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墨書 Inktalez
In the moonlight, Shi Tian and Kang Ziyu were enjoying a peaceful moment when Liu Yi, carrying a small fishing net, approached them uninvited. Liu Yi was an old man and half a neighbor to Shi Tian, with only an idle courtyard separating their homes. In this rural area, there were quite a few unused courtyards; those by the lake were fewer, while many of the ones further back were uninhabited.
Liu Yi was a retired language teacher whose daughter had married and moved to Nanjing. It wasn't too far away, yet she only returned home two or three times a year. Just a couple of days ago, Shi Tian had run into him at the door and learned that Liu Yi had harvested some broad beans. In hopes of getting a bowl of them, Shi Tian had chatted with him about Lu Xun for quite some time, eventually earning the nickname "Liu Yi" in exchange for a generous bowl of "Luohan Beans."
Had Liu Yi eaten? He called out to them as he dragged a fish onto the shore—a mullet that would weigh nearly two pounds if it had eaten a few more bites of fish bait. When they had set out to fish earlier, they noticed smoke rising from Liu Yi's chimney, indicating he had likely just finished dinner.
"Such a big mullet! You must be hungry!" Liu Yi exclaimed, licking his lips as he eyed the fish in Shi Tian's hands. It seemed he was quite tempted by it.
Shi Tian was at a loss for words upon hearing Liu Yi's comment. It appeared that the old man had his sights set on the fish. Did he really plan to deprive himself just to satisfy his craving?
Glancing at Liu Yi and then back at the fish, Shi Tian forced a smile. "It should be quite tasty! This is my first time eating fish from Taihu."
"Liu Yi," he said, "as a language teacher, you know the saying: it's better to teach someone to fish than to give them fish. Do you have anything planned for tomorrow? How about I teach you how to fish?"
He certainly didn't intend to give Liu Yi the mullet; it was meant for his dinner with Kang Ziyu. They had spent the day planting flowers in their small garden and hadn’t had time to buy groceries. They were counting on this fish for their meal.
"Ah! I'll call you tomorrow when I buy a fishing rod," Liu Yi replied eagerly as he settled down on the bank.
Though Liu Yi wasn't particularly interested in fishing—if he wanted fish, why not just use a small net and pull up whatever he could catch?—he found it entertaining to spend time with younger people when boredom struck in the village.
As Shi Tian cast his line again, it took only about ten minutes before he caught an even larger fish than before. Inspired by the moment, Liu Yi recited:
"The calm waters of Taihu intoxicate,
Raising my rod reveals a startled dragon.
A foot-long white scale with scallions and ginger,
Three cups of green plum wine for conversation."
With this little poem, Liu Yi resumed his longing gaze at the mullet in Shi Tian's hands. He didn’t say anything but simply watched intently as Shi Tian moved about.
"I have scallions and ginger," Shi Tian said, "but I don't have any green plum wine. We can only plan for another day to enjoy that!" He tossed the fish into his bucket and prepared to leave with his catch.
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