"A lakeside villa, huh? That wouldn't be a bad idea. Imagine fishing from your own backyard every day," Xiang Ye mused aloud, intrigued by what Huang Kai had just said. The thought of waking up and casting a line straight from his garden or even a second-floor balcony was undeniably tempting.
Of course, it was just a thought for now. Huang Kai's family hadn't even started construction yet. Even if Xiang Ye wanted to buy one, he'd have to wait until the villas were actually built.
"Come on, let's eat!" At that moment, the other three had already gathered for lunch.
Their meal was spread out on a large stone slab, while their seats were simply their own fishing tackle boxes. For Xiang Ye, lunch during a fishing trip was nothing to fuss over—he used to just snack on bread when he went fishing with Ai Bai. But things were different now. With Liu Guangqing taking care of the meal arrangements, there were no compromises. Six dishes in total, served with steamed rice—it was more than enough.
They ate heartily, washing down the meal with soda. Xiang Ye felt content.
Once they finished eating, cleared the area, and disposed of their trash, they resumed their afternoon fishing session. However, big fish weren't biting much anymore. All afternoon, Xiang Ye only had two chances. He missed the first strike, but fortunately landed a bighead carp weighing around 24–25 Jin on his second try.
That said, Huang Kai and Zhang Tianyu were reeling in quite a few themselves.
It might have been the "small fish destroyer" buff Xiang Ye had picked up today—he seemed to be attracting fewer bites. But while he looked down on those small fish under two Jin, his friends were absolutely thrilled. By the end of the afternoon, they had caught seven or eight, more than satisfied with their haul.
As evening approached, they packed up and carried their respective catches back to the parking lot.
"Got any plans tonight?" Huang Kai asked as they loaded the fish into their car trunks.
"I actually do have something to take care of," Liu Guangqing replied with a tinge of regret. "You guys go ahead without me."
For guys like them, a fishing trip in the day and drinks at night was pretty much the perfect day. But life doesn't always cooperate. Xiang Ye had overheard Liu Guangqing on the phone earlier—his daughter had come home from university. Naturally, he had to spend the evening with her.
"Guess I'll skip it too. I caught quite a bit today, and I've got a bunch of relatives I need to show off to. Let them see I can actually catch something," Zhang Tianyu added with a chuckle.
"Then I'm out too," Zheng Jianping said, scratching his head. "Not much point if it's just the two of us."
"Well, that's that then. Everyone head home," Xiang Ye said with a grin, not the least bit disappointed. He had tried his hand at cooking the day before, and was thinking about experimenting a bit more tonight.
"They're not going, but we can still go have some fun!" Huang Kai suddenly said, throwing an arm around Xiang Ye's shoulder, his eyebrows raised mischievously.
"Fun? What kind of fun?" Xiang Ye asked suspiciously.
"Hahaha, I'll send you the location in a bit. Go drop your fish off first—don't want them stinking up your car," Huang Kai laughed, giving Xiang Ye a firm pat on the shoulder before everyone parted ways.
Back at home, Xiang Ye had just tossed his two twenty-plus-Jin fish into the freezer and hadn't even had time for a shower when Huang Kai's message popped up: "Skip the shower, just come here!"
The location? Yunmu.
Yunmu. Xiang Ye knew that name—it was one of the city's top luxury bathhouses. Coming from the far north, both he and Ai Bai were big fans of public baths. Soaking in a hot pool and getting a professional scrub-down was pure bliss.
But ever since moving south, he'd noticed bathhouses around here were… a bit different. Let's just say, not everyone went there purely to get clean.
Of course, some places were legitimate, clean, and well-run. But the biggest deterrent? The cost.
Take Yunmu, for example—just the entry fee was 188 yuan. Throw in a meal and a scrub, and you're easily looking at 500 yuan per person, even if you didn't go for any extras.
Still, now that he had money, Xiang Ye figured it was worth trying once. After all, today alone he'd earned over 130,000 yuan selling five big fish. A little indulgence wasn't going to break the bank.
With that, he grabbed a fresh change of clothes and drove over.
When he arrived, Huang Kai was already waiting at the front desk. As soon as he walked in, Huang Kai turned to the receptionist and said, "He's with me."
"Of course, Mr. Huang. This way, sir," the staff member said, leading Xiang Ye to change his shoes and get his locker key.
Once they were dressed in bathhouse robes, the two made their way into the men's bath area. After showering and washing their hair, they sank into the large central hot pool.
As the warm water rose up to his chest, Xiang Ye let out a deep, satisfied sigh.
"This place belongs to a friend of mine," Huang Kai said, reclining against the edge of the pool, eyes half-closed. "I know it inside out. The water in this pool gets changed every day with fresh spring water. They own a hot spring resort up in the mountains nearby. It's too remote to attract regular visitors, so they truck the water here every morning around 3 or 4 a.m. You can soak in peace—this is the real deal."
Xiang Ye nodded appreciatively. It had been a long time since he last took a proper bath, and it really did feel amazing.
He could even detect a slight scent of sulfur in the air—subtle, but definitely there. Combined with the perfectly warm temperature of the water… there was really only one word for it: heavenly.
And truth be told, the real indulgence was yet to come.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]