Chapter 57: I Really Am Famous!

In the urban area of Yuanshan Town, an Audi Q5L carrying a 558-jin Mekong giant catfish seemed to be trapped in a ghostly maze, circling back and forth through the streets repeatedly without being able to find its way home, until it finally vanished into the night.

The moment he got home, Liu Zhoucheng took Jiang Fan's Mekong giant catfish away.

If you refused to give it to him, he was your father-in-law after all, and it would make you look like a stingy son-in-law.

If you did give it to him, a 558-jin behemoth wasn't something you caught every day.

In the end, Jiang Fan reluctantly agreed only for the sake of the thick stack of red banknotes Liu Zhoucheng had left behind.

However, no sooner had Liu Zhoucheng left than another person appeared outside his door.

"Jiang Fan, what is wrong with you, kid? You actually hung up when I called you! Don't you hold any respect for your cousin here?"

"Cousin?!"

Sitting inside the house, Jiang Fan heard the voice, walked out to take a look, and discovered it was none other than his distant cousin, Jiang Qi?!

Jiang Qi was holding a suitcase in one hand and dragging a bag in the other. He was about the same height as Jiang Fan, wearing a black fisherman's hat, a white short-sleeved shirt, light blue trousers, and a pair of sneakers, giving him a rather casual look.

Jiang Fan remembered meeting quite a few relatives when he followed his parents around as a child.

Later on, however, they had basically lost touch, leaving him with very few impressions.

Yet, his impression of Jiang Qi was exceptionally deep.

That was simply because Jiang Qi had stayed at their house for a period of time when they were kids.

Jiang Qi had a violent temper and was extraordinarily persistent about everything!

He remembered when the two of them went to the river to catch fish and shrimp as kids, Jiang Qi ran away after getting his third leg clamped by a large crab. In a fit of rage, he drained the water and turned the entire river channel upside down to find that crab, and finally took it back for Jiang Fan's parents to steam. That evening, the two of them polished off three large bowls of rice each!

There was another time fishing, when the two of them were played like Japanese soldiers by the fish all morning without catching a single one. In another fit of rage, Jiang Qi strapped a new-energy power generator to his back and went out to electrofish. That day, white bellies floated all over the river surface, and that evening there was steamed, braised, and soup dishes of all kinds. Once again, they polished off three large bowls each!

There were many, many more instances. Jiang Fan's swimming skills were so good precisely because he used to play by the river with Jiang Qi all the time when he was young.

It was only later that Jiang Qi went back home, and he heard he had gone to join the army.

Come to think of it, the two of them hadn't been in contact for seven or eight years.

So how could he possibly know why this guy suddenly called him out of the blue?

"Cousin, did you run off to Africa all these years? How did you get so dark?"

Jiang Qi's mouth twitched. "Dark? How am I dark? This skin tone is completely normal, alright!"

Jiang Fan frowned as he looked him up and down. "You really are so dark I almost didn't recognize you!"

Jiang Qi (〝▼皿▼): "Damn it... I just go out sea fishing often. Maybe, just maybe, I've gotten a little tanned..."

"Sea fishing? Didn't you go join the army?" Jiang Fan asked curiously.

"Yeah, but am I supposed to be a soldier for the rest of my life?"

Jiang Qi lifted his things and made to go inside the house.

At that moment, Liu Ruoyan heard Jiang Fan talking to someone else and walked out.

"Oh? Hubby, is this African compatriot a friend of yours?"

Jiang Qi: (＞꒪ཀ꒪＞)

Jiang Fan: "This is my distant cousin, named Jiang Qi."

Liu Ruoyan: "Huh? You have a distant cousin who is Black?"

Jiang Qi: (＞꒪ཀ꒪＞)

Jiang Fan spread his hands. "He's not Black, it's just a sunburn."

Liu Ruoyan: "Oh, alright. Dinner is ready. Since he's a cousin, why don't you come in and have dinner together?"

Jiang Qi waved his hand. "No need, I just happened to pass by and wanted to check in on Jiang Fan."

With that, he winked at Jiang Fan and swaggered away.

Jiang Fan understood what his cousin meant. After saying a word to Liu Ruoyan, he followed his cousin toward the street food stalls.

Near Jiang Fan's house was a snack street, and beside the snack street was a river, along whose banks a few anglers sat.

"Damn it! When did you get married, kid, that I had no idea about it at all?"

Jiang Qi chugged a large glass of iced Harbin beer and asked with a burp.

Jiang Fan: "Almost two years now. My dad passed away, and we didn't have contact info for you relatives, so we lost touch."

Jiang Qi: "F***! Is that the main point?"

"As an angler, don't you know the principle that once you step through the fishing gates, you cut ties with the mortal world forever? Women only hinder the happiness of us anglers!"

"Getting married? Heh, not even a dog would do that!"

Jiang Qi: "Cousin, is this why you've been single for over twenty years?"

"..."

"Ahem, cousin, how did you know I liked fishing, by the way?"

Jiang Qi took another large gulp of Harbin beer.

"That 'Handsome Xia' guy on Douyin—isn't that you? I've watched your fishing videos!"

Hearing this, Jiang Fan fell silent for a long time. In other words, his cousin had seen his Douyin, and then used the information on his Douyin profile to find his phone number?

Heh, it seemed his cousin paid quite a bit of attention to fishing matters in his spare time.

Just now at the house, his cousin had mentioned that he frequently went sea fishing. Could it be that he usually preferred offshore and deep-sea fishing?

Thinking of this, Jiang Fan suddenly developed a strong interest.

Although he didn't know much about sea fishing right now, and going out to fish on the open ocean might still be a bit premature for him, there was no harm in learning about it in advance.

Soon, Jiang Fan and his cousin were chatting away about sea fishing.

Through his cousin, Jiang Fan got his very first real understanding of what genuine sea fishing was actually like.

Although sea fishing and freshwater wild fishing were largely similar in general principles, strictly speaking, sea fishing was much harder than freshwater fishing, and venturing out onto the ocean was far more dangerous.

Without professional navigation personnel, one could at most mess around a bit in coastal areas.

However, if one truly wanted to catch behemoths, coastal areas obviously wouldn't cut it.

"Hehe, Jiang Fan, you freshwater wild anglers are just playing in a small pond. The real deal is sea fishing, which depends on us."

"And I, your cousin, am quite famous in the sea fishing circle. Practically no one who fishes doesn't know who I am!"

Jiang Qi patted his chest and spoke with absolute certainty.

As he spoke, he looked over at the barbecue stall owner and asked, "Boss, do you use Douyin? Do you recognize a guy named Jiang Qi?"

The owner shook his head. "Never heard of him."

"Fair enough, since you don't like fishing, after all."

"Hey, old man over there, I see your skin is dark and weathered—do you like fishing?"

An old man smoking a cigarette walked past, turned his head, and glanced over.

"What do you want?"

"Do you recognize a guy named Jiang Qi?"

"I recognize your ancestors!"

"..."

Jiang Qi: "Huh? Wh-why is he cursing?!"

Jiang Fan shrugged. "Cousin, forget it. Let's keep drinking."

Jiang Qi muttered curses under his breath. "Jiang Fan, even you don't believe me?! I'm really famous! Damn it!"

Jiang Fan waved his hand indifferently. "Come, come, eat some grilled kidney skewers!"

"I recognize you!"

Suddenly, a middle-aged man walking by with a fishing rod caught sight of them and trotted over in excitement.

"Ha, look at that! Look at that! Isn't someone recognizing me right here?"

Jiang Qi was overjoyed and stood up, ready to shake hands with the man.

Yet the middle-aged man completely ignored him, walked right past him, and came up to Jiang Fan, saying excitedly, "Hahaha, I recognize you! I recognize you! The first place winner of the Douyin Angling Cup, Handsome Xia!!!"

Jiang Fan: "..."

Jiang Qi: "..."