Suijun starts with the principle of rewarding diligence.

Buqu went to the market and bought four meat buns.

He hadn't eaten all morning and felt like he was developing low blood sugar.

Sitting in front of his house, Buqu ate four meat buns with gusto, feeling as if he had come back to life.

"Cough cough."

Bu Qu coughed twice, wondering to himself, "There's no soy milk available at this hour. Eating a meat bun dry is making me choke."

While he was thinking, he coughed twice more.

I raised my hand and touched my forehead; it was a little warm, but not hot enough to burn my hand.

"Was it because your injuries hadn't fully healed, and entering the water aggravated them?"

Bu Qu shook his head. Even when he was seriously ill, he dared not rest.

That scoundrel doesn't care whether he's sick or not. If he doesn't work, he'll get beaten, and the beating will make him even more seriously injured.

"We must upgrade our water control capabilities to the next level as soon as possible. Only then will we be able to send him to heaven and eliminate any future trouble! Otherwise, even if we heal his injuries, new injuries will keep appearing in the future."

However, in the current situation, Li Xian has rowed the small sampan to the fish market.

"I'm going to get a big wooden tub at home, boil some water, and take a hot bath. I wonder if doing this will help me progress in the game?"

After some thought, Buqu felt it wouldn't work.

The main problem is that we don't have a large wooden tub at home for taking hot baths.

A creaking sound came from next door.

Seeing Wang Erlang come out carrying fishing gear, Buqu quickly stood up and greeted him with a smile: "Uncle Wang, are you going to Blackwater Lake to fish? I'll go with you."

Wang Erlang touched Buqu's forehead and said worriedly, "Your illness is not fully cured yet; you should rest more."

Bu Qu shook his head: "Just bear with it, it's nothing serious."

Wang Erlang sighed deeply and nodded silently. He knew that the man didn't not want to raise the animal, but rather he was afraid to.

The two walked together toward Blackwater Lake.

"Don't you have your own sampan? Why do you want to come with me?"

"Ugh, don't even mention it. He caught a whole boatload of fish this morning, and then he rowed the sampan to the fish market."

Wang Erlang chuckled twice and said, "Although your godfather has a bad temper, he is quite skilled at fishing."

Bu Qu spat out, "Pah, he has no fishing skills whatsoever. I caught all the fish on that boat."

There is a mooring fee of fifty coins for each sampan to dock.

Without a big catch, fishermen simply won't row their boats to the fish market.

In other words, Buqu caught at least several hundred coins worth of fish in one morning.

Yesterday, I managed to scoop up a whole bucketful, which was already an exceptional performance.

In just one morning, they managed to salvage a whole boatload of fish?

Wang Erlang chuckled: "A-Qu, when did you learn to brag? Fishing isn't as easy as you make it sound!"

Bu Qu, hands behind his head, said nonchalantly, "Fishing isn't difficult at all. I haven't even baited the area yet!"

Wang Erlang smiled without saying a word, thinking that he was just bragging.

Being able to boast is a good thing; at least it shows he has a good mindset right now.

In the past, he always had a dark face, looking like a living dead person, which was heartbreaking to see.

Buqu said to himself, "When I have money in the future, I'll buy a big boat first, so I can catch more fish."

Wang Erlang smiled and said, "Aqu, your idea is wrong."

"What's wrong with it?"

"It's not about the quantity of fish, but the quality. If you really want to get rich by fishing, you have to catch the treasure fish."

"Treasure Fish?" A new word entered my ears.

Wang Erlang adopted the air of an old fisherman: "Do you know why I only go out fishing in the afternoon?"

Bu Qu shook his head.

"There's a precious fish in Blackwater Lake called the 'Water Pattern Fish.' It only swims to the shallows in the afternoon, spending the rest of the time in the deep water. If you're lucky enough to catch one, you can sell it for a tael of silver!"

"One tael of silver?" Bu Qu exclaimed in surprise. "Is this fish inlaid with gold? Is it that valuable?"

"Water ripple fish are a real delicacy, a cure-all. Colds, bruises, and the like—one fish and it'll heal instantly. If a wealthy family desperately needs a fish to save their life, they'd be willing to pay three or five taels of silver, let alone one!"

"Three or five ounces?" Bu Qu asked, somewhat puzzled. "Since this rippled fish is so precious, can't we try to raise it artificially?"

"It's not that no one has thought of doing this. It's just that the precious fish will die as soon as it leaves the water, and it can only live for a dozen breaths in a bucket, so there's no chance of bringing it back to the fishpond."

As they spoke, the two arrived at the sampan. Wang Erlang said smugly, "You still haven't caught enough fish. I have a book at home that records the treasure fish; I'll get it for you to look at later."

Bu Qu nodded, thinking to himself, "This world is different from my previous one. Even though it's still fishing, there are different methods. I still need to observe and learn more."

Wang Erlang put the fishing gear on the sampan, and then rowed towards the depths of Blackwater Lake with Buqu on board.

"Uncle Wang, have you ever caught a rippled fish?"

"Hehe, I've seen him several times. I just ran into him yesterday, and I almost caught him."

Bu Qu rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, "Really only a tiny bit short? You sound like you're bragging."

Under the bright sunshine overhead, the lake water became even clearer.

The water in Blackwater Lake is very murky, making it impossible to see what's underwater normally. But now, however, one can vaguely see fish swimming beneath the surface.

"Uncle Wang, since you've seen the rippled fish before, you should know what it looks like, right?"

"That's natural," Wang Erlang laughed. "The water ripple fish looks similar to a crucian carp, with a completely blue body and scales that shimmer like water ripples..."

As Bu Qu listened to Wang Erlang's incessant chatter, his gaze swept across the lake.

Suddenly, he saw a blue-black crucian carp, which looked like a water bream, swimming leisurely in the water.

"Uncle Wang, Uncle Wang..."

Bu Qu lowered his voice and called out several times before Wang Erlang finally stopped muttering to himself.

"Uncle Wang, look, doesn't that fish look like a rippled fish?"

Wang Erlang peeked out and exclaimed in surprise, "It's it! It's definitely it!"

Hearing the commotion on the water, the rippled fish flicked its tail and dived into the deep water.

"Oh dear, I forgot to tell you. These ripple fish are incredibly clever; they dive into deeper water at the slightest sound. Then they surface again, and who knows how long they'll be gone? Now, I can't catch them again. Why am I so unlucky?"

"Knowing it's clever, why are you talking so loudly? Even if it weren't a treasure fish, it would be scared away by your loud voice."

Bu Qu muttered a curse to himself, grabbed the fishing net from the sampan, and jumped into the lake with a "plop".

Wang Erlang was startled: "A-Qu, what are you doing?"

As he watched Bu Qu's figure gradually disappear into the water, he suddenly realized: 'Ah Qu is trying to dive to the bottom to catch the ripple fish.'

Although this is a shallow area, the water is still three or four zhang deep.

For these fishermen who make a living on the water, holding their breath for dozens of breaths underwater is not difficult at all.

But to say you're diving into deep water to catch fish, isn't that just nonsense?

Wang Erlang shouted towards the water, "Ah Qu, Ah Qu, don't do anything reckless! We can try again if the fish get away, but don't risk your life!"

The bubbling bubbles gradually diminished until they disappeared. The canal had long since sunk to the bottom of the lake; no sound could be heard on the surface anymore.

Wang Erlang was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, but he didn't know what to do. He could only anchor on the spot and pray that Buqu would return safely.