Just because I wrote "Zhu Xian," the school beauty sent me razor blades.

Ten minutes later, Lin Yuan, carrying a black bucket containing four kilograms of grass carp in his left hand and two cleaned bass from a transparent plastic bag in his right hand, pushed open the security door of the large apartment.

The house smelled wonderful, and the sound of pots and pans clattering came from the kitchen.

"Hey! You're back in triumph?" Jiang Wanqing came out to greet them, untying her apron and peeking over with a smile. "I was just telling Xiaowan's mom that if we don't make it today, we'll only have plain noodles tonight."

Gu's mother, Su Yu, also came out carrying the washed fruit. She glanced at it and immediately burst out laughing: "Oh my, Old Gu, did the sun rise in the west today? Did you really catch something?"

Gu Tiancheng walked into the living room with his head held high and his hands behind his back, his expression as calm as if he had just signed a multi-million dollar project contract: "No big deal. The reservoir is rough, and ordinary fish can't withstand the turbulence. Today, Lao Lin and I focused on perfect teamwork, using both rods together, and we swept up all the big fish in that area."

Lin Liguo leaned against the entryway cabinet while changing his slippers, adding casually, "It's just that my physical strength isn't what it used to be, otherwise I could have pulled that seven or eight-pound grass carp up by hand. These two bass, although not very big, are valuable because they are wild-caught from deep water, with tough skin, thick flesh, and a chewy texture."

Gu Zhiwan was peeling oranges in front of the bay window, coldly observing the exaggerated performance of her two fathers, when she suddenly turned her gaze to the transparent plastic bag in Lin Yuan's hand.

She strode over, picked up the plastic bag with two slender, pale fingers, examined it for a couple of seconds, and raised an eyebrow slightly: "Dad, Uncle Lin, is the survival environment for these wild deep-sea bass... really that competitive these days?"

Gu Tiancheng's heart skipped a beat, but he forced himself to remain calm: "What do you mean?"

"Not only could it fight you in the rapids for forty minutes, but it also managed to scrape off all its scales underwater, and even cleaned its own internal organs before it died?" Gu Zhiwan looked at her father with a half-smile. "These days, even fish in reservoirs are starting to care about a dignified death?"

"Pfft—" Jiang Wanqing burst out laughing in the kitchen.

The air in the living room froze instantly.

Gu Tiancheng's face turned from white to red, and he suddenly coughed tactically: "Cough cough cough! Well... these days, it's normal for fish to rub their scales off while rubbing themselves against the rocks! As for the internal organs, I just cleaned them up on the shore, afraid they'd smell fishy on the way!"

"Yes, yes, Lao Gu is very thoughtful; that's professionalism," Lin Liguo quickly chimed in, while simultaneously kicking Lin Yuan hard under the table and signaling him to quickly salvage the situation.

All eyes turned to Lin Yuan, the only witness in the room.

Gu Zhiwan bit her lower lip, secretly pinched the soft flesh of Lin Yuan's lower back, and said in a low, coquettish voice, "Director Lin, could you explain to me how this fish 'scrapes' its own guts?"

Lin Yuan cleared his throat, put the black bucket of water on the ground, and said without batting an eye, "Mom, Wanwan, you have indeed misunderstood the two old comrades. The battle was indeed extremely fierce; I saw it with my own eyes."

A flicker of emotion, a sense of relief at surviving a calamity, flashed in the eyes of the two elderly fathers.

However, the next second, Lin Yuan added slowly, "At that time, the uncle in the fresh food section of the Yonghui Supermarket by the reservoir was stunned. His hands were shaking when he weighed the food. He kept praising the two old men for their domineering and sharp way of scanning the code to pay. They said the money they spent was very cost-effective."

"Pfft, hahahahahaha!" Gu Zhiwan couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter, collapsing into Lin Yuan's arms, her shoulders twitching.

Su Yu laughed until tears streamed down her face, pointing her chopsticks at Gu Tiancheng's nose: "Old Gu, you're over fifty years old, and you're teaming up with your father-in-law to put on an act to fool your wife? Deep water and turbulent rapids, why don't you just say you dived down and tore it apart with your bare hands?!"

Jiang Wanqing shook her head helplessly and slapped Lin Liguo on the back: "No wonder I smelled disinfectant from a fresh food supermarket as soon as I walked in. So you guys spent the whole day washing your lungs at the reservoir, and then ended up buying supplies at the supermarket?"

Lin Liguo and Gu Tiancheng's faces instantly turned a deep shade of liver, their anger and embarrassment causing them to lose their composure on the spot.

"You little brat! You took the money and didn't do the job!" Lin Liguo was so angry that he blew his beard and glared at his opponent.

Gu Tiancheng was also heartbroken, gritting his teeth as he pointed at Lin Yuan: "Traitor! You took the payment and then leaked information against me! Where is your business ethics? Where is your sense of contract?!"

"Hey, hold on, you two." Lin Yuan calmly pulled Gu Zhiwan closer, looking completely innocent. "I'm a meticulous artist, and my camera only records the truth. But speaking of which, that grass carp in the trunk was definitely caught in the wild."

"Shut up!" the two old men shouted in unison.

Half an hour later, the table was piled high with food.

In the middle were two large basins of fish: one was a deep-sea bass without internal organs, braised until glistening with oil and glistening, bought from the supermarket; the other was a clear stew of grass carp and tofu, the soup as white as milk and steaming hot.

Although the start was not smooth, after a few rounds of drinks, the atmosphere at the table was completely warmed up by alcohol and laughter.

"Come on, let's drink!" Gu Tiancheng raised his glass and clinked it with Lin Liguo's. "Old Lin, although we didn't catch anything today, you know what? This bass from the supermarket is really flavorful when braised, and the meat is so tender!"

"That's right, look who picked it!" Lin Liguo, his face flushed from drinking, had long forgotten the embarrassment from before. He picked up a large piece of grass carp and stuffed it into his mouth. "But Xiao Yuan's luck is really strange. He caught a big fish with a meat bun. If this gets back to our fishing club, those old guys will have to kneel down and bow three times to this reed."

Jiang Wanqing and Su Yu sat beside them, peeling shrimp and chatting casually about everyday matters, occasionally glancing at the two drunken old men and exchanging smiles.

Lin Yuan was holding a small bowl of fish soup, carefully picking out the small bones, and then placing a piece of tender, boneless grass carp meat into Gu Zhiwan's bowl.

Gu Zhiwan rested her chin on her hand, her eyes sparkling, and whispered in Lin Yuan's ear, "Mr. Lin, you earned two thousand yuan from the old man today as hush money. Shouldn't you hand it over to the authorities?"

"Dream on." Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow, his fingertips secretly hooking her palm under the tablecloth. "This is compensation for my emotional distress. I served two national treasure-level air force masters for a whole day, and I didn't ask them for an appearance fee, which is already out of consideration for our marriage certificate."

"Virtue." Gu Zhiwan raised an eyebrow slightly, but her eyes were full of smiles.

After dinner, the two elderly fathers fell asleep on the sofa, snoring loudly.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the neon lights of the entire city and the distant river reflect each other, mirroring the starry sky.

Gu Zhiwan carried two glasses of lemon water to the balcony, handed one to Lin Yuan, and then rested her head on his warm, broad shoulder.

A cool breeze from the river lifted a few stray hairs from her forehead.

"Lin Yuan".

"Um?"

"When we're old and our hair is all white, if you go fishing and come back empty-handed, will you go to the market and buy a couple of fish to fool me?" Gu Zhiwan asked softly, her voice tinged with a hint of languor and tenderness.

Lin Yuan took a sip of lemonade, looked down at the girl in his arms, and a familiar, irritating smile curled at the corner of his lips:

"Don't worry, your husband never goes into battle unprepared. When I'm old, I won't even leave the house. I'll just release fish fry into the bathtub in our master bedroom. When I want to go fishing, I'll just scoop them up with a landing net and post on social media with a caption like, 'After three days and nights of grueling seclusion, I finally caught a giant deep-sea creature.' It'll be a sure win, and I definitely won't let our family down."

"Pfft... You'll never change your foul mouth, even in your next life."