71 Chapter 71

◎Fishing Village◎

The time to go fishing is usually after the high tide, because the waves recede far and fast, causing the seafood to be stranded on the beach and easier to catch.

The young man led the two men to search on the beach and said carefully: "Two gentlemen, pay attention to your feet. If you find a bulge or a hole as wide as a finger, there are usually conches or clams hidden underneath."

Xiao Muyan was sharp-eyed and was the first to spot one. He pointed at the bulge and asked, "Is that so?"

"No, no, let me take a look." Jiang Jingyun moved forward to take a look. There was indeed a small pile of sand on the ground. He suddenly realized, "So this is what it looks like. Move aside, I'll dig it out!"

Xiao Muyan curled his lips, took a step back indulgently, and gave his seat to him.

With a shovel, he dug out a clam and threw it into Xiao Muyan's bamboo basket. Jiang Jingyun was a little envious, but also a little unwilling: "Damn it, I'm the only one who can't find it."

I used to see people going to the beach to catch seafood on the Internet. They could dig up a lot of seafood just by walking a few steps. But when I really stood on the beach, I was like a blind man. I wandered around for a long time but didn’t find any.

He just didn't believe that he couldn't find even one today!

An inexplicable desire to win surged in Jiang Jingyun's heart. His eyes were as big as copper bells, and he began to scan the beach in all directions, vowing to find a place.

Xiao Muyan stood there, staring at the cat running around on the beach. He was silent for a while, then suddenly, he lowered his head and smiled. His stern brows relaxed and he looked extremely happy.

Jiang Jingyun was concentrating on finding shells and didn't notice this side. Instead, the young man who was accompanying him saw it and secretly clicked his tongue: "I originally thought that the younger one was very handsome, but I never thought that this one would be so handsome when he wasn't frowning."

Xiao Muyan didn't pay any attention to the people around him, his eyes were always on Jiang Jingyun.

Seeing the cat not far away gradually getting angry because it couldn't find prey, he walked up to it and said, "This area may have been searched by someone. Why don't we go to the side and take a look."

Then he led Jiang Jingyun in one direction, and when they were almost at the destination, he fell two steps behind without making a sound.

Sure enough, after walking a few steps, he heard Jiang Jingyun's surprised exclamation: "I found it!" He rushed over and used two shovels. After a few breaths, there was a conch the size of a baby's fist in his hand.

The kitten held up the prey it had found, and boasted with shining eyes: "Look, it's so big, am I awesome?"

Xiao Muyan smiled and nodded, with just the right amount of surprise in his eyes, and praised: "You have a very good eye. I didn't even notice it, but you already found it."

Hearing the compliment, Jiang Jingyun's mouth curled up unconsciously, and his pair of beautiful peach blossom eyes, like the sea surface illuminated by the sun, were reflected in Xiao Muyan's eyes, sparkling and shining.

Later, with Xiao Muyan's secret hint, Jiang Jingyun successfully found a few more places and filled the bottom of the bamboo basket. He smiled brightly with satisfaction, "What a great harvest!"

"Are you satisfied?" Xiao Muyan asked.

"Yes," Jiang Jingyun nodded vigorously, his eyebrows curved, "Let's go, let's go to Shihai Village."

Calling back the young man who had already walked far away, the three of them walked towards Shihai Village together.

On the way, Jiang Jingyun, who was sitting on the horse, pretended to ask casually: "I heard that there is a new county magistrate in the county. Compared with the previous one, what do you think?"

The young man scratched his head and said, "I can't tell the difference. Both of you are very good county officials."

If we have to compare who is better, I would probably prefer the new magistrate. After all, within a few months of taking office, he quickly solved a major problem that had troubled them for years.

"Have all the villagers been allocated land now?" Jiang Jingyun asked again.

The young man nodded, then shook his head, "Yes, but since there are not many mountains here, and even fewer suitable for cultivation, each household only got one mu of land."

"Oh? Are you dissatisfied?"

The young man waved his hands and said, "How could that be possible? Being able to have an extra acre of land is a gift from God, and we are grateful." He was just a little envious of those villages that were able to get two acres of land.

"So it is." Jiang Jingyun understood and said nothing more.

Shihai Village is not far away. After walking for a quarter of an hour along the road we came from, you can see a uniform row of yellow mud and thatched houses scattered everywhere. From a distance, they look a bit desolate.

There seemed to be very few people in the village, and most of them were elderly people and children with limited mobility. When walking on the road, I didn't see any young and strong laborers.

Jiang Jingyun was puzzled: "Why are there so few people?"

When asked, an unnatural look flashed across the young man's face. He laughed awkwardly: "Haha, maybe he went to the fields to take care of the crops."

He hurriedly led them to a big banyan tree in the village, and the young man brought out two bamboo stools from the thatched cottage next to it. He said to them a little embarrassedly, "My house is too dirty and messy, so I won't entertain you two gentlemen. Please wait here for a moment, I will bring the things over right away."

After saying that, he turned around and ran, fearing that if he was a step slower, Jiang Jingyun would regret buying it.

Seeing them walk away, Jiang Jingyun chuckled, "Humph, I guess they must have sneaked out to sea to fish again."

At this time of year, the seedlings and vegetable seeds have only been planted a few days ago, and the grass in the fields has not yet grown. What kind of work can be done that requires mobilizing so many young and middle-aged people?

Xiao Muyan then confirmed his guess: "When I first came in, I saw that only a few families had fishing nets hanging in their yards, and the rest were empty. They must have gone fishing."

Now that I think about it, it was no coincidence that I ran into this person on the beach. Maybe the young man had originally planned to go out to sea, but when he met the two people, he had to give up the idea and instead took them to the sea, and also took them away from the shore.

"He looks honest and simple, but secretly he has a lot of ulterior motives." Jiang Jingyun muttered softly.

Xiao Muyan brushed the dust off the stool before letting Jiang Jingyun sit down: "Maybe he's afraid that we two outsiders might let the cat out of the bag and cut off the village's financial resources, so he's hiding something." At least he didn't sense any malice in the young man, otherwise he wouldn't have let people get close to Jiang Jingyun again and again.

"Humph, you are judging others by your own standards," Jiang Jingyun was still angry, groaning as he sat on a small stool. "Tomorrow I will issue an order strictly prohibiting all villages from going out to sea without permission, and completely cutting off their source of income."

Hearing this, Xiao Muyan smiled and patted his head, "Our County Magistrate Jiang is very generous and doesn't bother with ordinary people. Let's forgive them for now."

"Okay," Jiang Jingyun said, "I'm doing this for your sake. I won't argue with them. No one else has been treated this way."

"Okay~ Thank you for your mercy, sir." Xiao Muyan said obediently, but his body quietly moved closer to Jiang Jingyun and whispered, "I can't repay your kindness, sir, why don't you let me be your body tonight?"

The warm breath that hit him made the hair on his ears stand up unconsciously. Jiang Jingyun coughed lightly and said in a serious tone, "Okay."

A smile appeared in Xiao Muyan's eyes. He gently held his hand and said nothing more.

The two of them sat there side by side, waiting for someone to come back.

The young man was very fast. In a few moments, he came back carrying a bamboo basket, followed by two people carrying bamboo baskets. The three of them were walking towards this side together.

Seeing this, Jiang Jingyun couldn't help but smack his lips, "Good fellow, this is not the treatment of a sponsor at all, it's clear that I'm being taken advantage of."

When the three baskets of things were placed in front of them, both of them could smell the fishy smell of the sea.

The young man smiled and said flatteringly, "Sir, the village only has dry goods stored during the winter. They are all here. Please take a look and see which one you like."

Sticking my head in, I saw that most of the things in the bamboo basket were salted fish, in addition to some shrimps, shellfish and dried squid.

When it comes to seafood, Jiang Jingyun prefers to eat the "fresh" ones, so he picked and chose, and only asked for the finger-sized dried fish, as well as the shrimps, shellfish, and squids.

Slightly fry the dried fish until fragrant, then add chili peppers, chopped onions, ginger and garlic to make spicy dried fish. Whether used as a side dish with porridge or as a snack, it should taste good. As for shrimps, shellfish, and squid, add some to stew soups or stir-fry to enhance the flavor. It is a natural MSG.

Seeing that he did not accept all of the goods, the three of them were a little disappointed. But then they thought that it would be good to be able to sell some of them. At least they could exchange them for some rice and grain to get through the days.

In the spring, when there is a shortage of food, they cannot even find edible wild vegetables. Otherwise, they would not have violated their ancestors' teachings and ventured out to sea at this time, not knowing whether they would get anything.

After buying things, Jiang Jingyun and his friends wanted to go back.

As soon as I reached the entrance of the village, I met a group of villagers who were rushing in in a panic.

Xiao Muyan rode his horse aside. As he passed by, he keenly sensed something was wrong: "Jingyun, there is a strong smell of blood on those people."

"Huh? Isn't it normal for fishermen to smell of blood?" Jiang Jingyun disagreed.

"It's human blood." Xiao Muyan was certain. Moreover, this group of people were obviously out fishing, but no one carried a fish basket, and even fishing nets and other tools were not seen.

Jiang Jingyun frowned: "Shipwreck? Or a fight?"

Xiao Muyan shook his head, "I don't know."

The person who smelled the most blood was surrounded by people, so he couldn't see clearly. "Do you want to look back?"

Jiang Jingyun hesitated.

As they were hesitating, they saw the young man running out of the village breathlessly, kneeling in front of them and kowtowed, saying, "Master, please save me."

Jiang Jingyun said, "Stand up and tell me clearly what happened and whose life do you want to save?"

The young man got up, his face showing obvious anxiety. He spoke quickly, "My brother was out hunting when he was accidentally cut by a sharp weapon. He had a wound as big as a bowl. The herbal paste could not stop the bleeding. He has fainted now. I hope you will be merciful and give me a hand. I will be very grateful and repay you with my life."

"You want to repay me with your life, huh?" Jiang Jingyun said coldly with a mocking smile.

"Of course." The young man affirmed.

"Heh." Jiang Jingyun sneered. Even when death was imminent, he was still full of lies.

"Young Master..." The young man looked up hesitantly, not understanding why the person who was so friendly and amiable just a second ago suddenly changed his face to one that was cold and ruthless.

"In my life, I hate people who keep telling lies the most," Jiang Jingyun looked down at the man under his horse, his dark eyes showing emotion and joy, "Since you don't want to tell the truth, there is nothing we can do."

After saying that, he signaled Xiao Muyan to spur his horse and prepare to leave.

Without much explanation, Xiao Muyan understood what he meant. He rode his horse slowly forward. After taking two steps, he heard a voice coming from behind.

"Sir, please stay!"