Chapter 105: On the Way, Fishing

The next day, the two left the village at five AM sharp and pressed on.

After drinking Ronan’s blood, Evelyn’s stamina had improved significantly overnight. That day, they covered nearly twenty-five kilometers.

On the eighth day, they reached the Silver River. The river spanned three provinces, with many treacherous stretches. During the heavy rains, the Silver River’s floodgates had collapsed, flooding several downstream cities. After the period of high temperatures, the river had dried up and its banks had cracked. Following the earthquake, landslides from the mountains on both banks had completely filled it in.

"It’s frozen over. The ice looks thick enough to walk across slowly."

Evelyn hauled over a rock and slammed it down hard onto the frozen surface. The ice only split with a thin crack and didn’t give way. That put her much more at ease.

The river was incredibly wide, stretching out as far as the eye could see. Evelyn took a bag of dirt from her spatial inventory, grabbed a handful, and scattered it on the ice.

"If we walk on this, we won’t slip."

’What a dumb idea,’ Ronan thought. "I’ll carry you. I won’t let you fall."

Evelyn gave a mock-bashful smile. "Oh, must I trouble you again? How could I possibly..."

She didn’t look the least bit embarrassed, though. She quickly put the dirt away, dusted off her gloves, and beamed at Ronan.

"Alright then, thanks for the hard work. Squat down a bit. You’re too tall, I can’t jump on."

Ronan shot her a glance, then hoisted her up with one hand and unceremoniously slung her onto his back.

With Mina and Lola in the pouch on his chest and Evelyn on his back, he tested the ice with one foot before starting across the river.

Evelyn wiped the frost from her eyelashes and tightened her grip on Ronan’s shoulders. As they neared the middle of the river, she saw something incredible—fish swimming beneath the ice. She rubbed her eyes, unable to believe it.

"Ronan, did you see the fish under the ice?"

"Yeah."

’I thought I was seeing things,’ Evelyn mused. "Does this count as a genetic mutation?"

"It does."

Evelyn suppressed a smile. "Feel like some grilled fish?"

Ronan stopped. He stared intently at the ice, then let go. Evelyn dropped onto the frozen surface with a sudden thud. Even with her thick clothing, the fall hurt.

"Why’d you suddenly drop me?"

"To catch fish."

He looked back at Evelyn, his expression dead serious. "Give me the shovel."

Evelyn struggled back to her feet. "Were you a starving ghost in a past life or something?" she grumbled, but still took out the shovel and handed it to him.

Ronan took the shovel and immediately started smashing the ice, quickly carving out a hole. Evelyn pulled out a hand net and eagerly hurried over to scoop up the fish, only to slip on the slick surface and land on her knees.

Ronan leaned on the shovel, looking down at the kneeling Evelyn. A flicker of confusion crossed his mismatched eyes.

"Unnecessary."

Just as Evelyn was about to get up, she heard him say coolly, "Unnecessary."

’Unnecessary for what?’

"I just slipped, okay? I wasn’t kneeling to thank you. Don’t get the wrong idea."

Ronan’s brow twitched. "Idiot."

With that, he simply lifted Evelyn up and set her down a short distance away.

He took the hand net from her. The moment he dipped it into the water, he pulled up two bighead carp, each weighing around ten kilograms. The sight of the fish made Evelyn completely forget her earlier embarrassment. She quickly took out a large basket, killed the fish, and tossed them inside.

"Haha, and there’s even a little bleak!" Although it was only two fingers long, Evelyn picked it up anyway.

Evelyn was experiencing the true joy of ice fishing, a feeling she hadn’t gotten that time back in the mountains.

"Nice, nice. There are common carp and silver carp, too."

"Ronan, this one’s good for steaming, this one for braising, this one for deep-frying, and this one for soup."

Ronan looked up and watched her quietly. Evelyn, thinking he found her too noisy, made a "zip it" gesture. But then...

"Let’s just blow up the ice."

’Isn’t that a bit extreme?’ Evelyn thought.

"No way! If we blow up the ice, the fish will be blown to smithereens."

Ronan’s expression suddenly turned grave. "Then we’ll stick to netting them."

What was supposed to be a difficult journey had suddenly turned into another supply run. Once the two large baskets were full, Evelyn took out every empty basin and bucket from her spatial inventory.

"Ronan, I’m going to head to the bank and set up camp."

Evelyn remembered she’d picked up some ice skates and a skateboard at some point, and quickly searched her inventory for them.

"I really do have a skateboard." She stepped onto it, did a small test loop, and then started gliding toward the shore.

Ronan was already chiseling a second hole. For him, there was no joy in the act of catching fish itself. But looking at them made him think of Evelyn’s braised fish, steamed fish, sweet and sour fish... and suddenly, he was very interested indeed.

Evelyn fell twice on her way back, but luckily she landed on her butt both times, so it wasn’t too bad. She’d already brought Mina and Lola with her. By the time she reached the bank, her eyelashes were frosted over again. She quickly wiped them clean, found a flat patch of ground, and set up the tent before starting a fire.

The Silver River lay in a low-lying area, and cold winds funneled down its banks from both sides, making it doubly cold. Evelyn shivered slightly, but she was in much better shape than before, her energy seemingly inexhaustible.

She put some water on to boil and set a pot of mutton stew to simmer beside it. Mutton was good for fending off the cold, something you needed more of in the winter.

Evelyn tucked the two little ones into the tent and turned on a portable heater to keep them warm. Then she hopped back on her skateboard and glided out onto the ice.

"Another basketful! Wow, they’re all topmouth culter! These are the best when they’re steamed."

Hearing this, Ronan’s hands moved even faster. Behind him, Evelyn covered her mouth, trying to stifle a laugh.

After four hours of work, Evelyn suggested they take an hour-long break to warm up by the fire on the bank, eat something to regain their strength, and have some ginger tea to drive away the chill.

Ronan had no objections, but they had to store the fish in her inventory first. Two of the crates were still full of live ones. Evelyn watched as he picked up a fish, knocked its head against a brick, and it went belly-up.

They worked in perfect sync, quickly processing the boxes of fish and storing them away. Looking at their new hoard of supplies, Evelyn’s face was all smiles.

"Great work, great work. I’ve already got the mutton stew ready. Let’s go, Kendrick the Butcher."

"Kendrick the Butcher?"

Evelyn nodded, then stroked her chin. "You don’t like it? How about a different one, then? Kendrick the Fisherman. Haha."

Evelyn hopped on her skateboard and quickly zipped away, with Ronan following behind, shovel slung over his shoulder.

"The mutton’s ready. You can have a bowl of soup first to warm your stomach. ’Eat radish in winter and ginger in summer,’ as they say. I put some radishes in to help ward off the cold."

Evelyn handed him a bowl. Ronan took a sip, and his eyes lit up.

Evelyn raised her own bowl and took a sip. Pure bliss.

"So, how many fish do you think are in this river?"

"How many containers do you have for them?"

Evelyn chuckled. "Don’t you worry. I’ve got plenty. The only thing I’m worried about is running out of fish."

A look of grim determination flashed in Ronan’s eyes—a determination born of his desire for braised fish and steamed fish.

Evelyn clenched her fist and gave him a very serious "you can do it" gesture.