Chapter 8: Up You Come!

After breakfast.

Madam Zheng cleared away the dishes.

Shen Xiuhan gathered the rod and creel and readied himself to head out fishing.

"Dalang..."

Madam Zheng emerged from the kitchen, holding yesterday's oil-paper wrapper from the fish bones. Inside, it bulged with two hard flatbreads.

"Take some food. If you get hungry around midday, it'll tide you over."

Poor families made do with two meals a day. That she'd gone out of her way to pack him an extra one was clearly because he'd only just recovered, and she wanted to build his strength back.

Warmth spread through Shen Xiuhan's chest. He took the bundle, tucked it inside his jacket, and nodded:

"Got it, Mother."

The two set out together.

They'd barely stepped past the fence when Shen Momo's bright little voice rang out from inside:

"Gege, catch lots and lots of big fishy-wishies, okay? Momo wants to eat more fish..."

He turned and saw the little girl hanging off the window frame, only half her small face visible — along with that tuft of a sprout braid, poking straight up.

Shen Xiuhan laughed and waved at her: "I know, I know. Be good and wait at home."

"That little glutton..." Madam Zheng shook her head with a helpless smile.

As they reached Uncle Chen's house, Auntie Li happened to be coming out with a wooden basin to toss the water. Spotting the mother and son, she called out warmly:

"Han'er, Guiping — off to work, are you?"

Guiping...

That was his mother Madam Zheng's given name.

Madam Zheng paused and smiled: "Auntie Li, busy as always. Where's Chen An?"

At the mention of Chen An, Auntie Li's face lit up at once, and she stood a little straighter:

"Oh, Chen An — he was off to the hall before dawn to temper his body. That boy's a real martial fanatic, diligent as they come. Last night he didn't sleep a wink — stayed in his room drilling the whole night through..."

Madam Zheng had no reason to doubt her. She offered a sincere compliment: "With Chen An working that hard, he's bound to go far on the martial path!"

"From your lips to the heavens! From your lips to the heavens!"

Auntie Li beamed so wide she could barely contain herself. She was so pleased that she completely forgot she'd been waiting for them to pass by so she could nudge them about the loan.

Shen Xiuhan stood to the side, his expression faintly peculiar.

Whether or not Chen An had actually drilled martial arts all night, he couldn't say.

But what Auntie Li and Uncle Chen had been "drilling" last night — well, he had a fair idea.

...

After parting with Auntie Li, they walked a stretch further before Madam Zheng turned south, heading to the Bai clan's estate workshop in the outer city for her shift.

Shen Xiuhan slipped into the depths of the Xiaojing Bay reed beds with practiced ease.

The morning mist had yet to lift. Yellowed reed stalks hung heavy with frost.

He parted the reeds and looked up — the pale gold marker for the silver-backed fish was drifting lazily beneath the surface not far off.

Shen Xiuhan's spirits surged.

He found a rock and smashed open a hole in the ice directly above the coordinates.

The ice was about four fingers thick. A few sharp cracks and it split wide, lake water seeping up through the gap.

Shen Xiuhan fished a small handful of millet from inside his jacket and scattered it through the hole.

Beneath the ice, the pale gold marker instantly came alive.

It darted left, then right, nosing close, then retreating warily.

"Crafty beast..." Shen Xiuhan squinted, watching it closely.

After about ten minutes, having sensed no danger, the silver-back gradually relaxed, drifting lazily beneath the ice hole.

Shen Xiuhan could practically picture it pecking at the millet grains on the lakebed.

"That's it, eat up. Eat your fill — you'll need the energy for the road ahead..."

He took out the hook, threaded a few grains of millet on, and dropped it gently into the hole.

But what he hadn't expected...

The silver-backed fish was absurdly wary!

It circled the hook twice, then retreated to a safe distance, refusing to come near no matter what.

"Has this treasure fish lived long enough to grow a brain? Don't tell me it's actually become sentient."

Shen Xiuhan's brow creased.

He was just weighing whether to switch to the black bighead innards he'd saved from last night, when—

SWISH!

The reed float plunged without warning — a full blackout bite!

"A bite?"

Shen Xiuhan's wrist moved on reflex, snapping the rod upward with force.

SPLASH!

Water sprayed everywhere.

A plump silver-striped fish burst from the surface, five clear stripes running down its back.

Not the silver-back!

Shen Xiuhan's expression shifted. He instinctively glanced at the pale gold marker beneath the water.

Sure enough.

The instant the silver-striped fish broke the surface, the silver-back sensed the danger and shot backward like a startled bird, vanishing several zhang into the deeper water beyond the ice hole.

"No good!"

"I can't keep this fish!"

Shen Xiuhan made a snap decision.

Before the silver-striped fish could freeze stiff, he pried the hook free with deft, rapid hands and hurled this fish — worth a good forty-plus wen — right back into the ice hole!

SPLASH!

You had to spend money to make money.

Shen Xiuhan held his breath, eyes locked on the water beneath the ice.

The silver-striped fish hit the water, flicked its tail, and drifted languidly back.

The silver-back held its position in the distance. Motionless.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Roughly a quarter-hour crept by.

The silver-back finally stirred.

It edged forward a foot or so, testing — then stopped.

Another foot forward, another stop.

Again and again, inching closer to the ice hole, bit by bit.

Finding nothing amiss, it finally dropped its guard and returned to peck at the millet.

"Now's my chance!"

Shen Xiuhan pulled out the fish innards he'd saved from last night and threaded them onto the iron hook.

He cast the line into the hole.

The moment the blood-scented bait touched bottom, the silver-back spooked — WHOOSH — it shot several zhang away in a flash.

But then, the smell of blood began to diffuse through the water, spreading in thin, curling wisps.

The silver-back's body jerked. It hung motionless for a beat, then finally couldn't resist. It circled the bait, round and round, probing, testing.

Shen Xiuhan didn't dare breathe.

He had no idea how much of the silver-back's wariness his bait-and-switch gambit had actually dispelled.

All he could do was wait.

And then he watched the pale gold marker lose its battle with instinct.

Drifting toward the hook, fraction by fraction...

Closer...

Then — overlap.

BUZZ!

The reed float vanished. The bamboo rod was wrenched violently downward!

A force several times greater than any silver-striped fish surged up through the line into his palms. The bamboo rod was instantly bent into a full bow!

Hooked!

"What terrifying power!"

Shen Xiuhan made to haul the rod upward, but immediately felt something wrong.

Given the brute strength the silver-back was unleashing, he absolutely could not match force with force.

Otherwise, the bamboo rod and the hemp-cord line would snap on the spot!

Left with no choice, he clenched his teeth, planted his stance, and began the tug-of-war.

When it surged, he gave ground. When it rested, he pressed.

Pull a while, slack a while.

One man and one fish, separated by a sheet of ice, locked in a grueling battle of endurance!

Shen Xiuhan had barely recovered from his illness. His qi and blood were depleted, his body frail.

After a mere half-hour of the standoff, his arms had gone soft as mud and his lungs heaved like bellows, wheezing with every breath.

The first one to break — was him.

"No good..."

"If this keeps up, it's going to drag me into the ice hole!"

Shen Xiuhan gripped the rod with one hand and dug into his jacket with the other, pulling out a cornmeal flatbread.

He opened wide, tore off a huge bite, and chewed and swallowed in one desperate motion!

The instant the flatbread hit his stomach, the effect was immediate — the trembling in his arms eased.

Fueled by that scrap of food, he forced himself to hold on for another ten minutes or so.

At last, the monstrous pull beneath the water began to fade.

The silver-back couldn't outlast the drain after all. Its thrashing weakened, bit by bit.

"Up you come!"