Addicted: Book One - The Inquietude of Youth (1-44)

Chapter 36: Just for one fish!

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When Gu Hai finally put down his phone, Bai Luo Yin had disappeared from his sight. He stood up to search around the disclosed area and after a moment, he noticed a silhouette from across the river. Gu Hai immediately shouted in the direction of the person that the silhouette belonged to.

"Why did you go that far?"

Bai Luo Yin pretended not to hear him.

"I turned off my phone already." Gu Hai explained.

Bai Luo Yin was too lazy to even look at Gu Hai.

"Say, is it interesting to fish by yourself?"

"......"

Bai Luo Yin simply kept his gaze fixed at his own float without uttering a single word. Suddenly, the float moved and Bai Luo Yin rapidly reeled in the fishing line. From the hook at the end of the fishing line hung a carp with around the length of ten centimeters.

There was a bucket beside Bai Luo Yin, which he tossed the fish into and then, he continued to throw the float back into the water.

During the half an hour when Gu Hai didn't disturb him, Bai Luo Yin had managed to catch between four to five fishes. In the beginning, he had a composed expression, but he finally smiled a bit. He glanced to his side where Gu Hai was sitting and noticed that there was only water inside his bucket. Not even a tiny little shrimp could be seen within it. There was no response from Gu Hai as he looked at him either.

Once Gu Hai put away his fishing rod on the ground, he slowly made his way towards Bai Luo Yin, who was completely focused on his float. The float went up and down a few times and he came to the conclusion that a big fish must have swallowed the bait.

Gu Hai had already arrived at Bai Luo Yin's side but Bai Luo Yin clearly didn't notice him. Glancing down into Bai Luo Yin's bucket, observing all of the fish fumbling around within it, he extended his hand towards Bai Luo Yin who was still engrossed in staring at the float. However, Bai Luo Yin suddenly raised his fishing rod in a fierce manner and reeled in the fishing line. There was a really big fish at the end of the line and it appeared to weigh around 3 to 4 pounds.

Upon seeing the size of the fish, Gu Hai hit Bai Luo Yin's shoulder in a friendly fashion, "You're really skilled! You've caught a lot of fish."

Gu Hai's sudden movement shocked Bai Luo Yin, who was intensely focused, which made him shudder a little and because of that, his fishing rod abruptly plummeted onto the grass. Anxiously picking up the fishing rod, Bai Luo Yin noticed that the fish along with the bait were no longer there.

One can clearly imagine the expression tainting Bai Luo Yin's face.

"I'm not fishing anymore."

Bai Luo Yin collected his fishing rod, grabbed the bucket and stood up with the intention to leave. Just as he was about to take a step forward, Gu Hai had already blocked his path.

"Have I annoyed you?"

"I just don't want to fish anymore. It's boring."

Pushing Gu Hai out of his way with one arm, Bai Luo Yin managed to take two steps. But before he could make it any further, he heard the sound of splashing water behind him.

Bai Luo Yin's mind stilled, a somewhat confused expression plastered across his features, I didn't use too much strength, right? How did he even fall into the river?

Gu Hai certainly wasn't an expert at fishing but he was capable of catching a fish with his bare hands. Ever since he was ten years old, he had been participating in the army's field survival training. Since then, he had learned how to catch fish without any equipment. As long as he could see the fish, no matter its size, it wouldn't be able to escape from his grasp.

Sharply fixing his gaze on the fish that was swimming around his legs, he quietly waited for a while before moving to another spot and then, he continued to wait patiently once more. Gu Hai fumbled around in such a way that he quickly reached the middle of the river where the water level was just below his neck.

"Come up here!" Bai Luo Yin shouted, "Don't be ridiculous! The water is really cold!"

Seeing the potential target, Gu Hai used both of his hands to quickly grab a firm hold around the fish. While doing so, he felt a surge of ice-cold slipperiness along his fingers that spread throughout his entire body.

I finally caught you, he thought proudly.

Swimming forward, Gu Hai arrived at the spot where the water was more shallow and extended his hands to show Bai Luo Yin the fish he had caught, "Is this the one?"

At that moment, Bai Luo Yin realized that Gu Hai had gone down the river just to catch the fish that he had lost earlier.

"Yes, it's this one."

Bai Luo Yin smiled without even trying to conceal it as he looked at the fish in Gu Hai's hands. The autumn sun shining upon Bai Luo Yin's face illuminated his charming features. He looked genuinely pleased and carefree. Gu Hai could only look at him in silent admiration. In that fleeting moment, his heart suddenly lost its balance and skipped a beat.

The smile on Bai Luo Yin's lips disappeared in no time.

"You... are you having leg cramps?"

Gu Hai realized that his legs were still deep in the water.

Once back on shore, both of them carried the buckets filled with fish while walking home side by side. When Gu Hai saw that Bai Luo Yin was in high spirits, he couldn't help but poke at his forehead.

"You were in such a bad mood just because of one fish. If I hadn't caught that fish for you, you probably wouldn't have looked at me the next time we met."

Uttering those words with a wide smile painted across his lips, half-serious and half-joking, Gu Hai himself didn't understand why he had gone into the water without a second thought. Just like the previous night, as he had lain on his bed thinking about it over and over again, he still couldn't comprehend why he had agreed to go fishing with Bai Luo Yin.

Bai Luo Yin replied with a smile, "It wasn't like that. Since we came here to fish, I thought we should do it wholeheartedly. What's the point if you're always on the phone?"

Stepping up to defend himself, Gu Hai retorted, "Didn't I turn off my phone after that?"

Bai Luo Yin didn't answer and his facial expression didn't give any of his emotions away either.

Gu Hai wanted to show his sincerity so he reached into his pocket, took out his phone and waved it in front of Bai Luo Yin.

"See? Isn't it turned off?"

As Gu Hai waved the phone in front of his face, Bai Luo Yin saw countless water droplets dripping from it and soon enough, so did Gu Hai.

Then he remembered something; he had completely forgotten to take out his phone from his pocket before going down into the river.