My cousin-in-law helped me achieve my ambitions.

Su Ming scratched his head sheepishly, his face flushed, and chuckled awkwardly, "I'm really not very good at fishing. Maybe this spot isn't suitable. How about I try baiting somewhere else? Maybe the fish will come if I change locations."

Dr. Hou shook his head and replied earnestly, "Fishing requires patience. You can't just change spots and bait the area every time you see no catch. If you change spots, all the bait you used before is wasted. When you move to a new spot, you have to bait the area again and wait all over again, ending up with nothing." As he spoke, he suddenly turned his head, his gaze sharpened, and his fishing rod trembled again. He shouted, "Another one! Haha!"

With that, he jerked the fishing rod upwards, the line taut, a splash forming on the water's surface, and a fish even larger than before was pulled ashore. Dr. Hou steadied the rod, slowly reeled in the line, and dragged the fish to the bank. He bent down, pinched its gills, and lifted it up. Good heavens, it weighed a good four or five pounds—a plump and robust carp, its golden-red tail fin shimmering in the sunlight. Dr. Hou placed the fish in the bucket, and the space inside immediately became cramped. The two fish thrashed about, splashing water all over Su Ming's face.

Su Ming wiped the water off his face and praised with a smile, "Dr. Hou, you're amazing! One after another, it's like magic!"

Dr. Hou glanced at him and corrected him, "Call me brother-in-law. How many times have I told you, don't treat me like an outsider! It sounds awkward to me when you call me Dr. Hou."

Su Ming quickly changed his tune, laughing, "Yes, brother-in-law, you're really amazing. I've been sitting here for almost three hours and haven't seen a single fish, but you've caught two right away, and each one is bigger than the last."

Dr. Hou rebaited the fish, cast the line, and replied with a smile, "So-so. Fishing is all about patience. First, you need patience, and then you need a keen eye. Baiting requires a keen eye; you need to know where the fish like to stay, how deep the water is, how fast the current is, and what kind of terrain is good for hiding fish. It's all knowledge. But having a keen eye isn't enough; you also need patience to persevere. Not every baiting spot will yield a catch; sometimes you'll come up empty-handed, and you have to accept that. If you can persevere, the fish will eventually come; if you can't, all your efforts will be in vain."

Upon hearing this, Su Ming's heart stirred, sensing that there might be another meaning hidden in these words, but he couldn't quite figure it out. He quickly smiled and flattered, "Yes, yes, brother-in-law is absolutely right. I'm just a restless person with an impatient temper, so I really need to practice."

Dr. Hou was silent for a moment, his gaze falling on the buoy on the stream, before suddenly asking, "By the way, what have you been up to lately?"

Su Ming replied with a smile, "It's nothing much. I work in a factory and run a convenience store on the side, with a few slot machines inside. Business is alright; I can earn a few thousand yuan more each month."

He deliberately downplayed the situation.

Dr. Hou listened, smiled and shook his head, his gaze still fixed on the buoy, and said in a calm tone, "Your baiting skills aren't up to par, you still need to learn. Slot machines are fine for small-time sprees, enough to earn some pocket money, but they won't amount to much. If you bait in shallow water, even if you catch a fish, it'll be a small one."

Su Ming realized that his brother-in-law was using the pretext of baiting to give him some advice. A chill ran down his spine; he saw this as a rare opportunity. He cleared his throat and tentatively asked with a smile, "Brother-in-law, actually, I'd like to start a legitimate business, but I don't know where to begin. You mentioned baiting, but I don't even know where to bait, let alone how to catch big fish."

Dr. Hou glanced at him with a smile, not answering directly, but instead putting away his fishing rod, removing the hook from the line, and switching to a more upscale rod. This rod was longer and thicker than the previous one, with a thicker fishing line on the reel and hooks several sizes larger. As he baited the hook, he chuckled unhurriedly, "You need capital to do big business! It's like fishing; you at least need bait, right? If you don't even have bait, no matter how good your fishing skills are, it's all for nothing. If you don't have capital, even the best opportunity won't be seized."

Su Ming nodded, carefully considering the other person's thoughts. Dr. Hou's words were blunt: without capital, everything is in vain. How much money did he have right now? The income from the convenience store and slot machines, plus his salary, plus what Sister Lin gave him, after several months of saving, he only had about 100,000 yuan at most, which was still a long way from the "capital" Dr. Hou was talking about.

Just then, Dr. Hou suddenly stood up, took two steps back to find a more open angle, gripped the fishing rod with both hands, and swung it sharply. The fishing line, carrying the bait, drew a long parabola in the air, landing precisely in the deep water of the stream more than ten meters away. A ripple spread across the surface before returning to calm. He sat down again, rested the fishing rod on his lap, and turned to Su Ming with a smile, saying, "Equipment is also important. Watch closely, your brother-in-law is going to get you a big one."

Su Ming stared at the thick fishing rod and the distant buoy, a hint of anticipation creeping into his heart.

Sure enough, not long after, the buoy in the distance suddenly sank. Dr. Hou's eyes lit up, and he shouted, "It's on the hook!"

Having said that, he gripped the fishing rod with both hands and frantically cranked the reel. The fishing line drew a white trail on the water's surface, and the rod bent into a bow. Huge waves surged on the water's surface as a large fish struggled desperately, its tail slapping the water with a loud splash, making a much bigger commotion than the previous two. Dr. Hou remained calm and steady, controlling the rod and slowly reeling in the line. After several rounds of maneuvering with the large fish, he finally dragged it to the shore.

Su Ming quickly ran over to help. Dr. Hou bent down, grabbed the gills, and lifted the big fish up. It was a large fish weighing eight or nine pounds. Its body was slender, and its silvery-white scales shimmered in the sunlight. Its mouth was upturned, still opening and closing defiantly.

Dr. Hou removed the fish and put it into the bucket. The bucket could no longer hold any more fish; the fish's upturned tails were sticking out and were still thrashing about unwillingly.

Dr. Hou clapped his hands in satisfaction and smiled, "A good harvest."

He pointed to the mandarin fish and turned to Su Ming to explain, "See? That's the importance of equipment. This mandarin fish is strong and struggles fiercely. You can't catch it with the small fishing rod you used before. The fishing line is too thin and will break with a pull; the fishing rod is too soft and you can't control it at all. Even if you manage to hook it, it will get away. So I switched to a big rod, thick line, and big hook just now, specifically to deal with these big guys."

Su Ming didn't know anything about fishing, but the words were clear enough, so he could only nod and smile apologetically, secretly making a mental note of them.

Dr. Hou put down his fishing rod, stood up, walked over to Su Ming, patted him on the shoulder, and said earnestly, "Listen carefully, doing business is the same. Equipment is also very important. Only with high-end equipment can you play high-end games. What is a businessman's equipment? Connections and capital are a businessman's equipment. The more connections you have, the longer your rod is, allowing you to reach fish that others can't reach; the more capital you have, the thicker your line is, ensuring that big fish can't escape once they're hooked."