Sun Chaoshu was exceptionally excited along the way, jumping around like a monkey, and Ye Hao smiled knowingly when he saw him. He thought of the children of later generations, who from elementary school on were burdened with various extracurricular classes, leaving them with very little time for themselves.
Compared to later generations, the children of this era truly experienced childhood.
Chatting and laughing all the way, the two soon arrived at the Hucheng River. Perhaps because it was morning, there were even more fishermen by the river than yesterday; at a glance, the banks were full of them. Ye Hao was also startled, not expecting so many fishermen in this era.
Since the two were there to catch fish, they felt it would be inappropriate to enter the water right next to where others were fishing, so they walked towards a less crowded area.
Upon reaching a less crowded spot, the two prepared to enter the water to catch fish. Sun Chaoshu suddenly slapped his forehead, "Oh no, I forgot to bring a wooden stick. We can't possibly go down there empty-handed, can we?"
"I thought it was a big deal. Look over there, just find a random wooden stick in the woods," Ye Hao said, pointing to a patch of woods not far away.
With that, the two went into the woods and found two suitable wooden sticks.
Sun Chaoshu waved the wooden stick wildly, saying as he danced, "Brother Hao, do I look like Sun Wukong?" Ye Hao's face was full of black lines, and he quickly walked a few steps away, indicating he didn't know him.
Upon reaching the riverbank, Ye Hao was the first to take off his shoes and walk into the river. Sun Chaoshu also found a spot not far from Ye Hao to enter the water. As soon as he entered, Sun Chaoshu let out a wail, "Holy cow, I'm freezing to death! This water is too cold!"
"Why are you wailing? It's not the middle of summer, so it's normal for the water to be a bit cool. Look at your lack of backbone, a grown man, can't even stand this little cold. You should go back up, don't scare my fish away."
"No, I'm not going up. It's just my first time entering the water in spring, so it was a bit of a surprise. How could I not endure this water temperature? You're underestimating me too much."
"You're just being stubborn. Alright, from now on, be quiet, don't scare the fish away." Ye Hao told Sun Chaoshu to be silent.
The two stood motionless in the middle of the river, eyes scanning around, not missing any movement passing by. Since Sun Chaoshu was upstream, he soon saw a palm-sized fish swim over.
Sun Chaoshu spotted the fish immediately and became excited, shouting, "Fish are coming! Fish are coming!" His shout didn't affect Ye Hao, but it scared the fish. The fish, which had been swimming leisurely, heard the sound, turned, accelerated, and instantly vanished from Sun Chaoshu's sight.
Seeing the fish swim away, Sun Chaoshu was stunned. What the heck? He had endured the icy water and stood there for so long, and just when he saw a fish, it ran away like that.
"I say, Chao Shu, are you stupid? Didn't I tell you to be quiet? Why did you shout when you saw the fish? With such a loud voice, even a deaf fish would be scared away by you." Ye Hao was speechless; Sun Chaoshu's personality was too erratic.
"Oh, Brother Hao, I was just excited! I definitely won't shout next time," Sun Chaoshu said sheepishly.
The two continued to wait in the river for fish, like waiting by a river for a rabbit. Whether it was because Sun Chaoshu's two shouts scared the fish away, or because there were too few fish in the river, the two waited for a long time and didn't see a single fish swim by.
Ye Hao was afraid Sun Chaoshu would catch a cold, so he decided to just swing his stick a couple of times, take out two fish from his space, and then go home.
Just then, Sun Chaoshu suddenly swung his stick down with a 'bang', splashing water everywhere. Then he fumbled around for a long time but couldn't find anything. "What the heck? I clearly hit a fish, but why isn't it floating?" Sun Chaoshu complained.
Ye Hao thought to himself, 'It's not that easy to hit them; I was just making it up. I only saw someone try this online in later generations.' But he still said, "It's okay, Chao Shu, it's your first time. If you try a few more times, you'll definitely hit one. Look, two fish have already swum past your side, and I haven't even seen one yet."
Hearing this, Sun Chaoshu also felt it was true. Sun Chaoshu confidently said, "Brother Hao, let's have a competition today to see who catches more fish. I can definitely beat you."
"A competition it is! Do you think I'm afraid of you?"
Although he said he wasn't afraid, Ye Hao knew that without cheating, he might not necessarily win against Sun Chaoshu. After all, their positions were set: fish coming downstream would mostly be intercepted by Sun Chaoshu. As for fish swimming upstream, they were pitifully few; Ye Hao hadn't seen a single one swim upstream after standing there for so long.
Ye Hao was not in a hurry; he let Sun Chaoshu play first, and then, depending on the situation, he would just take out two fish from his space.
Thus, the two stayed in the river until noon. Of course, they didn't constantly soak in the water, as even an iron man couldn't endure that. They would stay in the river for a while and then go ashore to rest.
And surprisingly, Sun Chaoshu had some skill; in one morning, he caught three palm-sized fish. When he caught the first fish, he was incredibly excited, jumping up and down, feeling as if Sun Wukong had become the Handsome Monkey King on Flower Fruit Mountain.
There shouldn't be any big fish in this river. Ye Hao had been here all morning, and the biggest fish he saw with his mind's eye was about a jin. There were already many fish in his space, so Ye Hao didn't intend to collect any more fish from the Hucheng River into his space.
Ye Hao also casually swung his stick a few times. Since Ye Hao didn't want the fish from the river, he truly swung casually and didn't hit a single fish.
However, before noon, Ye Hao still pretended to swing his stick twice and smoothly pulled out two fish from his space: a grass carp and a crucian carp, even larger than yesterday's.
When these two fish were brought ashore, they immediately caused a sensation. Many curious people were already watching the two fishing by the river, and now seeing Ye Hao catch two such large fish, the crowd instantly erupted, "My goodness, such big fish!" and "I've been fishing by the river for so long, and I only caught a fish this big a few years ago." Exclamations filled the crowd.
Sun Chaoshu also rushed ashore, equally shocked, "Brother Hao, you're amazing! One of yours is worth three of mine, no, one is heavier than three of mine!"
"Alright, it's almost mealtime, let's head back. Don't let Auntie Wang worry." With that, Ye Hao packed up and walked out of the crowd. Sun Chaoshu also quickly followed.
A few quick-witted onlookers, seeing the two walk away, quickly took off their shoes, picked up the wooden sticks the two had just discarded, and went into the water. They thought they could also catch a few fish to take home for a meal. However, it was impossible for them to catch fish as big as Ye Hao's two; at most, they would catch a few palm-sized ones.
After this day, a group of new fishermen appeared in the Hucheng River, and Ye Hao and his companion were credited with introducing a new method of catching fish to them.
On the way back, Sun Chaoshu was still restless, boasting all the way about how amazing he was, as if he were Sun Wukong reincarnated, wielding the Ruyi Jingu Bang with great power, directly causing a ruckus in the Dragon Palace of the Hucheng River in the capital, beating the Dragon King until he knelt and begged for mercy, finally having to offer a few fish that had not yet transformed into dragons as compensation before letting the old Dragon King go. Ye Hao estimated that this guy was having a bout of chuunibyou. However, today's events would definitely become Sun Chaoshu's bragging rights among his friends in the future.