Common Return (Part 3)
"Qingshan! Ah Su has been taken away by his mother. I'm going to go fishing by the stream!"
He Shu picked up Jin Wu, who was lying on a cushion in the sun, and held the warm fur ball in his arms. He stood up quickly and shouted to Qing Shan, who was sitting by the small copper pot in the corridor, concentrating on watching the fire.
"And bring Jin Wu along!"
"Okay. Remember to come back early."
Qingshan did not look back, and the palm-leaf fan in his hand still maintained a steady rhythm, waving slowly and gently, and the gentle sound came with the aroma of medicine.
"The water is cold in late autumn, so try not to go in the water. Be careful not to catch a cold."
"I know! Just wait for me to bring back a big, plump fish, and then make us a pot of delicious tofu and fish soup tonight—"
He Shu responded while picking up the fish basket containing the fishing rod and some miscellaneous items, holding the cat in one hand, pushing open the fence gate of the courtyard, and walking briskly onto the familiar path leading to Yangchun Creek.
His high-pitched voice, filled with joy and anticipation, startled a few sparrows that were quietly standing on the bare branches, taking a nap with their eyes closed. They flapped their wings and flew into the clear blue sky.
In the afternoon, under the high autumn sky, Yangchun Creek flows quietly like a silver ribbon made of crushed sunlight.
The warm autumn sun shines down generously, giving the round pebbles by the stream a warm amber luster.
The cool mountain breeze gently blew across the water, creating layers of fine ripples, shattering the lonely reflections of the trees on the shore, and turning them into swaying golden spots, swaying among the dark green moss at the bottom of the water.
A few withered ginkgo leaves, like tired butterflies, floated in the air, swayed and fell into the clear stream, and then turned into paper boats carrying the strong autumn atmosphere, drifting silently into the distance.
He Shu had just stood still on a flat bluestone by the stream and put down the fish basket in his hand when Jin Wu in his arms meowed and twisted her body to break free from his arms.
The orange shadow suddenly jumped down and landed lightly on another mossy rock next to it.
It first lowered its head and curiously sniffed the moist dark green moss on the stone surface with its pink nose. Then it slowly bent down, stretched out the tip of its tongue with tiny barbs, and gently touched the surface of the shallow stream. In an instant, circles of tiny ripples spread out continuously.
"Hey! You stinky guy!"
He Shu had just put down his bamboo fishing rod, which was already baited, and when he saw Jin Wu's rare move, he couldn't help but open his eyes wide and sighed in disbelief.
"At home, I fed you clear water in a beautiful little porcelain bowl and coaxed you in every possible way, but you refused to drink more than a few sips. How come when we got to the stream, you changed your temper and took the initiative to drink this raw water?"
The autumn sun shines through the sparse gaps in the forest and falls right on the furry back of the golden weed, casting a soft halo around it.
He Shu saw the little mustache trembling slightly as it sipped, and found it very interesting. He couldn't help but reach out and flick it lightly as if in a mischievous way.
This annoyed the kitten who was concentrating on drinking water. It suddenly raised its head, breathed a low breath at Heshu in dissatisfaction, and made a threatening purring sound in its throat. It immediately lost interest in drinking water and instead squatted down and slowly licked one of its front paws.
"Alas, I've only had a few sips..."
Seeing this, He Shu withdrew his hand angrily, knowing that he was in the wrong. He touched his nose and stopped teasing it.
He picked up the fishing rod beside him and skillfully cast the line into the shimmering stream. Then he deliberately turned around, with his back to Jin Wu, and said in a pretentiously generous manner:
"Alright, alright, I'm wrong. I won't disturb our Master Jin Wu from drinking water... Please continue, please continue..."
But Jin Wu ignored He Shu's belated "apology", but raised his tail high, took a step without recognizing any relatives, and jumped to a place where the sun was shining and the grass was soft.
Its front paws rested lightly on the grass, its body stretched out, and it stretched comfortably, its paw pads leaving two shallow, plum-shaped marks on the grass. When its hind legs stretched out, even the tip of its fluffy tail formed a smooth arc.
Curling up skillfully, with head and tail connected, Jin Wu rolled himself into a perfect ball of fur, encircling the beautiful dream about dried fish in the autumn afternoon.
But after a moment, intermittent snoring sounds came from the orange figure.
"Tsk... What a lazy little cat that sleeps wherever he goes..."
He Shu listened to the regular snoring, laughed, shook his head, and murmured softly.
His eyes gently swept over the small figure sleeping peacefully in the sun, then he collected his thoughts and refocused on the stream in front of him that was sparkling with golden fragments.
The float on the water's surface suddenly trembled ever so slightly. He Shu immediately held his breath, concentrating completely, even breathing subconsciously softly, fearing that the slightest movement would disturb the wary fish underwater, testing the bait.
His fingertips had just touched the cold fishing rod, and he was ready to lift it, but only a circle of ripples appeared on the water surface, which gradually disappeared.
Looking closely, I saw that it was a few tiny willow fish pecking at the bait cunningly, and a swift green shadow suddenly passed through the half-dead reeds on the opposite bank. It was a hunting kingfisher, which scared the already timid fish and made them flee in all directions in an instant.
For a moment, only colorful pebbles were left lying quietly and silently at the bottom of the water.
“Tsk!”
He Shu subconsciously clicked his tongue, frowned tightly, and his face was full of regret for failing.
But he knew very well that the worst thing to do when fishing was to be impatient, so he could only suppress the anger in his heart, take a deep breath, continue to stay still, and wait eagerly for the next opportunity to take the bait.
But after lifting the empty hook for the umpteenth time and finding that the bait had been pecked clean by the shrewd and cunning fish in the stream, his pitiful patience was finally exhausted, and he was completely overwhelmed by frustration and unwillingness to accept the outcome.
Qingshan's gentle advice of "try not to go into the water" had long been thrown out of his mind at this moment.
"This is outrageous! This is simply too much!"
He Shu angrily threw the green bamboo fishing rod in his hand heavily onto the rocky beach beside him, making a crisp "pa" sound.
He stood up suddenly, tore off the light gray ramie shirt he was wearing, and threw it away.
Then, he swiftly kicked off the pair of easy-to-move black leather square-toed shoes on his feet, and casually took off his silk stockings and put them on the shoe surface.
The hem of his moon-white silk midriff sank into the autumn stream with a "swish" as he strode into the stream.
The cold stream water instantly wrapped around the soles of He Shu's feet, causing them to go numb and he couldn't help but gasp.
The calm surface of the stream began to shake violently due to his rude intrusion, creating fine and messy ripples. His handsome face, which was now furious and reflected in the water, was also distorted into a funny grimace that seemed to be mocking him.
This scene added fuel to the fire in He Shu's eyes, making him instantly furious.
After adjusting for a moment, he quickly rolled up the cuffs embroidered with dark green patterns to his elbows. He suddenly bent down, his eyes fixed on a fat black carp swimming leisurely among the water plants not far away. He bent his ten fingers like eagle claws and attacked suddenly with lightning speed.
The blue-gray fish tail seemed to have eyes on its back. It swept across the eager back of his hand flexibly and powerfully, and slipped through the gaps between his fingers like a loach, escaping easily.
After several such attempts and repeated efforts, his moon-white clothes were already mostly wet, with water droplets dripping down. A few broken stems of water plants that had unfortunately been affected were still hanging on the hem and cuffs of his clothes.
"Impossible! I can't catch you today?"
He Shu was enraged by these successive failures. He swung his wide sleeves, which had become heavy after being soaked, and they hit the water surface with a "splash" sound, splashing high water that fell on him head.
The cold water kept flowing down his wet forehead and slightly flushed cheeks.
Closing his eyes, he clenched his fists. The unyielding determination in his chest could no longer be suppressed. His fingertips moved slightly, and a very faint trace of spiritual power quietly circulated, then suddenly pointed to a place in the stream.
The next moment, a silver-scaled fish that was shining with silver light and struggling desperately was tightly grasped in his palm.
The moon-white single garment clung to He Shu's chest, which was rapidly rising and falling due to his intense movements and emotional fluctuations, outlining clear lines.
He raised the fish, which was still struggling to move its tail, high in his hand, and finally a happy smile appeared on his face. He shouted loudly towards the grass on the shore:
"Jin Wu! Did you see it?"
Stumbling across the rough pebbles, he walked towards the sleepy cat with his paws tucked in, and proudly handed the only reward of his hard work for half a day to Jin Wu to show him.
Awakened by the sudden interruption, the cat lazily raised its eyelids, its green pupils showing obvious dissatisfaction as it reflected the soaked, disheveled and disheveled figure in front of it.
He Shu hurriedly moved the silver-scaled fish, whose gills were still flapping, closer to Jin Wu's nose. The beautiful scales on the fish were still reflecting the light in the autumn sun.
"It's a full three feet long—"
Before he could finish his boastful words, the orange cat just glanced at the fish nonchalantly, then slowly stood up, brushed the tip of its tail across the corner of his still dripping robe, and found a shady place to lie down, leaving only its round orange back to him.
"Tsk! You shortsighted little thing!"
He Shu saw Jin Wu's lack of interest and snorted in dissatisfaction. He lowered his head and muttered to the fish in his hand, complaining,
"When Qingshan stews it into a milky, fragrant fish soup tonight, don't be so greedy that you circle the stove, meowing and begging for more!"
He turned around angrily and carefully placed the hard-earned silver-scaled fish into the fish basket. Then he stepped into the stream again, determined not to stop until the fish basket was full.
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