Chapter 183 – The Glory of Landing a Big One Must Be Shared

Once Lin Xi had taught Zhao Xinning how to change her hook, she returned to Xia Xun. She wanted to explain that telling Xia Xun not to freeze the fish hadn’t been a criticism.

Lin Xi didn’t want Xia Xun to be angry. She might not be able to treat Xia Xun as a lover, but Xia Xun was unquestionably a friend worth having.

What Lin Xi didn’t know was that Xia Xun wasn’t angry about being told not to freeze the fish. She was angry because Lin Xi had spent far too much time with that hateful Zhao Xinning!

Lin Xi hadn’t even understood the question, so how could she possibly come up with the right answer?

When Lin Xi spoke to her, Xia Xun deliberately ignored her, making a show of sulking.

“Xia Xun, how about I tell you a cold joke-a real groaner?” Lin Xi had no choice but to deploy her ultimate move: cheering a girl up with a groan-inducing joke.

Xia Xun said nothing.

At last, she spoke. “I don’t want to hear a cold joke. I want to hear you say, ‘I love you’-loud enough for everyone to hear.”

For Lin Xi, that request was even harder than having to come up with a hot joke. “What does that have to do with fishing?”

“Does eating have anything to do with going to school?” Xia Xun countered.

“No,” Lin Xi said.

“You eat, and you also go to school,” Xia Xun said. “Therefore, if you can fish, of course you can also tell me ‘I love you’ at the top of your lungs so everyone hears it.”

Lin Xi had no idea how to answer that.

What kind of logic is that?

Had Xia Xun gotten better and better at spouting nonsense?

Who had corrupted her like this…?

“I… I think I’ll just teach you how to fish.”

Lin Xi chose neither the joke nor Xia Xun’s demand.

And teaching her wasn’t an excuse to run away. They had come here to fish, hadn’t they?

Quit getting sidetracked!

“Fine.” Xia Xun tugged Lin Xi over by the hand. “Then teach me hand over hand too. Take your time and be very thorough.”

“You don’t even have a bite…” Lin Xi muttered. Still, she indulged Xia Xun.

She could treat it as an advance demonstration of how to play a fish.

As she held Xia Xun’s hands, Lin Xi realized they did indeed feel different from Xinning’s. Then it hit her that she was comparing how the hands of two different girls felt-and both of them were her good friends…

Am I kind of a scumbag?

“My hands feel nicer, don’t they?” Xia Xun suddenly leaned close and whispered into Lin Xi’s ear.

Lin Xi jolted.

Xia Xun chuckled. “If you won’t say ‘I love you,’ then I will.”

Then she whispered “I love you” into Lin Xi’s ear.

Xia Xun’s warm breath tickled Lin Xi’s ear.

How had a perfectly normal fishing trip turned into the sort of play meant for couples?

Was this the corruption of human nature or the decay of morality? Stay tuned to-oh, a bite!

“Xia Xun, quit fooling around. You’ve got one,” Lin Xi warned urgently.

Xia Xun had been having such fun teasing Lin Xi, only for that damn fish to ruin the mood.

She almost froze it and hauled it straight in. Then she remembered that Lin Xi had forbidden her from doing so and reluctantly abandoned the idea.

With Lin Xi guiding her hand over hand, Xia Xun landed a sizeable fish of her own.

Lin Xi had barely finished helping Xia Xun remove it from the hook when Zhao Xinning called from the other side again.

“Xi! Come quick!-“

Lin Xi let the call hang for a beat.

So the two of you are taking turns now?

Lin Xi hadn’t had a single chance to cast her own line and show off her skills.

She tried to leave, but Xia Xun caught her. “Can you ignore Zhao Xinning?” she asked coldly.

It was the first time Lin Xi had ever heard Xia Xun speak in such an emotionless voice. How could she put it? There was something strange about Xia Xun.

One was Angel-sama, and the other was a magical beauty girl. They ought to get along perfectly.

In fact, if Lin Xi weren’t around, Zhao Xinning and Xia Xun-both of whom prided themselves on their kindness-might well have become good friends.

Lin Xi. Haki Xi. What a sinful woman…

“What are you talking about?” Lin Xi said. “I have to teach both of you.”

“This isn’t about fishing,” Xia Xun said.

“Then what is it about?”

“You truly don’t understand?”

“Not at all.”

“Fine. At least I know now that you weren’t deliberately trying to distance yourself from me when you kept running over there.” Xia Xun released her.

Lin Xi stared at her in confusion.

Not only had Xia Xun learned to spout nonsense, she had evolved into one of those cryptic riddlers too?

Cryptic riddlers were bad news!

Anyone who had ever watched a girls’ band anime knew those people could bring ruin to a whole nation!

Once Xia Xun let go, Lin Xi slipped off this side’s “hook” and was promptly “reeled in” by Zhao Xinning.

Zhao Xinning had hooked another big one.

A crucian carp weighing around one kilogram was a rare find in a stream like this.

“You’re so lucky, Xinning.” Lin Xi sincerely admired Angel-sama’s good fortune.

“I’m only this lucky because you’re beside me,” Zhao Xinning replied. “Hurry and help me.”

“Huh? Don’t you want to try it yourself?” Lin Xi had already taught Zhao Xinning how to play a fish. Angel-sama learned everything so quickly; surely she knew how by now.

“I still can’t do it,” Zhao Xinning said. “If this big one gets away-“

“Say no more.”

Lin Xi rolled up her sleeves and got to work. If they let this big fish escape, how could she ever face Lu Yi again?

She had already decided that, for Neko’s sake, they were braising this one in soy sauce!

Lin Xi carefully helped Zhao Xinning raise the rod. Mm. Just as she’d thought, Xinning’s hands really did feel different from Xia Xun’s… What am I thinking?!

Lin Xi cursed herself. This was the critical moment. She needed to focus on the “battle”!

In the end, Lin Xi and Zhao Xinning worked together and successfully brought the “monster” ashore.

“Xi, let’s take a picture with the fish.”

Once they got home, Zhao Xinning planned to print the picture and treasure it.

“Sure.” Lin Xi called to Xia Xun, “Xia Xun, could you come take a picture of Xinning and me?”

For a fraction of a second, Xia Xun’s aggrieved expression froze.

Then it flipped into a smile. “Mm, okay.”

She held up the phone. Lin Xi held the fish. Zhao Xinning pressed close to Lin Xi.

Too close! Xia Xun nearly shouted aloud.

This woman had no sense of boundaries whatsoever. Zhao Xinning was rotten to the core!

As if deliberately putting on a show for Xia Xun, Zhao Xinning not only pressed herself against Lin Xi, but even slipped an arm around her.

Lin Xi was too immersed in the joy of taking a picture with both the big fish and Angel-sama to notice the strange tension between Zhao Xinning and Xia Xun.

Not that anyone could blame her. Even Zhao Xinning hadn’t noticed anything unusual about Xia Xun.

The Queen of Curses had.

“Master,” she told Zhao Xinning, “I saw murderous intent in Xia Xun’s eyes.”

“She wants to kill me?”

“Yes.”

“I want to kill her too. How wonderfully we agree.”

After the picture was taken, Lin Xi handed the fish to Zhao Xinning and offered to take one of her and Xia Xun.

“We’re a team. Xinning and I can’t keep all the glory of landing this big one to ourselves.”

And so Zhao Xinning and Xia Xun stood shoulder to shoulder-without either one leaning toward the other.

“Cheese!” Lin Xi called loudly.

Zhao Xinning and Xia Xun echoed an energetic “Cheese!” Their smiles were frozen forever in the digital photograph.

Lin Xi checked the picture afterward. It was unquestionably the greatest masterpiece of her photography career.

Or rather, Angel-sama and the magical beauty girl simply looked far too perfect when they smiled.

I’ll set this as my wallpaper, Lin Xi thought. Their smiles were so wonderfully soothing.