Chapter 13

The old doctor quickly came out of the room after he had entered. He was holding a small box in his hand."Take this," he said, handing the box to Lu Qing.

"What is this?" Lu Qing opened the box to find a small bundle of nearly transparent white threads inside.

"These threads were given to me by an injured hero I saved during my travels years ago," the old doctor explained. "I don't know exactly what they are, but they are exceptionally tough and hard to break. They should meet your needs for fishing lines."

"Grandpa Chen, this is too valuable; I can't accept it," Lu Qing hurriedly pushed the box back, realizing that something given in gratitude for saving a life must be extraordinary.

Hearing the word "hero" made his heart stir. It confirmed that there were indeed such extraordinary people in this world.

But Grandpa Chen waved his hand dismissively. "You should take it. It's of no use to me. I've had it for over ten years and never found a use for it. If you hadn't mentioned needing a strong thread, I would have forgotten I even had it."

"If you need a tough thread for fishing, you might as well use this. It's better than letting it gather dust here. If you feel guilty, just bring me something good you catch. That small fish you caught yesterday was quite tasty with wine."

Holding the box, Lu Qing felt both grateful and ashamed. The old doctor treated him and his sister so well, yet he had been planning to secretly learn the old man's techniques, which now filled him with guilt.

Looking at the box in his hand, Lu Qing made a silent decision. In the future, unless Grandpa Chen willingly taught him, he would never try to mimic the old doctor's techniques again.

"Don't worry, Grandpa Chen. Whenever I catch something good, I'll bring it to you first!" Lu Qing promised earnestly, gripping the box tightly.

The old doctor laughed heartily. "Haha, then I'll look forward to it!"

Leaving the old doctor's house, Lu Qing felt exhilarated. Today had been incredibly fruitful. He had not only gained the old doctor's favor and improved his health but also learned how to identify herbs and received a mysterious box of threads.

His intuition told him that the threads in this box were not ordinary. However, he hadn't dared to examine them closely at the old doctor's house, where he could have used his abilities to investigate further.

Descending the mountain with Xiao Yan, they reached the village just as a few villagers were returning from the village entrance, carrying bamboo poles and buckets, chatting and laughing.

Upon seeing Lu Qing, they called out from afar, "Lu Qing!"

"Uncle Shi, did you just come back from fishing?" Lu Qing asked, noticing the poles on their shoulders.

"Yes," Uncle Shi replied excitedly. "Yesterday, we tried your method of fishing with worms, and it worked! Look at today's catch!"

He proudly showed Lu Qing the bucket, which contained quite a few fish, weighing about one or two pounds. Some were even larger than what Lu Qing had caught yesterday. He checked the other villagers' buckets, finding that everyone had caught something, with the smallest catch still weighing about half a pound. One villager even caught a fish over a pound.

However, that villager was also frustrated. "I almost caught an even bigger one, but it broke my line with its strength and got away!"

"I told you not to pull so hard and to give it some slack, but you wouldn't listen. It's no wonder your line snapped," another villager scolded.

"How was I supposed to know the fish would be that strong? I'm sure it weighed over five pounds!"

"No way, at most two pounds. If it were five pounds, you wouldn't have held onto it at all!"

"It was definitely five pounds!"

...

Listening to the villagers argue about the size of the fish that got away, Lu Qing couldn't help but laugh. This scene was all too familiar. In his previous life, he and his fishing friends behaved the same way. If someone lost a fish, they always exaggerated its size. Anything less than ten pounds was an insult to their fishing skills!

He never expected to witness this in a different world. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the ɴ0velFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Indeed, no matter the world, the nature of fishermen remained the same.

Lu Qing's laughter made Uncle Shi and the others feel a bit embarrassed, especially with Xiao Yan watching them argue with wide eyes.

"Lu Qing, where are you coming from?" Uncle Shi asked to change the subject and ease the embarrassment.

"We just came back from Grandpa Chen's place," Lu Qing replied.

Uncle Shi nodded. "Ah, the old doctor. It's right for you to visit and thank him since he cured you."

He assumed Lu Qing had gone to express his gratitude.

"Yes, without Grandpa Chen, I wouldn't be standing here," Lu Qing agreed without denying it.

"By the way, Lu Qing, you came up with the fishing method, so you should take some of these fish home," Uncle Shi offered.

"Yes, without your method, we wouldn't have known that worms could be used for fishing!" another villager added.

"Take mine! Mine are bigger!"

"Don't be ridiculous; mine are the biggest. Take mine!"

The other villagers chimed in, urging Lu Qing to take their fish.

"Thank you, uncles, but I still have fish from yesterday," Lu Qing politely declined.

"Eat more! You and Xiao Yan are so skinny. Fish is nutritious; you should eat more!" Uncle Shi insisted.

In the end, Lu Qing couldn't refuse their kindness. He took a few fish from each villager's bucket, threading them onto a piece of grass he picked by the roadside. Even so, he ended up with nearly half a pound of fish.

"Take more!" Uncle Shi urged.

"I can't take any more. I don't have enough oil and salt to cook them all," Lu Qing finally refused firmly.

Hearing this, the villagers stopped insisting. Without enough oil and salt, the fish would indeed not taste good.

With a string of fish in hand, Lu Qing and Xiao Yan bid farewell to the villagers and returned to their small courtyard. After putting the fish in the kitchen, Lu Qing took out the small box given by the old doctor and opened it, quietly examining the threads inside.