HLM -Chapter 1302 The Secret of a Diamond Wedding

Seeing this, Wang Bo laughed. “Looks like the long spell of rain has lowered the oxygen level in the water.”

Other fish can rely entirely on their gills to survive, so they make more efficient use of dissolved oxygen. Duz lungfish are different—they’re more like amphibians. When the water lacks oxygen, they have to surface to breathe.

Rex, however, clearly knew his stuff. He nodded and said, “Duz lungfish. Remarkable creatures. I never expected to see them here.”

Soon, Wang Bo’s fishing line twitched again. He quickly pulled it up, this time landing a fish worthy of keeping—a modified freshwater dragon-scale fish.

Rex obviously recognized it and exclaimed in surprise, “Sunset Town is even more amazing than I imagined. That’s a dragon-scale fish! I didn’t know this kind of fish could survive in a lake.”

Wang Bo reeled in several more fish in a row, but Rex’s line remained motionless.

Finding this strange, Wang Bo said, “Do you want to change your bait? Why haven’t you had a single bite?”

Rex reeled in his line and showed him the hook. There was nothing on it at all.

“You don’t actually want to fish?” Wang Bo asked in surprise.

Rex said leisurely, “I came to enjoy the tranquility with you, not to toil away. Look at you—five minutes, six fish. So tell me, are you satisfied? Is that your goal?”

The words carried a hint of philosophy. Wang Bo thought about it for a moment and couldn’t help laughing. “Yes, I came to enjoy the tranquility.”

He removed the bait from his hook as well, and the two bare hooks were tossed back into the lake.

Naturally, with no bait, there were no more bites—but the surroundings grew even quieter.

Spring rain wasn’t cold. Gradually, the drizzle thinned and became more sporadic.

Seeing this, Wang Bo took off the hood of his raincoat. His hair was already soaked by the mist—why bother pretending otherwise?

Rex went even further. He simply took off his raincoat altogether and said, “Honestly, my clothes are already soaked through.”

Wang Bo laughed. “You really live freely.”

Rex shrugged. “That’s how old drifters are. You can’t expect more from me, haha. Besides, if I cared too much about such things, I probably wouldn’t have survived my years of wandering—I’d have been exhausted to death long ago.”

Holding his fishing rod, Wang Bo asked with interest, “During your wandering years, did you encounter anything interesting?”

“Plenty,” Rex replied without hesitation. “What do you want to hear?”

“Just chat. Say whatever comes to mind.”

Rex said, “I once met Michael Jackson. That was in 1996, when he held the HIStory Tour concert in Auckland—it caused a huge sensation. But I actually met him at Cape Reinga, and we even chatted for a bit.”

“Cape Reinga?” Wang Bo asked curiously.

Rex nodded. “Yes. Haven’t you been there? It’s the northernmost point of New Zealand. There are beautiful gravel beaches there—and Māui dolphins too.”

Māui dolphins are endemic to New Zealand—small in size, gentle in nature, and now a protected species.

Wang Bo exclaimed, “That’s incredible. You met Jackson!”

“He was a good man,” Rex said. “He listened to my story, then blessed me. He even gave me some money to encourage me to keep going. Do you want to know what blessing he gave me?”

“What was it?” Wang Bo asked.

The old drifter once again traced a cross over his chest. “He prayed that God would bless me, so that I could find my child within my lifetime.”

Wang Bo said, “By that measure, you’re practically a legendary figure in New Zealand. I never imagined that sharing a drink with you at noon that day would lead to so many stories.”

The old drifter laughed. “It was God’s arrangement. He said I had completed my atonement, so He sent you to lead me out of despair. Thanks be to God!”

Then he asked, “So, boss, do you have any particularly interesting experiences of your own?”

Wang Bo pondered for a moment and said slowly, “Ever since I came to New Zealand, all my experiences have been interesting. I know I’m walking an absolutely legendary path—but I can’t tell it.”

Not wanting to say more about himself, he changed the subject. “How about this—the rain won’t stop anytime soon, and we’ve been on the lake long enough. Let’s go to a floating house for a cup of coffee. I’d like to hear more about your experiences.”

“Gladly,” Rex replied.

The completed floating houses had increased to five, with more than a dozen others under urgent construction. They boarded the first model house—the other four had already been rented out by tourists and were in high demand.

Wang Bo rowed them over, unlocked the door with a key, and went inside. There was water and coffee available. He ground some coffee beans, brewed a pot of richly aromatic coffee, and they sat beneath the transparent glass canopy, chatting.

Nearby, in another floating house, an elderly couple was also enjoying the rain. Noticing Wang Bo and Rex, they waved and called out, “Hi, you two! It looks like you’ve got some great coffee over there. Would you mind if we came over for a cup?”

Wang Bo smiled. “Of course, sir. Please, come on over.”

The elderly couple looked to be in their seventies, yet they were energetic, with eyes still sharp and keen like those of young people.

As they approached, they recognized the two men. “Ah, the mayor of Sunset Town—and the man who searched for his child for thirty years. What a pleasure to meet you both. What a delightful surprise!”

Wang Bo shook hands with them and asked, “Are you here on vacation?”

The old gentleman laughed cheerfully. “Yes—celebrating our diamond wedding anniversary.”

Rex was shocked. “Which country are you from?”

Wang Bo asked, “Why do you ask?”

“Because different countries define a diamond wedding differently. In New Zealand and the UK, a diamond wedding marks the seventy-fifth wedding anniversary!”

Hearing this, the old man shook his head. “No, no, we’re not British. We’re Americans—haha, the Americans you talk about.”

Rex said, “That’s still incredible—sixty years of marriage. Truly enviable! May God bless you, and may the days ahead be filled with happiness, joy, and laughter!”

In the United States, one year of marriage is called a paper wedding, two years a cotton wedding, three years a leather wedding, five years a wooden wedding, ten years a tin wedding, twenty years a china wedding, thirty years a pearl wedding, fifty years a golden wedding—and when a marriage reaches sixty years, it is the most perfect of all: a diamond wedding.

Wang Bo said, “I thought you were in your seventies—it seems my eye for age isn’t very accurate.”

The old man laughed. “Revealing a lady’s age isn’t something a gentleman should do, but I can tell you mine. I’m eighty-five this year. When I was as young as you, I was serving as a military doctor in Vietnam. That was truly a terrible time.”

Wang Bo asked, “You’ve spent sixty happy years together—there must be some kind of secret.”

The old man nodded. “Yes, there is a secret. You’re already married, my boy, so I’ll tell you: trust! As long as husband and wife trust each other, there’s no obstacle they can’t overcome.”