Chapter 4Baiting the Hook

When I saw Nate again, he was obviously more talkative.

"Is the fishing spot you mentioned really have that many fish?"

I looked him over discreetly. He was wearing a black hoodie and gray sweatpants. His black hair wasn't slicked back with hair gel, but scattered naturally on his forehead.

When talking about things he was interested in, his eyes opened slightly and shone brightly. He didn't look like the indifferent and noble person in financial magazines at all, but more like a young man in his early twenties.

I nodded: "You'll know when you go. I haven't come up empty-handed many times I've been there."

Actually, I didn't know how to fish at all. I frantically caught up on knowledge these days just to catch Nate, this fish. This fishing spot was also discovered by me after inquiring from countless people and wandering around the mountains by myself.

Nate, on the other hand, when fishing was mentioned, obviously talked a lot more.

When he got excited, he showed me videos of him fishing for catfish in the Amazon River. I was amazed again and again, and then showed him photos of me fishing for tuna out at sea.

His eyes lit up, and then he felt a bit regretful: "I wanted to go fishing for tuna before too, but I've been too busy and haven't had the chance."

He looked up at me and looked straight at me for the first time: "I didn't expect you to like fishing so much too. Girls who love fishing are really rare."

We talked more and more, starting to talk about sports, favorite music, movies and books. Then he was surprised to find that we actually have quite a few common hobbies.

We both like skiing, both like Mishima Yukio's "Afternoon Towing", both like listening to Koji Tamaki, and we can also understand each other's preferences in places where we differ occasionally. When we finally recovered, we realized that we had chatted for a whole afternoon, and it was getting dark.

After that, we often went fishing and chatted together, and we even raised a little wild cat together. This yellow kitten was only a few months old. Every time we went fishing, it would obediently lie aside waiting to eat fish. Sometimes when we both didn't catch a fish, it would anxiously meow to urge us.

I named it Nian Nian, meaning having abundance every year. Every time I went, I would kiss and hug it.

Nate wasn't so interested in it. Every time Nian Nian went to rub against him, he would avoid it. He's a bit of a germaphobe and dislikes cat hair sticking to him.

That night, Nate asked me for the first time when parting:

"When will you come next time?"

I thought for a moment: "Work is busy recently, hard to say."

A trace of disappointment that was hard to detect flashed across his eyes, but he still nodded politely and didn't say much.

I didn't go for the next week. It wasn't until the second week that I arrived late.

Seeing me again, Nate didn't show it on his face, but quickly moved his chair towards me.

"Where have you been these days? Why haven't you come fishing?"

I walked over and touched Nian Nian lying on the ground. It stretched its body on the ground. Its little belly was bulging and it had gained a lot of weight. Its fur was sleek and smooth. It looked well cared for.

"Have you been feeding it these days?"

Nate raised his chin reservedly, his tone carrying a hint of blame:

"You insisted on naming it, but haven't cared for it these days."

He soon became a bit proud again: "Of course I took care of it. I come to fish for it to eat every day."

Nian Nian walked over and rubbed against his leg. Nate frowned, disdaining verbally:

"Can you stay away from me? Every time you rub hair all over me."

But his hand picked it up familiarly and put it on his lap.

Nian Nian laid comfortably on him. His black jacket was immediately covered in cat hair, but he didn't mind. Instead, he scratched its chin with ease.

I watched from the side and made a conclusion in my heart.

Turns out he's a tsundere.

I secretly laughed inwardly and sat aside to hold the fishing rod, but accidentally got my hand pricked by the fish hook. I hissed and squeezed my finger. A drop of bright red blood emerged.

Nate immediately put Nian Nian down, took out a Band-Aid from the box on the side, and walked over frowning.

"Why so careless."

I wanted to take the Band-Aid, but he naturally said:

"Hand."

"You're quite prepared——" I looked up with a smile, but swallowed the rest of the words when I ran into his line of sight.

Too close.

Unknowingly, we seemed to be too close.

The bright orange setting sun in the mountains gradually dyed blue and dimmed. The wind was trapped in the valley, bringing up moist water vapor. I could smell the faint woody scent on Nate. I didn't know if it was perfume or aftershave.

His pupils were lighter than average people, with a kind of inorganic coldness and clarity. At this moment, however, they reflected me completely.

The wind blew my hair across his face. He just looked at me blankly like this until Nian Nian meowed impatiently from the side. We both recovered at the same time and suddenly took a step back respectively. Nate quickly turned his head with his back to me, squatting down and stroking Nian Nian's back:

"Fish. It's starving."

I burst out laughing. In the dim light, his ears turned red inconspicuously. He sat aside fishing without speaking.

However, Nate, who usually had great patience, fidgeted all evening tonight and didn't catch a single fish all night.

From that day on, there seemed to be a tacit understanding between us.

When he came fishing, he would always ask me to come along. We went out at least twice a week.

Sometimes it was in desolate mountains, sometimes it was on the boundless sea, sometimes it was at a fishing farm he rented out.

However, every time there were only the two of us.

During this period, I kept paying attention to Chloe's Weibo. Her posts showing off her relationship became fewer and fewer, and in the end, she hadn't posted a single one for several days.

I watched coldly, and then met her boyfriend in my best condition with the most exquisite makeup during the day.

This kind of relationship, where both knew it clearly but pretended to be confused, fermented for two months before I felt the time had come.

That night, when he was holding Nian Nian, I suddenly asked:

"Nate, do you have a girlfriend?"