Chapter 10 - Twist, Lick, Dunk

Du Kang came running down the slope first, waving, a stool in his other hand. Lu Qinglian followed behind him at a leisurely pace.

Zhang Shutong glanced at the pair, about to ask where they'd run off to, but Du Kang was out of breath and immediately looking for water. Ruoping fished a bottle of water out of a bike basket, threw it to him, and then dragged him aside for questioning like the Big Bad Wolf cornering a helpless bunny.

Gossip, for sure.

Zhang Shutong couldn't be bothered to get involved. He called out to Qingyi, handed him the rod he'd been holding, and then pulled out his own telescopic rod. He asked Qingyi to hold the flashlight for him and started tying a hook to the line.

Qingyi watched for a moment and asked, puzzled:

"Why are you tying it like that?"

Zhang Shutong's hands froze. He realized he'd slipped up.

He used to know a "two-finger wrap method"—in short, you'd wrap the line directly around two fingers, pull the tag end, and the hook would be secured, fast and clean.

But he hadn't fished for many years and had forgotten even his most masterful techniques. After fumbling for ages, he almost ended up tying his own fingers together. He had no choice but to resort to the most basic, clumsy method, like threading a needle.

Suddenly, a cool voice came from behind him.

"Is that not how he used to tie it?"

He turned around to find that Lu Qinglian had walked up behind him at some point. The girl was bent over, her hands resting on her knees, her exquisite face devoid of expression.

"Of course not. That's a total beginner's knot. He thinks only a complete rookie would tie it like that," Qingyi replied casually.

Thanks so much for holding me in such high regard.

This idiot will gladly wear that hat.

"Then it's perfect. You can teach me that method." Lu Qinglian said to him.

Then, she naturally came and sat down beside Zhang Shutong, as if taking it for granted that he would teach her. That stool had originally been Ruoping's.

If you were to say she was interested, her eyes and expression had nothing to do with the word "interest." Yet if you were to say she wasn't, she blinked and studied the fishhook in his hands.

Zhang Shutong had no choice but to politely refuse:

"I'm busy. Wait for Du Kang to come over."

Not only had he not even figured it out himself yet, but this was clearly not his role to play in this particular drama.

"But he's still talking with Classmate Feng Ruoping."

"...You can wait until they're finished."

"Do you hate me?" she asked, confused.

"No, I'm just used to being alone."

Is this girl a natural airhead or what?

"Then do you like me?" she asked out of the blue.

"......"

Zhang Shutong was caught completely off guard.

He couldn't help but glance up at Lu Qinglian. She sat upright on the stool, her expression unchanged, her skin appearing even fairer under the moonlight as she met his gaze.

"I thought boys liked girls in one of two ways. The first is, they're always looking for an excuse to talk to you. The second is, they deliberately ignore you to get your attention. Are you the difficult type?"

As she finished, she actually frowned, as if she were genuinely treating it as a research question.

"Neither," Zhang Shutong said, looking down to continue tying his line.

"I don't like you, and I don't dislike you. I'm just... well, I'm a pretty aloof person. You'll have to understand."

This was the first time anyone had ever made him claim the "aloof" label for himself. Zhang Shutong suddenly decided that maybe being aloof wasn't such a bad thing after all.

He thought that would be the end of it, but then Lu Qinglian spoke again.

"But you just lent me your gloves."

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Zhang Shutong sighed.

Aren't you a shrine keeper, girl? A shrine keeper should be up on the mountain. What are you doing down here by the lake picking a fight with me?

"I don't mean anything by it. Why can't you teach me how to fish?" Lu Qinglian asked, perplexed.

She had almond-shaped eyes that were full of a cool indifference when she was silent. But whenever she was confused, the corners would turn down just slightly, like an ice sculpture beginning to melt. Zhang Shutong stole a glance and felt her name suited her well; she truly had a delicate beauty that would stir feelings of pity in anyone.

But with her putting it that way, it made Zhang Shutong seem like the strange one.

Okay, so he was being a little strange, but he had his reasons.

Teaching her to fish shouldn't have been a big deal, but the best friend who was nursing a crush on her was standing right there. Zhang Shutong could still remember Du Kang's heartbroken face eight years from now.

It wasn't that he felt obligated to play matchmaker now that he was back in time. Du Kang would be thrilled, of course, but the girl might not feel the same way. His policy on these matters was to let nature take its course.

But Zhang Shutong had always believed that for a guy who loves to fish, going night fishing with a girl you like was the height of romance: the moon overhead, the evening breeze drifting by, the reeds swaying, the two of you sharing a single fishing rod still warm from your hands...

Others might not have agreed, and he'd certainly never met a girl who was any good at fishing, but that was his ideal of romance. So even if he wasn't going to be a matchmaker, he didn't want to be a third wheel and spoil the atmosphere.

But on second thought, Du Kang would have to come over sooner or later. Rather than waste time dithering with Lu Qinglian, it would be better to just teach her and get it over with.

So Zhang Shutong agreed.

"Alright, I'll show you how it's done once. Watch closely..."

Lu Qinglian watched without blinking.

He went through the motions once without tightening the knot, then shook the line loose and handed the whole rod to her.

"Use your phone... right, you don't have one." Zhang Shutong pulled out his own.

"I'll hold the light for you. Go on, give it a try."

The flashlight illuminated the girl's hands. Seeing the small cuts on her fingers, Zhang Shutong said with a sigh:

"You won't be able to tie it with your hands like that."

"It's fine."

With that, she delicately pinched the fishing line between her fingernails.

This is the difference between girls and boys, he mused.

He didn't have long nails, so he naturally used the pads of his fingers to hold the line; it had never occurred to him that you could do it this way.

Lu Qinglian was a quick study; she had it down perfectly after just one demonstration. Looking at her hands, which had clearly seen their share of labor, Zhang Shutong figured she must have experience mending clothes, otherwise she couldn't have been so deft.

The hook and line were remarkably pliant in her hands, like vines animated by a magician. They seemed to have a life of their own, wrapping around the hook perfectly. She succeeded on her first attempt. Lu Qinglian thanked him politely, and Zhang Shutong nodded, then showed her how to bait the hook.

"That's excellent for a first try. Next, you should pick a spot to cast, preferably by standing up, and then..."

But before he could finish, the girl twisted at her waist and, still seated, flicked the rod out. The motion was light, yet powerful and full of grace.

Only then did Lu Qinglian add:

"I've already learned how to cast."

"Even better."

Zhang Shutong let out a sigh of relief.

Finally, I can get some peace.

He was just about to re-experience a cherished childhood pastime when he looked down and realized his hands were empty.

His fishing rod was in Lu Qinglian's hands.

The girl held a posture similar to the one in the photograph, her back straight as she stared intently at the surface of the water.

"That's my rod..." he began, but the girl, her eyes still fixed on the water, raised a finger to her lips and shushed him. Just then, the bobber dipped. Lu Qinglian lifted the rod, and a fish the size of her palm jumped into the air.

Zhang Shutong stared, stunned.

Has it even been thirty seconds since she cast the line?

For real?

He had never been this good, even at his peak. No, this was beyond skill—it was sheer luck. He watched as Lu Qinglian removed the fish, threw it in the bucket, and, without any prompting, re-baited the hook. With another twist of her waist, she cast the line out again, sending ripples across the water.

The entire sequence of movements was as smooth as flowing water.

"You've fished before?"

"First time."

"Oh, beginner's luck."

"What does that mean?"

"It's a way to let beginners fully experience the fun of doing something..."

"Wait."

Before he finished speaking, she shushed him again. The bobber danced, and she had another fish. This one was smaller, but the rate at which she was catching them was completely unnatural.

Even a penguin catching fish in the water wouldn't be this fast.

"What were you saying?" Lu Qinglian asked, casting her line again with a flick of her wrist, her high ponytail swinging with the motion. He had to admit, when she was serious, she was actually kind of cool, like a queen reigning over this stretch of water.

"...Nothing. You go ahead and fish."

Zhang Shutong suddenly lost his enthusiasm. He had come here to fish, but now he felt as if the water were full of Du Kangs.

Fortunately, the third fish didn't come as quickly as the first two.

The two of them watched the water, one with a focused expression, the other yawning from boredom.

"What did you come here for today?" Zhang Shutong asked casually, propping his chin on his hand.

"To fish," Lu Qinglian replied without batting an eye.

"Mhm... so perfunctory."

Not that he was overly concerned. She was different from Gu Qiumian; at the very least, she would live safely through the next eight years and required none of his attention.

Besides, if he sat next to her any longer, his very Dao heart would be shaken; he feared it would cast an indelible shadow upon his cherished pursuit of fishing.

He was just about to call Du Kang or Ruoping over to trade spots and had just pushed himself off the stool when he heard Lu Qinglian say indifferently:

"Haven't you been brushing me off this whole time too, Zhang Shutong?"

Zhang Shutong instinctively froze.

He didn't know why, but when she spoke, he could have sworn he heard a hint of severity in her voice. Though her tone was still even, that natural airhead vibe had completely vanished, as if a mask had suddenly dropped... or more accurately, as if she had transformed from a girl into a queen.

Zhang Shutong knew it was an inopportune thought, but he had seen Lu Qinglian's memorial photograph. In it, the young woman's brow was slightly furrowed, her eyes as placid as an old well, sealed in black and white. She was just as beautiful as she was now, but with an aura completely different from her student days—an aura just like the one she was giving off at this very moment.

"If you have nothing more to say, then sit down and listen to me."

The girl's tone was calm.

"First, there is something you need to apologize to me for."

Zhang Shutong was a bit surprised, but it was indeed his blunder, so there was nothing to argue about.

"My bad, I'm sorry. I'll figure out a way to smooth things over in the next day or two."

"Not that."

To his surprise, she shook her head, her own expression as blank as the gloomy surface of the water she stared at.

"I'm talking about how you shouldn't keep giving me the runaround for your friend's sake. It's very rude."

"Are you referring to..."

"Don't play dumb." She seemed to have instantly taken control of the conversation, continuing in a tone that brooked no argument.

"And another thing. It would be best if you didn't try to play matchmaker for us. It might be making a mountain out of a molehill, but I believe it's better to get this out in the open early."

Zhang Shutong stood there, stunned, not knowing what to say.

He started trying to remember when Du Kang had been formally rejected by Lu Qinglian. He had confessed his feelings once, but that had been after their junior high graduation. He had lamented about how pathetic it was to like a girl for four years without saying anything, so they had all hyped him up.

As a result, Du Kang had gone to the Shrine first thing in the morning and returned at noon looking completely wilted.

But why had it happened so much earlier this time?

He considered the various influences—maybe it was those cartons of student milk, or maybe it was this fishing trip...

As luck would have it, Ruoping finally let Du Kang go, and the boy immediately ran over.

"Classmate Lu, um, about earlier..." he stammered for a good while before finally asking, "Do you... need me to teach you how to fish?"

"Thank you, but he's already taught me," the girl replied, politely declining.

"Well, if there's anything you don't understand..."

But then Lu Qinglian added, "I can just ask Classmate Zhang Shutong."

Du Kang tried to struggle for a moment longer, but was dragged away by the collar by Ruoping.

It couldn't be that serious, could it? Don't tell me that on the way here just now, Du Kang gave in to his primal urges and made the girl furious?

But he knew Du Kang's character. If the guy actually had the nerve to pull something like that, he wouldn't have been carrying this unrequited crush for so many years. What on earth could have happened during that walk to make Lu Qinglian bring this up all of a sudden?

He looked at Du Kang, then at Lu Qinglian, only to find Lu Qinglian staring right at him.

To be honest, the atmosphere had grown a little tense. Just then, Ruoping ran over again, carrying a large plastic bag.

"C'mon, c'mon, have some crackers. You guys take a break from fishing..."

Then, using this as a cover, she pulled Zhang Shutong over and whispered in his ear:

"I just found out they didn't come back together."

"What?"

"Du Kang didn't actually go with her. I was just asking. He said he caught up to her, but she didn't let him walk with her..."

"Then how did they...?"

"You boys are really something else. He was on his way back, but then he realized there wouldn't be a stool for the extra person, so he ran all the way to the 'base' to get one. Honestly... sigh."

Ruoping trailed off.

"Then they happened to meet on his way back, which is why we thought they came together. Anyway, you keep your mouth shut too for a bit. Let's just eat and plug up our mouths..."

Ruoping hadn't heard his conversation with Lu Qinglian at all, but a girl's intuition is a powerful thing. She simply assumed Du Kang's shameless persistence had annoyed the other girl and had rushed in to mediate.

Zhang Shutong could understand Ruoping's actions, but he had no idea what Lu Qinglian was playing at. He realized he'd gotten it all wrong. Was this the "important matter" she'd wanted to discuss after school?

Okay, in a sense, them being a nuisance is a pretty important issue.

So they should all just eat crackers. Eating crackers required no brainpower; they were sweet and crispy, and you could just chew and pretend nothing was happening. He was just about to take one when Qingyi held out a hand to stop him, taking off his earmuffs.

"You guys wait a second."

Dude, where did you just pop out from?

But both Zhang Shutong and Feng Ruoping assumed he was about to offer some profound opinion and prepared to listen respectfully. Instead, he pulled a pack of compressed biscuits from his pocket and smiled.

"When you're fishing, of course you have to eat these."

"Meng Qingyi, has your brain been compressed too?" Ruoping was dumbfounded.

"What?" Qingyi asked, confused. "To get the proper fishing experience, you have to eat compressed biscuits. Who eats Oreos? Right, Shutong?"

With you on my left and you on my right, I'm the one who's about to become an Oreo.

He simply turned to Lu Qinglian. "Which one do you want to eat?"

"What's an Oreo?" the girl asked placidly after a moment's thought.

Now Zhang Shutong was confused too.

Why are you playing the innocent airhead all of a sudden? What happened to that queenly demeanor from before?

But it turned out she really had never seen an Oreo before. She thanked Ruoping, tore open the package, and took out a chocolate sandwich cookie, studying it as she asked Zhang Shutong:

"How are you supposed to eat this?"

How else do you eat it? But more than that, he was concerned with what she had brought up before.

"When you said you had something to talk to me about after school, did you mean this?"

"For now, you can think of it that way," she said, enunciating each word.

To be honest, Zhang Shutong didn't understand what "for now" was supposed to mean. Was that a yes or a no?

But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. His tone grew more solemn, and after a moment, he said:

"...I'm sorry. I was being presumptuous. It won't happen again."

He suddenly realized Lu Qinglian was a much more complex person than he'd imagined. His old impression of her was of an ice-cold, mysterious girl who worked at the mountain shrine. But that mystery meant his perception of her was always shrouded in fog; she was like a statue concealed in the mist.

Then he had started to think that she wasn't aloof so much as a natural airhead. But now he realized she was neither. She wasn't dumb; she just chose not to call him out on it. She knew exactly what he was doing, clear as day.

Paradoxically, this didn't make her feel more distant. Instead, it suddenly made her feel more human. She was still wearing the cyan robe, but she no longer seemed like some celestial being floating above the clouds.

"I'm not angry, just a bit bothered," Lu Qinglian said, her voice still that same cool, level tone.

"So this O-whatever... how do you eat it?"

Zhang Shutong suddenly looked at her and smiled.

"How else? You twist it, lick it, then you dunk it.”