On the weekend, my husband's boss Liu Ba said to go fishing together. Liu Ba is a person who loves fishing, while my husband doesn't have a strong passion for it, but sometimes he enjoys going fishing too.

In the morning, we arrived at Liu Bang's place. Liu Ba got up early and had already prepared the fishing gear, waiting for us to set off together.

In his house, there are two fish tanks, one with small fish fry and some small shrimp, a miniature ecosystem. It's strange that a fishing enthusiast also enjoys keeping fish.

Under Liu Ba's lead, we headed towards an outlet where there was still water, although the water level seemed to have dropped, and the sides were not very clean, but there were still a few scattered fishermen.

After walking along this outlet for a while, Liu Ba went straight down to the water and started fishing on a platform by the water's edge. My husband also went down and started fishing.

However, this place was too smelly, it seemed to have the smell of dead rats, so I quickly ran far away. But Liu Ba and the others seemed not to notice and continued to fish seriously. About half an hour passed, and they hadn't caught a single fish, which was really frustrating. Of course, can the fish caught in such smelly water be eaten?

My husband probably couldn't stand the smell either, so he came back up. He said, "Let's go for a walk."

So we walked towards the vegetable garden. As we walked, my husband said that Liu Ba chose the wrong place; it was a bit smelly. If it were up to him, he would definitely choose a cleaner place. But then again, Liu Ba is a fishing enthusiast, and I'm just someone who tags along.

After walking outside for about half an hour, my husband went back to fish again. At this time, I heard them talking by the roadside. Liu Ba said, "What were you doing just now? I just caught quite a few fish."

My husband asked, "So where did the fish you caught go?"

Liu Ba said, "I threw them back into the water."

My husband said, "I might be limited in ability; I couldn't catch a single one."

Liu Ba said, "That's because you lack patience; fishing requires patience."

After chatting for a while, my husband came back up. He said he really couldn't stand the smell. But at this point, Liu Ba had already been there for two hours; could it be that his sense of smell was impaired?

Perhaps when a person is overly obsessed with something, they become oblivious to other influencing factors? Maybe for Liu Ba, fishing is very important, and he doesn't notice the surrounding environment or the smell?

Seeing that it was still early, my husband suggested that I go with him to a cleaner place to fish. So we crossed a bridge and went to a wider area where the water gathered. Indeed, the water was much clearer, and although my husband still didn't catch any fish, our mood improved a lot.

Surrounding us were various flowers blooming, and the flowers sent a wave of fragrance with the gentle breeze, occasionally interrupted by people rowing boats passing by.

We fished for a little while and then started walking along the wooden path. At this time, we spotted a large soft-shelled turtle swimming by the shore, and it was easy to catch. Unexpectedly, my husband shouted, "Quick, swim back!" The turtle seemed to have heard the command and really swam into the deeper water.

I asked my husband why he wanted it to swim into the deep water.

My husband said, "I don't want to catch it, nor do I want others to catch it."

No wonder you can't catch any fish. I suddenly realized.

My husband said, "My fishing is different from Liu Ba's. Liu Ba's fishing skills are quite strong; he always sees catching fish as the goal of success or failure. As for me, I just enjoy the process of fishing; whether I can catch anything is not what I focus on."

Isn't fishing supposed to be about catching fish? I asked my husband in confusion.

My husband continued, "Everyone has different goals. For me, fishing is about the process, while for Liu Ba, fishing is about the result. It's like when you travel; you climb a mountain and come down. What did you gain? You didn't take anything with you, nor did you take anything away, but you still feel happy because of the climb."

I seemed to understand a little; you fish to gain a sense of happiness.

You could say that, isn't life the same? Many times we gain invisible and intangible happiness, yet we think we haven't gained anything, which is indeed a misunderstanding. For example, during this fishing trip, don't we prefer the happiness we feel during the process rather than just catching fish?

I nodded in agreement. At this time, the sunset was winding along the land and the river, and we came to a grassy area where someone was walking their dog.

My husband found a spot to sit down, but unexpectedly, the dog also came over and seemed to be trying to please him by lying next to him. They didn't know each other; why was the dog acting this way? At that moment, the dog's owner kept scolding their dog, saying it was shameless, and then pulled the dog away with force.

I joked, "Is that dog your relative? Why is it so enthusiastic when you arrive?"

My husband also joked, "Where are your relatives? I only see a monkey?"

"Where? Where is there a monkey?" I quickly looked around, hoping to find the monkey my husband mentioned.

Unexpectedly, my husband laughed heartily, patted my head, and said, "Isn't that it?"

Suddenly, I felt a bit angry; what a bad dog.

We continued to playfully tease each other as we headed back, and it seemed like it would soon be dark. When we returned to the place where Liu Ba was fishing, he had actually started using a glow-in-the-dark float; indeed, he was a dedicated professional fisherman.

At this time, my husband shouted to Liu Ba, "It's almost dark; should we go eat? Do you want to go to the food stall together?"

Only then did Liu Ba think about packing up his fishing gear, while also responding, "The food stall might be too early; we can go to the firewood chicken restaurant."

So my husband began to tell me that the chicken at the firewood chicken restaurant is very delicious, but it might be a bit spicy.

As soon as I heard it might be spicy, I frowned because I don't like eating too spicy; generally, people from Guangzhou don't like spicy food.

Perhaps my husband saw through my thoughts, so he comforted me, saying, "We can separate the chili; you can eat the non-spicy ones, and we will eat the spicy ones."

After Liu Ba finished packing up his fishing gear, when we headed back, it was already dark, and the streetlights lit up the whole street. On this street, there were all kinds of snacks, including Hunan stinky tofu, pickled vegetables, and fried squid. Many people were coming and going, most of whom were workers, and after work, this was their lively space.

After we put the fishing gear back home, we met at the firewood chicken small restaurant. My husband joked, "It's a pity we didn't catch a big fish; otherwise, we could have fried the big fish while eating firewood chicken."

Liu Ba replied, "The water in that place was too smelly; it's best not to eat the fish caught there. I threw all the ones I caught back into the water."

So Liu Ba wasn't actually nose-blind; he smelled the stench too. But why was his tolerance so strong? I couldn't figure it out. It seems that only Liu Ba himself would know the answer. I wanted to suggest that he choose a less smelly place to fish in the future, but the words got stuck in my throat. It should be rare to find someone who is immune to the smell when they are so passionate about fishing, right?