On the distant river, several small fishing boats moved slowly on the water, and the fishermen skillfully cast and hauled in their nets.
On the nearby river surface, you can occasionally see a few fish leaping out of the water, splashing up strings of sparkling water droplets.
Fu Ya stopped and stood on the sandy beach by the river, gazing at the distant river with a hint of longing in her eyes.
She took a deep breath, savoring the fresh air by the river, and said softly, "The scenery here is so beautiful. It would be wonderful to stay here for a few days."
Rong Lianhu walked up to her, patted her on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "When we have time, let's come back here for a few days and enjoy this peaceful time."
Fu Ya nodded, a hopeful smile on her face.
Rong Zhigao and Rong Jiaojiao exchanged a glance and tacitly quickened their pace to get further away from their parents.
Before leaving, Rong Jiaojiao didn't forget to stick two talismans on her parents to keep them warm.
Just then, a burst of laughter came from afar. Several children were chasing and playing on the shallows, holding small nets in their hands, occasionally catching small fish and shrimp and putting them into the buckets beside them.
Rong Jiaojiao couldn't help but run over and saw that each of them had a small wooden bucket, which contained many small fish and shrimp.
Rong Jiaojiao asked, "You shouldn't lack fish and shrimp to eat, so why do you need such small ones?"
A young girl looked at Rong Jiaojiao, then at the others, and instead of answering, asked, "Miss, why are you even darker than us?"
Rong Jiaojiao's face turned even darker. It wasn't this dark when she first applied the medicine; it's only gotten darker in the last couple of days.
She then understood what the smirk on her master's face meant when he gave her the antidote.
Rong Zhigao stood aside and chuckled. Rong Jiaojiao rolled her eyes and said, "In our family, everyone is dark-skinned when they are young, but becomes fair-skinned when they grow up. Look at my brother, he is like that."
Rong Zhigao's lips twitched involuntarily; this younger sister was still so vengeful.
The little girl looked at the two of them suspiciously, but didn't delve into it. Instead, she looked at the kitten on her shoulder with eyes full of affection.
However, he still answered Rong Jiaojiao's previous question: "These small fish and shrimp can be sold for money after being dried, but not much, only two cents per pound."
This is too cheap! Looking at the fish and shrimp in their buckets, Rong Jiaojiao wanted to try putting them in the fishpond in the secret realm. She wondered if they would grow bigger.
She asked, "Can I trade you some candy for these little fish and shrimp?"
An older boy said eagerly, "I'll trade with you for mine."
The other children also looked at Rong Jiaojiao expectantly. Rong Jiaojiao took out the fruit candies and milk candies that her parents had bought for her and said, "Give me the bucket and the fish and shrimp together, and I'll give each of you a milk candy and two fruit candies."
Rong Jiaojiao didn't know how much sugar a small bucket of fish and shrimp weighed, which was about two or three pounds, was worth; she just made a rough estimate.
Seeing that Rong Zhigao remained silent, Rong Jiaojiao felt that she hadn't suffered any loss.
The children all felt it was worth it, and each of them took the candy and ran home.
As Rong Jiaojiao and the others walked away, they waved and poured the small fish and shrimp into the fishpond in the secret realm.
As soon as it was poured in, the fish in the pond rushed over and scrambled for it, treating the small fish and shrimp as food.
Rong Jiaojiao was dumbfounded. She used to be afraid that the fish would go hungry, so she would often crush corn kernels and scatter them to feed them. They would fight over the corn kernels. She never expected that these fish fry would be used as fish food.
Seeing her lost in thought, Rong Zhigao asked, "What's wrong?"
Rong Jiaojiao shook her head: "It's nothing, I was just wondering if I lost out."
Rong Zhigao smiled and said, "It's worth it, let's go!"
Rong Jiaojiao sighed, unable to express her thoughts, and could only continue walking forward with her brother.
He extended his divine sense into the river, wanting to bring more fish and shrimp into the little secret realm, but then thought better of it; there was no need to use such methods in front of his brother.
Fu Ya and Rong Lianhu had already walked ahead and were standing on a large rock by the river, admiring the river view.
Rong Lianhu's gaze fell on a patch of reeds by the river. The reeds swayed in the wind, making a rustling sound that brought a sense of peace to the soul.
He suddenly said, "Why don't we go over there and take a look? Maybe we'll find something interesting."
Fu Ya hesitated for a moment: "There doesn't seem to be much of a road over there. Will it be difficult to walk?"
Rong Lianhu, however, became interested: "It's alright, we just need to be careful. Maybe there are wild ducks or other water birds there. I used to find a lot of wild duck eggs in the reeds when I was a kid. Would you like to try it?"
Fu Ya's curiosity was piqued by his words, and she nodded: "Okay, let's go take a look."
So the two of them, as if they had forgotten about their two children, carefully made their way through a patch of low bushes toward the reeds.
Rong Jiaojiao glanced at Rong Zhigao, seeking his opinion with her eyes.
Rong Zhigao raised his chin and said, "Let's go, I'll show you the fun of collecting wild duck eggs."
Having said that, he lifted his foot and headed towards the reeds, but he chose to avoid the area where Rong Lianhu and the others had gone.
The ground was a bit slippery, but thankfully, the sunlight prevented my feet from sinking in.
Birdsong could be heard from time to time from the reeds, clear and melodious.
Stepping into the reeds, I discovered a completely different world inside.
The reeds stand tall, like a natural barrier, separating them from the outside world.
Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the reeds, forming beams of light. Occasionally, a few small birds would take flight from the reeds, fluttering their wings and chirping merrily.
Rong Jiaojiao squatted down and carefully examined the soil under her feet.
She discovered many small holes in the soil, as if they had been dug out by some small animal.
Curious, she used her divine sense to investigate and discovered a small ditch with several small crabs crawling around in it.
"Brother, there are crabs here!" She parted the reeds with her hands and grabbed a small crab to play with.
Rong Zhigao shook his head: "Don't bother catching them, these little crabs aren't worth eating."
Rong Jiaojiao nodded. She hadn't intended to catch them to eat anyway, and replied, "Okay, I'll just take a look, and I'll release them later."
Rong Jiaojiao looked at the empty straw nests and said, "Brother, it's already winter, there shouldn't be any duck eggs left, right?"
Rong Zhigao nodded: "The wild ducks' egg-laying season is over now, I'm just showing you around to experience it."
Rong Jiaojiao was speechless...
Turning around, she said, "I don't like reed marshes. I'm leaving. You can experience it for yourself!"
Rong Zhigao followed behind with a smile. Not long after they left the reed marsh, Rong Lianhu and his wife also came out.
Rong Jiaojiao also heard Fu Ya complain: "Wild ducks migrate south in winter. I actually forgot about that and believed your nonsense. Look, my shoes are all wet."
Rong Lianhu said apologetically, "I'm sorry, honey. I just wanted you to experience the fun of collecting wild duck eggs. I forgot that most of the wild ducks have already migrated away."
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