Thinking of this, Xia Chunmei took out the bell from home and walked from one end of the village to the other, ringing the bell and shouting, "My father appeared to me in a dream, everyone who wants to catch a big fish, get up!"
"Let's go fishing! Chunmei's dad sent her this message, everyone who wants to go fishing, get up!"
At this time, most of the villagers had just lain down and were not asleep at all. Hearing the noise, they quickly put on their clothes and ran out.
"Chunmei, your father appeared to you in a dream."
"Chunmei, are you telling the truth?"
"Chunmei..."
"My dad just appeared in my dream and said that the time between midnight and 1:30 am tonight is perfect for fishing. Anyone who wants to fish can go fishing, but it's not safe by the river at night. It's best not to let the children go. Adults should also be careful and make sure they don't fall into the water."
Xia Chunmei's words immediately caused an uproar!
"Chunmei, is what you're saying true?"
"Could we catch a big fish too?"
"Chunmei..."
The villagers surrounded Xia Chunmei.
Xia Chunmei laughed and said, "I can only say that the chances of catching a big fish tonight are high, but with so many people in our village, it's impossible for everyone to catch dozens of kilograms of fish. We're not even sure if there are that many fish in the river. In the end, it all depends on everyone's luck."
Xia Chunmei decided to give up five chances to benefit her neighbors after midnight, since she hadn't used the cheat code today.
"I'll hurry back and get ready."
"I'll get ready as soon as possible."
"Oh dear, I don't have any fishing hooks or line at home. Does anyone have extra fishing hooks or line they could sell to me?"
"What are you dreaming about? I could give it to you anytime, but at this critical juncture, who has it to lend or sell?"
"Oh dear, what should we do then?"
...
The villagers were immediately filled with enthusiasm, chattering excitedly.
Previously, Xia Chunmei would secretly lead a few families from the neighborhood fishing; why is she bringing the whole village this time?
Just as Xia Mingshi had guessed last time, if there were only thirty large fish in one night, how could so many people in the village share them?
Li Xiangcao stormed up to Xia Chunmei and demanded, "Chunmei, what's wrong with you? Why did you call the whole village?"
Xia Chunmei looked displeased and said, "Auntie, what you're saying is interesting. How about I have my father explain it to you personally tonight?"
Li Xiangcao was furious: "There are only so many fish at a time. If you tell the whole village that everyone went fishing, do you think we'll get even a single fish scale? Lihua, Aunt Ming, aren't you right?"
Xia Mingshi and Aunt Lihua didn't say anything, but they also felt that Xia Chunmei's actions were somewhat inappropriate.
Xia Mingshi said, "Chunmei, it's not that I'm afraid I won't get a share, but if we follow the previous pattern and there's only so much fish, most people won't be able to catch any. Too many people could easily cause trouble."
Aunt Lihua also said, "Chunmei, you really didn't handle this matter well. You should have secretly invited some people to fish. The people you secretly invited would be more grateful to you. In the future, if you need anything, just give them a call, and they will be more enthusiastic."
Upon hearing Xia Mingshi and Lihua's words, Li Xiangcao felt that she had found allies.
"Chunmei, see, I wasn't wrong. Everyone thinks you made a mistake. You're too hasty in your actions. Next time something like this happens, just tell us quietly. Don't make such a big fuss."
The thought of so many people going fishing while she might not catch a single fish made Li Xiangcao's heart bleed with pain.
"Do you dare say that outside?" Xia Chunmei looked at Li Xiangcao coldly.
Li Xiangcao certainly didn't dare tell anyone outside; if she did, the others would tear her apart.
Xia Chunmei continued, "I can notify whomever I want. To put it bluntly, it's none of your business. Grandma Ming and Aunt Lihua think I did something wrong, but their starting point is different from yours. If you're not satisfied, you can have your parents appear in your dreams."
Xia Mingshi and Aunt Lihua did not know Xia Chunmei's true purpose in doing so, so they complained that she should not have done it. Their complaints were not because they were afraid that they would only catch fish scales, but because they felt that Xia Chunmei's actions would cause her trouble.
Li Xiangcao was nearly driven mad with anger when she heard Xia Chunmei's words.
"Chunmei, what have I done to offend you so much? You don't invite me to your banquets, and you won't even let me catch a few fish while fishing. Tell me, what have I done to offend you?"
"Alright, that's enough. You're going fishing tonight, so hurry back and get ready." Aunt Lihua pushed Li Xiangcao out.
"Then tell me why I insisted on bringing you along. Did you give me a grain of rice or an inch of cloth? I thought we were neighbors, so I invited you to go fishing together, but you had bad luck and then blamed my father for not protecting you. Why don't you blame your own parents and ancestors?"
Xia Mingshi: "Everyone, say less. Chunmei, you say less too. Xiangcao, go home and stop making noise. It won't sound good if word gets out."
Aunt Pear Blossom pulled Li Xiangcao away.
Li Xiangcao was furious at Xia Chunmei's words.
Pulled out by Aunt Lihua, he complained to her, "I just said it casually, I didn't really blame Brother Ping An, but she really holds a grudge!"
"Alright, it's good that she brought this up. Whether she catches any fish or not depends on her luck."
“Pear Blossom, she’s close to you. Could you put in a good word for me and persuade her to only take us fishing from now on?”
"Okay, I understand. Go back and get ready."
After Li Xiangcao left, Aunt Lihua returned to Xia Chunmei's place.
Seeing her arrive, Xia Chunmei then said to her and Xia Mingshi, "Grandma Ming, Auntie, I know you two are doing this for my own good, but I also have my reasons for doing this. You'll find out tomorrow. I, Xia Chunmei, am not an ungrateful person. I will not mistreat my own people."
...
The villagers were so excited they couldn't sleep.
They're all poised and ready to go all out tonight!
Aunt Lihua and Xia Mingshi's families had already gone fishing with Xia Chunmei several times, so they seemed much calmer.
Waiting is the hardest part.
Some people simply took their tools and went to the riverbank to find a good spot.
Seeing that others had gone first, the others were afraid of being taken advantage of, so they followed suit.
The final result was that before 9 PM, the entire village had gone.
Not wanting to be left behind, Xia Changjiang's family followed suit.
Seeing this, Xia Qiumei and Xia Dongmei couldn't sit still any longer and clamored to go.
When it got dark, Xia Chunmei wouldn't let Xia Dongmei go out; her job was to stay home and take good care of her younger sister.
Xia Chunmei took Xia Qiumei to the riverbank.
As soon as they arrived at the riverbank, they encountered people who almost got into a fight over a fishing spot.
"Aunties, let's both compromise. If we ruin our relationship over something so small, I'll feel terrible. If my dad comes to me in a dream again, I won't tell him."
"Chunmei, stop! Let's stop arguing."
"Yes, yes, let's stop arguing. I'll go somewhere else."
The two who had been arguing immediately made up, each giving way to the other, being very polite to each other.
Fishing requires quiet, and around 11:45 PM, the riverbank gradually quieted down.
Those who arrived early began to reap rewards, though the fish were not very big.
"Wow, I caught a big one!" Just as midnight struck, before Xia Chunmei even started using her magic touch, Xia Laoba from the village exclaimed loudly.
It immediately attracted everyone's attention.
The Xia couple couldn't pull it at all, and were almost dragged into the river by the fish.
With a "crack," the fishing rod broke.
"This fish must weigh at least ten or twenty pounds, maybe even bigger." This made Xia Laoba so angry that he almost vomited blood. He didn't catch the big fish and even lost the hook and line.
"It seems that the dream Chunmei's father gave her really worked."
"Old Eight, don't be upset. It's still early. You still have a fishing rod and there's still a chance."
Fifteen minutes later, Xia Chunmei used her "golden touch" to help ten households in the village catch a grass carp weighing eight pounds each!
A chorus of exclamations erupted from the riverbank.
Not catching anyone made me feel envious and excited at the same time, secretly hoping that I would be the next lucky one.
About twenty minutes later, ten other households in the village caught bighead carp weighing more than seven pounds each.
Seeing others catch big fish, Xia Qiumei became anxious: "Why didn't we catch anything this time?"
"Don't worry, we'll definitely catch it," Xia Chunmei reassured her.
Actually, she deliberately excluded herself when she made her wish.
After midnight, it was the next day, and Xia Chunmei had three more chances.
She used her cheat code roughly every twenty minutes, and by 1:15 AM, all her opportunities were used up.
Xia Chunmei only took one large grass carp weighing eight jin (approximately 4 catties) for herself, and gave the rest of the fish to the villagers.
Apart from Li Xiangcao, Lin Xiaojuan, and Xia Changjiang, everyone else in the village caught a big fish!
Some lucky ones, like Tian Cuiya, Aunt Lihua, Grandma Ming, and Chen Jinlian, all had two large fish weighing seven or eight pounds each.
Xia Laoba was even luckier, catching the most big fish this time – a total of five! Each one weighed seven or eight pounds!
Xia Chunmei felt that Xia Laoba catching a big fish was definitely not entirely his fault; he probably just had good luck too.
The villagers were all very happy.
Xia Changjiang and his wife were so angry they were about to vomit blood. Their three fishing rods hadn't caught a single big fish!
He was still the clan chief, and Xia Changjiang suddenly felt ashamed.
Even more upset than him were Li Xiangcao and her husband, because they had caught big fish with Xia Chunmei before, but this time they caught nothing!
"There are so many big fish in the river tonight! If Xia Chunmei hadn't spread the news so widely, we would definitely have had a great harvest tonight!" Li Xiangcao cried in anger.
"Cry, cry, cry! All you do is cry! If it weren't for your foul mouth, how could Brother Ping An not bless us? Now look what's happened! Everyone else has caught a big fish, but we haven't. Where do we put our faces?" Xia Shuiniu was so angry that he wanted to jump up and hit Li Xiangcao.
How can you blame me?
"If it's not your fault, who is? I'm warning you, go apologize to Chunmei right now, or you can go back to the Li family!"
...
When Xia Dongmei got home, she saw that her two older sisters knew they had only caught one fish, and she felt very disappointed: "How unlucky we were this time! We only caught one fish with our three fishing hooks!"
"Big sister, you shouldn't have told the whole village. If you hadn't said anything, we definitely would have caught a few more fish tonight." Xia Qiumei's face fell, and she was very unhappy. "Sigh, Dad is really something. Why couldn't he have appeared in my dream? I definitely wouldn't have blabbered."
Xia Qiumei began to complain about Xia Chunmei.
“We sisters are all alone and helpless. If we don’t unite the villagers, who will help us when we encounter problems in the future? With your small frame, can you protect the family’s grain? You should not only look at the petty gains in front of you, but also have a long-term vision and remember the principle that wealth disperses and people gather.”
Xia Chunmei had no other choice. All this trouble late at night was for the sake of ensuring tomorrow's plans went smoothly.
If she were single, with her advantages, skills, and expertise, she wouldn't have to worry at all. But with three younger sisters, the situation is different.
...
That night, the villagers slept with their mouths cracked open.
After working all night, Xia Chunmei was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com