Chapter 1032: Chapter 426: The North Wind Howls, Snowflakes Drift—Time for a Hotpot to Ward Off the Cold!

"Don’t let go, don’t let go, the fish will get away."

Shen Jiayue was frightened. Just as she was about to keep pulling, she heard Lin Xu say:

"Is there a possibility that it’s not a fish, but that the fish hook got caught on the bottom?"

"Caught on the bottom? What’s that?"

Next to her, Chen Yan began to laugh heartily upon hearing that it was caught on the bottom:

"It means you’ve hooked the Earth. Impressive, impressive! We can only catch a few fish at most, and here you are, catching the Earth... Wait, why can’t I pull my line either? Could it be caught on the bottom too?"

She tugged hard and confirmed it was caught on the bottom.

It could be caught on a rock at the riverbed or the roots of aquatic plants.

In any case, her fishing line was as immobile as Shen Jiayue’s.

Chen Yuanyuan looked at her two cousin sisters helplessly and said:

"You two are really something, teasing each other like that. Look, my fish hook is not... Wait, what’s this? Oh my, there’s a fish on my hook!"

Yuanyuan was about to lecture the big sister and her sister-in-law, but to her surprise, she pulled out a half-pound big carp from the river.

The fish startled her a bit when it came out.

Seeing this, Chen Yan quickly tossed her fishing rod aside and grabbed the net to help.

With their combined effort, they finally pulled out the big carp.

"Put it in the fish keeper, put it in the fish keeper. We’re finally not air force this time."

Chen Yan was so thrilled it was as if she had caught it herself, making Shen Jiayue anxious:

"Are you done, Xu? I’m still planning to fish."

Lin Xu gave a strong tug, and the sub-line broke. As he opened his bag and prepared to tie a new sub-line hook, he noticed the weather had gotten gloomier, and even a little wind had kicked up in the river.

The wind made it quite chilly, and even the fishing rod felt a bit icy to the touch.

"Is it going to snow?"

Chen Yan, stimulated by the big carp caught by Chen Yuanyuan, laughed and said:

"If it snows, let’s have a scene of solitary fishing in the cold river’s snow. Anyway, we’re not leaving without catching a fish today."

Lin Xu noticed that her sister-in-law was wearing a short jacket that neither blocked wind nor snow. If it continued like this, she’d definitely catch a cold.

As for Yuanyuan, afraid of the cold from working outdoors, she wore a double-layered outdoor coat today, so she wasn’t feeling too cold for the moment.

As he began to pack up, Lin Xu said:

"Let’s go back, stop fishing. The wind should get stronger later. Yan, your clothes are too thin; you’ll catch a cold."

As he spoke, Chen Yan sneezed.

Sure enough, these fashionable but not very warm clothes weren’t suitable for fishing.

"Let’s go back, we’ll definitely catch big fish on a sunny day, but definitely not beat you guys."

Everyone started packing their rods, and even Old Sun didn’t object, because the wind was getting stronger, and staying would be useless as the floats couldn’t even stand up straight, making fishing impossible.

Everyone packed up their things, rolled up the lines evenly on the boards after untying the fishing ropes.

Then they packed everything into their bags, the rods, line boards, and the leftover bait, and folded the stools into the bag, organizing everything neatly.

As Shen Jiayue stood up, she picked up the bait bag and some discarded trash from the ground and planned to find a trash can to throw these away after leaving the creek.

As everyone finished packing, snowflakes started to fall.

With one hand carrying a fishing bag and the other holding Dundun in his arms, Lin Xu quickly walked up the riverbank.

Dundun was quite fascinated by the snow, even sticking out its tongue to catch the falling snowflakes, which reminded Lin Xu of how he liked to catch snowflakes this way as a child.

At the riverbank, they put the fishing gear into the trunk, while the wet fishkeeper and big carp were placed in a plastic bag.

Old Sun felt embarrassed to ride in Lin Xu’s new car, planning to take the bus instead, but Lin Xu stopped him:

"No need to be polite, Grandpa Sun, get in the car. If it snows heavily, buses might stop running, and you wouldn’t want to get scolded by your wife, would you?"

Putting Old Sun’s fishing bag in the trunk, Shen Jiayue was already holding Dundun, seated in the back with Chen Yan and Chen Yuanyuan, leaving the passenger seat for Old Sun.

"You guys... you’re making me embarrassed."

Lin Xu laughed and said:

"The terrain around here is complicated enough. You can help me keep an eye on the roads."

"Alright, I’m familiar with this area; I was an instructor at the police station in this town decades ago."

Once Old Sun got in the car, Lin Xu turned it around.

Just as they got onto the main road, the snow turned into sleet, making Chen Yan feel relieved:

"Good thing we didn’t stick around, or we’d be soaked."

At that moment, Zeng Xiaoqi called:

"Where are you guys? I heard it’s snowing. What’s for lunch today? Seeing the snowflakes makes me crave hot pot meat. Do you guys want to have that?"

Director Zeng’s rapid-fire questions made everyone’s mouth water.

There’s something delightful about having hot pot around a steaming copper pot while watching snowflakes fall outside.

Chen Yan said:

"Didn’t think much about it at first, but now that you mention it, I do crave it."

"Hahaha, how about we go to Dong Lai Shun then? I have a membership card there, a gift from when I went for an interview, and we can get discounts."

Everyone was in favor of going to Dong Lai Shun.

Even Shen Jiayue was ready for a big meal.

The rain and snow outside intensified, and the windshield wipers automatically started swinging.

Lin Xu said:

"Why go to Dong Lai Shun for mutton hot pot? We can make it ourselves, and I guarantee it’ll taste better."

Chen Yuanyuan was curious:

"But isn’t it almost noon? Can we make it in time, little brother?"

"For other types of hot pots, it would be troublesome since you have to fry ingredients for the base, but for mutton hot pot, you need nothing. Just use spring water and thinly sliced mutton."

The restaurant has several mutton dishes, and fresh mutton comes in daily.

We can cut some mutton slices and start eating right away.

Much more convenient than queuing at Dong Lai Shun.

Hearing this, Zeng Xiaoqi didn’t mention going to Dong Lai Shun anymore.

She shouted over the phone:

"Make sure you prepare more. I feel like I can eat an entire lamb!"

Lin Xu chuckled:

"No problem, we don’t have much else, but plenty of mutton!"

Saying this, he turned on the car’s Bluetooth and called his assistant:

"Prepare some copper pots; we’re having hot pot at noon. Prepare more meat, and make sure to have sheep tail fat; if not, ask Lao Huang."

"Got it, I’ll start preparing right away!"

"By the way, boss, how many people?"

"A dozen or so, including Grandpa Sun’s family too. Make all the arrangements."

"Noted!"

Old Sun, seated next to him, started to refuse, but Lin Xu smiled and asked:

"Today’s a gathering for fishing friends. I’ll ask Yue Liyue and Brother Qiang to join us, and we can share fishing tips and experiences."

Mentioning this, Grandpa Sun immediately agreed:

"Our fishing friends on Yingchun Street should indeed gather and share more. I’ve seen other fishing friends in groups, but I always go alone, and sometimes can’t even snatch a fishing spot."

This made Lin Xu silently feel anxious for those who dared to compete for fishing spots.

Competing for a fishing spot with a retired SWAT instructor—those people must be bold.

He laughed and said:

"I’ll organize one later, and let’s form a Fishing Association to see who dares to take our fishing spots!"

Just as he said this, the system’s prompt sounded in his mind...

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