Chapter 3

Chapter 3

That night, I stayed up studying Qin Xing’s Moments.

He really was someone with a very simple life. He barely posted anything, and the only time he showed off on Moments was when he caught a fish.

I didn’t message him first. A few days later, I simply posted a photo on Moments.

Ripples stirred by the wind spread across the dark pool. I held up a big silver carp and bighead carp and smiled at the camera with my lips pressed together.

Another day without getting skunked!

I waited a week. Qin Xing didn’t like it or comment.

But he didn’t post on Moments that week either, which clearly meant he hadn’t caught anything.

The second week, I posted again. Still a silver carp and bighead carp, still that same deep pool, except this time the fish was even bigger-at least four or five pounds.

Fish on!

He still didn’t respond.

The third week, I kept posting.

Can’t catch them all. Literally can’t catch them all.

Then I put on a face mask and went to sleep.

The next morning, when I opened my phone, among dozens of profile pictures that had liked the post, I finally saw the one I had been waiting for.

Qin Xing commented:

Where is this, if you don’t mind me asking?

I looked at my phone and curved my lips.

Hooked.

The next time I met Qin Xing, he was noticeably more talkative.

“Is that fishing spot you mentioned really that full of fish?”

I gave him a discreet once-over. He was wearing a black hoodie and gray sweatpants. His black hair wasn’t styled with gel today; it fell naturally over his forehead.

When he talked about something he was interested in, his eyes opened slightly wider, bright and sparkling. Gone was the aloof, aristocratic air he had in finance magazines. Instead, he looked a little like a college student in his early twenties.

I nodded. “You’ll know once you go. I’ve been here so many times, and I’ve never been skunked.”

In truth, I didn’t know how to fish at all. I had only been cramming like crazy these past few days so I could catch this particular fish named Qin Xing. I had also asked around endlessly and gone wandering up the mountain by myself every day before I finally found this fishing spot.

When Qin Xing first commented, I ignored him. The next day, after posting another Moments update, I finally replied at a leisurely pace:

It’s up on the mountain. Pretty hard to find.

This time, he replied instantly: Could I trouble you to bring me along next time? Thanks.

I put down my phone and had dinner. Only when I estimated he was about to run out of patience did I reply:

Sure.

…

Qin Xing and I cast our lines several meters apart. He didn’t speak first, and I wasn’t about to throw myself at someone giving me the cold shoulder.

Occasionally, when one of us hooked a fish, we would turn our heads to look. I could tell that whenever I caught one, he really wanted to come over and take a look, but he was a little embarrassed. All he could do was pretend nothing was happening while his gaze drifted back and forth.

From Gu Yushi’s Weibo, Qin Xing was exactly this kind of slightly cold person. If he wasn’t interested in something, he wouldn’t even bother with polite small talk.

He was probably born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and his own qualifications were so outstanding. There were very few things in his life that required him to flatter anyone or take the initiative. He had long since grown used to being the center of everything.

Over the years, there must have been no shortage of women throwing themselves at him. If I was too proactive, I was afraid that in his mind, I would be no different from those women-not worth noticing.

After taking Qin Xing there once, I stopped contacting him. But I figured out when he came, and every day I would stake out the place to make sure I ran into him at least once a week.

But waiting for fish to bite was too boring. After our third meeting, he finally started making conversation with me.

“How did you find this fishing spot?”

“I’ve been to pretty much all the fishing farms and spots nearby. They weren’t that interesting. I happened to spot this place once while hiking, thought it looked good, and came to try it. I didn’t expect it to actually be this nice.”

Once the topic turned to fishing, Qin Xing clearly had more to say.

When he got excited, he showed me a video of himself fishing for catfish on the Amazon River. I showered it with admiration, then showed him photos of me deep-sea fishing for tuna.

His eyes lit up, then he looked a little regretful. “I wanted to go tuna fishing before too, but I was too busy and never got the chance.”

He looked up at me, truly looking at me for the first time. “I didn’t expect you to like fishing this much too. Girls who love fishing really are rare.”

The two of us talked more and more. We started talking about sports, the music we liked, movies, and books. Then, to his surprise, he discovered we actually had quite a few interests in common.

We both liked skiing. We both liked Yukio Mishima’s The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. We both liked listening to Koji Tamaki. Even when there were things we differed on, we could understand each other’s preferences. By the time we came back to ourselves, we realized we had talked for an entire afternoon, and the sky had already gone dark.

After that, we often went fishing and chatted together. We even raised a little stray cat together. The yellow kitten was only a few months old, and every time we went fishing, it would obediently lie nearby and wait for fish to eat. Sometimes, when neither of us had caught anything, it would meow anxiously, as if urging us on.

I named it Niannian, meaning abundance year after year, and every time I went, I would cuddle and kiss it.

Qin Xing wasn’t that interested in it. Whenever Niannian rubbed against him, he would dodge away. He was a bit of a neat freak and disliked cat fur sticking to him.

That evening, when we were saying goodbye, Qin Xing asked me for the first time, “When are you coming next?”

I thought for a moment. “Work’s been pretty busy lately. Hard to say.”

A trace of disappointment flickered through his eyes, so faint it was almost impossible to catch, but he still nodded politely and said nothing more.

After that, I didn’t go for an entire week. It wasn’t until the second week that I finally showed up late.

When he saw me again, Qin Xing didn’t let anything show on his face, but he soon moved his chair a little closer to mine.

“What have you been doing these past few days? Why haven’t you come fishing?”

I walked over and stroked Niannian, who was lying on the ground. It stretched its body out in a lazy sprawl, its little belly round and plump. It had gained quite a bit of weight, and its fur was glossy and smooth. One look was enough to tell it had been well cared for.

“Have you been feeding it these days?”

Qin Xing lifted his chin with restraint, a hint of reproach in his tone.

“You’re the one who insisted on naming it, but then you ignored it for days.”

Very quickly, he grew a little smug. “Of course I’ve been taking care of it. I came every day to catch fish for it.”

Niannian walked over and rubbed against his leg. Qin Xing frowned, sounding disgusted as he said, “Can you stay a little farther away from me? You get fur all over me every time.”

Yet his hands moved with practiced ease as he picked it up and set it on his lap.

Niannian lay comfortably against him. Cat hair immediately smeared across his black jacket, but he didn’t mind. Instead, he scratched its chin like he’d done it a hundred times before.

Watching from the side, I came to a conclusion.

So he was a total tsundere.

I smiled to myself and sat down to pick up my fishing rod, only to accidentally nick my hand on the hook. I hissed softly and squeezed my finger. A bright red bead of blood welled up.

Qin Xing immediately set Niannian down, took a bandage from the box beside him, and walked over with his brows furrowed.

“How were you so careless?”

I reached out to take the bandage, but he said naturally, “Give me your hand.”

“You’re surprisingly well prepared-” I smiled and lifted my head, only to swallow the rest of my words when I met his gaze.

Too close.

Without realizing it, we seemed to have gotten too close.

The bright orange sunset in the mountains gradually turned blue and dimmed. The wind, trapped in the valley, carried damp moisture through the air. I could smell the faint woody scent on Qin Xing, subtle and elusive. I couldn’t tell whether it was cologne or aftershave.

His pupils were a little lighter than most people’s, carrying an almost inorganic chill and clarity. Yet at that moment, they were filled entirely with my reflection.

The wind lifted my hair and brushed it across his face. He just stared at me in a daze, until Niannian meowed impatiently from the side. Only then did we both snap back to ourselves and each take a sharp step backward. Qin Xing quickly turned away from me, crouched down with his back facing me, and stroked Niannian’s back.

“All right, I’ll fish. You won’t go hungry.”

I burst out laughing. In the dim light, his ears faintly reddened, and he sat off to the side to fish without saying another word.

However, Qin Xing, who was usually very patient, kept shifting around that night and didn’t catch a single fish.

From that day on, there seemed to be an unspoken understanding between us.

Whenever he went fishing, he would always ask me to come along. We went out at least twice a week.

Sometimes it was in deserted mountains. Sometimes it was out on the boundless sea. Sometimes it was at a fishing ground he had booked out.

But every time, it was only the two of us.

During this time, I kept an eye on Gu Yushi’s Weibo. Her lovey-dovey posts became fewer and fewer, until in the end, she didn’t post a single one for several days.

I watched coldly, then met her boyfriend during the day in my best condition, wearing my most exquisite makeup.

This relationship, where both sides knew exactly what was going on yet kept pretending otherwise, continued fermenting for two more months. I felt the timing was right.

That evening, while he was holding Niannian, I suddenly asked, “Qin Xing, do you have a girlfriend?”