“They shouldn’t have, they must have gone back…” Chad scratched his head, turned to look at Ethan Foster, and said, “Ethan, you’re quick on your feet, go over and check if there’s anyone in that house? I suspect they left the lights on on purpose, afraid someone would come to inspect…”

“Alright, I’ll go take a look first…” Ethan Foster nodded, crouched down, and crept toward the house. A few minutes later, Ethan Foster’s head appeared by the window of the lit house, and he waved at Chad and Jack.

“I told you there’s no one…” Chad relaxed completely, grinned smugly, and walked with Jack to the houses, saying, “Now this is great, we even have a boat, so Mr. Chad doesn’t have to get in the water to catch fish…”

Even though it was almost summer, the lake water was still quite cold at night. Chad had just grabbed that bottle of cheap liquor from the house, probably planning to take a few sips before getting in the water.

“Let’s go, let’s get a bit farther from the house. I know where there are more fish…”

Jack glanced around and said, “Chad, you row the boat, Ethan and I will throw the firecrackers. After all three firecrackers go off, you can row the boat over. Whatever you do, don’t come over before that…”

“Hey, why do I have to row the boat?” Hearing Jack’s words, Chad complained, “I wanted to set off a firecracker too. Didn’t you make three? We could each set off one.”

“Come on, you’ve done this before. It’s Ethan’s first time, let him set off an extra one…” Jack gave Chad a shove, tossed him the two fish baskets he was carrying, and said, “Be quick when you come back. We’re too close to the village here, someone might come over…”

“Got it, it’s not my first time, you don’t have to tell me…”

Although Chad was reluctant, he still picked up the two fish baskets and went to the lakeside. There was a small wooden boat with oars there, usually used by the reservoir keeper to collect plankton and trash. Motorboats that pollute the water weren’t allowed here.

“Come on, Ethan Foster, stand here…”

After Chad left, Jack pulled Ethan Foster forward another twenty meters or so, stopping at the lakeside. He handed Ethan Foster a homemade firecracker, pointed at the water ahead, and said, “When you light the fuse, throw the bottle into the lake. Try to throw it as far as you can, there are more fish in the deeper water over there…”

Ethan Foster weighed the bottle in his hand, nodded, and said, “Alright, I can throw this bottle a good hundred meters…”

“Hey, no need to throw it that far, otherwise it’ll take Chad forever to row over…” Jack was startled by Ethan Foster’s words and said, “Just thirty meters or so is fine. Throw the three bottles in a triangle, that way not a single fish will escape…”

As he spoke, Jack took out a pack of Hongmei cigarettes from his pocket, flicked one out and handed it to Ethan Foster, saying, “Want one?”

“How come you’re smoking now too, just like Chad?” Ethan Foster shook his head and asked, “You’re not going to use the cigarette to light the fuse, are you?”

“This isn’t a real firecracker, it’s hard to light. A cigarette won’t do it.” Jack chuckled, felt the wind by the reservoir, then pulled out a lighter from his pocket and said, “See? Windproof. I bought it in the city just for blasting fish…”

Just as Jack said, the fuse was hard to light. It took more than ten seconds with the windproof lighter before a wisp of blue smoke rose from the fuse, followed by the sizzling sound of burning gunpowder.

After lighting the fuse, Jack quickly stuffed the bottle into Ethan Foster’s hand, pointed at the water in the distance, and whispered, “Hurry, throw it…”

“Huh? Won’t it go out in the water?”

Ethan Foster hesitated for a moment, but still threw the bottle where Jack had pointed. The bottle traced an arc through the air and landed on the water more than thirty meters away.

“Huh, it didn’t go out…” In the moonlight, Ethan Foster could clearly see wisps of blue smoke rising from where the bottle hit the water. Apparently, the fuse was still burning underwater.

“The second one, throw it ten meters from the first…” Before Ethan Foster could get a good look, Jack had already lit the second firecracker and shoved it into Ethan Foster’s hand. The wind by the reservoir had died down a bit, so the fuse lit in just five or six seconds.

“Here, you light this one…” After Ethan Foster threw the second bottle, Jack handed him the last bottle and the lighter.

Seeing Jack had lit two, Ethan Foster followed suit, lit the third homemade firecracker, and prepared to throw it next to the first two, just enough to cover the twenty-meter area of water.

“If you joined the army, I bet no one could throw a grenade farther than you…”

Seeing the three smoking spots forming a triangle, Jack couldn’t help but smack his lips. He knew that with a two-kilogram grenade, he could only throw it thirty meters at most, but these bottles were much lighter, and Ethan Foster could toss them that far with ease.

“Hm? Why haven’t they exploded yet?” Ethan Foster ignored Jack, staring intently at the water. It had been about forty seconds since the first firecracker was thrown—was the fuse still burning?

“Boom!”