Chapter 9: Electric Fishing

Nanfeng District, Shunde.

There were quite a few small restaurants along the road, with many customers dining inside. I wandered around for a long time, hesitating several times, thinking about scattering the soil, but in the end, I couldn't bring myself to do it. After all, it was my first time handling something like this. Even though I had been confident before, now that the moment had come, I was feeling nervous.

I kept worrying that a uniformed officer would suddenly appear behind me, pat my shoulder, and ask what I was doing.

After walking in circles, I finally arrived at a small river. The moment I saw it, my eyes lit up, and a plan formed in my mind.

Shunde was famous for its aquaculture, with abundant water resources. My reasoning was simple—once the blue-white soil dissolved into the river, it would turn into mud and become completely unnoticeable.

Looking around to make sure no one was watching, I quickly unzipped my backpack, ready to dump the soil into the river.

"Wait! Stop!"

A sharp and clear voice suddenly rang out behind me, startling me so much that I almost fell into the river.

Heart pounding, I turned around to see a girl standing there with her hands on her hips, pointing at me.

She was wearing a school uniform, her hair tied in a ponytail, and her face was flushed. A red armband was wrapped around her arm, with the words "River Cleaner" written on it.

"I'm talking to you! What are you looking at? I saw you! You were about to throw something into the river, weren't you? Trying to dump trash?"

The zipper on my backpack was still open. My mind went blank, and I frantically waved my hands. "N-no... I wasn't throwing trash."

"You're lying! I saw you! What's in your bag? Let me see!" she demanded, stepping toward me.

Seeing her approach, I panicked. Without thinking, I grabbed my bag and ran.

"Hey! Stop right there!"

She chased after me, and we started sprinting along the riverbank.

As I ran, my foot slipped, and I fell straight into the river.

The blue-white soil in my bag immediately sank to the bottom as soon as it touched the water. I didn't know how to swim and started flailing wildly, gulping down several mouthfuls of river water, shouting for help.

In the end, it was the girl who saved me.

Her name was Li Jing, a local from Shunde. At the time, she was a high school sophomore at Shunde No. 3 High School. That day, she was covering for her mother, who was responsible for cleaning up the river.

When she pulled me out of the water, I was soaked from head to toe like a drowned rat, but deep down, I felt relieved. At least I had managed to get rid of the soil without being caught.

Her clothes were also completely soaked from rescuing me. Grabbing my collar, she scolded me, "Why did you run? You can't even swim! Do you have a death wish? What was in your bag?"

Blushing, I muttered, "I just slipped and fell into the river. My bag had books in it. If they're gone, I'll just buy new ones."

She gave me a skeptical look, clearly not convinced.

"I think you're hiding something. Lately, there have been people using electric fishing around here. You have to come with me to see my mom. She'll decide if you can leave."

"Come on!" Without waiting for my response, she grabbed my sleeve and started dragging me forward.

I frantically shook my head and explained loudly, "I'm not an electric fisherman! I'm not!"

Of course, I couldn't tell her the truth either. If I admitted I was a tomb raider, that would be even worse—it was a much bigger crime than illegal fishing.

I thought about running away several times but ultimately didn't dare. I knew that if I tried to escape, with her persistent nature, she might end up dragging our entire crew into trouble.

Li Jing's home was near the river. To get there, we had to cross a small bridge.

There were several street vendors on the bridge—one selling children's toys, another selling insoles and socks. The most eye-catching stall, however, was a fortune-telling stand.

The fortune teller was a man in his fifties, wearing round sunglasses. A pack of five-yuan Red River cigarettes lay beside him. He was constantly smoking—he hadn't even finished one before lighting another.

"Wow! Li Jing, you're even more diligent than your mom. Caught another litterbug, huh?" The fortune teller grinned as he sat on his small stool.

Li Jing puffed up with pride at the compliment. "Li Banshen, of course! This kid ran as soon as he saw me. He even fell into the river! I think he's one of those electric fishermen."

The fortune teller exhaled a puff of smoke, nearly enveloping himself in the haze.

"Ah, electric fishing? Kid, that's bad luck. Using electricity to fish messes with your fate—you'll face retribution."

Li Jing burst out laughing. "Li Laoliu, I only call you 'Half-Immortal' as a joke, and you really believe it? You're ridiculous! Remember last time when you told Auntie Li that her pig would get pregnant within a month? What happened? Three days later, the pig had diarrhea and died! Where were the piglets?"

The fortune teller coughed awkwardly. "That pig had bad luck. It's not my fault my prediction didn't come true. If you don't believe me, how about I give you another reading?"

Li Jing laughed so hard she bent over, pointing at him. "No way! I wouldn't dare let you read my fortune! You probably haven't had a paying customer in days. If you want to read someone's fortune, read his!" She suddenly pointed at me.

Somehow, I ended up agreeing to have my fortune told.

The fortune teller first asked for my birth date, then took out a tortoiseshell. Inside were three Qianlong-era copper coins.

He shook the shell up and down, side to side, before letting the coins spill onto the table.

By coincidence, all three coins landed with their backs facing up. Two of them were stacked together, while the third lay a little farther apart. The distance between them was noticeable.

I remember it vividly—his usual smirk disappeared. He stared at the coins in silence for a long time, until his cigarette burned all the way down to the filter.

Then he glanced at Li Jing, then at me, and let out a long sigh, shaking his head.

Li Jing giggled, "Well? What did you see, Li Laoliu? Is he an electric fisherman?"

The fortune teller lit another cigarette, took a deep drag, and looked at me with a meaningful expression.

"Kid, you're not simple..." he said.

Feeling uneasy, I cautiously asked, "What do you mean?"

He chuckled. "The pond is shallow, but the water is deep. A shallow pond has many turtles, and you… are the most valuable one. But in the end, you won't escape your fate—you'll be slaughtered and turned into turtle soup."

Hearing him call me a turtle made me furious.

Looking back now, every word he said was eerily accurate.

Years later, I returned to that bridge, hoping to find him again, but he was gone. Some said he had smoked too much and died of lung cancer because he couldn't afford treatment. Others claimed he had left Shunde and disappeared.

If I could see him again today, I'd be willing to pay a fortune just to have him read my fortune once more.

I'd ask him if I, Xiang Yunfeng, would ever settle down.

I'd ask him where my future would lead.