Time flowed by, and seven days passed in the blink of an eye.
It was a fine, sunny day.
Fang Ergou sat by the river, holding a five-meter-long fishing rod.
This fishing rod was a full twice as long and thick as Fang Yue's.
This was nothing like Fang Yue's former, technologically advanced world. There, as long as you were willing to spend the money, you could use all sorts of supramolecular materials to make a fishing rod that was sturdy, flexible, and lightweight.
But even in that era, Fang Yue, as a veteran angler, had rarely seen anyone use a fishing rod over five meters long.
After all, with a rod that long, let alone its weight, the sheer length made it incredibly difficult to handle and would actually hinder one's performance.
In this world, however, the best and most suitable material available was bamboo.
A five-meter bamboo pole weighed over twenty pounds on its own.
An ordinary person would feel the strain just from holding it for a short time.
And here was Fang Ergou, holding it with just one hand. Factoring in the leverage, he made it look completely effortless.
'The strength in Fang Ergou's one hand has to be over two hundred pounds!!!'
Witnessing this, Fang Yue couldn't help but marvel.
'I never would have guessed. I really couldn't tell just by looking at him.'
'Fang Ergou is two or three years younger than me, right? Is he twelve, or was it thirteen?'
'What an absolute beast!'
Over the past few days, as his Talent steadily improved and his fishing technique grew more refined, a sliver of arrogance had begun to form in Fang Yue's heart.
Now, it vanished in an instant.
This, however, made him even more certain of one thing.
'Fang Hu must know real kung fu!'
'Otherwise, even if Fang Ergou is bigger and stronger than me, there's no way he could possess such immense strength.'
As this thought crossed his mind, a fervent glint appeared in Fang Yue's eyes as he looked at the young man beside him.
"Zhi, why aren't the fish biting yet?"
Fang Ergou sounded impatient, scratching his head with his free hand as if a few fleas were crawling around in his hair.
Seeing this, the shock Fang Yue felt eased a little.
'This freak of nature, Fang Ergou, is finally acting normal.'
'This is how a village kid is supposed to act.'
"The most important part of fishing is your mindset. You have to endure the quiet and embrace the solitude. As the saying goes: 'An old man in a lone boat and straw cape, fishing by himself in the cold Jiang Xue.'"
"How long has it been, and you're already losing patience?
When I first started learning, it took me quite a while to catch my first fish..."
Fang Yue stood with his hands clasped behind his back, taking on the air of a tireless, pontificating old master.
"So, Zhi, how long did it take you?" Fang Ergou asked eagerly.
"Around... let's say one hour," Fang Yue said after a quick mental calculation.
One hour here was the equivalent of two full hours.
Right.
'That's about how long it took me to catch my first fish when I was learning in my past life.'
'Although, for a long time after that, it took me even longer to catch my next fish.'
"Whoa, Zhi, you're amazing!"
Fang Ergou froze for a moment, and then his face—dark, broad, and almost wider than Fang Yue's waist—seemed to turn to stone.
His mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg inside as he stared at Fang Yue, his face a mask of shock.
After all, he'd been fishing for how long now? Almost two hours.
Perhaps Fang Ergou's luck had finally turned, because just as they were speaking...
...the fishing rod in his hand dipped slightly.
"You've got a bite! Do what I taught you. Don't rush it..."
Seeing this, Fang Yue lowered his voice and began walking Fang Ergou through the technique he had already explained a dozen times over.
'In fact, judging by the way the rod was bending, the fish on the hook probably wasn't very big.'
'At a time like this, even just yanking the rod back had a high chance of landing the fish.'
But in Fang Ergou's hands...
...things still went wrong. The fishing rod began to shudder and thrash.
Fang Ergou clearly panicked and put his back into it, yanking the rod with immense force.
The five-meter bamboo pole sliced through the air.
It let out a piercing WHOOSH.
~~~~~~
A moment later, Fang Ergou stared at the small grass carp on his hook, which wasn't even as long as his palm, and couldn't help but exclaim:
"Zhi, I caught one! I really caught one!"
Fang Ergou had been worried he would fail again, but this time, he'd actually succeeded.
He'd finally learned how to fish!
In reality, the fish was so small that he had managed to land it despite his fumbling.
After seven days of practicing for one hour a day, Fang Ergou had finally caught a fish.
This just went to show that fishing was by no means easy.
After all, the fishing equipment of this era was far too primitive.
When the tools were poor, you had to rely on technique to make up for it.
"Mm, not bad. Not bad at all. Very good."
'At this moment,' Fang Yue thought, 'I should be some white-bearded old master, watching my disciple catch a fish after following my teachings.'
'I should be stroking a non-existent long beard, smiling as I encourage the next generation.'
Teaching a student and watching them succeed was a deeply fulfilling experience.
After getting his emotions in check, Fang Ergou, though still visibly excited, didn't strike while the iron was hot and continue fishing.
Instead, he picked up his bow and arrows from nearby, walked over to Fang Yue, and said in his deep, rumbling voice:
"Zhi, now it's my turn to teach you archery."
At this moment, Fang Ergou mimicked what must have been his father's expression—impassive, stern, and serious.
But he was born with such a simple, good-natured face.
The more he tried to look serious, the more incongruous it appeared.
"My dad said that to learn archery, you first have to train your strength. Only when you've built up enough strength can you start learning to shoot a bow."
"Zhi, look, my bow is a Three-Stone Bow. To draw it, you have to... you have to lift this rock—oh, not that one, this one—over your head. And, and then hold it for thirty breaths."
As he spoke, Fang Ergou went to the side, patting one rock and then giving another a little lift.
He quickly found a rock the size of a water bucket, hoisted it up, and lifted it clean over his head to demonstrate for Fang Yue.
"..."
Fang Yue's eyelid twitched uncontrollably.
'That rock is several times larger than the wooden bucket at my house. It has to weigh over three hundred pounds, right?'
'And he just lifted it like that?'
"Zhi, you give it a try."
The thirty breaths passed quickly.
Fang Ergou set the rock down, not even red in the face or short of breath. Clearly, his strength was far greater than three hundred pounds.
'Just lift rocks like this?'
Fang Yue was skeptical. 'Can you really build strength just by lifting rocks?'
'Like weightlifting?'
'Can training like this really give you such incredible strength? Is that even scientific?'
"That's what my dad said when he was teaching me. It has to be right. As long as you keep lifting rocks, your strength will grow."
Fang Ergou nodded, speaking with a wide, simple-hearted grin.