Chapter 29: Poisonous Pufferfish

Jiang Wan took a long time to calm down. She looked into the gap but didn't find the little sea snake.

It must still be around here.

Jiang Wan decisively changed the place and rushed to the sea, his life was at stake.

There were quite a few villagers on the new beach. She didn't try to join the crowd, but the voices of the villagers talking penetrated her ears.

"It was so lively last night, why didn't you come out to see the fun?"

"Ah? What happened? I had a headache last night and went to bed early."

Jiang Wan's ears also perked up, she also wanted to hear the gossip in the village.

"Yesterday evening, Dashu's mother wanted to go pick up her grandchildren to spend the day together, but Yinzhu refused to go, and the siblings cried so loudly that it shook the sky."

"Ah? Why not? There are only two little ones left in their family. They can't catch fish, and no one wants them to work. What will they do if they don't live with their grandma?"

The old lady was very puzzled.

"That's right. Many neighbors tried to persuade her to do so, but Yinzhu was determined not to marry her brother off. She even went to the village chief and the elders and swore in front of them that she would take care of her brother until he was ten years old before considering marriage. When Jinbao was ten years old, she would be nineteen. This girl is so stupid."

"Ah? Will the village chief and the elders agree to her?"

"Of course I agreed. Yinzhu's parents came to her in her dreams. What if she doesn't agree to come to the village chief and the elders at night?"

The old lady sighed and felt a little sorry for the child Yinzhu.

"When Jinbao grows up and Yinzhu becomes an old maid, there will be no good marriage for them. I really don't know what this girl is thinking."

"I really didn't realize that Yinzhu is such a kind girl."

Apart from other things, the fact that she was willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of raising her younger brother is something that not everyone can do. Just take care of her when you see her.

The two ladies started to whisper about other gossips in the village. Jiang Wan, who was standing by, was listening intently and unknowingly walked into the circle of the ladies.

"Eh? This girl looks unfamiliar. Is she from Kyoto?"

The old lady looked at Jiang Wan from beginning to end, and Jiang Wan said yes without fear of being embarrassed.

"From now on, our family will take root in the village. I hope you ladies will take good care of us."

"That's hard to say."

The two ladies were digging for clams with expressions that only they could understand.

Many people have been arranged to come to their village over the years, but now only two or three families are left. The others either died in the quarry or got married to someone important and left the village. It is not easy to stay in the village and live a stable life.

"Little girl, are you really a lady from Kyoto?"

"What have you done to get here?"

Seeing that the ladies were about to ask her questions, Jiang Wan quickly found an excuse of having a stomachache and slipped away.

The village chief didn't tell her the reason why her family was exiled, so she certainly wouldn't tell him. Although the person who embezzled the military pay was her grandfather's younger brother, in this era of clan-based politics, her grandfather's younger brother's crime was equivalent to her own. Otherwise, why didn't they exile others but exiled your family?

She was sure that if she told the reason for her exile, it would spread throughout the village within an hour and everyone in her family would be pointed at whenever they went out.

Jiang Wan secretly wiped his sweat, this gossip is not nice to hear, so he better just stay away from it.

She walked closer to the sea, and felt much more comfortable after washing off the sand in her sandals. She was looking for a small hole on the beach when she suddenly heard someone calling her.

"Xiao Wan!"

Jiang Wan raised her head and saw Lin Wanrong walking towards her with two big boys carrying a bucket.

"Auntie Lin~"

The two families had a good relationship, and Jiang Wan's smile was more sincere. However, she did not have the memory of her original self, and did not know the names of the two boys from the Zhou family, so she did not know how to greet them.

Fortunately, the children knew that this was the elder sister who allowed their family to live in a big house, so they took the initiative to call her.

"Sister Xiaowan, my name is Zhou Li."

"Sister Xiaowan, my name is Zhou Yuan."

Li Yuan?

Jiang Wan was slightly stunned. She remembered a line from the poem "Five Hundred Words of Nostalgia on the Way from Beijing to Fengxian County" by the great poet Du Fu.

I worry about the people in my old age and sigh with heat in my intestines.

It shows his patriotism that he cares about his country and his people.

I wonder if there were any great poets who passed down their writings in this dynasty. If there were, I think the names the Zhou family gave to these two children were also a reflection of their own feelings.

pity……

Why were the Zhou family exiled? It seemed to be a case of embezzlement of military funds. I don't know whose relatives they were, but all three clans that were the masterminds were exiled.

Alas, we are all the same, stranded people in this world.

These thoughts flashed through Jiang Wan's mind quickly. Just as she was about to smile at the children, she noticed what was in Lin Wanrong's bucket, and her smile froze on her face.

"Auntie Lin's fish..."

Seeing that she was staring at the fish, Lin Wanrong thought Jiang Wan wanted some, so she simply poured the fish into her bucket.

"This fish was given to me by a kind-hearted sister-in-law in the village. She said that this fish is very good for health, especially for the elderly and children. You can take it back and eat it."

She has watched the two girls of the Yin family grow up. They used to be so pretty, but now they are so skinny and dry that they have to work hard to replenish their body.

Seeing her so straightforwardly give the fish to Jiang Wan, the two boys felt reluctant to let her go.

This fish is so fun. It will become puffy when you touch it. My younger brothers and sisters will definitely like it. They have no objection to giving it to Xiaowan, but can I keep one for my younger brothers and sisters?

Image source: Internet

The two children fiddled with the hems of their clothes, preparing to speak.

Anger flashed in Jiang Wan's eyes.

The fish in the bucket has a small body and a brown and yellow back. When you touch it, its belly will swell into a ball like a balloon.

Image source: Internet

This is a highly poisonous pufferfish! Just 0.5 mg of toxin can kill a person!

In fact, puffer fish meat is not poisonous, but delicious. However, its blood and internal organs are highly toxic, and ordinary people have no way to completely clean its meat.

Even with all the high-tech cleaning machines available today, few people dare to try puffer fish meat, let alone in ancient times. That kind sister-in-law didn't have any good intentions.

The villagers were all people who had made their living from the sea for generations, and pufferfish were common in shallow waters. She didn't believe that the kind-hearted sister-in-law didn't know that it was poisonous.

"This fish is poisonous and cannot be eaten."

Jiang Wan's expression was serious and it was obvious that he was not joking. Lin Wanrong was stunned for a moment and subconsciously pulled her two sons aside.

"Xiao Wan, this, this is real?! Throw it away quickly!"

Jiang Wan didn't throw it away. This thing is poisonous. If you eat it, you will die. If you give it to a doctor, it can save you.

She has to take it back to her mother.

"Auntie Lin, do you remember what the person who gave you the fish looked like? Who is she from?"

Lin Wanrong was stunned, and the two little boys rushed to speak for their mother.

"The auntie was wearing a scarf and I couldn't see her face clearly."

"She is not as tall as my mother, her hands are a bit white, and the shoes she wears are very different from those of the villagers."

Zhou Yuan really didn't notice much about the specific differences, and couldn't explain them.

"How smart."

Jiang Wan touched his head. It was quite remarkable that he could notice so many things unconsciously at such a young age.

"Auntie Lin, this fish is very poisonous. If you take it home and cook it, one spoonful per person can be fatal. I feel this is suspicious. People in the fishing village should know that it is poisonous. Anyway, you'd better find out the truth about this. As for the fish, I will take it away. My mother is a doctor, and its poison can be used for other purposes."

After taking someone else's pufferfish, Jiang Wan gave Lin Wanrong the clams she had dug up today and an octopus that escaped from a hole.

When the two children saw the octopus with its claws and fangs bared, they immediately forgot about the pufferfish and urged their mother to quickly take it back for their younger siblings to play with.

Lin Wanrong calmed herself down and said goodbye to Jiang Wan. On the way home, she thought carefully about everything that happened today and her face turned cold.