I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Look on the Bright Side, It’s Not Worth It, You Still Have Family

Gu Nan stared at the bedraggled girl sprawled on the ground, completely bewildered.

At first, he thought he’d hooked a rock-fishing enthusiast who’d accidentally fallen in. But what he’d reeled in was a young woman.

’Her skin is so fair... she doesn’t look like an angler.’

’So how did she fall in?’

’Did she jump because of a breakup and then regret it while she was floating around?’

The girl’s white T-shirt was soaked, clinging tightly to her body and revealing her curvaceous figure.

The wet T-shirt had also turned somewhat transparent, making her underwear clearly visible.

Gu Nan averted his gaze after a single glance. He was only twenty-five; he couldn’t handle this kind of temptation.

After a moment’s thought, he took off his own T-shirt and tossed it to the girl.

"Your clothes are soaked. Put mine on to cover up."

It was a bit improper for a man to be shirtless, but it was better than the girl being practically exposed.

"Ah?" Still reeling from the shock, Yi Chen was jolted back to her senses when the shirt landed on her. She glanced down at herself, let out a cry of surprise, and quickly put it on over her own clothes.

Once dressed, she fought against her trembling legs and thanked Gu Nan. "Thank you for saving me... Um, can I have your contact information?"

"I’d like to thank you properly for saving my life, and I’ll return your shirt then."

Gu Nan now got a good look at her face and was a little surprised. She was actually a cute girl with delicate features.

Her bedraggled state was a major drawback, but it couldn’t hide her pretty face.

She probably didn’t even need makeup; with clean, tidy clothes, she would be an eight or nine out of ten.

But he was only mildly surprised. Right now, Gu Nan’s mind was completely filled with catching fish, making money, and running his seafood shop. It was a period of his life where there was no room for women.

"Where do you live? I can give you a ride home. You can just give me the shirt back then. No need for thanks; it was nothing."

Yi Chen hadn’t expected him to say that, but she felt incredibly uncomfortable and really did want to get home quickly.

Besides, her legs were still weak. A ride was perfect; she had no idea how long it would take her to walk back on her own.

"Okay, thank you then."

"No problem!" Gu Nan packed up his fishing rod and tackle box.

He left the fish basket and the fish in the rock pool for now. He was usually the only one at this spot, so it should be fine if he left for a little while.

He got on his electric scooter and had the girl sit behind him.

"Could you take me about thirty meters ahead first? I left my bag over there."

’This girl was really prepared,’ Gu Nan thought, surprised. ’She even left a final message for her family.’

’Probably recorded a little video, denouncing some scumbag and apologizing to her family.’

Gu Nan didn’t want to pry. He went to the spot she mentioned and helped her find her small bag.

Holding her bag, Yi Chen was thankful that she always set it aside when she went beachcombing. Otherwise, it would have been lost when she fell into the water.

Still, a trace of regret showed in her eyes. She had finally managed to catch two swimming crabs, each over half a catty, and had collected a bunch of small sea snails, but now they were all gone.

’Oh, and my bucket and foraging tongs... This was a huge loss.’

Gu Nan started driving again, taking her home according to her directions.

Driving shirtless late at night, he felt a bit awkward as all the passersby did a double-take.

Fortunately, the girl’s house wasn’t far. It was only another five or six-minute drive to a village near the seafood market.

Yi Chen didn’t give Gu Nan her exact address, asking him to stop at an intersection instead.

She took off the outer T-shirt and, covering her chest with one hand, returned it to him.

In truth, her own clothes had dried a bit and weren’t as transparent anymore.

"Thank you for the shirt, and thank you for saving me tonight. If it’s okay, please give me a chance to thank you properly."

"It’s fine. Like I said, it was no trouble at all." Gu Nan shook his head. He didn’t want to get involved with someone who had such extreme thoughts. After refusing her again, he was about to turn around and leave.

But after a moment’s thought, he added, "Try to look on the bright side. It’s not worth it. You still have family—you should think about them!"

With that, he took off, speeding away. After all, his fish were still back on the reef, and they were worth several hundred yuan!

Yi Chen tilted her head slightly, a million questions in her mind, not understanding what Gu Nan meant.

Blinking her big eyes and feeling sticky and uncomfortable all over, she decided not to dwell on it and hurried home to take a shower.

Thankfully, it was already nine o’clock, so the village paths were empty. No acquaintances saw her in her current state.

Arriving at an old, two-story house, Yi Chen took a key from her bag and carefully opened the door, afraid of waking the person inside.

However, the old wooden door let out a CREAK as it opened, a sound that was jarringly loud in the quiet night.

The next moment, an elderly voice called out from a room to the left of the door, "Is that you back, Chenchen?"

As the voice faded, the light in the room switched on, and it seemed the old woman was about to come out.

Startled, Yi Chen quickly closed the door and ran upstairs. "Grandma, it’s me! I’m all sweaty and need to shower, you can go back to sleep!"

"Are you hungry? Grandma can make you a bowl of noodles." The door opened, revealing a stooped figure.

The old woman stepped out only to see her granddaughter’s feet disappearing up the stairs. She couldn’t help but shake her head and chuckle. "You silly girl, always in such a rush."

"I’m not hungry, Grandma! You should get back to sleep! I have to rest a bit after my shower before heading to my night shift!" Yi Chen called down from the top of the stairs.

"Alright, alright, Grandma’s going to sleep then. You make sure to get some rest, too, so you have enough Spirit."

"Okay, okay, I know!"

Seeing her grandmother go back inside, Yi Chen gently patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

’If Grandma had seen me like this, she would have been so worried. Thank goodness she didn’t.’

Yi Chen went back to her room, tossed her bag on her desk, and grabbed a change of clothes from her closet.

In the bathroom, she rinsed herself off under the water. As she did, tears began to stream down with the water, and her body trembled slightly.

She was just a young girl, after all. Having gone through a life-and-death experience, it was a testament to her strength that she had held back her tears until she was home.

Yi Chen was terrified in hindsight. Her mind was a complete mess, her thoughts running wild.

One moment, she imagined how heartbroken her grandmother would be to hear of her death. The next, she wondered if she should go back to the reef to try her luck, hoping she might run into the person who saved her.

He might not want to be thanked, but she couldn’t just do nothing.

Meanwhile, Gu Nan rode his electric scooter straight back to his fishing spot. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the fish were still in the rock pool and his fish basket was untouched.

The T-shirt he was wearing, which had been damp, had been mostly dried by the sea breeze on the ride over, so he could tolerate it for now without going home to change.

The commotion with the girl had probably ruined most of his chumming spot, so he had to toss in a few more scoops of Antarctic krill to lure the fish back.

He took out his Fengqi Fishing Rod. The line and bait were already set up from before, so he could now continue to use the six guaranteed-catch chances he had left for the day.