Perhaps it was the magic of that earnest little face that made Xiao Qi's eyelids twitch. Before he could even think, he replied in a deep voice, "Mm."
True to her word, before the eighth day of the lunar new year had even passed, Wanwan pestered Xiao Qi to go out to sea to fish.
The two young people, carrying a bunch of fishing gear, rowed their small boat towards the depths of the ocean. Along the way, they met many villagers who were also out fishing. They greeted each other, and some of the young men even playfully greeted the girls with fishing songs.
The sea was a deep blue, contrasting beautifully with the azure sky, like a pool of jade. Seagulls flew overhead from time to time, their snow-white wings reflecting the bright sunlight, almost dazzlingly so. The warm sea breeze was like a gentle jade hand, softly caressing their faces.
Xiao Qi diligently rowed the boat, while Wanwan would occasionally slack off, sometimes bending down and dipping her little hand into the clear seawater. As if summoned, many small fish gathered near the two's small boat, making the tiny boat seem to be lifted up by a group of fish. Some fish even poked Wanwan's palm with their mouths.
Not far behind the two, a large fishing boat was floating. The hull had not been maintained for a long time, and it was dark and covered with scratches. There was also a lot of rotting seaweed stuck on the hull.
Two people, one older and one younger, were sitting on the boat; they were Wan Qiufeng and Wan Qiusui.
The two were too lazy and had almost no fishing skills. Seeing that there were fish behind Wanwan, they shamelessly followed the two children not far away and picked up some fish that the children had not caught or did not want.
Both of them were terrible rowers. One sat at the bow and the other at the stern, each trying to shirk their rowing duties. The boat was full of seawater, with several fish struggling in the water, their scales flying all over their trousers, oars, and rudder.
The stench was unbearable, and the difficult terrain made them complain and hurl insults at each other.
Before they knew it, the two of them followed the two babies and rowed away from the fishing grounds, getting further and further away from the main fishing force. Few people had ever been to the distant seas, and besides, the two of them had already caught quite a lot of fish, so they turned the rudder, lowered the sails, and prepared to head home.
As soon as they turned the boat around, the two saw a large group of black dots floating behind them.
Wan Qiusui raised her hand to shield her eyes from the sunlight and noticed that the group of black dots were moving extremely fast, sailing with the direction of the ocean current to within a mile of the two of them in no time.
"Brother! There are so many boats behind us!" Wan Qiusui finally recognized what those black dots were. Their rapid speed and aggressive approach sent a chill down his spine, and he quickly told Wan Qiufeng.
Wan Qiufeng was slow to react, and it took him a while to realize the danger was approaching. He hurriedly told Wan Qiusui to row home quickly.
Given the distance to the sea, the rapid speed of their voyage, and the fact that they were traveling in a group, Wan Qiufeng knew that they had most likely encountered pirates.
The two brothers hurriedly grabbed an oar each and started rowing.
However, the two brothers had exhausted their energy after being lazy for many days. Before long, they were panting heavily, their arms were sore and weak, and they even felt pain under their ribs.
The sea breeze changed direction, and the two people's eyes turned bloodshot as they shed tears in the wind.
They were still too slow, and the pirates quickly caught up and surrounded the two men in their ships.
The two gave up struggling, dropped their oars, and huddled together on the boat.
The pirate leader was blind in one eye, wore a black eye patch, was chewing something, his upper and lower teeth were constantly grinding together, his belly was bulging, and he was covered in fat. A large cleaver was tucked into his waistband, gleaming in the sunlight.
Upon seeing the knife, the two brothers were so frightened that their legs went weak, and they huddled together, trembling like leaves.
One-Eyed Dragon walked to the bow of the boat, looked the two men up and down with his remaining eye, then spat viciously into the sea and asked provocatively, "What's wrong, fellow countryman? Am I that scary? Who in this area doesn't know my name? Everyone knows I'm a chivalrous person who takes money and leaves, and I never do anything wrong."
The two brothers immediately praised him lavishly, and if it weren't for the ups and downs of the sea, they would have kowtowed to him.
The one-eyed man, however, was somewhat impatient. "You know that, so why don't you hurry up and hand over the money? Didn't you have a good harvest? I see you've had quite a lot."
One-Eyed Dragon glanced into the cabin, and Wan Qiufeng, as if someone had stepped on his tail, subtly blocked the pile of fish, smiling obsequiously at him, and said, "Brave warrior, life isn't easy for us either. We really didn't catch many fish today. Look at that boat over there. Those two kids on that boat are really good at fishing. Go and snatch some from them! They're just little kids, they definitely won't resist!"
Wan Qiufeng bowed repeatedly, like a chicken pecking at rice, trying to shift the blame onto Wanwan and Xiao Qi in the distance.
The two children's boat bobbed and swayed in the distance, seemingly showing signs of turning back.
One-Eyed Dragon took the binoculars from his subordinate, glanced over in that direction with an air of seriousness, and after seeing clearly, snapped the binoculars away. Enraged, he jumped off the boat with a thud, landing on the two brothers' boat. Seawater splashed everywhere, and the two brothers trembled even more violently.
"Damn it!" One-Eyed Dragon kicked Wan Qiufeng, who immediately clutched his stomach and groaned, "You look down on me? You want me to steal two babies? That's outrageous! You've disgraced my reputation in the martial arts world!"
After saying that, he kicked Wan Qiufeng again.
Wan Qiufeng collapsed to the ground, clutching his stomach and crying out in pain.
Ignoring him, the one-eyed man shouted to the pirates behind him, "Attack! Empty their ship!"
The pirates swarmed them and robbed them of everything; the two men almost lost even a broken oar.
After looting the cargo, the pirates hurriedly left. Looking at the empty cabin, the two men were so angry that they cursed the pirates' ancestors for eighteen generations.
Wanwan and Xiao Qi passed by the two men and, seeing their predicament, Wanwan made a face at Wan Qiufeng with schadenfreude, which made him so angry that he almost ground his back teeth to powder.
That day, Wanwan and Xiao Qi returned home laden with spoils, while the Wan brothers returned home looking disheveled.
Wan Qiufeng's wife, who had just given birth, couldn't even get a sip of hot soup. She was extremely weak, and Zhao Damei was holding onto the three hundred taels of silver, refusing to let her use it.
Seeing her unambitious and lazy husband, the wife lost her temper for the first time. The two argued so fiercely that the whole village gathered outside to watch the spectacle.
As evening fell, Wan's wife, who had noticeably lost weight, carried her child, dressed neatly, and walked back to her parents' home in the afterglow of the setting sun, under the watchful eyes of everyone.
It's rare to see a woman insist on returning to her parents' home during her postpartum period. Considering Wan Suijin's character, everyone sighed with pity. Half a month later, this matter was still a source of amusement for everyone.
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