Qi Qingyao felt she may not have been coming off sincere enough, so she continued, "I'm not living in good conditions now. I swear, when everything gets better and I can move to a nice big house with a pond, I'll come here and take you home with me. If you like me, let me fish you again then! I'll rear you in a big pond and feed you delicious food every day! Does that sound good?"

The fish did not reply.

"I'll assume you agree with me if you don't speak!"

This was Jiang Yeqian's first time seeing a woman who talked to fishes. He commented, "Fish don't speak."

'And it can't understand you too, woman!' he thought quietly.

Qi Qingyao looked serious when she replied. "It's a koi fish! Nearby here there's a temple of the Koi Fish Deity, it's very effective. You were saved because of the deity's protection. If I hadn't fished this little fish up that day, I would've left you here to rot. You should thank it too, understand?"

Was that so? Jiang Yeqian raised a brow.

His gaze swept over the koi fish inside the bucket.

"It must understand me," Qi Qingyao said with conviction. Then she went on, talking to the koi fish, "Yeah? You understand me, right? I feel like you definitely do!"

The koi fish shook its tail.

Qi Qingyao thought she might have just hallucinated that.

She rubbed her eyes with her left knuckle. Did she see just see that correctly?

"I'll set you free now, little treasure… you have to come to me next time I look for you!"

As she spoke, she tilted the bucket a little and upended its contents into the river. The golden koi fish spilled into the river along with the rest of the water inside the bucket.

Qi Qingyao looked at the koi fish swimming in front of her and waved.

"Goodbyeeee..." She extended the last syllable, making it sound as sticky as sugar.

The koi fish swam around in the area in front of her, making several loops back and forth.

It looked at peace, as if it had never left this river at all in the first place.

This scene surprised Qi Qingyao. She asked Jiang Yeqian, "Say, it misses me, doesn't it?"

'Is this koi fish really intelligent?' he pondered.

This was his first time seeing a fish that did not swim away the moment it was set free. It was really as if it did miss this woman…

Strange!

The koi fish finally swam away after circling the area a few more times.

After she finished grieving her loss, Qi Qingyao sat on a boulder by the shore and started fishing. Jiang Yeqian was curious, just how many fish would this woman catch after letting the koi fish go?

Something miraculous happened next.

Less than ten seconds after Qi Qingyao attached some bait to the fish hook and tossed it into the river, a fish bit on it.

Jiang Yeqian could not help frowning. He wrinkled his brow.

Qi Qingyao seemed to not realize how shocking her actions were. She pulled her fishing rod up calmly, tossed the fish into her bucket, and continued fishing.

She went on. About fifteen minutes later, she had dozens of fishes in her bucket.

Jiang Yeqian went completely still.

He could not say a word.

Songhe Inn, the most popular inn in the capital, has hired fishermen to fish at the Qinglong River. Despite being professionals, the fishermen were not even up to par with her astounding skills.

Jiang Yeqian stepped forward. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" Qi Qingyao tossed a fish onto the ground.

"Fish like that… quick, accurate, and brutal!" Jiang Yeqian did not know how to describe the mix of emotions he was experiencing right now.

"The fish are willing to be fished, so they are fished," Qi Qingyao said calmly.

"Do you include the koi fish in that as well?" Jiang Yeqian asked.

Qi Qingyao said, calm and composed, "Yeah. That day I saved you, it was the first fish I caught."

Jiang Yeqian was stunned into silence. She was not lucky because she had caught the koi fish — she had caught the koi fish because she was lucky!

This woman... what was up with her?