"Daddy, look, two more crayfish have taken the bait," Tongtong exclaimed, pointing at the pond's surface, while Liu Jizhou felt extremely embarrassed.
Upon seeing this, Liu Yifeng quickly scooped up the crayfish with a net.
In just one hour, Tongtong had caught nearly half a bucket of crayfish, making Liu Jizhou's meager catch look rather pathetic.
In total, he had only managed about twenty, and they were all small.
What baffled Liu Jizhou was how Tongtong could catch so many while he, using the same pork bait and fishing in the same pond water, caught so few.
If this got out, being outdone by a child, would he have any face left?
Seeing that Liu Yifeng and his son were about to pack up and go home, Liu Jizhou blocked Liu Yifeng's path. He smiled and asked, "Yifeng, why is your son so good at catching crayfish? Can you tell me your secret?"
To be honest, Liu Yifeng didn't know how Tongtong managed to catch so many either.
He scratched his head and said, "Maybe it's just that my son has good luck. After all, he's just a three-year-old child. He wouldn't know how to catch crayfish."
Despite his words, Liu Jizhou felt it wasn't solely due to luck. The child's speech and actions were different from ordinary children; he seemed quite mature.
Liu Yifeng was reluctant to share, perhaps fearing that Liu Jizhou would catch all the crayfish in the pond, leaving none for them.
Thinking this, he immediately said, "Don't worry, if you tell me the method, I'll give you half of the crayfish I catch, how about that?"
Liu Yifeng's expression was somewhat troubled; he genuinely didn't know!
If Tongtong refused to say, he couldn't force him, could he?
Seeing his father's troubled look, Tongtong spoke up, "This is called Jiang Taigong fishing, waiting for the willing to take the bait."
"Are you implying that the crayfish are unwilling to take my bait?" Liu Jizhou's expression was peculiar.
"You can understand it that way. So, don't ask my daddy anymore; he knows nothing." After speaking, Tongtong turned to Liu Yifeng and said, "Daddy, let's go home. Make spicy crayfish for me to eat."
Looking at the little one who was clearly craving it, Liu Yifeng smiled and gently patted Tongtong's head, "Okay, Daddy will make it for you when we get back. You little glutton."
Watching the father and son walk away, Liu Jizhou let out a huff of defiance.
"Jiang Taigong fishing, waiting for the willing to take the bait," this kid knew quite a lot.
But he refused to believe it. Could crayfish only recognize certain people?
So, he sat down again and continued fishing.
However, he still caught nothing, only working up a sweat.
Meanwhile, Liu Yifeng and Tongtong went home to prepare the crayfish.
The crayfish needed their heads removed, and the veins and gills taken out, otherwise, they wouldn't be clean to eat.
"Daddy, be careful. The crayfish's claws can pinch your hand," Tongtong squatted beside him, watching Liu Yifeng meticulously prepare the crayfish.
Liu Yifeng smiled tenderly, "Thank you for your concern, Tongtong. Daddy will be careful."
At this moment, he remembered something and asked seriously, "Tongtong, can you tell Daddy how you caught the crayfish? And how did you know there were crayfish in that particular spot?"
It was Tongtong's first time there, so how did he know where the crayfish were? It was too miraculous.
Tongtong opened his big eyes and blinked as he replied, "Because I have very good hearing? I can hear the sound of them swimming in the water."
Liu Yifeng's mouth dropped open in surprise, "You can hear the sound of crayfish swimming in the water?"
He had been there at the time, and he hadn't heard a thing.
"My hearing has always been very good since I was little. Tongtong can hear even the faintest sounds."
Liu Yifeng was at a loss for words. His son seemed to be capable of anything.
A three-year-old child possessed so many extraordinary abilities; what would he be like when he grew up?
Could it be that he had some latent genius genes in his body? That's why Tongtong was so amazing?
He couldn't think of any other explanation.
But besides this issue, he had another question: "Then why could you catch crayfish in the same spot, but they couldn't?"
He didn't believe explanations like "Jiang Taigong fishing, waiting for the willing to take the bait"; this wasn't a wuxia drama.
Tongtong gave Liu Yifeng a look as if he were an idiot, "Daddy, are you stupid?"
Liu Yifeng was completely bewildered, "How am I stupid?"
"Didn't Tongtong just say that? My hearing is very good, so I can accurately judge their location? That's why I hit the mark every time. But those two uncles were different. They were casting their lines blindly, hoping to catch crayfish. Wasn't that as difficult as winning the lottery?"
After hearing his son's explanation, Liu Yifeng felt his face burn with shame. How could he have forgotten this?
Just then, Liu Chunsheng, who had returned from the fields, saw Liu Yifeng preparing crayfish in the yard and asked curiously, "Did you buy crayfish in town?"
"Dad, your grandson caught these in the pond," Liu Yifeng replied.
Seeing his father's astonished expression, he couldn't help but feel proud. Tongtong was so capable, and he was his son.
"Weren't the crayfish in the pond almost all caught already? I saw Liu Jizhou over there fishing earlier, sweating profusely. He must have been fishing for quite a while, yet he didn't catch many. You have over three catties of crayfish here. How did Tongtong catch so many?" Liu Chunsheng didn't quite believe Liu Yifeng.
Although he knew his grandson was unusual, catching crayfish required skill; it wasn't something you could just do if you wanted to.
Tongtong saw his grandfather didn't believe him and pouted, "Grandpa, Tongtong really caught them."
Seeing Tongtong was unhappy, Liu Chunsheng quickly consoled him, "Okay, okay, Tongtong caught them, Grandpa believes you."
"Dad, don't doubt it. Tongtong really caught them. If you don't believe me, you can go ask Liu Jizhou. He was there when we were fishing."
Seeing that Liu Yifeng didn't seem to be lying, Liu Chunsheng looked at Tongtong with new admiration, "My eldest grandson is amazing! Even adults can't catch many crayfish, but you caught so many. That's great. Grandpa is in for a treat today."
Tongtong's face lit up with joy.
At noon, Liu Yifeng prepared crayfish in two flavors: spicy and garlic.
He also added two smashed cucumbers to the crayfish, which tasted exceptionally good.
Tongtong ate with his mouth full of oil. Seeing how much Tongtong enjoyed the crayfish he made, Liu Yifeng smiled.
"There aren't many crayfish left in the pond. If you want to eat them another day, Tongtong, Grandpa will buy them for you in town. Don't go fishing anymore; be careful not to get too hot," Liu Chunsheng, though stingy with himself, was always generous with his family.
While crayfish weren't a particularly expensive food, he wouldn't normally spend money on them.
But if his grandson wanted to eat them, he wouldn't hesitate.
"Grandpa, it's not that troublesome. We can raise crayfish ourselves. Not only can we eat them, but we can also sell them for money," Tongtong said while eating.
"Raising crayfish isn't that easy. Don't let them die," Liu Chunsheng said, taking a sip of his iced beer, not very keen on Tongtong's idea.
However, Liu Yifeng knew that if Tongtong said they could raise crayfish, they definitely could.
He then asked with great interest, "Tongtong, can raising crayfish really make money?"