The Qian Family's contingent left in a great procession, but the excitement in the marketplace hadn't faded. Something flickered in the eyes of the onlookers—the hope of changing their fate.
Su Yu blended into the crowd, but his mind was perfectly clear.
The Qian Family's assessment was destined to be a fierce competition. The fishermen from Qingxi Town and the dozens of surrounding villages would not let this opportunity slip by.
But he was still confident!
By the time he returned home, the sky was already dark.
He washed the rice and started a fire.
Before long, the long-missed aroma of rice filled the small, humble house.
He then carefully peeled two salted duck eggs. The bright red, oily yolks looked incredibly appetizing.
A large mouthful of soft, fluffy rice paired with a chopstick-full of the oily salted yolk sent a wave of satisfaction down his throat and into the pit of his stomach.
Such is life. Yesterday, he was eating hard, dry rye cakes; today, it was soft rice and oily duck eggs. As long as there was progress, there was motivation.
After his meal, Su Yu meticulously inspected his fishing net by the moonlight, mending a few small tears before turning in early.
「The next day, at the crack of dawn.」
Su Yu rose early. He brushed his teeth with a boar-bristle brush dipped in some soapbean powder, then grabbed his rye cakes and water and headed for the Black Water River.
The path was already bustling with people. Fishermen with nets and baskets on their backs hurried along with grim determination, all clearly heading for the Qian Family's assessment.
By the time he reached the banks of the Black Water River, the sky had completely brightened. Su Yu breathed a sigh of relief. 'Thinking back on the strange things he had encountered at night was still enough to make his skin crawl.'
In the distance, golden sunlight pierced through the morning mist, scattering across the vast Black Water River and kicking up a golden haze. A few sampans sailed against the morning sun, breaking through the waves as they headed for the deeper parts of the river.
Su Yu, however, had no boat and could only search for opportunities along the shore.
Fortunately, the Black Water River was immense. Seen from the sky, its banks snaked like a giant serpent toward the distant horizon, surrounded by dense forests and high mountains. Even in the outer areas, there was no telling where precious herbs and rare fish might be hidden.
After walking for an hour, Su Yu arrived at a deserted, sheltered cove.
The place was thick with reeds, and the water was calm. Seeing the dense bubbles rising to the surface, he cast his net without hesitation.
SPLASH!
Water sprayed everywhere. The net tightened instantly as he hauled it in. Under the sunlight, dozens of plump black carp and common carp thrashed wildly in the net, their scales reflecting the dazzling light.
...
「Time flew by, and the sun began its descent.」
Su Yu's fish basket was once again filled to the brim.
'Over fifty jin...' he estimated, hefting the basket.
'Everyone's been giving it their all for the assessment these past two days, so the catches are bound to be much larger than usual.'
'Still, fifty jin is a bit too much.'
Su Yu had no intention of turning in his entire catch to compete for first place.
As the old saying goes, the tree that rises above the forest will be felled by the wind.
'My strength is too low right now. Rather than fight for some empty title, it's better to take the middle path.'
So he found a spot with soft, wet mud by the bank, dug a small pool, and placed a few of the larger carp and black carp inside to keep them alive.
After taking care of that, he glanced at the dense forest in the distance. 'This place isn't very safe. The thrashing of the fish at night might attract some wild beast.'
'The best way to preserve the extra catch would be to make dried fish, but salt is just too expensive. Even coarse salt costs forty to fifty cents, so it's not worth it at all.'
「Evening, at the entrance to the market.」
"Twenty cents!"
A member of the Water Snake Gang glanced sideways at the fish basket, demanding an exorbitant price.
Su Yu cursed inwardly. 'These bloodsuckers are taking advantage of the situation to fleece us again.'
He had no choice but to fork over twenty cents to enter.
A long line had already formed in front of the Qian Family's fish collection point.
Su Yu observed quietly. Most fishermen had catches of around ten-odd jin. The occasional person with over twenty jin was already beaming with joy.
'It's not far off from my estimate. It seems the real competition is still the few families who own boats.'
Just as he was thinking this, the crowd suddenly erupted in a commotion.
A dark-skinned young man with an arrogant expression strode over, the fishing net on his back bulging so much it nearly bent him over.
"It's Bai Shun! The Black Loach of Bailu Village!"
"That kid basically grew up in the water. He's an amazing swimmer."
"With a catch that big, it looks like he's a shoo-in for first place this time!"
The Qian Family Steward directed his men to weigh the catch, then nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad! Sixty-nine jin! First place for now!"
After waiting a while longer, Su Yu timed his move and went forward to register.
"Qingxi Village, Su Yu, forty jin, third place."
Su Yu remained calm. He accepted the one hundred and sixty cents and took the opportunity to ask, "Sir, may I ask about the weights for second and fourth place?"
Seeing his calm and polite demeanor, the Steward stroked his beard and nodded. "There's no harm in telling you. The one in second place only caught a little over thirty jin, but he got lucky and caught three White-Scaled Fish, which brought his total equivalent to forty-five jin. As for fourth place, that was twenty-nine jin, quite a bit less than you."
"Thank you." Su Yu cupped his fists in thanks and turned to leave.
Forty jin, firmly in third place.
'This rank is inconspicuous, yet it secures a spot in the top five. It perfectly matches my expectations.'
In the crowd, Bai Shun, who hadn't left yet, noticed Su Yu.
'Forty jin? Qingxi Village has someone like that?' He narrowed his eyes slightly, his cold, arrogant gaze lingering on Su Yu's back for a moment before he let out a dismissive scoff, revealing a set of pearly white teeth.
...
On the second day, Su Yu's luck was off the charts.
With a single cast of his net, he actually caught two White-Scaled Fish!
This fish was snow-white all over, with scales as fine as jade and incredibly delicious meat. It was a hot commodity in the city's restaurants, worth fifteen cents per jin!
Su Yu turned in the larger one. His final catch for the day was thirty-five jin, and he remained in third place.
As for the smaller one, he took it home.
'He remembered his father catching a few in the past, but the family could never bear to eat them. He had been craving a taste for a long time.'
That night, the fish soup in the earthenware pot bubbled away, steaming. Its rich, savory aroma was enough to make one's mouth water.
Su Yu scooped up a spoonful of the milky-white broth and brought it to his lips. An exquisite flavor exploded on his tongue, so rich and mellow it made him feel like he could swallow his own tongue.
In no time at all, he had devoured the entire White-Scaled Fish, which weighed over a jin.
What delighted him even more was the flash of text that appeared before his eyes.
[Breakthrough Point progress +4%]
[Breakthrough Point]: 0 points (Progress 5%)
'It seems this White-Scaled Fish provides much more energy than ordinary food.'
This made him both happy and worried.
He was happy because the Breakthrough Point had increased by 4% in one go, giving him hope of Breaking the Limit again. His current skill at Casting Net for fish was largely thanks to the Traits he'd gained from Breaking Limits.
He was worried because accumulating Breakthrough Points in the future would surely require all sorts of Treasures of Heaven and Earth.
...
「The third day, the final day.」
Su Yu went to the Black Water River early as usual, but his mood was much more relaxed, as he already had over ten jin of fish stored in the pool he'd dug.
He followed the familiar path to the sheltered cove. Just as he was about to get closer, the intermittent sound of human voices drifted on the wind.
'Someone's here?'
Su Yu's heart tightened, and he immediately stopped in his tracks.
Instead of approaching right away, he first hid his fish basket in the woods. Then, crouching low and using the terrain for cover, he crept silently behind an earthen mound.
He peeked over and his pupils instantly contracted!
On the shore not far away, an unmarked sampan was moored. Two men in gray clothes, with green bands tied around their arms, were moving several wooden crates and stacking them in the sheltered cove.
'Green armbands! They're from the Water Snake Gang!'
'What are they doing here?'
'It looks like they've set up a camp by the river.'
'This is trouble!'
'Out here in the desolate wilderness, there's no telling what would happen if they saw me.'
'But even if I'm short a dozen or so jin of fish, my skills are still good enough to get into the Fishing Team.'
In an instant, Su Yu had weighed the pros and cons and decided to sneak away.
However, the sound of the two men's footsteps suddenly grew closer, clearly heading past his earthen mound!
Su Yu quickly scanned the surrounding terrain. Besides the mound, the area was completely exposed. The dense woods where he'd hidden his fishing net were a good hundred zhang away—too far to reach in time.
In a moment of desperation, he steeled himself and slipped into the water.
HISS!
The autumn river water was bone-chillingly cold, like countless steel needles piercing his pores.
Su Yu forced himself to suppress a shiver, not making a single sound as he sank into the water like a stone and swam submerged toward the reed bed several zhang away.
The footsteps stopped at the riverbank.
"This damned thing... are you sure it's fine?" a slightly trembling voice asked.
Hiding in the reed bed, Su Yu held his breath and peeked through a gap in the stalks.
One of the men took a pitch-black wooden box from his coat and carefully opened it a crack.
Then, as if frightened, he immediately snapped the lid shut and stuffed the box into a patch of withered yellow grass by the bank.
"Brother Cao said as long as it doesn't touch water, it'll be fine," the other man whispered reassuringly.