Chapter 18: The situation is about to get out of control.
Liu Nian carried the basin toward the big river at the west end of the village, where many women liked to wash their clothes.
Sometimes, if you're lucky, you might even find a few wild duck eggs in the reeds. Some young men can swim and go down to the river to catch fish, which can improve their meals, but there are too many fish and not enough porridge, so the number of fish is decreasing while the number of people catching them is increasing.
The people behind her were making furtive noises. Liu Nian stopped and gave a disdainful smile. She had noticed Liu Xiangxiang when she left; did they think she knew nothing?
Along the way, Liu Nian greeted several elderly people he knew and headed towards a less frequented ditch.
This isn't the main river channel; there are few people and few fish. Women don't like to wash clothes here, and hardly anyone fishes here.
Liu Nian calmly began washing clothes, taking her time and not in a hurry.
Liu Xiangxiang peeked out from the reeds behind her. She was puzzled. Was Liu Nian really just washing clothes?
There was no one else around, just Liu Nian. At first, Liu Xiangxiang was somewhat patient, waiting for someone to come and meet Liu Nian, but as time went on, Liu Xiangxiang became more and more annoyed.
Not only did she fail to catch anything wrong, but she also wasted her time. She glared at Liu Nian's retreating figure before turning and walking home.
The crunching sound of footsteps on the reeds reminded Liu Nian that Liu Xiangxiang had left.
Liu Nian smiled, looked around to make sure no one was watching, and quickly bought five large carp in the mobile farm game.
The next second, five lively, wriggling carp appeared in her basin.
So she bought some wild duck eggs, and Liu Nian happily carried the basin and her clothes out of the reed marsh.
She had only taken a few steps when she saw Aunt Cui.
Aunt Cui raised an eyebrow and skipped over to Liu Nian. She originally wanted to mock Liu Nian and ask her properly if Su Xu was any good, and if she regretted marrying such a useless man.
Then they saw Liu Nian carrying a basin of fish and several fist-sized wild duck eggs.
"My goodness, this fish is huge! Where did it come from?" Aunt Cui stared in disbelief. She looked up at the riverbank again, wondering if it had been caught from the river. But hadn't all the fish in the river been caught by the young people?
The fish in the basin were quite heavy. Liu Nian took a breath and said, "I caught them by the river. I was just lucky. I was washing clothes when those fish popped up."
"What?" Aunt Cui was both angry and anxious upon hearing this. "There really are fish?"
After saying that, she turned and ran towards the river, afraid that if she was too late, there wouldn't be any fish left. She didn't dare to make a sound, for fear that others would find out and try to take them from her.
Aunt Cui was so hurried that her shoes fell off. Liu Nian couldn't help but urge her, "Aunt Cui, slow down! All the fish are gone, I've caught them all!"
Aunt Cui snorted. She didn't believe it; there must still be some! Liu Nian was just mean-spirited. Wasn't she just saying there wasn't any left because she was afraid someone would take it from her?
When Aunt Cui got to the riverbank, she found nothing there.
"I refuse to believe that Liu Nian is so lucky! I'm going to get a few today no matter what!" Aunt Cui simply took off her shoes and socks and walked into the river.
Liu Nian carried a basin of fish from the west end of the village all the way to the east end. Passersby kept asking questions, and people, filled with envy and jealousy, hurried to the riverbank.
"Uncle Wang, are you sunbathing?" Liu Nian said, looking at the old man sitting on the stone bench in front of his house.
This old man is named Wang Shiguo. He is a neighbor of the Su family. His two sons and one daughter are all martyrs. His wife also passed away a few years ago, leaving him an elderly man living alone.
Wang Shiguo said with a smile, "Nian girl, you caught so many fish?"
Liu Nian nodded. She originally wanted to give the old man two items directly, but the old man was very proud and said that he was being taken care of by the country and could not accept anything from his fellow villagers.
"Grandpa, why don't you go check the ditch on the east side of the river? Maybe there are still some!" Liu Nian said with a smile.
Grandpa Wang slowly stood up, waved to Liu Nian, and said, "Then you should hurry home. I'll go take a look and see if I'm lucky enough to run into two!"
"Okay, take your time," Liu Nian said as she turned and went inside her house.
Before Liu Nian even got home, the news that he had caught several big fish by the river had already spread.
Liu Nian pushed open the fence gate, and Liu Xiangxiang immediately leaned out of the east wing. She stared at the big, lively fish in Liu Nian's basin as if she wanted to burn a hole through it!
"You know, I'm just lucky. The first time I went to the river to wash clothes, I ran into a fish. I watched it float over from a distance until it was right next to my basin." Liu Nian put the basin in front of Liu Xiangxiang, and the fish's tail swished loudly.
Water droplets, smelling fishy, splashed all over Liu Xiangxiang's face. Liu Xiangxiang screamed and wiped her face with the back of her hand, "Ugh—it smells awful!"
"Tch," Liu Nian rolled her eyes. "It smells bad, too. It's just sour grapes."
Liu Xiangxiang is particularly sensitive to the words "good fortune," and she grits her teeth and pretends not to care, saying, "I don't like eating fish anyway; the fishy smell makes me nauseous."
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