Chapter 112

Chapter 112

Aunt Wednesday was pondering how to approach the situation when she was suddenly asked a question, which startled her. "Ah? What? I wasn’t looking at anything. Mom, why are you here? Didn’t you say you were going to catch some small fish first?"

"I saw you staring over there. Is something on your mind? Fourth Sister-in-Law said you’ve been spending a lot of time with Jiaojiao lately. She wouldn’t be asking you to do something, would she? Listen, that girl is all about Old Wang’s family. You shouldn’t listen to her.

Otherwise, she might trick you without you even realizing it."

Tian Xiaolan knew well what kind of person her daughter was and what her daughter-in-law was like. These past few days, she had also been feeling uneasy.

Aunt Wednesday felt a bit guilty. She knew her sister-in-law was trying to trick her, but she really wanted her husband to go to the city too.

She had been hesitant at first, but seeing that both Old Wang’s second son and her sister-in-law’s husband had become workers, she became more interested.

Her husband was much better than Old Wang’s second son and Old Fifth.

He just lacked a bit of luck!

So, even knowing there might be a trap, she still wanted to give it a try.

After all, it’s just pushing someone into the river; what could possibly happen?

Worst case, they’d have to pay some money.

As Aunt Wednesday was convincing herself, Zhou Jiaojiao had already followed the whole family over.

Seeing the entire Wang family, Tian Xiaolan’s bad feeling intensified. She regretted bringing her daughters-in-law today.

If they hadn’t already arrived, she would have taken her family back home right away!

"Mother-in-law," Tian Xiaolan greeted Zhao Guifen warmly.

Zhao Guifen was pleased that the Zhou family had lent money to her youngest son, so she was quite satisfied with Tian Xiaolan as a mother-in-law.

"It’s been a while since we last met. Mother-in-law, you’re here to catch fish too? This job can be left to our sons, can’t it? If not, you could discuss it with us, and we could send someone from our family to help," Zhao Guifen said politely.

Hearing this, Tian Xiaolan almost lost her temper.

Discuss with them?

Who in the village didn’t know about their family? With such a large family, they only received a small amount of grain.

If there was no harvest this autumn, her family would starve.

All these able-bodied men were just being lazy.

It seemed that it was indeed their eldest son who had supported the family before. Thankfully, her son-in-law was going to work as a worker, so her daughter wouldn’t starve.

Despite her thoughts, Tian Xiaolan maintained a polite demeanor for the Wang family’s sake: "We were just sitting around at home anyway, so we thought we might as well help out the village. Besides, we just got our share of grain, and my sons were saying they wanted to eat rice with fish sauce.

So here I am, getting some fish sauce..."

"Mom, don’t bother with fish sauce. My brothers love pickled cabbage, right? My in-laws have some pickled cabbage, so let’s give them some fish sauce instead," Zhou Jiaojiao said confidently.

Tian Xiaolan felt even more like scolding her, but she couldn’t embarrass her daughter.

More importantly, she still hoped the Wang family could get them a couple of jobs.

Thinking this, Tian Xiaolan decided to maintain her loving mother image!

"You child, why are you still competing with your brothers like before? Fine, take it. All the small fish caught by your brothers and sisters-in-law will go to your family." With that, Tian Xiaolan sighed again.

"Mother-in-law, my daughter has been spoiled by me. Please treat her well."

Zhao Guifen and Wang Shoucheng were surprised that it was actually happening.

Since there were benefits involved, they played along.

"Mom, stop talking about me."

Zhou Jiaojiao pretended to be embarrassed.

Upon noticing Aunt Wednesday’s gaze, she became nervous.

"Everyone, stop standing around. Those who are strong enough should get on the boats to net the fish. Those who aren’t strong enough can use the scoop nets. Children and the elderly must stay away from the center of the water and stick to the shore to collect small fish," the team leader announced through a megaphone from the east end.

Soon, everyone dispersed.

Fishing required skill, but there weren’t many skilled fishermen in the village.

Most people were using scoop nets and hoping for luck.

At the supply store, they had borrowed a cart from the team, loaded with several buckets and scales.

They were waiting to weigh the fish and record the amounts.

"Xiuxiu, why are you here? Are you feeling well enough?" Chen Jinhua was helping the supply store keep records to prevent any mischief.

Seeing Bai Xiuxiu, she greeted her and ran over.

"Aunt Jinhua, you’re here too? I’m fine; I’m just collecting some small fish by the riverbank. The real work is done by my husband; he’s fishing," Bai Xiuxiu pointed to Wang Qinghe, who had already been assigned a wooden boat.

"Huh, that’s unusual. Your husband never used to go out on the boats to fish; he always did the heaviest work, transporting the fish from the shore. Why is he using a boat this year?" Chen Jinhua was surprised.

The heaviest task in fishing was transporting the fish from the shore to the scales.

In the village, only a few strong people do this task.

Wang Qinghe usually helped in previous years, but unexpectedly, he wasn't by the riverbank this year.

Bai Xiuxiu smiled without saying a word. Her man was probably worried she might fall into the water and wanted to have a boat ready to rescue her quickly?

However, if she said she wouldn't fall into the water, she definitely wouldn't!

She hadn't provoked Zhou Jiaojiao. Zhou Jiaojiao had taken the initiative to harm others. Unless she did it herself, getting help from others might not necessarily succeed.

"You'll find it inconvenient to watch the children while catching fish. Let me keep an eye on them for you? I'll stay right here and won't move around." Chen Jinhua looked at the two children by Bai Xiuxiu's side, genuinely fond of them.

These two children were usually well-behaved. There were plenty of kids around, but none were as quiet as these two.

The two children together looked truly obedient and well-mannered.

"Thank you, Aunt Jinhua." Bai Xiuxiu was also worried about the safety of the two children if they went to the riverside with her, but leaving them at home was even more unsettling.

Aunt Jinhua helping to watch them was indeed a great relief.

"Go ahead." Chen Jinhua led the two children to the weighing area.

"Thank you, Aunt Jinhua. By the way, could you stand where the children can see me? I'm afraid they might get scared with so many people around and start looking for their mother."

Zhou Jiaojiao had been watching her closely. Seeing her return, she urgently pulled at her third sister-in-law: "She's back; go over there quickly! Remember, wait for the right opportunity..."

The third sister-in-law felt uneasy, after all, it was a bad deed.

"I know what to do. Just stay away from me for now." The third sister-in-law was annoyed and couldn't help but want to curse her husband. If he weren't useless, would she need to help her sister-in-law do such things?

The third sister-in-law pretended to struggle with catching fish and slowly moved to where Bai Xiuxiu was.

Bai Xiuxiu glanced at her out of the corner of her eye and then continued to pretend to focus on catching fish seriously.

There weren't many people around. The third sister-in-law looked around and quietly walked behind Bai Xiuxiu.