A god-tier fishing spot, anglers lined up to give me money.

...

The next morning, after checking out of the hotel, Yang Qi called two rideshares on his phone.

They then set off from Hongdu City and returned to Yangjia Village in Xitian Town.

The rideshare driver was a talkative middle-aged man who kept talking about how Xitian Town had recently become popular.

They say it's a "fishing paradise," a "popular spot for internet celebrities," and that "fishing enthusiasts from all over the country flock there," and so on.

Yang Qi sat in the back row listening, exchanging glances with Chen Zilu without saying a word, but the corners of his mouth were already turned up in a smile.

...

Just after 11 o'clock, the car stopped at the entrance of Yangjia Village.

Along the way, Yang Qi was amazed by the development and changes around Yangjia Village.

When they left, it was a completely different story.

Yang Qichong, the rideshare driver, waved his hand: "Driver, just get off here, no need to drive any further."

"Alright, welcome to Xitian Town! Have a pleasant journey!"

Yang Qi smiled at these words. When he got out of the car, he stood there stunned for several seconds. Chen Zilu got out from the other side and walked to his side, looking at the big change in front of him.

The original single-lane road has been widened into a four-lane road, and the houses along the road are being built taller and taller.

The exterior walls are painted a uniform off-white, and the green plants on the balcony peek out and hang down.

Further away, you can see a uniformly planned area with many food stalls under blue roofs; you can smell the delicious aromas just by standing there.

A wide aisle was left in the middle, and lanterns and signs were hung in front of each stall.

There were many people, mostly tourists, followed by anglers carrying fishing tackle bags, and live streamers holding up their phones.

Yang Qi opened his mouth and smiled, "Zilu, things have really changed a lot since we left in the past month or two."

Looking at the surging crowd, Chen Zilu blinked: "We're all at the village entrance now. Should we take a look around first? It's almost lunchtime."

"Sure," Yang Qi rubbed his hands together, "I'm actually hungry."

The five people in the car that followed, Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Dawu, Lin Ye, and Zhao Lei, also got out of the car.

Zhang San walked up to Yang Qi and stood beside him, looking at the lively scene around him, a rare look of surprise on his face: "Boss, what's going on..."

"Big, huh?" Yang Qichong raised an eyebrow, then waved his hand dismissively, "Come on, eat whatever you want, bro, it's on me!"

Lin Yedi clapped his hands and cheered, "Boss, we won't hold back!"

"We're all brothers, no need to be so polite!"

Yang Qi chuckled as he pulled out his phone, "How much money can the five of you possibly make off me?"

Immediately afterwards, in front of the five people, he transferred one million to each of them.

"Small amount of money, spend it however you like."

Yang Qi put his phone back in his pocket. "Brother, I don't have anything else right now, just a little bit of money."

Chen Zilu, standing beside him, chuckled and pinched Yang Qi's hand: "You spendthrift."

"Hahaha……"

Several people burst into laughter.

Zhang San, being perceptive, smiled at Yang Qi and said, "In that case, boss, we won't disturb you and your wife any longer."

"Okay, see you tonight, see you at the reservoir!" Yang Qichong and the other four waved.

The five of them walked in another direction, with Yang Qi holding Chen Zilu's hand as they headed towards the food area.

Various shouts and calls came rushing towards us, one after another.

"Freshly grilled lamb skewers, Xinjiang style, 10 yuan a skewer!"

"Handmade rice cake, fresh out of the oven, soft and chewy..."

"Pear soup, have a cup, it'll warm your heart and stomach..."

As Yang Qi smelled the aroma of food mingling in the air, his steps slowed down.

He liked the lively atmosphere, the mix of sounds and smells that made him feel at ease.

Chen Zilu walked in front, and she was in charge of "pointing out" things. When they reached a stall, she would stop and point to two items.

Yang Qi followed behind her, responsible for "scanning the code," extending his phone to scan the payment code.

One serving of fried glutinous rice cakes, one serving of roasted gluten, one box of osmanthus cake, and two cups of freshly squeezed roasted sugarcane juice.

Yang Qi was carrying more and more bags. He looked at himself, with three plastic bags hanging in his left hand and a glass of unfinished sugarcane juice in his right hand, and shook his head with a smile.

"Buy less, or you'll get a sore throat!"

Chen Zilu turned around, put her left hand on her hip, pointed at her upturned nose with her right hand, and pouted: "I don't care, in your so-called world, eating such bland food every day, what's wrong with indulging a little?!"

Yang Qi: "😳, okay, okay, whatever makes you happy."

...

After wandering around for most of the time, Yang Qi stopped in front of a small shop.

The shop's sign reads "Old Zhang's Three Delicacies."

A large pot was bubbling and steaming on the stove by the door.

Yang Qi sniffed: "Zilu, how about we have some Three Delicacies Rice Cake?"

Chen Zilu leaned closer to look at the bubbling broth in the pot, then at the look of longing on Yang Qi's face, and nodded: "Okay."

The two went inside and found a table against the wall to sit down.

The shop wasn't big, but it was clean and tidy, with menus posted on the walls.

The uncle behind Yang Qichong's stove called out, "Boss, two servings of Three Delicacies Rice Cake, please!"

"Okay, just a moment."

While waiting for the rice cakes to be served, Yang Qi walked familiarly to the small condiment station next to him, picked up a plate, and began to assemble the dishes.

I brought back a plate full of pickled cabbage, pickled radish, pickled peppers, and fried peanuts.

The rice cakes were served quickly, with two large bowls of steaming hot rice noodle soup placed in front of us.

The soup noodles are topped with pork, pork three delicacies, and scallions—a generous amount of ingredients.

Yang Qi picked up his bowl, grabbed a spoon, scooped a large spoonful of chili sauce, and added a small spoonful of vinegar.

After stirring it a couple of times, the soup changed from a clear color to a bright red color.

Chen Zilu frowned as she looked at his bowl of rice cakes glistening with red oil: "You put so much chili in, aren't you afraid of getting a sore throat?"

"It's soulless if it's not spicy, and only chili sauce made with these kinds of bird's eye chilies tastes good. It's fragrant and spicy, want some?"

"No," Chen Zilu said, protecting her bowl of broth. "I don't eat spicy food."

"I won't eat it!"

Chen Zilu rolled her eyes: "If you're itching for a beating, just say so."

Yang Qi immediately shrank his neck, scooped up a spoonful of rice cake, blew on it, and put it in his mouth. "Mmm, that's the taste!"

The loach rice noodles don't contain loach, but they do contain rice cakes, which are soft, chewy, and have a rich, spicy broth. They are complemented by the crispness of pickled cabbage and the aroma of roasted peanuts.

The sensation of everything swirling in his mouth made him squint and exclaim:

"Delicious! 😍😍😍..."

Chen Zilu looked at Yang Qi's expression as he devoured the delicious food, then glanced at her own bowl and muttered, "It's just a bowl of rice cakes, is it really necessary to make that face?"

……

After finishing their rice cakes and paying the bill, the two walked along the newly built road towards the reservoir.

The road widens as you walk, and after climbing the mountain, you can see the newly erected archway on the perimeter of the reservoir.

The stone doorposts have a large plaque above them with four characters: "Water Above Clouds".

Two rows of red lanterns hung on either side of the stone pillar, the ground was paved with bluestone slabs, and the card-swiping gate at the entrance was much more professional than it had been before they left.

As the two approached the entrance, two security guards in matching uniforms came out of their booths and raised their hands to stop them.

The young security guard on the left smiled and said in a polite yet firm tone:

"Hello, gentlemen and ladies. If you wish to enter midway, please go to the registration desk to have your identity verified. Direct entry is not permitted here."

Yang Qi paused for a moment, stood at the door and looked around to make sure he hadn't gone to the wrong place.

Then he smiled at the security guard and asked, "Okay, may I ask who's on duty at the registration desk?"

Hearing his question, the security guard's smile grew even warmer, and he pointed to the newly built flat-roofed hut on the side of the archway:

"The registration office is just that little room, walk over there. And right now, the one on duty is our boss, Deputy Director Yang!"

"What?"

Yang Qi turned his head, glanced at the flat-roofed building in the direction the security guard pointed, then looked back, his brows furrowing in question. "Who is your Deputy Director Yang?"

These words made the security guard frown, but he quickly smiled again, somewhat surprised: "Sir, is this your first time here?"

Yang Qi thought to himself: 😑😑😑, I see this is your first time here, I don't even recognize you...

But he didn't say it aloud, "Yes, yes, it's my first time!"

Hearing this, the security guard, seeing the genuine confusion on his face, laughed and said, "Deputy Director Yang, of course it's Yang Wenshang, the owner of our reservoir. How come you don't even know that?"

Yang Qi and Chen Zilu exchanged a glance, both of them looking somewhat shocked.

Yang Wenshang? My dad? When did he become a deputy director? Yang Qi was puzzled, but then a wicked thought popped into his head as he grinned.

He turned his head to look at Chen Zilu, raised an eyebrow, and whispered, "Wow, let's see how he's doing as bureau chief."

"What do you want to do?" Chen Zilu asked in a low voice.

"Just you wait and see!"

As he spoke, Yang Qi shoved the bag of snacks he was carrying into Chen Zilu's hand, straightened his collar, and strode toward the registration desk.

The registration window was open, and inside was a large desk with stacks of registration forms and a computer on it.

A person was writing something on a piece of paper with their head down, their head slightly drooping, revealing a section of dark gray hair.

A small name tag was pinned to his collar, but Yang Qi couldn't make out what it said.

Yang Qi walked to the window, bent down, rested his arms on the windowsill, chin on the back of his hands, and called out to the person inside:

"Hey old man, I want to go fishing, can you get me a spot?"

The person inside paused, didn't look up, and said in a practiced tone, as if repeating the same thing a hundred times a day, "The quota is full. Please come early tomorrow to queue up and register."

Yang Qi didn't move, lying there in an even lazier position, and drawled, "Old man, can you give me a back door? I came all this way back."

Hiss... This voice sounds so familiar.

Sensing something was wrong, Yang Wenshang frowned and then looked up.

That gaze fell on the face leaning against the windowsill outside the window, for a second…

"Snapped!"

His pen fell onto the table.

"you……"

Yang Wenshang suddenly stood up, the chair leg scraping against the tiled floor with a screeching sound.

He leaned forward, his hands bracing against the windowsill, and demanded, "When did you get back?!"

Yang Qi smiled, his eyes narrowing into slits: "I just arrived, so I came to pay my respects to Deputy Director Yang as soon as possible."

"You brat!"

Yang Wenshang walked around the desk and went outside. When he pushed open the door, he almost tripped over the threshold because he was walking too fast.

He stumbled as one shoe stepped on the other, but he quickly regained his balance and strode out.

"You didn't even tell me you were coming back! Your mom and grandma are nagging you so much they're sick of it!"

As he spoke, he walked up to Yang Qi and patted him hard on the shoulder twice.

Immediately afterwards, Yang Wenshang scanned his face several times, as if to confirm whether this person was really standing in front of him.

His lips moved, and then he belatedly realized that something was stuck in his throat, preventing him from speaking.

"Dad," Yang Qi called softly.

Yang Wenshang looked away, blinked hard, and then turned back, deliberately raising his voice:

"Where is Zilu?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Zilu, who had been watching the scene unfold, walked over and said with a smile, "Dad, I'm here!"

"Good, good, good!" Yang Wenshang said three times, taking the two people's hands.

"Come on, let's go home. Your mom and grandma will be so happy to know you're back."

Then, he let go of his hand, took out his phone, and started typing on the screen.

He dialed Lai Lingling's number from his contacts. After the call connected, he only said one sentence: "Our son is back. He's at the registration office. Tell everyone."

Suddenly, a loud thud of something falling to the ground and Lai Lingling's shout, rising eight octaves, erupted from the other end of the phone, clearly audible even through the receiver.

Yang Wenshang hung up the phone, put it back in his pocket, and then looked at Chen Zilu and her slightly protruding belly again.

She exclaimed in shock, "Zilu, you, what are you doing…"

Yang Qi smiled and said, "Dad, Zilu is pregnant."