With a splash!

The pike was pulled onto the ice layer by Chen Wen.

Symbolically, it twitched twice and struggled for a few seconds.

The pike then "fell asleep."

But it’s the kind that won’t wake up again.

"Amazing!"

The red fox exclaimed, with its voice sounding like a woman in her twenties, giving Chen Wen quite a sense of achievement.

"Heh, not bad, just about average."

Chen Wen said, checking the pike’s mouth.

The hook had pierced through the pike’s upper lip, suggesting it was sharp enough.

"Sharpening the hook on the stone for so long seems to be working great."

Chen Wen spoke with a gleam of pride in his eyes.

Honestly, he had little confidence in his bone fishhook earlier, even though he had used it once on the island.

But now, Chen Wen was completely confident!

He removed the hook from the pike’s lip and asked, "Hungry? Want some?"

Upon hearing this, the red fox immediately reacted, "Yes!"

Chen Wen took out the hunting knife and simply dismantled the pike, leaving the viscera aside.

Chen Wen plans to use these entrails as bait.

The fish bait for ice fishing should be as pungent as possible to attract the sluggish fish due to the cold.

He learned this from the local hunter guide, the bearded man.

Pike meat is heavily odorous, even more so with its entrails.

That’s why he used the pike’s flesh and offal as bait.

Meanwhile, the red fox started eating the pike meat.

Chen Wen, however, attached the entrails to the bone fishhook, planning to strike while the iron is hot and cast another line.

"Sigh, catching a pike on the first cast, honestly, it’s a bit underwhelming. For the first cast, without expecting a rainbow trout, at least bring in a whitefish, right?"

"Pike, tsk, to be honest, it’s more than enough as bait, but as for eating, I don’t quite like it—too fishy and hard to handle."

Chen Wen said with some disdain.

Is this being at Versailles?

This must be Versailles, right!

On the show’s side, Lin Jiawei’s mouth twitched. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The serious version of Chen Wen’s appearance has ended, and now the cheeky shrimp version of Chen Wen is taking over, huh?

Yet this steady yet cheeky Chen Wen, Lin Jiawei still found quite endearing.

The previous serious version of Chen Wen was a bit unsettling for him.

"Pike, is it that fishy?"

Lin Jiawei chatted with the monitor as if casually.

He didn’t like eating fish and didn’t know much about pike.

The monitor nodded and explained, "If not handled properly, it’s definitely very fishy, and not just a little—a very intense fishiness! It’s not just the meat and blood smell but also a strong earthy and fishy smell."

"Therefore, when we eat pike here, we generally treat it with heavy seasoning to remove the fishy taste."

At this, the monitor smiled and invited him, "There’s a restaurant in the small town that’s very good at preparing pike. Would you like to try it together?"

Having spent almost a month together, Lin Jiawei had gotten to know the monitors well.

Upon hearing this, he waved repeatedly, "No, no, I don’t like fish."

As the two were talking.

Next to Gaston’s monitoring position, his female assistant suddenly let out a disappointed "Ah."

Then, she regretfully knocked on her head.

"Oh no! Such a pity! Has his luck really run out?"

Hearing this, Lin Jiawei caught a whiff of gossip.

He swiftly moved over, listening to the conversation.

...

Not long ago, while Chen Wen was complaining about the pike’s fishiness.

Over at Gaston’s side.

Staring at the black hole of the fishing spot, Gaston felt an urge to jump in.

Of course, not to commit suicide.

But to see where those damn fish had gone!

Just when Gaston was growing impatient, he suddenly felt something different.

A bite!

Gaston excitedly and swiftly pulled the fishing line, trying to haul in the fish that had bitten.

Everything went smoothly at first, but soon, as the fish got closer to the surface.

The end of the fishing line, already worn out from several days of ice fishing, had a small section severely damaged by the sharp ice.

Just as Gaston was about to drag the fish ashore, the sharp ice completely severed the fishing line.

Gaston loosened his grip, instinctively leaning his upper body back a bit.

The pike that was about to be hauled ashore splashed a tiny bit of water with its tail and plunged back into the lake beneath the ice.

Did it escape?

Gaston was a bit dumbfounded.

He hadn’t reacted yet.

But when he saw his fishing line severed, the fish escaping with the hook,

a burst of anger and frustration erupted.

The series of misfortunes during this period pushed Gaston’s emotions to the brink, but after a round of venting, he somewhat calmed his feelings.

"Phew!"

Gaston tidied up his fishing equipment.

"Let’s grind the hook again when we get back. This fishing spot is decent, just keep fishing here!"

Gaston faced a setback but didn’t let it defeat him.

...

At Chen Wen’s side.

As he watched the sky gradually darken, his second fish still showed no signs of movement.

"Just one is fine, at least it’s not a total failure."

Chen Wen pulled on the fishhook, feeling somewhat reassured.

But just as he was about to call it a day and head back,

Chen Wen suddenly noticed the edge of the ice wearing against his fishing line.

"Hmm? This spot..."

Chen Wen paused, extended his hand, and felt the edge of the ice.

Since opening the ice layer in the morning, he hadn’t attended to the ice surface.

But an afternoon freeze had caused the edge of the ice to refreeze.

The newly frozen ice was sharp and rather hard.

Plus, the edge wasn’t finely crafted when Chen Wen made the hole, making it sharper there as well.

Chen Wen immediately spotted the potential risk.

"Geez, if the fishing goes on too long and I’m pulling the line too often, the line could get cut by the ice edge!"

Seeing the risk, Chen Wen immediately pondered a solution.

But soon, he shook his head.

There’s no direct solution.

The wear on the fishing line from the ice would always be there; the best one could do is to pull the line towards the center of the fishing hole while retrieving it.

And promptly repair the ice edge to avoid it being too sharp.

"Better keep an eye on this; otherwise, if the line gets cut while fishing, that’s the worst, seriously affecting meals for days!"

Chen Wen muttered a couple of sentences, deciding to remember this matter.

The monitor and Lin Jiawei, hearing his remarks, were somewhat surprised.

"He noticed the necessary precautions during his first ice fishing attempt, while Gaston had been fishing for so many days without noticing."

The monitor spoke, unable to hold back a sigh, "Is this the difference in insight between a top survivor and a regular one?"

Hearing this, Lin Jiawei shook his head.

Not in denial, but undecided.

He knew Chen Wen had always been keen, able to spot problems from details.

But those were in areas Chen Wen was skilled in.

Ice fishing, Chen Wen had mentioned; this was his first time in a place where he could ice fish.

To notice it the first time, that’s impressive insight indeed.

But it was just a small detail, not worth mentioning much.

Lin Jiawei shook his head.

Then he noticed the eagle coming back, with a dead small animal in its beak.

Upon closer inspection, Lin Jiawei realized the small animal looked like the ground squirrel Chen Wen had caught earlier.

Where did it come from?

Lin Jiawei asked the monitor, who casually replied, "Great Slave Lake has many islands. Some larger islands have fairly complete ecosystems, so small animals survive there. Additionally, when the lake freezes, large animals could also go onto the islands, quite normal."

I see.