Chapter 289: Something to Eat

Zhiyi woke with Hanchuan’s cheek resting against her hair and his arms still wrapped around her.

For a while, she stayed where she was, listening to the scrape of the bucket against the hatch. The boat rolled beneath them, but the movement had eased enough that she no longer had to brace herself every time it rose.

Gray daylight had reached the seats.

Zeyu slept against the windshield, his head tilted at an angle that would hurt when he woke, while Shichen lay with one arm beneath his face.

Qinghe stepped carefully around his feet to empty the bucket, then paused beside Zhiyi when he noticed her watching.

She began to move, intending to take her turn, but Qinghe rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Stay there a little longer. I’m managing, and he’s only just gone to sleep." Qinghe crouched beside her and eased her fingers open, examining the places where the wet line had rubbed her skin. "Besides, you promised us breakfast. I’d rather keep your hands working long enough for you to catch it."

Zhiyi glanced at the bucket, then at the line in her lap.

Qinghe smiled when she settled back against Hanchuan, brushing his thumb over her knuckles before returning to the hatch.

She watched him go, wishing she could give him something more useful than another task to do while she sat.

The tools lay across the seat nearby.

She had looked through them in the dark, but now she could see a small clip partly hidden beneath a screwdriver.

Its curved end was thinner than the other fittings, and she was trying to decide whether she could reach it without disturbing Hanchuan when Jingwei came over.

"You’re going to wake him if you keep stretching like that," Jingwei murmured, catching the screwdriver before it rolled away. "Show me what you want, and I’ll bring it here."

Zhiyi pointed out the clip.

Jingwei collected it with the pliers and sat beside her, holding the metal between them while she examined it.

Her fingers were stiff, and he turned it for her when she struggled to see the other side.

"I think we can bend this part," Zhiyi explained, tracing the curve with her nail. "It won’t be a very good hook, but I’ve used worse. We’ll have to make the point sharper."

Jingwei began working while she sorted the line across her lap.

There had been packets of proper hooks in the shelter, along with reels, nets, and enough spare line that she wouldn’t have needed to join these short pieces.

She remembered putting the packets into their storage box and closing the lid, satisfied that they would have everything they needed.

She pulled at a knot until it slipped, then stared at the two ends in her hands.

Hanchuan stirred behind her. His arm tightened around her waist before he lifted his head and looked over her shoulder, following her attention to the broken join.

"Give that here, sweetheart. You’re pulling hard enough to cut your fingers." Hanchuan took the ends from her and settled back against the seat, keeping her between his knees while he worked.

She watched him start the knot again, remembering how often she had woken in their first life to find him doing the same thing.

"You used to finish those after I fell asleep," Zhiyi said, laying her hand against his wrist. "Sometimes I thought I’d done them myself and forgotten."

Hanchuan kissed the side of her head without putting down the line. "You usually fell asleep holding it. I had to untangle you before I could do anything."

She smiled at the memory, though it brought back the cold rooms and the way he had dragged himself across their bedding when she was too tired to move.

He had never been able to come fishing with her. Now he could sit behind her, warm her hands, and reach anything she dropped without hurting himself.

Jingwei placed the bent clip in her palm, drawing her back to the boat. The hook was uneven, but its curve looked usable.

She tested the point, then handed it back for him to work on while Hanchuan checked the remaining knots.

Zeyu woke before they finished. He rubbed his neck and watched them for a moment, then opened the locker beneath the seat to look through the things they had already searched.

"I know we haven’t got a fishing kit hiding in here," Zeyu said when Zhiyi glanced toward him. "I’m looking for something you can wind that around. You shouldn’t have to pull a fish in with the line cutting into your hands."

He found the stiff brush and brought it over, turning its handle beneath the loose cord.

Zhiyi showed him where to wind it so she could let the line out without catching it in the bristles. He stayed beside her while she tested it, adjusting his grip whenever she needed another length.

She liked that he didn’t ask whether it would work. None of them knew yet, but his hands were busy helping her try.

By the time she moved to the rail, Shichen was awake too.

He checked the patch before joining them, then folded his jacket beneath her bare foot where it rested on the wet deck. The jacket was hardly dry, but it kept her skin off the rough edge of the hatch.

"You’ve scraped your heel," Shichen told her, settling the fabric around it. "Keep it on that while you’re sitting here. I’ll take it back when I need it."

Zhiyi touched his shoulder before he rose. He looked at her hand, then gave her a tired smile and went to relieve Qinghe.

She watched the two men change places, aware that all of them had found something to do for her while she was still trying to catch one fish.

Hanchuan sat behind her as she lowered the hook.

A pale thread teased from the torn netting moved near its bend, disappearing beneath the hull whenever the boat rolled. She lifted it gently and let it sink again, keeping the spare line around the brush handle Zeyu had given her.

Nothing approached.

After a while, Jingwei stopped watching the hook and began looking across the water.

Qinghe sat nearby, rubbing his hands while he rested, and Zeyu returned to the helm to search the horizon. Zhiyi was grateful that they let her wait without asking how long it should take.

Her shoulder began to ache before she saw movement beneath the boat.

A narrow silver fish passed below the hook, followed by another that stayed farther down. She slowed her hand, letting the thread turn in the water rather than lifting it away.

The first fish came closer. Zhiyi felt a faint pull and raised her hand too quickly, bringing it out of the water before she had thought about how to get it aboard.

Jingwei reached for it as it twisted beside the rail. His fingers brushed its side, but the hook slipped free before he could close his hand.

The fish struck the hull and vanished, leaving Zhiyi holding the empty line above the water.

For a moment, she could only stare at the hook.

Jingwei moved beside her, his shoulder brushing hers as he examined the line. "We need something underneath it while you bring it up. I nearly had it, but trying to catch it with my hands isn’t going to get us very far."

Qinghe fetched the cushion cover before Jingwei had to leave her. Together, they spread it open and worked out how to hold it close to the water without losing their grip when the boat moved.

Hanchuan kept his arm around Zhiyi while she untangled the thread from the hook.

She leaned against him, frustrated that she had rushed after waiting so patiently for the fish to bite.

Beside her, Jingwei lowered the cover, with Qinghe holding the other edge. She watched them settle into position before letting the line slip through her fingers again.

The fish took longer to return. By then, her wrist hurt, and she had begun to think about letting someone else try.

Zeyu crouched beside her to take the loose cord when another small tug reached her hand.

This time, she drew the fish toward the waiting cover.

Jingwei lifted as Qinghe brought the edges together, trapping the fish before it could fall back.

They lowered it onto the deck, and Zhiyi knelt beside them to hold it still while Jingwei freed the hook.

It was scarcely longer than her hand. Shichen leaned closer to look, and Zeyu let out a breath beside her, his hand settling briefly against the back of her neck.

Zhiyi wanted to smile at him, but her stomach cramped as she looked at how little they had caught.

"We need to save some for bait," she said, turning toward Hanchuan. "I know there won’t be much left, but it should make catching another one easier."

Hanchuan crouched beside her and accepted the knife Jingwei offered. Qinghe shifted the cover to give him room, then looked around the bare deck as though he might find something he had overlooked.

Zhiyi followed his gaze.

They had all been thinking about catching the fish, and now it lay between them with no stove, no fire, and nothing dry to burn. Hanchuan rested the knife beside it, looking at the small catch before lifting his eyes to hers.

"How did you manage when you couldn’t cook it last time, sweetheart?"