Chapter 64: Fishing
Shanshan nodded obediently.
"Grandpa is the strongest! He’ll definitely recover faster than anyone. I’ve already told all my friends that even illness itself is scared of him!"
Everyone couldn’t help but chuckle.
Zhou Yu also said with a smile.
"Shanshan is right. Grandpa is tough, but we still can’t be careless. The sooner he recovers, the sooner we can all go home without having to rush to the hospital every day."
"Alright, Shanshan’s right. I’ll listen to the doctors and stop joking around."
Ling Zhenkang chuckled, raising his hands in surrender.
As soon as he finished speaking, the room once again erupted in laughter.
After the meal, a doctor led Ling Zhenkang away for an examination.
He walked with a cane, his steps steady. In fact, his recovery was progressing much faster than anticipated.
The doctor nodded repeatedly as he recorded the data.
"Your recovery speed is simply incredible. Nerve function, muscle response, cardiopulmonary indicators... they’re all above the normal range. The nerve recovery in your lower limbs, in particular, is practically a miracle."
The whole family was beaming, gathering around the doctor to press for details.
Only Ling Anxun stood in the corner, his expression profound.
’This isn’t a natural recovery,’ he thought. ’It’s obvious someone secretly shouldered his injuries for him.’
He gazed at the back of Shanshan’s figure.
The little girl was on her tiptoes, peering curiously at the lab report.
His gaze was filled with gratitude, heartache, and an unexplainable worry.
He knew Shanshan wasn’t an ordinary child.
The stronger her abilities, the greater the danger she would be in.
And he had to become stronger as quickly as possible so he could protect her and this family.
"Since I’m all better, let’s just check out of the hospital! Recovering at home is way better than being here."
Ling Zhenkang tried to scramble to his feet.
"I don’t want to spend my days staring at these white walls."
Ding Qin pressed him back down, her brow furrowing slightly.
"Are you crazy? Have you forgotten you could barely breathe when you were first brought here? It’s only been a few days and you already want to leave?"
"Ling Zhenkang, you’re the elder here. You have to be reasonable."
"That’s all in the past! Didn’t you hear the doctor? He said I’m fine now!"
Ling Zhenkang’s voice suddenly boomed.
As he spoke, he actually pulled out his phone and dialed the attending physician’s number directly.
His action stunned the entire family.
No one had expected him to actually dare to call the doctor over to settle the matter.
The doctor reviewed the latest test results and nodded seriously.
"Currently, all his vitals are stable. He can indeed be discharged."
Although the family still had countless reservations, they knew they couldn’t win against the stubborn old man.
Just in case, the second son, Ling Anyu, and his wife, Yin Yaling, volunteered to move back into the old family home.
Although Ling Zhenkang hadn’t officially retired, he had already spread the word at work.
"These old bones of mine just can’t take it anymore. It’s time for me to rest."
As soon as he said that, his subordinates all understood the unspoken message.
The old man was truly planning to take a backseat.
For the first few days after his discharge, no one dared to disturb him.
Once things settled down, he actually began to live a semblance of a retired life.
He took walks in the morning and read the paper in the evening, passing his days leisurely.
Ling Anxun, meanwhile, dove headfirst into a mountain of work.
Since his father’s hospitalization, the work at his office had piled up like a mountain.
He returned to his post almost seamlessly.
Shanshan was very considerate and never disturbed him.
She always sat quietly on her little stool, head bowed as she played with a cloth doll.
Seeing her looking so lonely pained the old couple’s hearts.
To cheer her up, Ling Zhenkang and Ding Qin decided to take her fishing by the river.
They called it fishing, but it was really more of a family outing, just for the liveliness of it.
Early that morning, Ling Zhenkang laid out his full set of fishing equipment.
A professional fishing rod, a sun umbrella, a thermos...
Shanshan, meanwhile, held a tender willow branch. She squatted by the bank, mimicking her grandfather and swinging her "fishing rod" with great seriousness.
Her little face was taut with concentration as she quietly muttered, "Come on fishies, take the bait."
In the end, Ling Zhenkang didn’t catch a single fish.
Shanshan, on the other hand, somehow managed to catch one large fish after another using just that bare willow branch.
Ding Qin, watching from the side, laughed so hard she slapped her thigh.
"HAHAHA! Old Ling, just look at our Shanshan! She’s so young, yet she’s catching one with every try! And then there’s you—you’ve been at it for ages and haven’t even gotten a nibble!"
Ling Zhenkang’s face instantly darkened to the color of a pot’s bottom, but he refused to admit defeat.
"The little girl is just having a lucky streak! Besides, I’m practicing patience!"
He stared intently at the bobber on the water, silently fuming.
’I have to catch one today,’ he thought, ’or I’ll never be able to face my granddaughter again!’
"Come on, give me a fish," he muttered. "Even one as small as a toothpick would do! If I don’t get a bite soon, I’ll be completely humiliated!"
Ling Zhenkang muttered under his breath as he frequently lifted his rod to change the bait.
But the bait was stolen twice in a row without so much as a ripple on the water’s surface.
Shanshan couldn’t bear to watch any longer.
After a moment’s hesitation, she gently placed the biggest, fattest carp she had caught into her grandfather’s fish basket.
"Grandpa, this one’s for you."
Ling Zhenkang looked down at the large fish, completely stunned.
He almost thought he had misheard her.
’His granddaughter was actually giving him her fish?’
’This was the prize she’d worked so hard to catch!’
"This fish is so big. Are you sure you want to give it to me?"
Shanshan nodded, her voice soft and sweet.
"Grandpa is good to me, so the fishy should go to Grandpa."
Ling Zhenkang’s heart melted completely.
"Thank you, my precious granddaughter! I’ll be able to brag about this fish for the rest of my life! From now on, if anyone doubts I can catch big fish, I’ll just show them this basket. The proof is right here!"
He held the large carp with both hands, turned, and shouted to his wife in the distance.
"Ding Qin! Quick, look! This fish is gorgeous! So plump! I just caught it!"
Ding Qin was in the middle of packing up the picnic blanket.
Hearing this, she looked up, glanced at the basket, and immediately shot him a look.
"What’s there to be so smug about? You caught that? Your bobber didn’t even twitch. Did the fish just jump into your basket on its own?"
"Heh heh, who cares who caught it? It’s in my hands now, and that’s all that matters, right?"
Ling Zhenkang grinned nonchalantly.
As dusk fell, Shanshan held her grandfather’s hand, skipping happily on their way home.
They walked very slowly.
Shanshan kept stopping to look at the frogs in the paddies and the little birds in the trees.
But Ling Zhenkang never rushed her.
He watched with a smile, letting her amble along at her own leisurely pace.
Shanshan only kept the two or three largest fish she had caught, releasing the rest back into the river.
That evening, the plumpest fish Ling Zhenkang had brought home was sizzling in a large iron wok.
"Come on, everyone, have a taste! See how delicious this soup is!"
Ling Zhenkang called out to the whole family, his face wreathed in smiles.
He blew on the hot soup as he carefully handed a bowl to Ding Qin.
The soup was a milky white, with glistening droplets of oil floating on the surface.
Garnished with a few slices of ginger and scallion, its aroma tickled the nose.
Ling Ancai held a ladle, serving soup to his wife, Yan Yaya.
He looked up at his father and asked,
"Dad, you went fishing today? This is a pretty big fish."
"That’s right!"
Ling Zhenkang slapped his thigh, a smug look spreading across his face.
"I didn’t go alone. I went with my wife and our little Shanshan."