"Grandpa, this earthworm is a bit disgusting and scary," she said.

Xu Qingzhi remembered that when she was a child, she and her friends dug earthworms without feeling anything and thought it was fun. But when she grew up, she felt something completely different.

Xu Dongru grabbed one and threw it into the jar, saying with a smile, "Then I'm afraid you won't be able to catch this fish."

"I can catch them!" Xu Qingzhi swung the small hoe and dug, lifted the soil, and turned out two or three earthworms. He reached out and caught the first one, and his acceptance level in his heart greatly increased. Then he caught the remaining two.

It was really exciting! Later, Xu Qingzhi became more and more skilled and caught more than half a jar of earthworms.

After digging enough earthworms, the grandfather and grandson took a small stool, bucket and fishing rod and went to the reservoir to fish.

The two men found a good spot and set the hook.

"Grandpa, how about we compete to see who catches the most fish?"

"OK."

After a while, the buoy near Xu Dongru sank. He pulled the hook and caught the first small crucian carp.

"Grandpa, you are so awesome. You caught the fish so quickly! There was no movement on my rod at all..." Xu Qingzhi couldn't help but applaud him.

Xu Dongru smiled widely, put the fish into the bucket, and consoled him: "Don't be discouraged, Grandpa is just lucky, it's still early this afternoon."

He hadn't been this happy for a long time since his old wife passed away.

In the past, the old man had nothing to do, and he didn't dare to stay at home alone, for fear that no one would know if he died in the house, so he always liked to walk around.

He can't play cards, he can't play chess, in short, he can't do anything that requires using his brain.

He thought about fishing, but was afraid that he might fall into the water and die without anyone knowing. Besides, there were no fishing rods available in the village, and he didn't know where to buy one.

This time, with his granddaughter around, he finally had something to do, picking vegetables and fishing.

The old man was just thinking about it when the float moved again after the rod had been lowered for a while.

He waited for two seconds, observed, and then pulled the rod decisively.

Xu Dongru felt the weight in his hand and said in surprise: "Wow, this time it's a big one."

Xu Qingzhi, who didn't catch any fish, ran over and looked into the water, "Grandpa, I've seen it, hurry up and pull it up."

"Don't worry. This big fish can't be pulled in all at once. It's easy to get off the hook." Xu Dongru said, and then he slowly moved it closer like he was playing with a fish in the water, and then pulled it up with a splash.

Xu Qingzhi was excited: "It's a crucian carp, it must be two kilograms!"

Not far away, there was another old man fishing. He also shouted excitedly: "I have been fishing in this reservoir for several years. The crucian carp in this reservoir are all small, weighing only a few taels. This is the first time I have seen one as big as two kilograms. Brother, where did you fish before? Why haven't I seen you before?"

This old man was from the next village and didn't know Xu Dongru.

But that's how fishermen are, they get to know each other as they fish.

Xu Dongru also responded to what others said, "I only fished twice when I was young, and this is my first time fishing, hahahaha."

"Brother, your fishing skills are really good." The old fisherman praised sincerely.

Xu Dongru smiled, her face full of joy of harvest. She took the fish down and threw it into the bucket. She put on a earthworm, cast the rod out and continued to wait.

Later, Xu Dongru caught several more fish, all of them were small crucian carp. But no matter how big the fish was, the old man was very happy and focused on fishing.

Xu Qingzhi found nothing here. She yawned tiredly and just looked at the water. The wind blew across the water, creating ripples. Just sitting here, thinking of nothing, daydreaming, was very comfortable and her heart was very peaceful.

Xu Qingzhi came back to his senses and saw that the float was indeed biting the hook. He held the fishing rod and felt the weight of the fish. It was a small fish. He pulled it up directly and found that it was also a small crucian carp.

She took the small crucian carp off the hook and waved it to her grandfather, "Grandpa, I caught one too."

"That's great. Grandpa gives you a thumbs up." Xu Dongru gave her a thumbs up.

The old man fishing on the other side was very depressed. The fish in the reservoir were very smart and difficult to catch. In the past, he might only catch five or six in an entire afternoon. How could it be so easy for others to catch them?

He even counted them specifically and found that the two men had caught seven or eight fish.

The old man who was fishing took the initiative to walk over and asked, "Brother, what kind of bait did you buy? It's so easy to bite the hook."

Xu Dongru pointed to the glass jar and said, "I didn't buy any bait. I used earthworms as bait."

"A worm." The old fisherman twitched his lips. The earthworm was indeed a universal fishing bait, but when he tried it at first, he only caught two fish that afternoon. Later, he changed to more expensive bait and caught more fish.

He thought there must be more fish here.

So he said with a smile: "Brother, let me change my position and come to your side to fish. No fish have taken the bait over here for a long time."

The old man fishing moved to Xu Qingzhi's right side.

Just as he sat firmly, Xu Qingzhi's fishing rod was hooked by a fish again. She felt a bit of weight while pulling, and quickly asked her grandfather for help, "Grandpa, come and help me, it's a big fish, I can't pull it."

Xu Dongru hurried over, took the rod, fished, and pulled it up.

The old man fishing nearby was surprised and said, "This grass carp must weigh three or four kilograms!"

Xu Dongru took the grass carp off and threw it into the bucket.

Xu Qingzhi said happily: "We have two big fish to eat tonight. One is for crucian carp soup, and this is for sour pepper fish. It's my favorite!"

"Okay, let's eat them tonight." Xu Dongru nodded happily.

Soon, the sun set. After fishing for almost an afternoon, Xu Qingzhi and her grandfather had a good harvest. Grandpa caught sixteen fish. In addition to the big crucian carp, there was also a grass carp weighing more than one kilogram. The rest were small crucian carp.

Xu Qingzhi only caught eight fish, except for the big grass carp, all of them were small crucian carp.

Xu Qingzhi was not discouraged even though he lost, "Grandpa, I will come fishing again tomorrow, and we will compete again then."

"Okay." Xu Dongru's face was full of joy, and he was ready to go back with the bucket.

The old man who was fishing nearby only caught two today. Seeing that the other man still had a few earthworms in his jar, he hurriedly said, "Brother, you guys don't fish anymore, can you give me these earthworms? I'll exchange them for a crucian carp."

Xu Dongru left the earthworm jar to him and said, "No need, it's just a few earthworms. We won't fish for them. If you want, take it and go fishing."

"Okay, thank you, brother. Let's go fishing together next time."

Xu Dongru nodded: "Okay."

Facing the sunset, the grandfather and grandson returned home with a full load.

The warm yellow light of the setting sun sprinkled on the old man's face, and Xu Qingzhi looked at the happy smile on the old man's face.

Well, as long as grandpa is happy, that's all.

(End of this chapter)