The Golden Trout's Curse
Zhao Ming was renowned throughout the village for his peerless fishing skills and superhuman swimming ability. Jiang Zhengyi, a ruthless and wealthy seafood magnate, was determined to plunder the depths of the Darkwater Lake despite villagers' warnings that the lake was protected by the Golden Trout King—a sacred beast that would bring calamity upon those who defied it. He scoffed at the superstition—until his daughter, Jiang Yuanyuan, was devoured by the beast. For five years, Jiang Zhengyi offered a bounty of 100,000 yuan for the head of the Golden Trout King, consumed by vengeance. Learning of Zhao Ming’s prowess, Jiang Zhengyi arrived at his doorstep with a fortune in hand. Zhao Ming agreed, but his mother, Zhang Xiuying—a keeper of the lake’s ancient taboos—forbade him. Spurned, Jiang Zhengyi turned to manipulation. He bribed Li Tufang, a local herbalist, to sneak saffron into a prenatal tonic meant for Zhao Ming’s pregnant wife, Qian Xiaoyun. The potion threw her into life-threatening labor pains, and Li Tufang declared that only the Golden Trout King’s belly could save the unborn child. Desperate to save his wife, Zhao Ming ventured alone into the cursed lake, armed with nothing but a fishing spear. Though he fought valiantly, the beast mauled him near to death. During his recovery, Jiang Zhengyi posed as a savior, offering Zhao Ming state-of-the-art gear and a promise: the fish’s belly for the medicine, plus the bounty. With no choice, Zhao Ming agreed. The second hunt was a bloody battle, but they finally subdued the Golden Trout King. Yet the moment the beast was caught, Jiang Zhengyi betrayed them all, demanding not just the fish’s death—but Zhao Ming’s silence, forever. At the brink of execution, Guo Liang—a quiet fisherman long abused by the Jiang family—plunged a knife into Jiang Zhengyi’s back. With cold clarity, he confessed: He had killed Jiang Yuanyuan, and her father’s tyranny had pushed him to the edge. Battered but alive, Zhao Ming returned home—to find his wife safely delivered of a healthy son. In that moment, he understood: The true curse was never the Golden Trout King. It was human greed.
