When they got to the river, what they saw was Hilo squatting there, staring at the river in a daze.
I walked up to her and knelt down. Shiloh stared at me for a while, then looked away, and whispered:
"I thought you weren't coming."
I folded my hands and apologized to her, and briefly explained the situation to her. There was no sadness or joy on Hilo's face, but he didn't seem too angry. He just picked up a golden beard worm from the side and replied:
"Catch the fish. Use this."
Only then did I notice that there was a small pit surrounded by stones around her, and there were about fifty or sixty golden beard worms wriggling in it. People who didn't know thought she was going to sell this.
Gold beard worms in winter are not easy to catch, they will hide in the deep places in the soil, and only near the roots of trees, they live by sucking the juice of tree roots, and because they go deep into the soil, they can also avoid the severe cold outside. I thought Hilo would be enough to catch a few, but I didn't expect her to find so many.
When looking at Shiloh, he noticed a slight tiredness on her face. The corners of the eyes drooped a little more than before, and the hair was disheveled. Her ears and face were flushed from the cold, and she breathed lightly on her hands while talking to me. She should have been waiting for me here very early today, but I haven't come yet, so she continued to wait for me while rummaging through the gold whiskers.
Maybe, she will also think about things like "Will the other party arrive earlier?" She often thinks about things when waiting for someone.
I handed her the fishing rod that I made last night, and taught her to put the bait on the hook and throw the rod into the water.
Hilo waited silently holding the fishing rod.
I saw that her knuckles were red with cold, so I asked her if she would sit in front of me. Hilo didn't answer, but stood up directly, walked in front of me, sat on the open space between my legs, leaned back, and leaned on me. In my arms is her small body, and in her arms is a long fishing rod. This is naturally warmer, and the only thing to worry about is that the fishing lines of the two people should not be wound together. For a veteran like me, it's still pretty solid.
I don't know if it was due to the novice's luck, but within two minutes there was a silver giraffe on Xiluo's side. When he caught the alive and kicking fish, Shiloh took out a knife and killed the fish, and immediately dissected its stomach, removed its internal organs, and put it aside.
During the whole process, she didn't show any tenderness, she just used fish as food.
But then Hilo didn't have such good luck. No fish bit the bait for half an hour. Instead, I caught two fish on my side, and Hilo took care of them together.
Hilo muttered softly:
"Obviously it's faster to grab it directly."
I smiled and said:
"This is also the fun of fishing. If you catch it directly, it is meaningless. Fishing has a charm of life. If you catch fish, it is like simple survival."
Hilo asked again in a declarative tone:
"You're good at fishing, aren't you?"
I replied:
"Well, I think it's very interesting when the fish bites the hook."
Shiloh waited for a while, and when it was another ten minutes and no fish bit the bait, she suddenly said:
"So it's also very good at fishing people's hearts."
I squint my eyes. Hilo didn't look at me, but at the shimmering water. The cold wind blew, and I tried to help her block the wind as much as possible. I thought about this question and didn't know how to answer it, but I didn't intend to hide anything, so I said frankly:
"If you want people, I will change the way. The hook is straight and the bait is three feet away from the water. Those who wish to take the bait. You can walk on the hook, and jump into the water. I will not look for it again."
Hilo hugged the fishing rod and said softly:
"... That's why it's easy for people to fall into it."
At last there was a fish on her side, and Shiro took up the rod, and it was a big fish. But this time it is not silver lin fish, but another kind of Lujia fish, which is very glutinous and suitable for soup. Hilo still killed the fish neatly, put it aside, and wiped the knife in his hand.
After the two of us had caught ten fish together, I took out the tableware from the iron bucket and cooked a pot of fish soup. This time the fish soup is sprinkled with rice grains and boiled together to make it look like soup rice. Hilo is more interested in grilled fish. I don't know if the sauce was all melted in the water when I ate it last time, and it didn't taste good. This time she specially smeared a lot of sauce on it.
Although those sauces are actually quite expensive, but I don't feel bad about them.
When the fish was grilled, I served the fish soup, and the two sat together, eating the fish and drinking the soup.
Xi Luo was very satisfied with the fish he grilled. When he ate it, he even licked the branches covered with the fish clean, chewed the fish bones and ate them. My words should be more casual, and I will not eat where there are too many thorns, a typical prodigal youth. As a result, the fish I finished eating was also taken away by Hilo and eaten.
Although I really want to complain that this is considered an indirect kiss, but after thinking about it, I have done all the direct kisses, so I am too embarrassed to be entangled in this.
After we were full, Hilo and I lay on the ground. The two of us were in similar postures, stroking our chubby belly, and let out a satisfied sigh of relief.
I turned my head to look at Shiloh, and found that the corners of her mouth were raised slightly, slightly, but obviously she was smiling.
"If only it could stay like this forever."
Hilo said.
I should say:
"Yes, next spring we will dig a pond near here and fill it with fry. When the fish grow up, we will come to catch them. Then I will let the whole world know that this fish pond has been contracted by the two of us. "
"next year."
Hilo repeated the word, pursed his lips, and said:
"I will definitely come."
The weather is fine, and the warm sun is shining all over the world.
The clouds are high and far away, and the sky is blue and pure. It is completely unexpected that there are gods living on the clouds.
There are only various human beings on this vast land.
Hilo and I just lay together, neither of us spoke. I didn't say until the warmth from the fish soup and grilled fish had dissipated:
"Let's go back."
Alaya and Felita are also about to wake up.
Hilo repeated, saying:
"Let's go back."
She stuffed her small hand into mine, and I put my coat on her body, took her hand, and walked towards Yuxi City.
Then, at a certain distance from the city gate, in the middle of the concrete road, a veiled woman was seen.
Her expression was not as cold as Hilo's, but there was no tenderness in it either.
And the moment Hilo saw her, he stopped, like a mouse seeing a cat.
The young woman stood there without making a move, without speaking, without looking at me, and only looked at Shiloh beside me.
After a period of silence, her veil fluttered slightly, and a simple sentence melted in the wind:
"How long will the game of house wine be played? Don't be the master."
Shiloh's hand slipped out of mine and fell beside me. She lowered her head, her small body trembling, the smile on her face disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the corner of her raised mouth finally fell down, returning to its usual appearance.
From that moment on, I saw no kindness in that woman's gaze.