Chapter 309: Give It a Try – Daily Melon Eating in the Courtyard of the Sickly Young Lady

Chapter 309: Testing It Out – The Sickly Little Aunt’s Mundane Life in the Compound

Dad personally tested the depth by prodding the lake with a stick. "It's shallow near the edge. Should I go farther in to try?" Though he said it casually, his eagerness was written all over his face.

Lin’s mom could read him like a book.

"Roll up your pants so your clothes don’t get wet. Go ahead and see how deep it is further in."

"Alright!"

Cen Xi watched and wondered if he should volunteer.

"Dad, Mom, maybe I should do it?"

"Can you swim?" Lin Qing asked.

"Of course I can."

Lin Qing gushed. "Wow! You're amazing!" She couldn’t swim—heck, she couldn’t handle any strenuous activity.

Even back in school during farming days, the teachers never made her participate, and no one dared say a word about her being treated special. Her pale face made it obvious she wasn’t suited for such tasks.

Neither the teachers nor the classmates wanted to take responsibility, so Lin Qing usually skipped farming days to avoid putting them in a difficult position. The teachers readily approved, as they couldn’t just have her stand around in the sun, either.

"Dad, Mom, maybe Brother Nan should do it!"

"No need, no need. I can handle this little job just fine," Dad refused outright.

He might be getting on in years, but he still felt spry.

Seeing him take off his shoes and step in barefoot, Lin Qing knew she couldn’t stop him. "Brother Nan, go stand with Dad and steady him."

Lin’s mom agreed. "Yes, let our son-in-law hold you." Her heart jumped as her husband waded deeper into the lake.

"Dad, I’ll hold you." Cen Xi quickly stepped forward to grasp Dad’s hand.

"Fine! Just hold me here while I test the depth ahead." Step by step, Dad inched forward.

The lake’s slope was gentle. With each step, he felt squishy grass under his feet, but pressing down revealed solid ground.

He moved slowly, his pant legs soon soaked as the water rose to his knees.

"Cen Xi, get in here too." After testing the area, Dad concluded the water wasn’t deep and wanted to check the center, guessing the depth wouldn’t exceed five feet max.

Seeing the water wasn’t too deep, Cen Xi splashed in after rolling up his pants.

Lin Qing and her mother watched from the shore as the two measured the lake’s depth.

It had them on edge. But the two in the water felt fine—the lake was indeed shallow, just as Dad had guessed. At its deepest point in the center, the water only reached about five feet max. They could walk steady as you please, and they were still visible from shore.

Dad and Cen Xi gradually climbed back out, their clothes now wet.

"The water isn’t very deep, and there are a ton of fish. As I walked toward the center, I could feel loads brushing past my legs," Dad reported.

Hearing this, Lin’s mother grew excited. "We’ll be set for fish this year and next!"

"Mm. Bet hardly anyone comes out here, that’s why they’re still around," Dad added, wringing out his soaked shirt.

Lin Qing raised a crucial question from the side, "The fish are right there—how do we catch them?"

They all looked at each other—clueless! Barehanded? No way.

The lake wasn’t huge, but it was big enough for fish to dart around freely.

"Fishing rods... If only we had a fish trap," Lin’s dad mumbled.

"A fish trap? Could this woven basket work?" Lin Qing eyed the cup-like basket that could drain water—it might be close enough.

Lin’s dad and Cen Xi eyed the basket. Theirs was half a meter tall—worth a shot.

"Dad, we’ll wade in—one holds the basket, the other herds the fish," Cen Xi suggested.

"Great! Let’s try it!"

Cen Xi and Lin’s dad waded back in, basket in hand.

While the two were in the water, Lin’s mom kept busy too. "Nuan'nuan, help me gather vines over there!"

"Vines? Like rattan?"

"Mhm." Lin’s mom could weave baskets herself. She wanted to see if she could make a small fish trap out of the vines.

"Hey, Nuan'nuan and I are grabbing some stuff," she called out to the two in the water.

"Alright!"

Lin’s mom headed back with Lin Qing.

"Mom, what do you need the vines for?"

"Gonna try weaving a fish trap."

"Wait, you can do that?"

Lin’s mom waved her hand dismissively. "We were broke—had to DIY everything. Why let others earn money when we could make these things ourselves?"

Lin Qing’s heart sank. Their family’s past poverty was because of her—because of her medical expenses, they had struggled so much.

"Nuan'nuan, don’t overthink it. We’ve moved past all that. Life’s good now—folks would kill for this!" Lin’s mom reassured her.

"Yeah." Lin Qing forced a smile.

True, the tough times were over. They were living well now.

"Come on, let’s gather more."

Half an hour later, the mother and daughter returned with a large bundle of vines.

"What’d you find?" Lin’s dad and Cen Xi had just come ashore.

"Ta-da!" Lin’s mom grinned, holding up the vines.

"Vines? Why?" Lin’s dad was momentarily puzzled.

"For a fish trap!" she beamed.

"You can do that?"

"Pfft—who do you think you're underestimating? I can weave baskets; making a fish trap just needs to roughly follow the same idea," Mother Lin shared her thoughts.

"That's perfect! Absolutely perfect. Give it a try. If you can actually make one, we'll catch way more fish today."

"Mom, you’re amazing. I believe you can do it."

"I’ll try." Mother Lin blushed slightly from the praise but felt even more confident.

She cleared the leaves and twigs from the vines and quickly started weaving. Lin Qing and the others watched Mother Lin's hands intently, even setting aside the few fish they had just caught.

With her basket-weaving experience, Mother Lin worked swiftly on the fish trap, and soon the base started forming.

Halfway through, she suddenly asked, "So... what exactly does a fish trap look like?"

"Uh..." That was indeed a good question.