Chapter 122 - Fishing and Questions!

At one end of the forest,while Ryu and Alicia spent time together bonding and Ru spent some time getting to know his new grandfather.Uncle Ye had happily invited Ru over to go fishing and camping with him when he realized that the boy enjoyed being outdoors...A day after the wedding,the duo reached the camping ground and Uncle Ye taught little Ru how to pitch a tent.Ru was a quick learner and passed the right tools when asked and this made Uncle Ye like the boy even more.However that liking was short lived.

By the end of the day,Uncle Ye was cursing Ryu Long once again...The man had purposely sent the little boy to harass him..The boy was chubby and cute on the outside but was in fact a lethal weapon on the inside.His questions were never ending!

It should be noted that Uncle Ye had no children of his own so his experience with these little terrors was limited and he believed that all children were quiet and well behaved at home as well...He had quite a rude awakening and he blamed this on Ryu..

After pitching the tent,,Uncle Ye happily set up the grill and taking his grandson's hand went toward the lake where he was then bombarded with innumerable questions...

After teaching Ru to tie a worm as a bait and throw the hook into the lake water,Uncle Ye settled to wait patiently..but a little someone was not a patient fellow..After staring at the hook,Ru asked,"Grandpa Ye?Why do we need to feed the wish worm?"

"That,my boy is a bait..It is to attract fish so that they will try to eat it and get caught."

"Yes, but Grandpa, I have some cake..We can feed that to the fish.Can't we?It is tastier..."

Ru saw his Grandpa Ye laugh at the question and not take him seriously..but still he received the reply,"Fish don't like cake.They like worms.And now we should stop talking otherwise all the fishes will be scared away!"

Ru sat there staring at his fishing rod.Though his expression was stoic and serious,his mind was full of questions.Finally unable to stop himself anymore,Ru said in a sad voice,"Grandpa,I want to go home!I don't want to eat worms!!!"His lower lip was trembling and he looked like he was about to cry!Grandpa Ye was astonished.Who said he would have to eat worms?Weren't they just talking about fish?

Taking a deep breath,Grandpa Ye said,"Ru we are not going to eat worms!We are eating fish..We are here to cacch them for our dinner..."

The trembling lips were joint by shiny wet eyes."But that means we are eating fish which have worms in their stomach.I don't want to eat fish!!Please Grandpa Ye,Don't make me eat worms!!!"

Ye was old but not senile.He knew that if he tried to persuade the boy now it would lead to a tantrum.And he was not equipped to handle tantrums.So he agreed to Ru's request and said,"Alright Ru,grandpa will not force you.You can eat the meat that we have brought along.But I hope you don't mind me catching fish.You could keep yours as a pet.."

A vigorous shake of the head was his answer.Ru continued to stare at his grandpa and when he was assured that his grandpa was not going to be angry,asked the next question,"Grandpa,do you know a lot about fishes?"

"Yes."

"Can I ask you a few questions?"

"Hmm?"

"Do fishes have eyebrows?If they do, then what color are they?Also,I don't think fish are very smart...they know that there are no worms in water so why would they come to eat one that is floating in water..They should know it is not safe..."

Grandpa Ye:"..."

After an hour of futile attempts at catching fish since they had most probably been scared away by Ru's constant chatter,Uncle Ye decided to take Ru around the trail.

They observed the many plants and wild flowers and lush berries around them.But What Ru was most fascinated by was a spider web they came across on small plant.Because of the morning dew glistening on it when rays of the sun fell across it,the web looked like it had been weaved with shiny crystals.Ru was enthralled and for the rest of the trail,all he could do was look for shiny spider webs.

Soon they reached back to their tent and Uncle Ye put on fire in the grill he had earlier set up.After a hearty and relatively peaceful meal both the campers went onto their tents to sleep...Once comfortable in the sleeping bag,Grandpa Ye closed his eyes feeling tired and sleepy.But Ru was wide awake,he wanted to hear a story...so naturally he asked his grandpa for one.Thinking back to his childhood days,Grandpa Ye finally narrated a story about the toad and a princess..After finishing the story,Grandpa Ye thought that he would finally be able to sleep.However that too was not possible.A small sweet voice asked,"Grandpa Ye,do you know a lot about toads?"

Grandpa Ye's eyes snapped open and he immediately said,"No my baby.I know nothing about toads!Now let us sleep.."

"That is great grandpa!I know a lot about toads.I will tell you...Toads are..."

And Uncle Ye finally got his sleep while listening all about toads....and woke up after dreaming about toads....