Chapter 9: Fishing with Electricity

Shunde, Nanfeng District.

The streets were lined with small eateries, bustling with customers enjoying their meals. I wandered for a long time, several times on the verge of disposing of the "green-white earth," but I held back each time. After all, it was my first time; despite my initial confidence, when the moment finally arrived, I was gripped by fear. I was terrified that someone in a uniform would tap me on the shoulder and demand to know what I was doing.

After circling around, I reached the bank of a small river. My eyes lit up at the sight; I finally had a plan. Shunde is a land of water, rich in aquatic resources. My reasoning was simple: once the green-white earth hit the river, it would dissolve into mud, and no one would ever know.

Seeing no one around, I quickly unzipped my backpack, ready to dump the soil into the water.

"Wait! Stop right there!"
"What are you doing!"

A clear, sharp cry rang out from behind me, startling me so much I nearly tumbled into the river. Trembling, I turned around to see a girl standing there with her hands on her hips, pointing at me. She was wearing a school uniform and a ponytail, her face flushed red. On her arm was a red armband with the words "River Cleaning Crew" stitched onto it.

"I’m talking to you! What are you looking at? What were you trying to throw in the river? Were you trying to dump trash?"

My backpack was still unzipped, and I panicked. I waved my hands frantically, stammering, "No... no, I wasn't dumping trash."

"Liar! I saw you! What’s in your bag? Let me see!" She shouted and began walking toward me.

Seeing her approach, I was terrified. In a moment of panic, I grabbed my bag and bolted.

"Stop, kid!"

She chased after me, and we began running along the moat. As I ran, my foot slipped, and I plunged straight into the water. The green-white earth in my bag sank the moment it touched the water. I couldn't swim, so I thrashed about, swallowed several mouthfuls of river water, and screamed for help. In the end, it was the girl who saved me.

The girl’s name was Li Jing, a local of Shunde and a high school sophomore at Shunde No. 3 Middle School. That day, she was covering for her mother, who was responsible for clearing trash from the moat. After being pulled out, I was soaked to the bone like a drowned rat, but I felt a secret sense of relief. My bag of green-white earth was gone, and I hadn't been caught.

To save me, the girl’s clothes had also been soaked through. She grabbed my shirt and demanded, "Why were you running? You can’t swim at all—are you trying to kill yourself? What was in that bag?"

I blushed and said, "I just slipped, that’s all. My bag just had books in it. If they’re gone, they’re gone; I’ll just buy more."

She looked me up and down, clearly skeptical of my explanation. "I think you’re hiding something. There’s been a lot of illegal electro-fishing around here lately. You’re coming with me to see my mother. You can only leave once she says so."

"Let's go!" Without waiting for an answer, she dragged me along by my clothes.

I tried desperately to wave her off, protesting, "I’m not electro-fishing! I’m really not!" But I couldn't tell her the truth. If I admitted I was a grave robber, that would be even worse—a far more serious crime than electro-fishing. I considered running several times, but I didn't dare. I knew that if I fled, a girl as stubborn as she was might end up causing trouble for our entire crew.

Li Jing’s home was right by the moat. There was a footbridge over the water, and we had to cross it to get to her place. Several vendors were set up on the bridge, selling toys, insoles, and socks. One stall, however, was particularly eye-catching: a fortune-teller’s stand. The fortune-teller was a man in his fifties, wearing dark round glasses. Beside him sat a pack of five-yuan Honghe cigarettes; he kept one lit constantly, lighting a new one before the last had even burned down.

"Wow! Little Li Jing, you’re even more capable than your mother! Did you catch another illegal trash dumper?" the fortune-teller asked with a grin from his folding stool.

Pleased by the praise, Li Jing said smugly, "Master Li, you know it! This kid ran the moment he saw me and fell right into the river. I suspect he’s electro-fishing."

The fortune-teller puffed away, disappearing into a thick cloud of smoke. "Oh, electro-fishing? That’s not good, young man. Those who electro-fish damage their fortune and will face retribution."

Li Jing giggled. "Old Li, I call you 'Master' out of politeness, don't actually think you're a sage! You're killing me. The fortune you told Auntie Li last time? You said her pig would be pregnant with piglets within a month. And what happened? The pig had diarrhea and died three days later! Where are the piglets?"

"Ahem..." The fortune-teller coughed. "That pig’s luck was just poor; it’s not that my reading was wrong. If you don't believe me, how about I give you a reading?"

The girl doubled over with laughter. She pointed at him and said, "Forget it, I wouldn't dare. You probably haven't had a customer in days. If you want to tell a fortune, tell his. Tell me if he’s an electro-fisher." She pointed at me.

For some reason, I ended up letting him tell my fortune. He asked for my date of birth, then took out a tortoise shell containing three Qianlong Tongbao coins. He shook it a few times, and the coins tumbled onto the table.

Whether it was a coincidence or not, all three coins landed face-down. Two were stacked on top of each other, while the third lay lonely and distant from the others. I remember it vividly: the playful grin vanished from the fortune-teller’s face. He stared at the coins, stunned, for a long time, until his Honghe cigarette burned down to the filter.

Coming back to his senses, he looked at Li Jing, then at me, sighing and shaking his head repeatedly.

"Master Li," the girl asked with a smile, "well? What did you find? Is he an electro-fisher?"

The fortune-teller lit another cigarette, took a deep drag, and looked at me, saying meaningfully, "Young man, you are no simple character..."

Feeling guilty, I asked him cautiously what he had seen.

He chuckled and said, "The water is deep but the pond is shallow; where the pond is shallow, there are many turtles. You are the most valuable turtle in this pond, but you cannot escape your ultimate fate: to be slaughtered and made into a bowl of turtle soup."

At the time, I was furious that he called me a turtle. Looking back on those words now, every syllable rings with profound truth.

I returned once later, but I could never find the fortune-teller again. When I asked around, some said he had died of lung cancer two years prior from heavy smoking because he couldn't afford treatment; others said he had left Shunde for parts unknown.

If I could see him now, I would pay a million in gold just to have him cast my fortune once more. To see if I, Xiang Yunfeng, can still find a home, and to see where I should go from here.