing Enthusiast’s obsession with never returning empty-handed ran was something everyone familiar with the internet knew well. Occasionally seeing videos of a sea area teeming with fish, they would persist in asking for the exact location, then rush over with full gear to experience it themselves. Even if the location was overseas, the Fishing Enthusiast would arrive, albeit late. One way or another, they had to cast a line to satisfy the itch.

[It’s reached number eight on the trending list. Many fishing enthusiasts are asking for the specific coordinates, wanting to become your fishing buddies and exchange techniques.]

[The production team has given the approximate address but stated that to continue filming, the island has been rented by them. No unauthorized approach; the dock won’t accept docking by unknown vessels.]

“They… really like fishing,” Shao Qing said with a complicated tone. But seeing the three tanks brimming with fish, the corners of her mouth still couldn’t help but curve upwards.

She had started catching fish around 9:30 AM and fished until nearly noon. In two and a half hours, she had managed to reel in over twenty fish. Adding Yu Hongjun’s seven, the two had earned a combined take of three large fish and three small fish.

Clearly, the big fish specifically chosen by exploiting the rules were intended by Shao Qing and Yu Hongjun to be their ingredients for the day. The three remaining small fish would be used to exchange for a clue to a supply point from the production team.

Honestly, no one had expected Shao Qing to catch so many fish. The director could only watch helplessly as Shao Qing used three small fish to swap for one supply point clue.

Acquiring clues wasn’t easy, so the production team didn’t dig any more holes in the clues themselves. The clue paper had specific longitude and latitude coordinates, and even included a corresponding photo, making it easy for the guests to find.

“Sister Hong, we caught these fish together. How about we split the contents evenly when we find the supply point?” Shao Qing asked, holding the clue.

“Okay, but I won’t take any of those three fish. I only caught seven fish in total,” Yu Hongjun said, not wanting to use her seniority to take advantage of Shao Qing.

“No way, I’m still waiting to taste your cooking, Sister Hong.” Shao Qing frowned slightly but quickly devised a suitable solution. “How about this: I’ll hire you with a fish to cook for me?”

Yu Hongjun laughed upon hearing this. Seeing that Shao Qing sincerely wanted to share supplies with her, she nodded in agreement. “Alright, I’ll show you my skills later and let you taste what delicious grilled fish is like. I specifically learned from a master chef.”

“Great, then I’ll look forward to Sister Hong’s delicious grilled fish.” The smile on Shao Qing’s face deepened, once again stunning the cameraman filming her and the live stream audience.

Especially the appearance-obsessed viewers in the stream; after seeing Shao Qing’s bright, radiant smile, they instantly cast all the negative rumors surrounding her online to the back of their minds, one by one starting to howl “wife!”.