Before the marlin died, Shi Jinzhe solemnly took a farewell photo of it.

In the photo, Shekh sits on the rocky bank, expressionless, holding onto half of a large fish's body. It looks like a staged photo, but Shi Jinzhe knows that if she lets go, the fish will fall back into the water.

The clear water reflects the image of a third person: a photograph, a black-haired beauty and a vicious fish on the beach, and the blurry reflection of a man in the corner, all in perfect harmony.

The photo was posted to Shi Jinzhe's WeChat Moments with the caption: "[Bait]".

An account that seemed dead suddenly came back to life, changed its profile picture last week, and posted photos this week. It's hard not to think things through.

It took me several hours to process the fish, and around 10 p.m. I made a pan-fried version for a late-night snack.

Shehe has no human friends. The phone that Shi Jinzhe bought for her is usually only used for studying and watching videos. Most of the time, she prefers to use Shi Jinzhe's phone because she can see a lot of strange posts.

Holding her phone, she told Shi Jinnian, "Someone asked if your account was hacked."

"No."

"Oh." So Shekh tapped the screen with one finger, leisurely clicking the letters, and after half a minute spelled out two words to reply.

"Another question asked if you lost a bet with someone."

"No."

Shekh replied again, and then continued reading, finding more than a dozen similar replies, which was a bit boring.

I kept reading until the very last comment when someone asked whether the bait was catching fish or people.

Shi Jinzhe placed the sliced ​​fish in front of Shehe, but without sitting down, he leaned over, one hand on the back of the chair and the other on the table: "What do you think it is?"

Sheikh forked a piece of fish from the plate and brought it to his mouth. "I caught the fish. Am I the bait?"

"yes."

"So what he means is that I am also your bait."

Shi Jinzhe took a bite of the fish: "The logic is very good."

I've mastered all the metaphors.

Shekh took the fork back and looked at him. "So, did you get caught?"

The question has been thrown back at us again.

Unable to see Shekh's eyes, Shi Jinzhe had no choice but to look elsewhere.

A few stray hairs brushed against the side of her face, an earring that occasionally sparkled, and a pearl nestled in the hollow of her collarbone.

Ultimately, he has to answer this question himself.

Shi Jinzhe withdrew his gaze from Shekh's lips and said, "He's taken the bait. It's just a matter of whether you're willing to reel him in."

He turned Shekh’s face to show her the pink heart-shaped clam hanging on the windowsill.

On the seashell, concentric heart-shaped patterns sway in the wind, like the rhythm of a heartbeat.

"Thank you for finding my heart in the vast ocean yesterday."

Shekh sat up straight and tilted his head back. "There are countless of these shells in the sea."

There are countless people in the world.

His blood awakened the stone-sealed Shekh. Shi Jinzhe didn't know if others had this ability, but he was the first to do it, and that made him different.

As for that heart-shaped clam, he had checked the information and found that this area was not a habitat for such shellfish.

Regardless of how it ended up here, Shekh found it and gave it to himself; that's the most special heart he has.

“We might even have met in another world, which is a very, very small probability, so what you found is mine.”

Sher felt he was being a bit unreasonable. If she found another seashell, wouldn't Shi Jinzhe also have to say it was his heart?

Thinking this through, Shekh simply asked the question.

"Whatever you find, that's it."

Shekh was speechless, sitting there like a statue, not moving for a long time.

Shi Jinzhe didn't urge her; he hadn't planned for Shekh to give any immediate response.

Her mind is probably still stuck in waiting for spring.

"Eat first, it's getting cold." Shi Jinzhe fed her the fish. "Don't think too much, just let things take their course. Just do what you're supposed to do."

Shekh asked, puzzled, "But last time you..."

"What happened last time?"

"You said last time that was someone else's joke."

"..."

Shi Jinzhe froze. "That's because... I didn't understand back then either. People's feelings can change. You should know that."

"I know that many people fall in love at first, but then their hearts change."

"...They are them, and I am me. This process can also be from nothing to something."

From nothing to something.

Sheh noted the word down, and without asking any further questions, simply said, "The next piece."

In silence, Shi Jinzhe finished feeding the fish and then returned to the kitchen.

After he left, Shekh absentmindedly checked his phone again.

As usual, Shi Jinzhe reads a bedtime story to her before she goes to sleep.

It's a story about a lion marrying a wife.

"A lion fell in love with a girl and proposed to her. The girl's father did not want to marry his daughter to a lion, but he dared not refuse, so he came up with a plan."

When the lion came to him again, he said, "If you want to marry my daughter, you must first pull out her sharp teeth and chop off her claws, then I can give her to you in marriage."

The lion accepted the girl's father's request, but when it returned after completing all this, it was driven away by people wielding sticks because it was no longer a threat.

Shekh listened to the story with a speechless expression, and before Shi Jinzhe could begin the second story, he interrupted him.

"Stop talking, isn't this just a treacherous human and a deranged lion?"

"You're right, I certainly won't break my promise, and you shouldn't be out of your mind."

...

Shekh rolled up the blanket and turned his back: "I think you're more like the one who's out of your mind right now."

She would never throw away her weapon, not even if it meant breaking it off.

Shi Jinzhe put down the book and sighed, "It seems so."

He speaks faster than he thinks now, with a kind of recklessness that comes from recognizing reality, as if he's been given a magic potion.

For some reason, after Shi Jinzhe finished speaking, Shekh smelled a very appetizing aroma emanating from him.

That smell was strangely tempting.

It made her a little annoyed, but also a little excited, and she always wanted to get closer to him.

Shi Jinzhe saw that Shehe had turned her back and assumed she was going to sleep, so he said goodnight and picked up his phone.

There was a message on his phone from Meng Chengxi, telling Shi Jinzhe that someone might be looking for him soon because Cheng Yun was keeping a close watch on Cheng You'an, and he hadn't left the house.

Shi Jinzhe replied with "I understand," and then started looking at his phone.

He saw Shekh's reply under the photo that was posted in the evening.

When asked whether she was fishing for fish or people, she replied "people".

Shi Jin glanced at Sheh's back as she looked away, and it seemed she wasn't entirely oblivious.

Turn off the lights and the screen.

Just as Shi Jinzhe lay down, the person on the other side of the bed pressed down on him.

"Touch my tail before you go to sleep."

There are reasons why someone might suddenly lose their breath or become delirious.