PCJ – Chapter 277 Soft-Shelled Turtles Don’t Count as Fish

In the countryside, jokes often go a bit too far, but nobody usually takes it seriously. However, there have been plenty of times when jokes escalated from verbal disputes into physical fights.

Zhang Wenrong had witnessed the fat cat fishing before, so he was confident in the cat’s abilities. However, after a long while of having its tail in the water, there were still no fish biting. The fat cat started to get anxious.

Zhang Enzhong, seeing how impatient Zhang Wenrong and the others were getting, smugly said to Zhang Jiaohua, “Jiaohua, looks like you’ll need to go home and get that jar of tea leaves for me.”

“Why are you in such a rush? It hasn’t even been that long,” Zhang Jiaohua replied, showing no sign of worry.

“How has it not been long? Are you trying to back out of the bet? If we just keep waiting here, there’ll be no way to settle this,” Zhang Enzhong grumbled, a bit irritated.

“Am I backing out? It hasn’t even been an hour yet,” Zhang Jiaohua responded impatiently.

“Uncle Ji Wang, you be the judge here,” Zhang Enzhong said, recounting the details of their bet to Zhang Ji Wang.

Zhang Ji Wang gave a cold smile and said, “Enzhong, you’re really calculating, aren’t you? Betting with a kid? How shameless can you be?”

“Uncle Ji Wang, it wasn’t me who wanted the bet. It was Jiaohua who insisted! And bets are usually made casually, aren’t they?” Zhang Enzhong replied, his thick skin on full display.

“Damn it! You’re trying to trade two pieces of tofu for a bamboo canister of tea? The carving work on the bamboo alone is worth a few cents! You’re really going to scam a child? Do you have any decency left?” Zhang Ji Wang scolded, not holding back at all.

“Forget it, Grandpa Ji Wang, don’t worry. He’s going to lose anyway,” Zhang Jiaohua remained confident.

“Fine! I’ll wait another half hour, but no longer. Jiaohua, if you’ve got the guts, you better accept defeat when the time comes,” Zhang Enzhong said, trying to provoke him.

“Don’t be impatient. You’ll see the fish soon,” Zhang Jiaohua said, not even turning his head.

Just as Zhang Jiaohua finished speaking, there was a loud yowl from the fat cat: “Meowww!”

The cat suddenly jumped up from the stone, but its tail seemed to be stuck on something.

“It’s caught something! It’s caught something!” Zhang Wenrong shouted excitedly.

Zhang Ji Wang, who had been about to scold Zhang Jiaohua, stopped when he saw that the cat’s tail had indeed hooked something.

“What did it catch?” Zhang Enzhong asked skeptically, repeating his question.

“It’s a soft-shelled turtle! The turtle’s biting down hard on the fat cat’s tail! That’s why the cat is in so much pain!” Zhang Jiagen quickly jumped onto the stone. A soft-shelled turtle, weighing about two to three jin, had its jaws locked firmly around the cat’s tail. No wonder the fat cat was yowling in pain.

“Uncle Enzhong, a soft-shelled turtle counts as a fish, right?” Zhang Jiaohua asked with a smile.

Zhang Enzhong immediately tried to weasel out of it, “How can a turtle be considered a fish?”

“Zhang Enzhong, if you try to back out, I’ll beat you to death with a stick!” Zhang Jiagen, always quick-tempered, charged up from the dock.

Zhang Hangao and Zhang Wenrong hurriedly held Zhang Jiagen back, “He can’t weasel his way out of this one!”

Zhang Ji Wang chuckled, “Enzhong, this is all you’re good for. Your whole life, you’ve only ever been good at making tofu. But haven’t you noticed? You’ve never once won a bet against Jiaohua. Don’t end up suffering a bigger loss later.”

Zhang Enzhong, startled by Zhang Ji Wang’s words, realized he was right. This was Zhang Jiaohua, after all. If he really angered the boy, he might get cursed or something.

“Alright, alright, I admit it, I admit defeat. I was just joking around. You guys don’t need to take it so seriously,” Zhang Enzhong finally conceded.

“Haha! Jiaohua, should we cook this soft-shelled turtle for dinner?” Zhang Hangao asked.

“Let it go. The Water Gods don’t eat soft-shelled turtles,” Zhang Jiaohua responded, remembering the rules of the Meishan Water Gods.

“Let it go? That big turtle could be sold in town for at least 10 or 20 yuan,” Zhang Jiagen protested, reluctant to part with it.

“If Jiaohua says to let it go, then let it go,” Zhang Wenrong decided. He was about to release the turtle but was surprised by how tightly it had clamped onto the fat cat’s tail. Despite the cat’s yowling, the turtle wouldn’t let go.

“I’ll do it!” Zhang Ji Wang, much more experienced than the younger boys, jumped down and gave the turtle a light knock on the head with a wooden ruler, knocking it unconscious. The turtle finally released the fat cat’s tail.

The fat cat immediately scrambled up the riverbank and into a tree, refusing to come down. It had had a tough day and wasn’t about to go back to fishing anytime soon.

Zhang Jiaohua finally understood why the fat cat, despite loving fish so much, refused to fish in the river and instead ate the fish from the pond. It was obvious now, the river wasn’t just home to fish. There were other creatures in the water too, like this turtle. Most people wouldn’t even encounter such a turtle, but the fat cat seemed to attract these things.

“Come on, fat cat. We’re counting on you to catch dinner,” Zhang Jiaohua called to the cat in the tree.

Reluctantly, the fat cat crawled down and approached Zhang Jiaohua.

“The turtle’s been gone for a while now, so it won’t come back,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

After the earlier scare, the turtle had definitely moved to a different spot, and with the commotion, the fish in the water had been alerted too. The turtle wasn’t likely to return and disrupt things again.

“Woof! Woof!” The leopard dog, sensing the fat cat’s laziness, barked sharply in warning. The dog’s threats were far more effective than Zhang Jiaohua’s commands. The fat cat quickly returned to the large stone and obediently dropped its tail back into the river.

This time, as Zhang Jiaohua predicted, the soft-shelled turtle had gone, and instead, a carp weighing over a jin bit down on the bait.

But by this point, Zhang Enzhong had already left, and Zhang Ji Wang was busy with his own matters.

“Bucket! Get the bucket! Jiagen, quick!” Zhang Wenrong shouted out orders.

Zhang Jiagen hurriedly filled a bucket halfway with water and then removed the fish from the fat cat’s tail.

“Haha, what a fat carp! We’re in for a good meal tonight! Although with just this one, it’s barely enough to feed me alone!” Zhang Jiagen laughed happily as he placed the fish in the bucket.

The carp had bitten down tightly, but only showed signs of fear once Zhang Jiagen grabbed hold of it. This was quite peculiar.

“Fat cat! Hurry up! That’s not enough for us all yet!” Zhang Jiaohua urged. The leopard dog barked again to prompt the cat into action.

The fat cat, though visibly disheartened, dipped its tail back into the water. Perhaps it was recalling its former glory as the king among cats, commanding flocks of birds to attack the horticultural farm.