I Am Not a Master - Chapter 104

Extra Story 1.

When Little Wang was eight years old, his younger sister was three.

The three-year-old Little Girl was fair and tender, with a pair of bright, sparkling eyes. Her favorite thing to do was to go fishing by the river with her grandpa and brother.

Sometimes their father would join them too, but her father was terribly clumsy-he had never once caught a single fish. She thought perhaps her father loved eating fish too much, and after eating so many, he must have angered the Carp Spirit, who took away all his fishing luck. That must be why no fish liked to nibble on his bait.

Xiao Wang “”

Unlike Xiao Wang, his daughter was incredibly gifted. Whenever she said she wanted something, as soon as she tossed her hook into the river, she’d pull it up the next moment with a string of catches. It wasn’t just all sorts of fish-she could even catch a few crabs at a time, each one fat and juicy, making your mouth water just looking at them. It was as if she’d been a Carp Immortal in her previous life, and that’s why the river favored her so much.

Xiao Wang “”

Hadn’t he just doubted, suspected, and questioned a few times? Why did he have to be treated like this?

Of course, even if he was treated this way, he didn’t dare complain. He still had to work tirelessly, carrying this and that, after all, both his father and children loved going to the riverbank. Whether there was something to do or not, they’d still go worship now and then, and come Ghost Festival, the offerings would be more sumptuous than ever. His old man was getting older and couldn’t carry heavy things much anymore, so it all depended on him.

Maybe it was because he’d worked so hard for so long that he finally got some favor when fishing-on rare occasions, he’d actually catch a crab or two.

In fact, he was truly grateful to those spirits by the river. If not for them, perhaps his father and son would have died long ago, and maybe he’d never have had such an adorable daughter. He might have lost his wife and family, never knowing a happy home like this.

So he was especially thankful to them. Because of this, he even secretly slipped his father a lot of money-those offerings couldn’t look shabby.

Years passed this way, until his little daughter entered first grade-and then, at last, something happened.

It all started with the diary Little Girl wrote.

In childish, innocent words, she wrote that her favorite thing was to go fishing with her grandpa, dad, and brother. Grandpa was amazing, her brother was amazing, but her dad was the clumsiest-he couldn’t catch a fish in days. Only when they offered more sacrifices did the Water Ghost Uncle get happy and occasionally let him catch a crab.

Of course, she was the most amazing. Because not only did Water Ghost Uncle like her, but so did the uncles, aunties, sisters, and madams-every time she could catch loads of fish, shrimp, and crabs, almost enough to break her fishing rod.

Just like that, in bits and pieces, she wrote all about their family’s fishing days.

The teacher read it and felt something was wrong, so she called her to the office for a talk. Not only that, she even called the parents in. What was this? It was a sign of mental illness-she needed treatment, and if the child was sick at such a young age, the parents should be even more anxious.

Originally, this hadn’t spread outside, to avoid rumors causing irreparable harm to Little Girl. But somehow, word still got out, and the whole grade soon knew about Wang Little Girl’s “mental problem.”

“Stay away from her, she’s got a mental illness, it’s contagious.”

“I heard mental illness makes people eat others, so scary, I don’t want to get it, wuwuwu.”

“Hahaha, this is killing me. Even I know there are no ghosts in this world, let alone Water Ghost Uncles. She must’ve made it all up, what a joke.”

“I even asked my grandpa, no one’s ever caught crabs while fishing, she’s lying, she’s a fraud.”

“We don’t want to be friends with a liar.”

Little Girl remained calm. These must be the “ordinary mortals” Grandpa always talked about-completely clueless. Of course, she couldn’t be bothered to argue with them. After all, there weren’t many people like her, so close to the world’s secrets.

With her hands behind her back, she walked away, solemn-faced. To the others, it looked as if she was guilty and scared, and from then on, no one played with her anymore.

When Xiao Wang came to pick up his daughter, he noticed none of the kids waved goodbye to her, nor did they talk to her. Even when standing together, they avoided her. He thought it strange and asked his little daughter what was wrong. She waved her hand, childish yet earnest, with a hint of an old person’s world-weariness, “Nothing, just ordinary mortals who don’t understand me.”

Xiao Wang “”

Those words sounded so familiar-his father often said them, and now she’d copied them almost perfectly.

Later, Xiao Wang learned it was all because of the diary.

Although his little daughter took it lightly, cheerful and carefree, he couldn’t just pretend nothing had happened. But this was a problem with no immediate solution.

Until the school organized a field trip, and the kids brought fishing rods to go fishing.

Naturally, the isolated Wang Little Girl was once again the center of attention. The kids all said, “Aren’t you supposed to be amazing? Then go and catch a crab or crawfish for us to see. If you can’t, you’ll have to admit in front of the whole school that you’re a liar.”

Wang Little Girl looked at these ordinary mortals and felt helpless. Of course, she also remembered what Grandpa had said: never stoop to the level of ordinary mortals. She was magnanimous and wouldn’t argue with them.

“I won’t bet with you.”

“If you don’t want to bet, it’s because you’re scared. You’re just bragging, so you don’t dare to bet with us.”

“King of Bragging, King of Bragging, Wang Yue is the King of Bragging!”

“We won’t play with the King of Bragging.”

“Yeah, we won’t play with the King of Bragging.”

Once again, Wang Yue was isolated. The teacher walked over, and the children immediately quieted down, making faces at Wang Yue behind the teacher’s back. A mischievous chubby boy raised his hand and said, “Teacher, teacher, Wang Yue said she wants to catch crabs!”

As soon as he said that, several naughty boys in the class jumped up, shouting, “Catch crabs, catch crabs, Wang Yue wants to catch crabs!” They kept chanting and laughing, only stopping reluctantly when the teacher sternly stopped them. But behind the teacher’s back, they still made faces at Wang Yue, giggling.

The chubby boy didn’t like Wang Yue. “My dad says Water Ghosts are really bad. They like to drag people who go swimming in the river to be their substitutes. So you’re a bad person too.”

Wang Yue’s little face scrunched up. She pounced on the chubby boy and pinned him to the ground, giving his head a few good knocks. “Don’t you dare speak ill of my uncle!”

The chubby boy was big and plump, but now he was pinned to the ground by a Little Girl and couldn’t move at all. He was so scared he started yelling.

The classmates were all in chaos, shouting, “Wang Yue is hitting people! Wang Yue is hitting people!”

Wang Yue and the chubby boy were punished to stand as a penalty. While the other children played games, only the two of them had to stand facing a tree and reflect on their actions. They were also scolded by the teacher and lost a few little red flowers.

The chubby boy felt so wronged. Clearly, Wang Yue had hit him, so why was he being punished too? He disliked Wang Yue even more now. Wang Yue glared fiercely at him. “If you say bad things about my uncle again, I’ll beat you up again.”

The chubby boy remembered how much it hurt to be beaten just now, and shrank his neck in fear. “I’m going to tell on you.”

Wang Yue said, “I don’t care. Anyway, I hit you first.”

The chubby boy clenched his fists, looking angry and hard to deal with. It seemed there was no chance for these two to make up, until the teacher came and made them shake hands and make peace. The chubby boy was still reluctant, fuming at how Wang Yue, that two-faced brat, even dared to smile at him.

Seeing the children knew they were wrong, the teacher said, “Let’s go, it’s time to go fishing.” The so-called fishing wasn’t by a river, but at a small pond with a little fence, so it was quite safe.

The chubby boy covered his mouth and snickered. He didn’t believe Wang Yue could really catch any crabs. That King of Bragging-nobody wanted to play with the King of Bragging.

Wang Yue was also given a fishing rod. Since no one wanted to play with her, she found a little stool and sat by herself. She tossed the fishing line in and ignored it, propping her chin on her hands, wondering if her dad would scold her when he came to pick her up later. But she didn’t like people scolding her uncle.

Other children had already caught quite a few little fish, squealing with excitement and surprise. Wang Yue glanced over a few times and shook her fishing rod.

The chubby boy kept watching Wang Yue. Seeing that she hadn’t caught a single fish, he held his belly and laughed loudly, calling his friends over, “Look, look! The King of Bragging can’t even catch a single fish! She’s really amazing, so amazing! Hahaha!”

Wang Yue waved her fist, scaring the chubby boy into choking for a second, but he quickly puffed out his chest and said, “I’m not afraid of you! I’m going to tell the teacher, hmph!”

“How old are you, still telling on people to the teacher?”

“If you hit me, I’ll tell the teacher!”

“”

Sister was right, these kids are fragile and childish. She used to think they were fun, but now she didn’t want to play with them anymore.

All the classmates had a good harvest; every little bucket had one or two little fish swimming around, except for Wang Yue’s, which was empty.

Not just the classmates-even the teacher felt helpless, thinking in their heart that Wang Yue was lying. The reason she hadn’t caught any fish, or even tried to fish, was because her lie was about to be exposed.

She couldn’t help but be a bit stern. “If you tell too many lies, the wolf will come and take you away.”

Wang Yue looked at the teacher and lowered her little head. She didn’t expect even the teacher was just a mortal. Sister said, mortal children should be well protected, because they’re so fragile, if you’re not careful, they could die-how tragic.

The teacher sighed at the silent Little Girl and quickly called the children to pack up and leave.

Wang Yue naturally had to put away her fishing rod too, but for some reason, the rod stuck in the edge of the pond wouldn’t budge. She pulled and pulled, but couldn’t get it up.

The chubby boy laughed out loud again. The teacher walked over helplessly, thinking, “It’s come to this and she still won’t admit she was wrong.”

She grabbed the little fishing rod and gave it a casual tug, but was almost pulled into the pond by the weight, startling herself. She thought maybe it was caught on some water plants.

This time, she used a bit more strength-no, all her strength-and finally yanked the fishing line out of the water.

The moment the line came out, she saw countless crabs strung together in a long chain, whirling through the air.

The classmates were all stunned, eyes wide, mouths agape, faces full of amazement. “Wow!”

On the fishing line, crab after crab was hooked, each one clamping onto the next with its pincers, not letting go.

Especially the chubby boy-he was completely dumbfounded, his chubby little eyes trembling with shock.

Wuwuwu, this is bad-Wang Yue really is the Crab Immortal!