If there is a divine network

"Brother Yue Lang, are you even a man?" Xiao Ling's sharp question squeezed through the crowd, leaving everyone, including Yue Lang, stunned.

"Isn't that right?" Yue Lang was somewhat doubtful when she asked him.

"So you're just going to let Yan Yan go out and retrieve the net all by herself, while you stand here chatting and laughing?"

Yue Lang had no way to explain himself. He had indeed helped Meng Yan a little when he was weaving the net, but later, wherever he touched, things would either break or fall apart. Meng Yan and Old Man Weng chased him to the tree to sunbathe, saying that resting was the greatest contribution he could make.

Looking at the net retrieval, the task is to remove the entire net from the water tank. There's not much room for people to stand inside, so the skill of the person retrieval is extremely important. If you're not careful, the net will overturn and the fish will scatter, splashing away as they go home to eat. Therefore, the person in charge of retrieval on the fishing boat is usually the same person who is skilled with the net, moves quickly, and has a strong hand.

It's definitely Meng Yan no matter how you look at it!

The two secretly went out to sea a few times at night. Meng Yan only allowed him to play with the fish in the cabin while at sea, but after reaching the shore, he would just throw him off the boat. He was treated worse than the fish!

In the midst of the struggle, Meng Yan deftly disembarked from the boat, carrying the fishing net. Even when she reached Yue Lang's side, she refused to hand over the net to him.

Are they having a disagreement?

The excitement of joining in the fun was written all over Zhang's face. He had just been looking forward to seeing how the outsiders would coax their wives when Meng Yan stuffed things into the hands of the people in front of him.

It was that slightly different fishing net, but the people pulling it in had no time to compare or distinguish it; the only cry of agony that traveled from their hands to their minds was, "So heavy!!!"

Even though they often drift at sea and have been fishing for at least a decade, they had never seen or carried such a heavy net before. It took several people working together to barely keep it from falling to the ground.

When they looked up again, their eyes were filled with admiration for Meng Yan, and when they turned to Yue Lang, they showed a sense of relief and understanding.

Yue Lang smiled and nodded, gesturing with his hand on the fishing net, the meaning clear: it's not that I don't want to help, but that I'd only be a hindrance.

Having finally freed his hands, Meng Yan took the handkerchief Yue Lang handed him, wiped away the seawater stains, and returned it to him, saying, "Looks like I'll have to wash again."

"I'll return it to you when you're free." Yue Lang folded the handkerchief very naturally, as if he had done it many times before.

"You've all come at the right time. There are too many fish for the three of us to eat. Why don't you divide them among yourselves, and send the nets you keep to Xiaoling's house?" Meng Yan clapped his hands, easily resolving his biggest worry.

Xiaoling, who had been called upon, peeked out from the crowd, responded with a sound of agreement, and then glanced at the large net, asking, "Why does this net look a little different, Yan Yan?"

She explained briefly: "I spent some time modifying the mechanism, but the specific details are too complicated to go into. Now, when it's thrown into the sea, it will automatically open the net and pull in the fish based on the number of fish around. After catching a batch, the fish will float to the surface, and the boat can retrieve it when it sees it nearby."

Yue Lang expanded, "That means you don't need to sail around looking for fish anymore. Just throw the net out to sea, wait for it to finish its work and float up, and then you can pull it back to the boat. In the meantime, you can sail around and eat when you're hungry or sleep when you're tired."

The two of them sang in unison, leaving everyone stunned.

"Xiaoling, where's your broken net? I'll go get it, fix it, and return it to you." Having been busy setting up new things these past few days, Meng Yan only remembered the girl's net when he saw her.

"It's hanging at Xiao Dong's house, Yan Yan, don't worry about it. I'll bring it to you in the west of the village first thing tomorrow morning."

Repairing the net is a troublesome task, and it's even more important for young people like them who have little savings. We are already extremely grateful that Meng Yan is willing to repair it, so how could we let her make an extra trip?

“Okay, then you guys get busy.” Meng Yan pointed to the fishing net buried in the sand, and Yue Lang thoughtfully said, “If you can’t finish it, you can pickle it first.”

The two walked away empty-handed, under a clear blue sky with a bright moon and few stars.

.

Early the next morning, a series of knocks drifted into the house on the breeze. The knocking was sometimes loud and sometimes quiet, as if it wanted to be heard but was also afraid of being heard.

Meng Yan lazily stretched out a hand from behind the curtain, and the moon-white pearls rolled and fell on the gauze as she moved, clattering together.

"I heard, Yan Yan, I'm going right now." Yue Lang replied with a yawn, squinting his blurry eyes as he leaned against the wall to leave the house, and seemed to trip over the threshold.

Despite being exhausted, he didn't forget Meng Yan's instructions from before he went to sleep last night. He took the box next to the flowerpot with him, and after receiving the net that Xiao Ling handed him like a sieve, he stuffed the wooden box into her hands.

"The fish that Mr. Weng has been pickling lately tastes quite good. Yan Yan said you should try it." Even after walking a few steps, he was still not fully awake, his voice was nasal and hesitant, and the box bumped against the door frame several times.

"Please thank the old man and Yan Yan for me." Xiao Ling hesitated, looking at the wooden box. Trusting Meng Yan, she accepted it anyway. She turned around halfway, then came back, peeking through the crack in the door and asking Yue Lang, who was asleep with his eyes closed, "Brother Yue Lang, Brother Xiao Dong took the fishing net you used yesterday out to sea. He probably won't be able to catch enough fish in three to five days, so he might not be able to come back..."

"Oh, that? We don't need it. Consider it a wedding gift for you." Yue Lang's eyelids didn't twitch, but he could still speak normally. He leaned against the door and dozed off for a while, then casually said, "Xiao Dong should be back soon. The internet is great. Old Weng praised it after seeing it."

I couldn't quite understand Yue Lang's accent at first, but after several days of conversation, I could guess the general idea. This Mr. Weng who suddenly appeared must be the owner of the house. Although it has now been confirmed that the bad luck was false, why is this old man so special in Yue Lang's words?

Yue Lang exclaimed "Ah?" and then disappeared through the crack in the door, replaced by a wide-open door, behind which stood Meng Yan, who was at least not so sleepy.

"Why did you drag me away, Yan Yan?"

Yue Lang's voice drifted back from behind the door. Meng Yan was already used to his half-dead, dazed state in the morning and knew that he wouldn't understand what he was saying, so he simply didn't answer him and started chatting with Xiao Ling outside the door.

The ears of Xiaoling and Meng Yan were also tested over the past few days, which allowed them to have something to talk about even when Yue Lang was not around or almost not around.

"Yan Yan, who is the Mr. Weng that Brother Yue Lang mentioned? From what he said, he seems like a very impressive person, but this is the first time I've heard this name before."

Meng Yan glanced at Yue Lang, who was sleeping against the wall, and after making sure he wouldn't fall and hit his head, he turned to Xiao Ling's question: "Old Master Weng is considered one of the best craftsmen in the village. The doors, windows and fishing nets that I mentioned to you before should be well understood by the older generation. It was our carelessness that we forgot to explain it to you clearly."

She took the blame upon herself and Yue Lang, frowned and thought for a moment, then concluded: "These things in the village were all made by him. Once the rumors started, everyone tore down these old things and kept quiet about it. It's common for the younger generation not to know."

She paused, then introduced the door in front of her to Xiaoling, explaining the similarities in the door frame structure and materials, as well as their unique matching functions. She then asked Yuelang to fetch a fishing net drying in the courtyard and handed it to Xiaoling. After a few quick demonstrations, Xiaoling, who knew nothing about the past, understood the situation with her guidance.

"So what do you plan to do?"

"Let's see, I don't know if the old gentleman is willing to come down from the mountain."

Meng Yan didn't really intend to make the old man resume his old trade and work hard day and night. However, his skills were exceptional and had advantages for both the coastal environment and the local residents. If the skills were lost, it would undoubtedly be a loss for all parties. As a fellow researcher, Meng Yan didn't want to see such a situation from the bottom of his heart.

.

Undeniably, although Yue Lang was exhausted, his words were true. Xiao Dong returned to shore in two days. When he waved from outside the window, Xiao Ling was so startled that her sewing needle slipped and she almost pricked her hand.

"Brother Xiao Dong?"

Xiaoling straightened her clothes, rushed to the door to find him, circled around him, and didn't notice anything unusual.

Xiao Dong let her spin around until she got tired and stopped, then hugged her and said, "The new net catches fish very quickly. A few layers are enough for three days' worth of fish. The net only catches big fish, so there's no need to pick and choose."

He not only returned, but he even went to the shore to sell fish before coming back.

The news spread like wildfire, and more and more people came to observe the strange website, crowding Xiaoling's house.

Finally, one day, two leisurely figures appeared at the end of the long queue. They didn't know why the crowd had formed such a long queue; they had simply taken a break from their busy work and came out for some fresh air.

"Is this also a custom?" The girl flicked her finger and looked at the young man behind her.

"Perhaps so?" The young master had never seen such a scene before.

As the two were whispering to each other, a passerby recognized them and exclaimed, grabbing their sleeves, "Yan Yan! Daoist Master!"

The two people, caught off guard by being called out, stared blankly at him. The line, which had been straight just moments before, immediately turned, and the crowd surrounded them.

Meng Yan: "?"

Yue Lang: "?"

crowd:"!"

"Do you two have any extra Qi Nets? We are willing to pay a hefty price to buy them!"

"You two can name a price, and if we don't have enough, we'll save up."

"Can I trade in my old one for a new one? I have a lot of broken wires at home."

...

The two pieced together what they meant, and meeting the villagers' expectant gazes, Yue Lang silently shifted his gaze to Meng Yan, silently telling everyone that the decision was not in his hands.

Those calling for "Taoist Master" immediately disappeared, while the calls for "Yan Yan" suddenly grew louder.

As everyone craned their necks, Meng Yan moved his fingers and said, "Yes, but no."

Yue Lang immediately straightened up and took on the important task of translation: "Yan Yan means that we will make them in the future, and everyone can order them in advance, but at present, the only finished products of the same mechanism are the two that were given to Xiao Ling and Uncle."

Amidst the expectant gazes of the crowd, Meng Yan nodded, tacitly agreeing with what Yue Lang had said.

Who is Uncle? It seems to be Old Kong who led them into the village from the dock and kindly found them a place to stay that night. After that, the three of them never spoke to each other again. Could such a simple act of kindness really have earned them a strange net?

The crowd was filled with sighs. Some regretted not being warmly received on their first day, while many others offered their opinions on the "pre-ordering" system.

Seeing the crowd of people with their hands raised high, and recognizing the colorful sleeve, Meng Yan pulled Yue Lang away from the crowd and met up with Xiao Ling and Xiao Dong in a secluded spot.