Chapter 54
A heavy rain fell during the night, and the morning breeze was cool, with a damp, grassy scent in the air.
Grandpa said he would take them to the stream to catch fish in the evening.
Several children who were still sleepy from waking up immediately woke up and raised their hands to cheer.
Jiang Jiawei turned to look at Mu Zhengxi beside her, "Do you want to go?"
The person peeling the egg was a little surprised by her question, and then said in an exaggerated tone of excitement, just like her younger brothers, "Of course I want to! How could I not!"
He gestured for Jiang Jiawei to reach out and placed the smooth, intact egg, still with its shell, in her hand.
Every day I try to prove that I'm already very good at peeling eggs.
Jiang Jiawei took a bite of egg white and said, "The water isn't very deep, it's just a little above your ankles. There are some deeper parts," she looked down at Mu Zhengxi's calves for comparison, "it's about halfway up your calves."
Jiang Jiawei asked, "Is this acceptable?"
Mu Zhengxi could no longer force a smile. He stared at her intently, remaining silent for a long time. He lowered his head and stirred the porridge in his bowl, saying softly, "Why...why do you ask that?"
"Didn't you tell me last time that you were afraid of water?"
The sunlight made Jiang Jiawei's pupils turn amber, clear and bright. She spoke frankly and straightforwardly without any particular emotional fluctuations.
Now it was Mu Zhengxi's turn to be stunned.
When did you say that?
Jiang Jiawei was somewhat speechless. "Mu Zhengxi, are you really a goldfish? Your memory only lasts seven seconds."
“You told me that your classmates went out to sea for fun, but you didn’t go that time.”
"Is there?"
He recalled the events intently until an expression of self-doubt appeared on his face.
Jiang Jiawei replied with absolute certainty, "Yes."
She then countered, "Then how would I know?"
Yes, otherwise how would Jiang Jiawei know? Even Yan Yuheng and the others didn't know.
Jiang Jiawei said, "It's okay. If you don't want to go into the water, you can bring Ale from the shore. She'll definitely want to come along."
"That way I won't have to look at her anymore~"
The girl blinked her cunning eyes, her mind racing with calculations.
"I don't want to."
They were rejected.
His face fell instantly.
Mu Zhengxi was happy. After finishing the last mouthful of porridge, he stood up and said, "The last person to wash the dishes is Jiang Jiawei."
Add insult to injury.
I've had breakfast.
Mu Zhengxi played with fishing toys with Ale in the living room. He glanced around the house and the outside world and saw that everyone was doing their job at the start of a busy day.
Grandpa took out the old mosquito net from the storage room, and the bamboo he had cut from the mountain a while ago, which he thinned to make fishing nets. His two twin brothers worked as helpers. When it came to catching fish, they were all very obedient and followed instructions exactly where he was told.
Jiang Jiawei washes the dishes.
Jiang Jiayi was helping her grandmother check the accounts and calculate the wages for the clothes she made this month.
Mu Zhengxi also had similar memories of life. In the family compound, Minxia would make breakfast and he would help hang up the clothes. Wenqing would work in the study and he would be responsible for washing the dishes after breakfast. If he didn't have to go to school, he could go out to play football. But sometimes, if Minxia made dumplings or buns, Jiang Wenqing would make him learn, or he would have to complete the assigned homework first.
The same is true at home in Hanyang; everyone is busy, regardless of whether he is there or not.
"Jung-hee."
"Eh."
"Could you help Grandma thread a needle? She's getting old and her eyesight isn't good anymore."
Okay~
My younger sister is a tagalong; when Mu Zhengxi got up, she got up too.
"Ah Le, come here."
The person who had been watching the needle being threaded by the bed looked up and strode out with their short legs.
When they came back, they had a peach in each hand.
The older sister said she would give one to Ah Le and one to her brother, but the older sister wouldn't eat it because her teeth couldn't chew it.
She obediently repeated, "One for me, one for my brother, and no one for my great-grandmother."
Mu Zhengxi picked her up and sat her on his lap.
"Lin Jiale, how are you so smart?"
She laughed, as if making a funny face on purpose, her whole face scrunched up. Mu Zhengxi pinched her chubby cheeks, her skin as pink and tender as a peach in his hand.
Ah Le then imitated him by pinching his cheek.
The two made faces at each other.
Grandma said, "If Jung-hee becomes a father in the future, he will definitely be a good father."
"Yeah?"
"Definitely."
The person biting their cheek hard was trying to suppress the secret pleasure of the water gushing out of their head like boiling water.
But it's strange, children are so cute, and Jiang Jiawei seems to like children so much, how come he and Jiang Jiawei don't have children?
Could it be...? It can't be that he's impotent, can it?!
The thought flashed through his mind, but Mu Zhengxi immediately and resolutely suppressed it. Impossible, absolutely impossible.
The person biting into the peach tilted their head in deep thought, but couldn't come up with a solution.
The torrential rain washed over the village, but also brought many gifts.
The crevices in the rocks of the stream allowed Jiang Jiawei and his team to reap a harvest even before they entered the water; nests of small crucian carp were clearly visible to the naked eye in the stream.
The stream water was as cold as ice; the moment I stepped into it, the nerves in my calves were frozen from the soles of my feet, and I couldn't move for a while.
Jiang Jiayi shivered, "Wow, this is so cold!"
Lin Kaijie and Lin Kaiyang are indeed young kids, full of energy and like fish in water, not feeling cold at all.
Jiang Jiawei reached out to stop Ale, who was eagerly trying to break free from Mu Zhengxi's embrace on the shore. "Ale, don't come down. You and your brother stay on the shore."
"Brother elbow!"
Ah Le pointed in the direction of Jiang Jiawei and the others, signaling Mu Zhengxi to follow.
The water level was higher than Jiang Jiawei had imagined, and the rain last night was heavier than expected.
The people hesitating on the shore held Ah Le tightly, as if afraid she would break free or as if they were holding onto a lifebuoy.
Ah Le shouted, "Jia!! One!!!"
He strained until his face turned red.
Once Jiang Jia had adjusted to the water temperature, she turned around, walked over, and took A-Le from Mu Zhengxi's arms. Suddenly, she felt a pang of conscience and realized that she couldn't let Mu Zhengxi be the only one holding her.
"I'll take her."
"Jia Yi Zhou!" Ah Le pointed in his grandfather's direction, "Looking for Grandpa."
"Okay, be good and don't move around."
"Okay, Ah Le, be good."
Mu Zhengxi remained where he was, looking down at the gurgling water flowing over the rocks, his hands gripping the seams of his trousers.
It's no big deal, really no big deal. The water is so shallow, it only goes up to about halfway up to the calves. What's wrong with that?
"Let's go find crabs."
Just as he was about to step into the water, his sleeve was grabbed. Mu Zhengxi felt like a roly-poly toy being pulled and swayed by Jiang Jiawei, who had somehow gotten ashore.
Do you know how to find crabs?
Jiang Jiawei walked ahead and turned back to ask him.
My mind went blank for a moment, and I subconsciously shook my head.
Jiang Jiawei said, "I'll teach you."
No sooner had she finished speaking than she noticed the crab claws protruding from under the rock. Jiang Jiawei pulled Mu Zhengxi down to squat down and said, "Flip this rock over."
That's not difficult.
"Junghee!! There are three!!"
Jiang Jiawei held down two of them with one hand, but one of them broke free.
"It ran away, it ran away, Jung-hee, hurry, hurry, hurry!!"
"Where? Where??"
"There it is!! On your left!"
Mu Zhengxi covered and gripped it with one hand. "Ouch!! Jiang Jiawei, it's pinching me!" She was in so much pain that she immediately shook her hand away.
"Hahahaha, you're so clumsy, that's not how you grab someone."
Jiang Jiawei mocked him mercilessly.
"Jiang Jiawei!"
Having forgotten to bring the bucket, Jiang Jiawei had to put the two bags back. She leaned over to look at Mu Zhengxi's palms.
"It's alright, there's no bleeding."
"You'll know once you get pinched."
"It's not like I haven't been pinched before." Jiang Jiawei touched the wound on her palm perfunctorily. "It's okay, it won't hurt in a bit. I'll go get the bucket."
"It's just catching crabs, what's so difficult about that?"
Mu Zhengxi was unconvinced and looked like he wanted to turn the whole stream upside down.
In the short time it took Jiang Jiawei to fetch the buckets, he found two more.
Jiang Jiawei exclaimed, "Wow, this one is so fat!"
"Impressive, right?"
"Hey, there are more over there."
"Grandpa!! My foot got pinched by a crab!!!"
Lin Kaijie stood in the middle of the stream and shouted, his voice trembling with tears.
"Look, look!! Even your younger brother can't stand it!"
Mu Zhengxi excitedly patted Jiang Jiawei to prove that he wasn't making a fuss over nothing.
The next second, Kaiyang, the older brother, walked over with a calm expression.
"It's nothing. I was just pinched too. You're making a fuss over something so small."
Jiang Jiawei: "Hahahahahahaha!!!"
Mu Zhengxi: "..."
Jiang Jiayi carried Ale back, grabbing her armpits and swinging her around like on a swing, urging her to use her feet to kick Jiang Jiawei and Mu Zhengxi on the shore.
The two people, engrossed in searching for crabs by turning over stones, were suddenly attacked without warning, their faces covered in water and their clothes soaked.
As a result, the enemy surrendered after only the first wave of counterattacks.
"I'm not playing anymore, I'm not playing anymore." Jiang Jiayi walked over breathlessly. "Sis, you take care of him for a while, I can't carry him anymore, I really can't carry him anymore." She handed Ale to Jiang Jiawei.
Jiang Jiayi slumped down on a rock on the shore.
"Ah Le, let me take you crab catching."
"good."
Xiaofang and the others also arrived.
He called out Jiang Jiawei's name from a short distance away and waved to them.
"You guys are here so early???"
"yes!"
Jiang Jiawei walked over and said, "We've already filled half a bucket."
"So many crabs?!"
"Yes, there are tons of them. You can find them almost anywhere you turn over a stone."
Jiang Jiayi tugged at Mu Zhengxi's clothes, which were only slightly wet, and felt extremely resentful. "Brother, are you serious? You can't do this, you have to go into the water too! Your clothes are way too clean!"
Mu Zhengxi gestured to him with the person in his arms and said, "Then you take Ah Le with you?"
Jiang Jiayi simply lay back down, "Never mind then."
"Thank you! Brother!"
"where?"
"This mud!"
"Lin Jiale, you're amazing! You found another one!"
"Xiaofang, come quick, come quick, there are several here."
Jiang Jiawei, standing in the stream, waved to people.
"Here it comes, it's huge!"
"Yes, the crabs are so plump this year."
"One for each person."
"No need, you can have them all. We have plenty."
The afterglow fell on the stream, shimmering like fish scales.
Jiang Jiawei caught an eel and raised her hand.
"Look, Ah Le!!!"
Ah Le looked at the long, writhing object. "A snake." He waved his hand and stepped back closer to Mu Zhengxi. "I'm scared, snakes."
Mu Zhengxi explained to her, "It's not 'Snake Forest Joy,' it's 'Eel,' it's a fish."
"Fish, fish."
"right."
Jiang Jiawei walked over.
Ah Le immediately and warily climbed onto Mu Zhengxi.
"It's a fish, the kind of fish you like to eat, Ale. Don't be afraid, look, your sister is holding it."
“My sister is holding it,” Mu Zhengxi repeated.
"Yes, would you like to touch it?"
Ah Le carefully extended his finger, but immediately withdrew it before even touching the target.
Jiang Jiawei laughed, and the slippery eel struggled and fell in, disappearing in an instant. "Oh dear, it got away!"
"It's gone."
"yes."
Grandpa told them to get ready to go home.
Jiang Jiawei responded with a "yes".
"Let's go home."
Mu Zhengxi: "Okay."
Jiang Jiawei said that not all fears need to be overcome. Everyone has things they are afraid of, so it's okay. It's okay to be afraid of water.
The wind comes from the mountains and fields.
Mu Zhengxi glanced back at the clear stream, as if he was beginning to reconcile with some things he couldn't do, such as swimming.
"I think a very important point is that my wife has a more complete and well-rounded personality than I do, so she is more tolerant and understanding of me."
"Jiang Jiawei".
"Um?"
Mu Zhengxi turned his head and said to her, "This sunset is so beautiful."
The sunset painted the sky a crimson hue, which was reflected in Jiang Jiawei's eyes.
She smiled, and the water rippled.
Looks like tomorrow will be a nice day too!
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