Chapter 221 - 230

The next day was the big day for laying down the floor slab of the new house, so there was no need to go out to sea.

Jiang Xia woke up at six o'clock, but Zhou Chenglei was nowhere to be seen. She didn't know when he got up.

Was he even human?Full novel: After transmigrating into the book, she became wealthy in the 1980s. — read the rest free on N​o⁠v​e⁠l​C⁠o​d⁠e​x⁠.​o⁠r​g⁠

How could he have so much energy?

Although she went to bed early last night, around nine o'clock, he was up very late, probably past midnight. Why was he gone

so early today? Did he go for a run?

Jiang Xia rolled over, still feeling sleepy and limp, and buried her face in the blanket.

She, who never slept in, decided to sleep in for just one minute today!

The blanket was filled with his and her scent, a clean and sweet fragrance mixed with the dry smell of sunshine.

Zhou Chenglei pushed open the door and saw Jiang Xia curled up on the blanket like a little lazy bug.

His usually stern eyes instantly softened with a smile, and his cold and indifferent expression softened.

He had never seen Jiang Xia so lazy before.

Jiang Xia sat up when she heard the door open. She relaxed when she saw it was him. As she got out of bed, she asked, "What time did you get up?"

"Five o'clock." Zhou Chenglei closed the door, came to her side, and lifted her up.

Jiang Xia clung to him like a koala!

He lightly kissed her lips: "Were you tired last night? Do you want to sleep a little longer?"

Jiang Xia shook her head: "No, I don't want to sleep. Isn't there a construction team coming to lay the floor slab today?"

Zhou Chenglei lifted her up a little higher.

"Hmm, but it's still early. I bought some fried dough sticks today; I'll make you some porridge later. You should like it." He carried her directly to the room.

Jiang Xia's heart nearly jumped out of her chest when she saw him open the door and leave. "Put me down, I can walk by myself."

Zhou Chenglei opened the door and carried her out. "Dad went to learn how to ride a motorcycle, Mom went to the vegetable garden, and Zhou Zhou was just called out to play by his older brothers. There's no one home."

Zhou Chenglei carried Jiang Xia to the courtyard, placed a bamboo chair he had picked up from the hall on the ground, and then put Jiang Xia on it. He prepared toothpaste, a toothbrush, and a mouthwash cup for her to brush her teeth and wash her face.

He had run to town early that morning to ride his bicycle back, bringing back some fried dough sticks and steamed buns, as well as a set of offal.

Last time he went to the city, he rode his bicycle to town and then took a bus, and came back by motorcycle. The bicycle had been left at the town clinic, but since he didn't have to go out to sea today, he rode it back.

Zhou Chenglei took the fried dough sticks and steamed buns in an oil paper bag from the basket on the bicycle and put them on the eight-immortal table in the house. He then picked up the offal from the basket on another bicycle to prepare it.

Last time at the Jiang family's house, Zhou Chenglei remembered Jiang Xia saying that fried dough sticks and soy milk were a perfect match, but Zhou Chenglei thought that congee and fried dough sticks were a better match.

Jiang Xia brushed her teeth while watching Zhou Chenglei squatting there busily preparing breakfast for her.

In the early morning courtyard, the sunlight was soft and gentle, even the breeze was gentle. The sunlight fell on him, highlighting his handsome profile.

This once overgrown courtyard now had flowers, trees, a swing, and them—it was incredibly warm and cozy.

Zhou Chenglei cleaned all the pork offal, chopped it, and added it to the white congee to cook a pot of congee with plenty of ingredients. Zhou's

mother had started cooking the congee early that morning, slowly simmering it in the honeycomb briquette stove before going to the vegetable garden to water the vegetables.

Just as Zhou Chenglei finished making the congee, his parents returned with Zhou Zhou.

Since they got various balls, Zhou Zhou was called out to play every morning as soon as he woke up, even on school days—he would play for a while before going to school.

Jiang Xia didn't interfere; studying was important, but a happy childhood was also important.

Children in this era are not as overworked as children today, with all sorts of tutoring classes and extracurricular activities.

As long as Zhou Zhou's studies and rest weren't interfered with, she wouldn't stop her from playing.

Things were great now; friends came to play with her every day, and she seemed much more cheerful.

The family enjoyed a hearty breakfast.

Jiang Xia discovered that the congee with fried dough sticks was indeed delicious!

It was probably because she loved meat in her congee, and the congee had a lot of meat in it. Zhou Chenglei knew Jiang Xia loved meat, so he specially added a lot of pork offal and lean pork, as well as sea cucumber—in short, a bowl of congee loaded with ingredients. The

congee, made with fresh pork offal, was already very sweet. Adding small pieces of fried dough stick to the congee and eating it with the congee was simply divine!

Even Zhou Zhou, with her small belly, couldn't resist eating two bowls of congee, a fried dough stick, and an egg. She even gave up her usual favorite corn!

Jiang Xia also ate two bowls of congee, and wanted half a bowl more. She didn't want the boiled egg, corn, taro, or sweet potato that Zhou Chenglei had peeled for her.

Finally, Zhou Chenglei peeled the egg white and broke off a third of the corn for her to eat.

Breakfast should be substantial, a little of everything, for good health.

While he ate the taro and sweet potato, he let her have a bite or two first, until she stopped eating, then he finished the rest.

Zhou Chenglei, always a big eater, ate three bowls of porridge, two fried dough sticks, a steamed bun, an ear of corn, a sweet potato, two taro, and an egg yolk.

Jiang Xia deeply felt how difficult it must have been for Zhou's parents to raise Zhou Chenglei and his brothers in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s!

Breakfast was finished at eight o'clock, and the construction team arrived to lay the floor slab.

The alley was bustling today because Zhou Bingqiang's new house next door was also having its floor slab laid today.

In the past, when building brick houses, the roof beam was raised, a significant event. Now that it's no longer necessary, everyone treats the floor slab laying as a similar event, choosing an auspicious day.

Today was an auspicious day, so both families chose the same day.

Zhou Bingqiang and Zhou Guohua went out to sea today.

Yesterday, there was a family dispute at Zhou Bingqiang's house. Zhou Guohua's two older brothers wanted to divide the family property, so last night Zhou Bingqiang's family also divided.

Zhou Guohua and Wen Wan received a new boat and this new house.

The division didn't amount to much money, and Zhou Guohua needed to go to sea to earn money; it wasn't even enough to build the house! So Wen Wan stayed in the village to oversee the construction of the new house, while Zhou Guohua and Zhou Bingqiang went out to sea early

this morning. Last night, Wen Wan told Zhou Guohua about her dream, urging him to go to sea today, taking advantage of Zhou Chenglei's absence to retrieve the two stones first!

Wen Wan arrived early to supervise the construction.

At this moment, workers from both families were mixing concrete, preparing for the pouring of the floor slabs.

Zhou's mother brought out a large pot of cooled soy milk and a large pot of water, telling the workers they could help themselves if they were thirsty.

Jiang Xia brought out some bowls for the workers to use while drinking the soy milk and water.

She saw Wen Wan standing not far away but didn't pay her any attention.

Zhou Chenglei, his father, and Zhou Chengxin all climbed to the roof to help.

Jiang Xia couldn't resist going up to take a look too.

Seeing her come up, Zhou Chenglei quickly went to help her.

The entire roof deck was already nailed in place, with a layer of steel bars and iron rods laid on it, all neatly tied together with wire.

The construction team noticed that their roof sloping slightly over the walls and asked, "Your house layout is really good, but why does the roof slop over the outer walls so much? Are you planning to make the second floor bigger?"

Generally, only the balcony area would slop over, but this family's sloping roof sloping over the walls was only a little, about ten centimeters.

Ten centimeters wouldn't make the second floor much bigger, so it didn't seem very significant!

Mr. Zhou chuckled, "This was my daughter-in-law's suggestion. She said that adding an eave to the exterior walls would not only look better but also prevent leaks. Especially on the top floor, she said the walls are prone to cracking and leaks. If the floor slab extends a little, creating an eave, rainwater won't directly wash over the walls but will fall onto the eave and drip down. This will prevent leaks caused by cracks in the walls. While it won't completely prevent leaks, it will be much better."

That was roughly the gist of it; Mr. Zhou relayed Jiang Xia's words according to his own understanding.

Wen Wan also heard Mr. Zhou's words and glanced at her own house's floor slab. Hers didn't have an eave!

Can Widening the Floor Slab Prevent Leaks? The construction foreman immediately understood why!

Many buildings in the town and city that are over five years old are experiencing leaks on their top floors, especially those seven or eight years old. Some are so bad that the top floor slabs are cracked, causing a light drizzle inside when it rains heavily outside.

However, this is because many workers lacked experience and didn't dig the foundation properly, leading to foundation subsidence.

But leaks from the wall cracks under the top floor slab are a problem for almost every household living on the top floor! He's heard many people contact him for leak repairs in the past two years, but he can't find a good solution.

He's seen mold on their walls, and they don't dare put wardrobes against the walls.

The top floor is prone to leaks; not only the construction foreman knows, but Wen Wan knows too!

In modern times, stairwells in old city buildings are plastered with flyers advertising toilet unclogging and leak repair services.

Before her rebirth, after her divorce, she rented a top-floor apartment in an old neighborhood for a while. The walls near the ceiling were covered in moss due to water seepage during rainy days!

A leaky top floor was indeed a major problem! The construction foreman laughed, "That's a great idea! Why didn't I think of that before? Haha, I'll have to remind everyone who's building a house in the future."

Mr. Zhou chuckled, "Not only the floor slab, but the windowsill in my house, the lintel, also protruded more than thirty centimeters. We knocked down a cement slab, so we can open the window a little during light rain and it won't be stuffy. It was all my daughter-in-law's idea."

The foreman praised, "Your daughter-in-law must be very educated!"

"That's right! She knows so much, translating for the publishing house every day, English, French..." Then Mr. Zhou began his performance again, but this time it wasn't about showing off himself, but about showing off Jiang Xia's abilities.

Wen Wan pursed her lips, a hint of disdain flashing in her eyes. Mr. Zhou probably didn't know that his daughter-in-law could earn money translating for the publishing house because she had a good father, not because she actually knew many foreign languages!

Not wanting to hear Zhou's father praise Jiangxia, she called her construction foreman aside and whispered, "I'd like the floorboards of my house to extend a bit beyond the exterior wall."

The foreman immediately replied, "That requires adding a wider board on the outside. And since you've already nailed everything in place, adding it now would require removing the edge boards, which is very time-consuming. You don't have enough timber left; you'll need to find more for support. It won't be done in a day. If you want to widen it, the floorboards can't be laid today; it'll have to be postponed for a day or two."

Wen Wan frowned, unable to resist saying, "Why didn't you extend them a bit like the neighbors did when you were building them?!"

The foreman was speechless

. Having built so many houses, this was the first time he'd encountered such an unreasonable homeowner.

He patiently explained, "While it sounds like extending the floor slabs a bit would prevent leaks, isn't your house going to be two and a half stories? Leaks usually happen on the top floor. Since you're going to have two stories anyway, I don't think it's necessary to add anything on the first floor. You can extend the second floor later."

Wen Wan just wanted the new house finished quickly and didn't want to live with her two sisters-in-law. She realized that leaks were more serious on the top floor, and it wasn't just a one-story house; her house was also going to be two stories, so extending the second floor was fine. She said,

"Then let's leave this floor as it is! No changes! Remember to extend the next floor."

"Okay, let's start laying the floor slabs."

The construction team at Jiang Xia's house had already mixed a large amount of concrete, and buckets of concrete were being passed up using ropes.

Jiang Xia, to avoid hindering the workers, had already returned to the ground.

Zhou Chenglei stood on top, helping to pull bucket after bucket of concrete up from the ground and hand them to the workers behind him.

The workers behind him took the bucket of concrete and passed it to someone else, one after another, until the last worker received it and poured it onto the floor slab.

Everyone worked very quickly, passing up a bucket of concrete in almost a minute.

Several other people were responsible for filling the buckets and mixing the concrete.

Two floors were to be poured today.

The kitchen and tool shed next to the house had also been bricked up, and that floor slab also needed to be poured.

Therefore, a large amount of concrete needed to be prepared.

Jiang Xia looked at it for a while and then stopped. Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan's train arrived in Beijing today, and Jiang Dong should be able to return to school this afternoon.

She had asked Jiang Dong for Ye Xian's phone number last time and decided to call Ye Xian to ask her to take good care of Jiang Dong.

So she went home, got a bicycle, told Zhou Chenglei that she was going to call Jiang Dong, and rode her bicycle to the production team.

Wen Wan stood by the roadside, watching Zhou Chenglei's strong arms pull bucket after bucket of concrete up the stairs.

Everyone was wearing white vests, but he was wearing a shirt with his sleeves rolled up, revealing the veins on his forearms, which were beautifully sculpted and full of power. He pulled bucket after bucket of concrete up the stairs with swift and powerful movements, as if he never got tired!

She was mesmerized.

Zhou Chenglei was very perceptive and noticed a gaze fixed on him. He glanced at her, stopped, pulled down his sleeves, and continued pulling bucket after bucket of concrete up the stairs.

In those days, very few men wore white shirts all the time like Zhou Chenglei, especially in the village. In the sweltering summer, everyone wore just a vest, some even working shirtless in the fields or at the docks.

But for some time now, Zhou Chenglei had become the center of attention, and he'd gotten used to wearing long-sleeved shirts.

Even so, he still attracted a lot of stares.

...

Jiang Xia rode her bicycle to the production team, parked it, and went into the office. She found that the person sitting at the phone had changed; it wasn't Zhou Li anymore.

Instead, it was a woman about Zhou Li's age. Jiang Xia only knew she was from the next village; everyone called her Aunt Hong.

Jiang Xia smiled and called out, "Aunt Hong, why are you sitting here today?"

Aunt Hong smiled and said, "I'll be sitting here from now on."

After saying that, she looked around before whispering to Jiang Xia, "Zhou Li was disciplined. Now she's taken my place as the office's support staff."

Aunt Hong was overjoyed! She'd finally made it big and gotten a desk!

Previously, they said she was a logistics worker, but that was really just a cleaner, a general helper, the kind who did all sorts of chores!

Jiang Xia raised an eyebrow, not expecting Zhou Li to become a logistics worker. Wasn't that just doing odd jobs?

She'd probably be so frustrated she wanted to fight Wen Wan again.

Jiang Xia smiled: "Congratulations, Aunt Hong, on your promotion. I'll make a call."

Aunt Hong immediately said, "Go ahead and make the call, I'll go get a glass of water."

So she took a brand-new enamel mug and walked away.

Zhou Li was punished for listening to the wrong phone call and doing the wrong thing; she couldn't make that mistake!

Jiang Xia dialed a number.

It was the dormitory manager's number at Ye Xian's school. After the call connected, she told the person on the other end Ye Xian's dormitory number and name, asking them to call Ye Xian to the phone.

The person on the other end told her to call back in five minutes and then hung up.

Five minutes later, Jiang Xia called again and heard Ye Xian's voice: "Hello, this is Ye Xian."

Jiang Xia replied in a slightly heavy tone, "Xiao Xian, this is Sister Jiang Xia. Has Jiang Dong returned to school?"

Ye Xian was so angry she almost slammed the phone down. She had been waiting for news from Jiang Dong for the past few days. Hearing Jiang Xia's words, she immediately said, "No! Jiang Dong hasn't come to see me yet, and I don't know if he's back at school. Sister Xia, is Uncle Jiang alright? Has he gone home?"

Jiang Xia's voice was even heavier: "He hasn't gone home yet, and I don't know when he'll be able to come home."

Jiang's father went on another business trip yesterday, and he said it would be more than a week, so he hadn't returned home yet.

Moreover, her father said it would be more than a week, but didn't say a specific date, so she really didn't know when he would be home.

Ye Xian's heart skipped a beat. They still hadn't released him after so many days?

That must be very serious!

If it weren't serious, they would have investigated and released him long ago! After all

, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a day for family reunion; to prevent family reunions on this festival shows how serious the matter is!

Jiang Xia continued, "Xiao Xian, Jiang Dong has run out of money these past few days. He's back in Beijing, and I don't know if he'll have any money for food. Remember to invite him to eat with you; I'm worried he'll get sick from hunger. You're his girlfriend, so I'm asking you to take care of my brother."

Ye Xian: "..."

Seriously? He's already fallen so low that he doesn't even have money for food?

"Oh, and men need some money. Remember to give him 500 yuan for living expenses! Just say it's from me, otherwise I'm afraid he'll be embarrassed to accept your money."

Ye Xian: "..."

What? She actually has to give Jiang Dong living expenses?

Ye Xian almost laughed out of anger!

Jiang Xia continued on the other end of the phone, "By the way, Xiaoxian, can you buy me the latest Rolex? The watches in Beijing are different from those in our city. I don't have many hobbies, just collecting watches. I was originally planning to ask Jiang Dong to buy it for me, but we've run out of money. Now Jiang Dong has no money, and I have no money either. My mom's garment factory is in trouble and is about to go bankrupt, so she'll probably lose her job too. Buy it for me! I'll pay you back later!"

Ye Xian was so angry she almost slammed the phone down!

He just wanted her to buy him a Rolex? Why should she?

Who did Jiang Xia think she was?

Did he really think she was a princess?

Pay her back later? That was clearly a lie! Who would believe that!

She'd known all along that Jiang Xia was a greedy person! Even after

getting married, she still came back to her parents' home to take advantage!

Jiang Xia continued, "The cashmere sweater Jiang Dong bought me last time was of good quality and had a nice style, much better than the ones in our city! Now that the weather is getting colder, could you go to Friendship Store and buy me two more cashmere coats and a large down jacket? Also, buy me a pair of sheepskin boots; I wear size 37. The clothes at Friendship Store are of good quality, so go there and buy them, don't buy them anywhere else!" "Once

you buy them, send them to me as soon as possible! Don't wait until it gets cold to buy them. Remember to pick the expensive ones; you get what you pay for, and I don't wear cheap stuff." "

And skincare products, could you buy me a set while you're at Friendship Store? Just buy the most expensive ones. It's windy at the beach, and even though it's only the beginning of autumn, my skin is already starting to crack and peel! One set might not be enough, so buy two! I need to do skincare morning, noon, and night. I need at least two sets a month. Buy imported ones, pick the most expensive ones, otherwise they won't be effective; I don't use cheap stuff. That's all for now! Xiao Xian, remember to buy these for me!!"

"By the way, Jiang Dong's train arrives in Beijing at 1 PM. He's going back with my friend, who's quite wealthy. I told Jiang Dong to take a taxi to take her back to school. Jiang Dong doesn't have any money on him, so could you wait for him at the school gate at 1 PM and pay for the taxi fare for him?"

"Thank you, sister-in-law! It sounds better to call you sister-in-law, I'll call you that from now on! Why don't you and Jiang Dong get married soon? When Jiang Dong arrives in Beijing, I'll call him and tell him to get your marriage certificate right away. You two should get married as soon as possible, lest something goes wrong!"

These words really shocked Ye Xian!

"I'm sorry, Sister Jiang Xia, Jiang Dong and I have already broken up! Don't call me again if you need anything!"

"Bang!" Ye Xian finished speaking and angrily slammed down the phone!

Marry?

What a load of rubbish!

Is this person trying to drag her down with them because their family is about to have problems?

She had never seen such a shameless person!

Why pretend to be rich when he doesn't have money? Why take a taxi?

And ask her to pay for it?

And how dare Jiang Xia ask her to buy things as if it were her right!

She even said she doesn't use cheap stuff, does she think she's some kind of princess?

If Jiang's father were to get into trouble and Jiang's mother were to lose her job, this village woman who works as a fisherman wouldn't even be as good as her, a college graduate. And she still had the nerve to say she liked collecting Rolex watches and using the most expensive skincare products!

Pah!

A fallen phoenix is ​​worth less than a chicken! Doesn't she understand?

Asking her to buy this and that, what does she take her for? Does she think she's printing money?

She's furious!

What kind of person is she!

Even if Jiang's father were alright, with Jiang Dong having such a sister, she wouldn't want to marry him!

If Jiang Xiatian came to her door every day begging for money, wouldn't that be incredibly annoying?

Break up!

She absolutely had to break up!

Ye Xian decided to wait for Jiang Dong at the school gate at 1:30 PM and take the opportunity to break up with him!

~

Jiang Xia hung up the phone and rubbed her throat.

She hadn't spoken this much in a long time.

Her throat was dry!

But being able to make Ye Xian so angry that she said she wanted to break up was a third of the way to success.

When Jiang Dong arrived in Beijing and called to let her know he was safe, she would say a few more provocative words.

Jiang Dong was simple-minded and kind-hearted, but not stupid. Given the right opportunity, he would naturally see through Ye Xian's motives for dating him.

That would be two-thirds of the way to success.

The remaining third was the fear that Ye Xian, knowing Jiang's father was alright, might not break up with him or might cling to him again after the breakup.

He still needed to find more things for Jiang Dong to do, keeping him busy with his relationship!

***

Back in her dorm, Ye Xian couldn't help but want to inquire about whether Jiang's father's condition was still treatable.

However, she was concerned about her image and didn't want others to suspect that her breakup with Jiang Dong was because of his father's accident. So, she

inquired indirectly.

She started a conversation in the dorm about people and events in the newspaper, creating a topic, and then casually asked about situations similar to Jiang's father's.

A classmate from a well-connected family in the same dormitory overheard this and said, "People who are taken away rarely escape unscathed. They wouldn't be taken away without any evidence. If they haven't returned after two days, it means something must have happened! But it's not necessarily true that they were framed. There were many wrongful convictions over the years. One of my uncles was maliciously reported, the truth was distorted, and he was wrongly arrested. He didn't survive the ordeal, and only later was he exonerated."

Thinking back to those days, she still felt lingering fear.

Ye Xian: "..."

~

Jiang Xia finished her phone call and rode her bicycle home to cook.

The floorboards of the house had been laid that morning, and the construction team was still laying the floorboards for the kitchen and two farm tool sheds.

Jiang Xia, Zhou's mother, her great-grandmother and her daughter-in-law, and Tian Caihua cooked together for the construction team.

After all, everyone would probably finish around 1 or 2 pm.

Jiang Xia cooked the meal, ate quickly herself, and then ran to the production team to wait for Jiang Dong's call.

At 1:10 pm, the production team's phone rang.

As soon as Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan got off the train, they borrowed a phone at the train station to call Jiang Xia and let her know they were safe.

They had been on the train for four days and three nights, and in the same carriage, there was a woman with a sick child traveling to Beijing for medical treatment.

The child was unwell and cried all day long.

The two of them barely rested and often took turns helping the woman care for the child.

The woman looked quite poor; she only ate one steamed bun for three meals a day, lacking nutrition and breast milk. The child was hungry and cried even more!

Every time Zhang Fuyan and Jiang Dong bought food, they would buy an extra portion for her, and they even shared two large bags of sweet and sour fish with her.

When they got off the train, Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan gave all the money they had to the woman.

Zhang Fuyan also wrote a letter, asking the woman to go to the Beijing He Hospital to find a doctor she knew to treat the child.

Jiang Dong remembered Jiang Xia's words, so he called Jiang Xia as soon as he got off the train to avoid worrying her.

"Sis, Xiaoyan and I have arrived in Beijing. We just got off the train."

Jiang Xia smiled. "The train was on time. Remember to take a taxi back to school. Do

n't skimp on the dried fish with all that." "I know, sis. I'm going back to school with Xiaoyan now."

Jiang Dong was exhausted and just wanted to get back to her dorm to sleep.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xia immediately stopped him and asked, "Did you break up with Xiao Xian?"

Jiang Dong was surprised and said, "No! Who told you that?"

Jiang Xia said, "Ye Xian told me! I'm sorry! I must have dragged you into this. I called her to ask her to buy me something, and she probably thought I was too annoying! That's why she said she broke up with you and told me not to contact her again!"

Jiang Dong said, "How could that be? Xiao Xian isn't that kind of person, and it has nothing to do with you. She's probably still angry. Last time I came back with Sister Xiao Yan, she misunderstood."

Jiang Xia said, "She probably didn't misunderstand. Because you came back to Beijing with Xiao Yan, I was afraid she would misunderstand, so I told her Xiao Yan is my friend. And just now when I answered the phone, she enthusiastically asked if my dad was home. Later, I asked her to buy me something, and she probably got annoyed because I asked too much! That's why she said she broke up with you and told me not to contact her again."

Jiang Dong: "...It shouldn't be that bad."

But Jiang Dong also remembered that Ye Xian was unhappy when he bought a camera for his sister last time.

He bought clothes and snacks for his sister and mother, and Ye Xian seemed a little unhappy.

He frowned.

Jiang Xia asked again, "Did you tell Ye Xian that Dad is alright?"

"Not yet." He thought he would tell her in person when he got back to school.

Jiang Xia immediately panicked: "I thought you told me that Ye Xian asked if Dad had come home yet. I didn't know you hadn't told her Dad was alright. I thought she was asking if Dad had come home from his business trip, so I said he hadn't. She must have misunderstood! She misunderstood that something had happened to Dad! Dad's alright, why didn't you tell her sooner? It's been so many days, and I just said Dad hadn't come home. Could she be thinking something happened to Dad, and then breaking up with you because she's afraid of being implicated?"

Jiang Dong thought his sister was getting more and more absurd: "How could that be? Xiao Xian isn't that kind of person."

Jiang Xia said, "That's right, it shouldn't be. Xiao Xian seems so pure and kind. My brother is so handsome and talented, she must have been moved by your talent, not by our family's wealth. She wouldn't break up with you just because she misunderstood something happened to Dad and thinks you're not worth it. I must have been listening to too many stories on the radio lately, that's why I'm so sensitive!"

Jiang Dong: "..."

“Sis, Xiaoxian just misunderstood me and Xiaoyan. Last time she saw Xiaoyan and me taking a taxi home together, she got so angry that she slapped Xiaoyan. I'll explain it to her.”

Jiang Xia was furious. “Slapped Xiaoyan? You just watched Xiaoyan get hit? What are you going to explain to her? You should give Xiaoyan an explanation!”

Jiang Dong still felt guilty: “I didn’t react at the time.”

He was in a hurry to get home and was flustered, so he really didn’t react. He didn’t expect to run into Ye Xian, let alone that she would hit him.

Jiang Xia took a deep breath, not wanting to talk to Jiang Dong anymore!

“Is Xiaoyan with you? Let Xiaoyan answer the phone! Then get lost, don’t listen to me talking to your Xiaoyan! I’m going to yell at your boyfriend, I don’t want you to hear it!”

Jiang Dong: “…”

He handed the phone to Zhang Fuyan: “Xiaoyan, my sister is looking for you.”

Zhang Fuyan took the phone.

Jiang Dong obediently stepped away a little.

Jiang Xia said, "Xiaoyan, I'm sorry. Next time something like this happens, just call back! Don't be polite! Don't worry about my feelings! If I had been there, I would have called back to get revenge for you!"

Zhang Fuyan felt a warmth in her heart and smiled, "It's okay, it's all in the past. She misunderstood."

Of course, she was angry too. She had never been hit before, but at the time, she didn't want to put Jiang Dong in a difficult position or affect her relationship with Jiang Xia. It would have

felt good to call back, but it would have made things awkward for everyone afterward.

Besides, they were in a hurry to catch their flight, so they had to hold back.

Jiang Xia said, "It's wrong to hit someone before you understand the situation..."

Jiang Xia then asked Zhang Fuyan for a favor.

Zhang Fuyan immediately replied, "No need to borrow. He didn't have any money on him. We met in the car..."

Zhang Fuyan briefly explained what happened in the car.

After a few more words, they hung up.

After hanging up, Zhang Fuyan called her family driver to tell him not to come pick her up.

Then Zhang Fuyan and Jiang Dong left the train station with several large bags of dried fish to hail a taxi.

They arrived back at the school gate around 1:40 PM.

Ye Xian was waiting there.

As they were about to get out of the car, Jiang Dong remembered that Zhang Fuyan had said her family would send a car to pick them up, so he hadn't kept any money for the fare and had given all his money to the woman!

It turned out Zhang Fuyan's family wasn't available.

He asked Zhang Fuyan, "Sister Xiaoyan, do you have any money left?"

Zhang Fuyan glanced at Ye Xian at the school gate, felt her pockets, and then looked at him: "No, I gave it all to that woman."

Actually, she had ten yuan left for the fare, but Xia Xia had told her to pretend she had no money if Ye Xian was at the school gate. Just

as the driver was about to get angry, Jiang Dong saw Ye Xian standing outside the school gate and quickly said, "Driver, my girlfriend is at the school gate. I'll go ask her for some money. Please wait a moment!"

Jiang Dong got out of the car and ran towards Ye Xian.

Ye Xian saw that Jiang Dong had a stubble beard and his clothes were wrinkled.

It seems Jiang's father's condition is indeed very serious!

Otherwise, Jiang Dong, who is very clean and always neat, would never be unkempt!

Jiang Dong ran up to Ye Xian: "Xiao Xian, do you have any money? Lend me ten yuan, I'm out of money, I'll..."

At this moment, Zhang Fuyan got out of the taxi.

"Slap!" Ye Xian slapped Jiang Dong across the face: "Jiang Dong, let's break up! Don't come looking for me again!"

After saying that, she ran away!

Jiang Dong: "..."

Jiang Dong was completely stunned!

Although he had been beaten by his father since childhood, his father never hit his face, only his hands and feet.

And his father usually just pretended to chase after him, yelling that he'd break his legs, but he could never catch him.

Most of the time it was just for show.

So this sheltered sapling was completely dumbfounded for a long time after the beating.

Zhang Fuyan was also stunned.

Jiang Dong's girlfriend was so fierce!

But was it really okay to hit someone without even asking any questions?

Zhang Fuyan thought Ye Xian had misunderstood her relationship with Jiang Dong again, which was why she hit Jiang Dong and broke up with him.

She quickly caught up with Ye Xian and stopped her: "Classmate, have you misunderstood my relationship with Jiang Dong? I'm Jiang Xia's best friend, and my aunt knows Xia Xia too. Because I knew Jiang Xia's family had a problem, and since my family knows some people, I went back with Jiang Dong to help. I didn't expect to be of much help, and instead, I dragged Jiang Dong into this, causing this misunderstanding. If it's because of me, then you really don't need to do this! I have nothing to do with Jiang Dong."

Hearing this, Ye Xian became even more certain that Jiang's father was in trouble. She had already found out who Zhang Fuyan was these past few days; her family background was even more powerful than Jiang Dong's, yet they couldn't help

. This showed that Jiang's father's situation was beyond saving!

She sneered: "What misunderstanding?! Jiang Dong only told you about his family's trouble, not me, and only went back with you! This shows my importance to him! And don't think I don't know you two have been inseparable for a long time; Jiang Dong even brings you food every day! I don't want a man who fawns over another woman!"

After saying this, Ye Xian pretended to be angry and pushed Zhang Fuyan away forcefully.

Before her hand could even touch Zhang Fuyan, Jiang Dong grabbed it, saying, "Calm down!"

Did she think she was right to resort to violence so easily?

Ye Xian was furious; Jiang Dong was actually protecting her?

"Jiang Dong, you're a scoundrel! You're heartless, don't blame me for being ruthless!" Ye Xian angrily shook off Jiang Dong's hand and ran away!

Zhang Fuyan frowned and said, "Go and talk to her!"

Jiang Dong was about to chase after her when the taxi driver shouted, "Comrades! Your luggage!"

Zhang Fuyan quickly replied, "Coming!"

and hurriedly ran to the taxi.

Jiang Dong had originally intended to chase after Ye Xian, but hearing the driver's shout, he glanced at Ye Xian's retreating figure, then at the taxi.

He hadn't even paid the fare, and besides, there were several bags of his sister's dried fish there; he couldn't let Zhang Fuyan face it alone.

So he ran back to the taxi, and together with Zhang Fuyan, they unloaded the bags of dried fish.

There was also a bag on the front passenger seat, which the driver had already helped unload.

After unloading everything, he drove away.

The train attendant lent them a two-wheeled handcart.

A plank was placed on the cart, and Zhang Fuyan held it while Jiang Dong loaded several bags of dried fish onto it and tied them with rope.

Jiang Dong belatedly asked, "Did you pay the fare?"

"Yes, I found ten yuan in the corner of the bag later." Zhang Fuyan glanced at Jiang Dong's swollen face, feeling a little guilty, sensing the slap was related to the fare. She said, "Your girlfriend misunderstood our relationship. Do you need me to go with you to explain?" Jiang Dong paused, then added

, "No need." He

paused again, then said, "Sister Xiaoyan, this has nothing to do with you. You don't need to feel guilty."

He had already explained that day, and his sister had told her on the phone that Sister Xiaoyan was her friend. Sister Xiaoyan had just explained too!

Explaining three times—no normal person would be so impulsive as to hit and push someone repeatedly!

The first time could be a misunderstanding, but after explaining more than once and still hitting, even breaking up, that's using the situation as an excuse!

Therefore, Ye Xian's reason for breaking up wasn't a misunderstanding about his relationship with Zhang Fuyan.

She genuinely wanted to break up.

As for the reason, Jiang Dong thought of Jiang Xia's words.

Jiang Dong might not understand Ye Xian well enough, but he understood Jiang Xia.

His sister had never spoken ill of others since childhood, nor would she make wild guesses about others' intentions with the utmost malice.

Their family's upbringing also forbade them from speaking ill of others, especially spreading rumors.

So, since his sister said that, it wasn't nonsense.

She must have sensed something to cautiously remind him.

Of course, whether his sister's sense was correct was another matter, since her senses weren't always right!

Jiang Dong still felt Jiang Xia's explanation was a bit far-fetched!

But her sister genuinely cared about him and wouldn't have any malicious intent to sabotage his relationship.

Jiang Dong was also a bit annoyed, tired and sleepy, his mind a bit muddled, and he couldn't figure out the real reason Ye Xian proposed breaking up, so he stopped thinking about it.

One shouldn't jump to conclusions when thoughts are confused and the mind isn't clear.

He and Zhang Fuyan delivered two bags of dried fish to the cafeteria and two large bags of small fish to her dorm; these were all ordered by her classmates.

Xiao Yan was helping his sister sell the dried fish.

Jiang Dong hurriedly left after dropping Zhang Fuyan off at her dorm.

He still wanted to find Ye Xian to get some answers. It was their first relationship, and he had taken her so seriously; to break up so abruptly left him feeling resentful.

In the dorm, Zhang Fuyan took the small fish out of the snakeskin bag and distributed them to her roommates. Then she discovered an envelope hidden in the middle with Jiang Dong's name on it. She quickly chased after him, calling out, "Jiang Dong, there's a letter here! It must be from your sister!"

The letter was thick, and the envelope had Jiang Dong's name on it.

Jiang Dong took the money, opened it, and found a large stack of ten-yuan notes inside, probably a thousand yuan, along with a stack of papers. He took them out and glanced at them. "

Xiao Dong

, aren't you surprised?

This is pocket money your brother-in-law insisted on giving you, saying it's to thank you for the camera, it's very useful! I said I didn't need it, you're earning money now, but he insisted! If you're embarrassed to accept it, you can give me double when you make a lot of money, so I can save some money on the side. If you think double is too little, three or four times is fine too, ten or a hundred times would be even better! The more the merrier!

...

The last sentence is 'Take good care of yourself while you're away,' and the signature ."

Jiang Dong smiled. Having a sister and brother-in-law is great, he'll never lack money.

He hadn't even said he was short of money, and his sister had already secretly given him some.

It's been like this since he was little!

Then Jiang Dong remembered Ye Xian's displeasure at him buying things for his sister, and his smile faded.

He had already said that what he bought for his sister was far less than what his sister gave him.

He bought things for his sister, and Ye Xian was unhappy.

His sister asked Ye Xian to buy some things because she wanted to break up with him.

If Ye Xian helped his sister buy some things, would his sister mistreat her? Or was she afraid his sister wouldn't give her money?

Even if his sister didn't give her money, would he mistreat her?

During their relationship, hadn't he bought Ye Xian anything? Hadn't he always paid for it?

And part of his money came from his sister and brother-in-law.

When he started school, they both gave him red envelopes. His sister gave him 300 yuan, and his brother-in-law gave him 500 yuan.

Now they gave him another 1000 yuan! That much money could buy so many things!

Jiang Dong also thought about how even his sister Xiao Yan was working hard to help his sister sell dried fish to make money.

Those packages weighed over 400 jin (approximately 200 kg), and his sister said she could earn 400-500 yuan from selling them, but half would have to go to her partner.

It sounded like a lot of money, but carrying those hundreds of jin of dried fish from the train station to school was such a hassle! He almost wanted to throw it away!

But these hundreds of pounds of dried fish were the result of his sister and brother-in-law setting out to sea at four or five in the morning and not returning until four or five in the afternoon, then killing and drying them overnight!

Those small, multi-flavored fish were deep-fried, requiring them to search far and wide for oil coupons to buy the oil.

He found it all incredibly troublesome!

Therefore, the stack of money in his hand weighed a ton!

It was earned by his sister working tirelessly for thirteen or fourteen hours a day, doing incredibly heavy labor!

They knew he was flying home and guessed he didn't have much money, so they secretly gave it to him!

Jiang Dong had originally intended to ask Ye Xian for clarification, but at this moment he suddenly felt it wasn't necessary.

He should just call his sister instead!

Before Jiang Dong returned to the boys' dormitory and called Jiang Xia, Jiang Xia received a call from Zhang Fuyan.

Jiang Xia heard from Zhang Fuyan that Jiang Dong had been slapped by Ye Xian and was now breaking up with her.

Jiang Xia gritted her teeth and said, "Great! Consider it a lesson for him letting Ye Xian hit you. I even want to slap him twice!"

If hitting him would lead to a breakup, then the slap would be worth it!

If she dared to bother Jiang Dong again, she would slap her to death!

Zhang Fuyan: "..."

She suspected that Xia Xia had deliberately set a trap to make Jiang Dong and Ye Xian break up.

But why would Xia Xia do that?

*

Jiang Xia had just hung up on Zhang Fuyan when she received another call from Jiang Dong. Today, Jiang Xia had practically monopolized the production team's phone calls.

She felt quite embarrassed.

Jiang Dong happily asked Jiang Xia what she needed to buy on the phone, as he could receive his share of the profits from the shop on October 1st.

Jiang Xia asked, "Does your face hurt?"

Jiang Dong: "..."

"Sis, can you not reopen old wounds?"

The tone was so mournful that Jiang Xia felt like there was a dark cloud coming from the other end of the phone!

Jiang Xia laughed unkindly, then said, "Brother, how about we make a bet?"

"What's the bet?"

Jiang Xia: "We bet that Ye Xian will come back to you soon."

Jiang Dong: "..."

Seeing that he didn't speak, Jiang Xia continued, "I'll write a letter to Xiao Yan to keep this bet for now. If Ye Xian really comes back to you, don't agree yet. Go ask Xiao Yan for the letter first."

Jiang Dong: "..." "

Is that okay?"

"Okay."

To prevent this hothouse sapling from having time to overthink, Jiang Xia added, "Xiao Dong, can you help me see if you can design a production line for a suitcase handle and casters? I'll send you the suitcase design drawings later, and you can design it for me as soon as possible."

Jiang Xia had just been on the phone with Zhang Fuyan, who mentioned that she had to borrow a handcart from the train station to haul the dried fish back to school.

Then she thought of having Jiang Dong design a production line for suitcase accessories, so he wouldn't have time for dating.

Jiang Dong: "...Wait, sis, I haven't even finished those two things you asked me to design last time, and you're doing it again?"

Why does his sister have so many things to design?

Jiang Xia: "So, why are you so slow? You haven't designed anything in so long! Stop spending all your time dating, do something more productive! You're going to school, not dating! I'll have a lot more things to design in the future. At this rate, do you think you'll graduate without designing that vacuum sealer?"

Jiang Dong: "..."

He was so wronged!

He'd been working day and night in the lab these past few days, how could he have time for dating?

He

and Ye Xian had only been dating for about two months, and he'd spent a whole month of that in the lab!

***

After dealing with Ye Xian, Jiang Xia hummed a song as he rode his bicycle home from the production team!

Back home, the floorboards were already laid. Zhou Chenglei had also had the open space in the old house's courtyard and the path between the new house and the old house paved with concrete, making the yard cleaner in the future.

Because of the paved path, wooden planks were placed on top to prevent trampling and make walking easier.

Zhou Chenglei had been waiting for Jiang Xia at the door.

Seeing her return, he went to take her bicycle.

Jiang Xia smiled and handed him the bicycle, carefully walking onto the planks.

Zhou Chenglei pushed the bicycle onto the planks. Seeing that Jiang Xia seemed to be in a good mood, he asked, "What good news happened?"

Jiang Xia smiled and said, "Jiang Dong and Ye Xian broke up."

Zhou Chenglei understood immediately; he could also sense that Jiang Xia had never really liked Ye Xian.

Jiang Dong's girlfriend was clearly a scheming woman, and his father-in-law probably could see that too, hence his polite but distant attitude towards her.

As for why his father-in-law didn't object, Zhou Chenglei understood as well.

Jiang Dong's life had been too smooth from childhood to adulthood; no one's path to adulthood can remain entirely smooth.

Once you leave home, you face all sorts of people and all kinds of problems and difficulties.

You only learn from your mistakes.

Especially for boys, who will one day shoulder the responsibilities of family and country; how can they not judge people?

Zhou Chenglei asked Jiang Xia, "Want to go to the beach to set crab traps? And check if there are any octopuses in that jar."

Jiang Xia's eyes lit up: "Great!"

Zhou Chenglei then took a few crab traps out.

The yellow crabs he had found last time were quite good, and Jiang Xia loved crabs. He was going out to sea in a couple of days, so Zhou Chenglei wanted to catch a few more crabs for Jiang Xia to eat.

The floorboards at Wen Wan's house had just been laid. She paid the workers and was about to go home when she saw Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei carrying crab traps and buckets out the door.

Thinking that crabs were indeed delicious at this time of year, she hurried home to get her own traps.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei went to the rocks by the sea.

Jiang Xia watched as Zhou Chenglei threw one baited crab trap after another into the sea. She asked, "How long do you leave these traps?"

Zhou Chenglei replied, "At least one night. We can retrieve them tomorrow morning or afternoon when we go out to sea."

Jiang Xia asked, "Won't anyone steal them?"

Zhou Chenglei said, "Generally not. We're all from the same village; very few people do that. Anyone who wants crabs can just set their own traps; they usually catch some."

Around the Mid-Autumn Festival, many villagers set crab traps in the sea; it's rare at other times.

Of course, everyone prefers blue crabs, as they're considered nutritious, but Jiang Xia loves all kinds of crabs; she's not picky.

There was no one around the reef at this time, so Zhou Chenglei took off his shirt, leaving only a vest. He handed the vest to Jiang Xia, saying, "I'll go check that jar."

Jiang Xia hugged his shirt and reminded him, "Be careful."

Zhou Chenglei responded and jumped into the water. He quickly found the jar that had been wedged in the crevice of the reef and pulled it out.

Zhou Chenglei glanced at it; there were three octopuses inside, one of which was quite large.

He grabbed it and handed it to Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia quickly handed him the bucket, smiling, "I didn't expect there to actually be one."

Zhou Chenglei said, "These things like to crawl into bottles and jars, but you need luck to catch them. We used to love playing like this when we were kids, and we often caught them."

After taking the octopus out, Zhou Chenglei put the jar back into the crevice of the reef.

He didn't go up immediately: "I'll dive down and see if there are any crabs underwater, I'll catch a couple to take back for you to eat."

"Okay, then I'll go collect some shellfish to steam with loofah, be careful yourself." Jiang Xia saw that the tide was quite low today, revealing a beach she hadn't seen before, so she thought of collecting some shellfish to take back and eat.

Normally, she wouldn't collect any, because this is a beach near the village, and villagers come here every day to collect shellfish to add to their dishes, it's too difficult to collect them!

"Go collect them over on the beach, don't collect them here on the rocks."

Jiang Xia replied and carried her bucket towards the beach where the tide had just receded.

When she arrived at the newly exposed beach, she casually dug with her small shovel, and then a shovelful was full of thumb-sized whelks!

Jiang Xia couldn't help but dig again, and another shovelful

of whelks! Had she disturbed a whelk nest?

Jiang Xia excitedly grabbed the shovel and dug hard!

One dig and there was a whole bunch of whelks.

She really had disturbed a whelk nest!

Wen Wan came over with a crab trap and saw Jiang Xia digging hard there.

She rushed towards the beach!

Jiang Xia saw Wen Wan rushing over.

Given Wen Wan's questionable character, Jiang Xia did something only a child would do.

She ran a few meters away and drew a circle with a shovel.

The eyes of conch shells are easy to spot; wherever you see bulging sand, there are usually conch shells.

Jiang Xia circled the area with the most concentrated conch shell eyes!

Then she quickly swept the sand around the circle, revealing countless conch shells.

When Wen Wan ran over, she saw Jiang Xia with one hand on her hip, waving a small shovel and smiling at her, saying, "All the conch shells within this circle are mine. Please don't come near; I'll collect them slowly!"

Wen Wan: "..."

Shameless!

She'd seen shameless people before, but never one as shameless as her!

Did she think the ocean was her backyard?

Or was she playing house? Drawing a circle made it her home?!

Wen Wan was too lazy to argue with Jiang Xia; she didn't even want to talk to someone like her.

The beach was so big; if she was so capable, she'd draw a circle along the coastline!

"If you're so capable, why don't you pitch a tent and make your home here?

Aren't you rich? Buy the whole beach!

Then you won't even need to draw a circle!"

Wen Wan thought to herself as she walked towards the pile of rocks and set off the crab traps.

Zhou Chenglei surfaced from the water, saw someone on the rocks, and expressionlessly looked away. He glanced at Jiang Xia, who was happily picking up something, and then confidently placed a yellow crab in his bucket before diving back into the sea.

Wen Wan also saw the yellow crab Zhou Chenglei had put in the bucket—it was so plump! The roe looked like it was about to overflow!

She quickly looked around and spotted the rope tied to the rocks, realizing where Zhou Chenglei's crab traps were.

She found a spot not too far from where Zhou Chenglei had set off the traps and threw down the several she had brought.

Then she went to the beach to collect whelks.

Once the crab traps were down, she didn't need to worry about them anymore; she could retrieve them tomorrow.

Wen Wan took a small shovel to the beach and saw many whelk eyes.

Normally, this would be quite a lot; you could find one every few steps.

But compared to the circle Jiang Xia had drawn, it was pitifully few!

She picked up one, while Jiang Xia had a whole bunch!

Look at how Jiang Xia collected them!

She used a small shovel to scrape the sand horizontally.

She scraped up a whole bunch of conch shells at a time!

At least seven or eight at a time.

Anyone who didn't know better would think she was raising them.

Otherwise, why would they all gather together?

Wen Wan didn't believe it and searched for a beach where she could scrape up a bunch of conch shells.

She found that the farther away from Jiang Xia, the fewer the shells had!

She had no choice but to go back to the area near the circle

Jiang Xia had drawn. Jiang Xia's hands were tired from

collecting. She couldn't finish,

she simply couldn't finish!

Jiang Xia's hands were exhausted, but she didn't want to stop. She

collected almost half a pound in one go—that's money!

Although conch shells aren't expensive now, only five or six cents a pound, they weigh a lot, and even at a low price, you're afraid of having too many.

Collecting a hundred or two pounds—that's the money someone earns in a day at sea!

If Wen Wan hadn't been there, Jiang Xia would have run home to get a rake!

The two worked diligently, and after another ten minutes, Jiang Xia emptied a full bucket of snails into a snakeskin bag.

Wen Wan had only collected about a pound!

It's infuriating to compare yourself to others!

Wen Wan continued working diligently.

Not long after, Zhou Chenglei came over carrying a bucket.

"I'll do it, you rest a bit, give me your clothes." Zhou Chenglei put down the bucket.

Jiang Xia gave him the shirt tied around her waist.

Wen Wan glanced at the two of them.

Zhou Chenglei quickly put it on, without even taking off his soaking wet undershirt.

They got dressed and started collecting sea snails with shovels.

Zhou Chenglei didn't scrape like Jiang Xia; he dug them up one by one, working quickly.

Jiang Xia went to the other side to continue scraping.

Resting was out of the question; she could slow down if her hands got tired.

The two of them worked together, and the area Jiang Xia had circled shrank at an alarming rate.

After another half hour, the couple had filled two sacks with sea snails.

Wen Wan, on the other hand, had only filled one bucket!

The contrast was stark, and Wen Wan was incredibly envious. Having lived by the sea for nearly twenty years, she had never seen so many sea snails on the beach!

Nor had she ever seen anyone collect two sacks full.

And these weren't farmed sea snails.

In both her lives, this was truly the first time she had seen so many sea snails.

It was like they had disturbed a sea snail sanctuary!

Suddenly, Wen Wan paused.

She remembered!

In her previous life, she hadn't seen so many sea snails, but she had definitely heard villagers say that Zhou Chenglei had disturbed a sea snail sanctuary and found a great treasure!

She only overheard a couple of sentences and didn't pay attention to what he found; it wasn't her business anyway. But the villagers were all praising his luck!

It seemed he found some kind of jade, but so much time had passed that she couldn't remember what it was, only that it was something like jade.

So, this beach with whelks not only had whelks but also a piece of jade.

Could the two pieces of jade in her dream have been found on this beach?

Wen Wan couldn't help but frantically imitate Jiang Xia's scraping!

She hoped Jiang Xia hadn't circled her!

Jiang Xia was already so tired her hands felt like they were going to give out.

Zhou Chenglei said, "You sit down, I'll do the rest."

Seeing that she had almost finished picking up the circled area, Jiang Xia didn't insist. She walked to the side of the circle she had drawn, sat down directly on the sand, and used a small shovel to scrape, slowly picking up the sand.

As Jiang Xia scraped, she suddenly scraped up something white.

It looked somewhat like the edge of a whelk, but the texture was also somewhat like jade.

Now she had a particular fondness for whelks.

Jiang Xia carefully began to dig.

But the deeper and wider they dug, the more endless it seemed!

And just from the corner of the shell protruding, they could tell it was a huge creature!

Jiang Xia continued digging cautiously.

Jiang Xia sat in one spot, digging furiously, which caught Wen Wan's attention.

Wen Wan glanced at it and saw a white object in the distance, resembling a snail shell. Hidden so deep, it must be dead long ago, probably just an empty shell. She didn't care and continued searching for her jade.

Zhou Chenglei, while picking up stones, came up behind Jiang Xia. He glanced at it, paused for a moment, then put down his bucket and joined Jiang Xia in digging.

Jiang Xia asked, "Do you know what kind of snail shell this is?"

Zhou Chenglei: "It should be a jade-like giant clam shell."

Jiang Xia: "..."

Jade-like giant clam shell?

The legendary court beads worn by second-rank officials in the Qing Dynasty? Wen Wan:

"..."

Jade, jade, giant clam shell?!

She remembered!

That person in her past life was talking about jade-like giant clam shells! Not some kind of jade.

How could she not remember that?!

She was furious!

How did Jiang Xia manage to dig one up first again?

Wen Wan glanced at the thing Jiang Xia was digging up; it was already outside the circle she had drawn!

Wen Wan ran over and asked directly, "Didn't you say the conch shells within your circle were yours and told me not to pick them up? This is already outside your circle, it's mine, why are you digging mine up?"

Jiang Xia: (⊙_⊙)?

Jiang Xia was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "That's right! That's what I said! But I didn't say I couldn't pick up the ones outside the circle!"

Wen Wan: "..."

"Have you no shame?! I didn't even pick up the sea snails inside the circle you drew, why did you pick up mine?"

Jiang Xia: "Where are yours? Did you draw a circle? You didn't draw a circle, so this whole beach can't be yours, right? If you dare say that, I'll have to go to the production team to have someone judge this!"

Wen Wan: "..."

"I'm not as shameless as you! Drawing circles while beachcombing!"

Jiang Xia laughed: "Then that settles it? As long as you're not shameless, that's fine, I am just that shameless! I shamelessly believe that what's inside the circle is mine, and others can't pick it up! What's outside the circle belongs to everyone, and anyone can pick it up, including me!"

Wen Wan's face turned ashen with anger: "Bully!"

Zhou Chenglei couldn't stand it anymore and looked at her coldly: "Have you said enough? Get out!"

Wen Wan was startled by the shout, she took a few steps back, speechless with anger: "A family of bullies!"

After saying that, she picked up her bucket and walked away to continue picking up sea snails!

Jiang Xia was speechless, rolling her eyes at Wen Wan's retreating figure: "So hypocritical! You think drawing a circle while beachcombing is wrong? If you think it's wrong, why do you assume everything outside the circle belongs to you? I just drew a small circle, and she's treating the whole beach like it's hers!"

Zhou Chenglei: "Don't be angry, ignore her."

Wen Wan: "..."

So infuriating!

She drew the circle herself, so of course others would assume everything outside it didn't belong to her!

Wen Wan was too lazy to argue with someone like Jiang Xia; you can never reason with an unreasonable person!

She focused on collecting seashells!

Jiang Xia ignored her completely. Whoever finds something in the sea first owns it, whoever collects it first owns it! She found this patch of seashells first, and Wen Wan only came over after seeing her diligently collecting them! What's wrong with her circling the area with the most seashells?

Shameless, Jiang Xia admitted.

But if you're not shameless with shameless people, you'll be at a disadvantage!

However, Jiang Xia now doesn't know if she's lucky or unlucky.

In her past life, she never won a lottery ticket, even with just ten yuan; her best luck was winning a "win another bottle" (a lucky draw prize). In this

life, she's actually found this collector's item! But it's a fossil!

As far as Jiang Xia knows, giant clams are a first-class protected animal in modern times, apparently listed as protected animals in the early 1980s, meaning they can't be caught or sold—it's a criminal offense.

Petrified giant clams, on the other hand, were banned from sale after 2000, I forget if it was in the

early 2000s. Petrified giant clams are organic gemstones formed from the shells of living giant clams after they die, deposited in the seabed sediment for thousands of years, and are known as "sea spirit jade."

But Jiang Xia also remembered what she read in the book: this petrified giant clam was discovered by Zhou Chenglei, and it was enormous, about two meters long.

Because it was so large and so ancient, it was worthy of being collected by a museum and used by experts for marine research. Zhou Chenglei felt it was a waste to sell it and have it processed into various ornaments.

Then, in the book, Zhou Chenglei donated this thing to a museum.

So her luck was truly incredible, almost too good to be true!

The couple carefully and meticulously dug out the giant clam with shovels.

However, the giant clam was really huge; after digging for ten minutes, they felt they had only unearthed the tip of the iceberg!

But the part that was revealed was truly beautiful!

Touching it, it was as smooth and lustrous as jade.

Wen Wan also glanced at it from time to time.

She looked at the jade-like giant clam hidden in the sand, seemingly only the tip of an iceberg visible, its snow-white, lustrous surface like mutton-fat jade.

This jade-like giant clam was probably a meter long!

No!

It was two meters.

Yes, two meters!

Wen Wan suddenly remembered!

Such a large jade-like giant clam was supposed to be handed over to a museum, right?

In her previous life, she had heard that Zhou Chenglei had donated a giant giant clam to a museum.

So, finding it was like finding a treasure!

But someone like Jiang Xia, who was only interested in money, might not necessarily hand it over to a museum.

It's like Zhou Chenglei has been poisoned by Jiang Xia all his life. Even with Jiang Xia whispering in his ear, he might not necessarily hand over the reins.

If they dared to keep this petrified giant clam shell, she would report them. Go ahead   and dig

! It's pointless anyway!

Thinking this, Wen Wan decided not to stay any longer.

She didn't want Jiang Xia to feel awkward keeping the petrified giant clam shell because of her presence.

Wouldn't that be blocking her path to wealth?

Wen Wan left carrying a bucket of whelks.

Because they were afraid of damaging the petrified giant clam shell, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei dug very carefully.

It took them almost an hour to dig out the entire petrified giant clam shell!

It was indeed very large, almost two meters long.

Even covered in sand, its flawless whiteness and smooth, warm texture were still visible; it was completely petrified!

It would definitely be very valuable if sold!

Zhou Chenglei looked at the petrified giant clam shell with a somewhat solemn expression. He glanced at Jiang Xia and said, "Jiang Xia, I'm thinking of donating this petrified giant clam shell

to the museum, right?" Jiang Xia replied, "Yes, you want to donate it to the museum."

Zhou Chenglei smiled and said, "Yes!"

Jiang Xia then said, "I'll watch it here. Go and call someone to come and take this thing home first! We can't leave it on the beach overnight; the tide will be coming in tonight."

"Okay." Zhou Chenglei immediately ran off.

After he ran off, Jiang Xia carefully examined the giant clam shell. The more she looked at

it, the more she felt the wonder of nature!

She would have to take a picture to commemorate it later.

Zhou Chenglei was fast; he first went to the production team to call Zhang Rong and ask him to tell the people at the museum.

Then he ran home to call his father and Zhou Chengxin to go to the beach and transport the big thing home first.

The thing couldn't be damaged, so Zhou Chenglei laid some straw and an old cotton quilt on the cart.

When Mr. Zhou arrived at the beach, he saw the giant clam shell, taller than a person, and excitedly rubbed his hands together before reaching out to touch it: "This thing is completely jade-like! It looks just like mutton-fat jade! How much is it worth? Did Xia find it?"

Jiang Xia nodded: "I dug it up by accident."

Mr. Zhou grinned from ear to ear: Wangcai is Wangcai!

We're going to be rich again!

Seeing Mr. Zhou's father's ecstatic smile, Zhou Chenglei coldly interrupted his fantasy: "This should be donated to a museum."

Mr. Zhou: "..."

"Why? Can't we sell this thing for money?"

He had heard that some people on Coconut Island specifically go down to sea to collect these things to sell! Zhou

Chenglei: "Because it deserves to be in a museum."

Mr. Zhou looked at Jiang Xia: "Xia, what do you think?"

Jiang Xia smiled: "I also think A-Lei is right, it's more valuable in a museum."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Zhou said: "A museum is good! In a museum, it will always be priceless! A gentleman loves money, but he acquires it in a proper way!"

Donate it then! There are so many ways to make money anyway; you have to give to receive.

This should earn us a banner, right?

A newspaper article to praise us?

Father Zhou couldn't help but feel a little hopeful!

The three of them spent half an hour transporting the huge thing home.

Because the old house had just had its road paved, they transported it to the new house.

By the time the family got home for dinner, it was already dark.

However, before they had even finished eating, they heard a knock on the door.

Hearing the knock, Zhou Chenglei went to open the door.

The visitors were the Zhang brothers, Zhang Rong and Zeng Yuan.

Zeng Yuan looked around the farmhouse, finding it hard to believe that Zhou Chenglei still lived in such a mud-brick house.

As soon as Zhang Rong saw Zhou Chenglei, he said, "Your museum of two-meter-diameter jade-like giant clam shells has declined your offer. The curator said the museum already has a finely carved giant clam shell artwork over a meter in diameter, and they don't need it anymore."

At this time, giant clam shells could still be bought and sold normally, and while jade-like giant clam shells were rare, they were still a relatively common organic gemstone.

So, while a two-meter-diameter jade-like giant clam shell was extremely rare, it wasn't unheard of. Museums generally collect artifacts; having already acquired one, they naturally wouldn't accept a raw, unprocessed one.

Of course, if it were a carved jade-like giant clam shell passed down from ancient times, they would accept it regardless of size.

Zhou Chenglei listened and said calmly, "Then forget it."

Their city didn't have a museum; only the province did. Zhou Chenglei didn't know anyone there, but he knew Zhang Rong, who dealt in jewelry and collected antiques. Since they wouldn't accept it, he let it go.

He just felt that the item was worth collecting.

Zeng Yuan looked at Zhou Chenglei with admiration in her eyes. How much would a two-meter-long jadeite giant clam shell be worth? He was willing to donate it; he was truly worthy of the name!

Zhang Rong urged again, "The museum won't accept it, but I will. What about the jadeite giant clam shell? I think such a large jadeite giant clam shell still has collectible value. Many collectors would like to collect it, especially Buddhists."

Because jadeite giant clam shells are one of the legendary seven treasures of Buddhism, believed to bring good fortune, ward off evil, and protect the home from evil spirits.

“The petrified giant clam is at my older brother’s house. Wait a minute, I’ll talk to my wife and then we’ll go see it.”

Zhou Chenglei went inside to tell Jiang Xia that Zhang Rong and Zhang Rui had arrived, and that the museum didn’t accept them, but Zhang Rong wanted to see the petrified giant clam.

Jiang Xia, already full, immediately put down her chopsticks: “Wait for me, I’m going to get my camera to take some pictures.”

Zhou’s father, upon hearing this, stopped eating too: “I’m coming too!”

That thing was so rare, of course we had to take pictures!

Jiang Xia grabbed her camera and the group went to Zhou Chengxin’s place.

***

Zhou Chengxin’s family had also just finished eating.

While washing the dishes, Tian Caihua looked at the two-meter-tall giant clam shell and muttered to herself with heartache, "Has he lost his mind? Donating such a huge piece of jade-like giant clam shell! If sold by weight, it would be worth a thousand or two yuan at one yuan per kilogram, right? If they don't want it, they can donate it to me!"

Recently, the family had just ordered a new fishing boat, and their savings were almost gone. Tian Caihua couldn't even bear to eat an extra fish.

They still owed more than three thousand yuan in final payments, and she just wanted to save enough money as soon as possible, so she had started to cut back on her spending.

Hearing that Zhou Chenglei had decided to donate such a treasure to the museum, her heart ached!

She felt that if she received it, she wouldn't have to worry about paying the remaining balance on her boat.

Zhou Chengxin was busy making nets for pearl oyster farming and ignored Tian Caihua's nagging.

Lei and Xia had their reasons for doing this!

No one would refuse money without a reason.

Zhou Chenglei and his group entered at that moment: "Brother, sister-in-law, I've brought some people to see the petrified giant clam."

Zhou Chengxin quickly put down his work and stood up.

Zhou Chenglei introduced them, and after exchanging greetings, Zhang Rong went to see the petrified giant clam placed in the corner of the courtyard.

Jiang Xia hadn't expected the museum to refuse it. Although it differed from the plot in the book, many things were different now.

Reality is reality, and books are books.

Since the museum already had something more valuable, it was normal not to accept it, as museums have limited space for their collections.

Jiang Xia knew that there were dedicated petrified giant clam museums in modern times, but those were built over thirty years ago.

Giant clams weren't valued much then, and petrified giant clams were no exception.

Although this thing took a very long time to form, there are many things in nature that take a long time to form. Oil and jade also took a long time to form, but not every piece of jade can be put in a museum.

Oil is even more so. It is estimated that many years later, when oil is exhausted, the things made from oil will also have a chance to enter museums.

If you don't want it, let Zhang Rong take it. His jewelry store is also state-owned.

However, state-owned enterprise reform and privatization have begun to appear now.

There is a light bulb in the yard because sometimes fish need to be killed at night, so a light bulb was installed in the yard, but the light from this light bulb is obviously not enough.

Zhang Rong took a flashlight and shone it on it. Under the light of the flashlight, the jade-like giant clam shell was crystal clear, smooth and flawless, and as warm and lustrous as jadeite of high ice type.

Zhang Rong examined it closely: "It's so beautiful! It's almost completely jade-like!"

Zhang Rui exclaimed in surprise as he looked at it: "Fourth Brother, what kind of luck do you have? You found such a big treasure, and you're even willing to donate it."

Zhou Chenglei glanced at Jiang Xia: "It was your sister-in-law who found it, not me."

Zhang Rui gave Jiang Xia a thumbs up: "Sister-in-law is truly admirable!"

Jiang Xia just smiled.

Zeng Yuan glanced at Jiang Xia, pursed her lips, and didn't say anything.

After Zhang Rong finished looking at it, he turned off the flashlight: "I'll have someone drive over and take it back tomorrow. It's dark now, and the roads are difficult to travel, so I won't transport it for now. The jeep can't fit it all."

Zhou Chenglei responded: "Okay."

Tian Caihua listened for a while, and seeing that Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia didn't ask about the price, she couldn't help but ask: "How much can this big thing sell for?"

Zhang Rong: "It should sell for more than five thousand yuan."

Tian Caihua gasped!

Five thousand yuan!

What kind of god of wealth did Jiang Xia pray to? He just went to the beach and found five thousand yuan?

Envious!

Jiang Xia, remembering that Tian Caihua's pearls hadn't been sold yet, said, "Sister-in-law, my pearls are for Brother Zhang Er. You can take them out and sell them to him now."

Tian Caihua immediately replied, "I'll take them out right now!"

She quickly ran back into the house to retrieve the pearls.

Tian Caihua's pearls weren't as good as Jiang Xia's, but she still had one decent one. After Zhang Rong examined it, he gave her over six hundred yuan, making her overjoyed.

Although it couldn't compare to Jiang Xia's, six hundred was still a lot.

After confirming it was a jade-like giant clam shell, the group returned to the old house.

Jiang Xia asked Zhou Chenglei to bring out the two stones she had fished up from the sea for Zhang Rong to examine.

While Zhang Rong was studying them, Zhang Rui called Zhou Chenglei outside to talk.

After carefully examining them with a flashlight, Zhang Rong's expression became somewhat serious: "I'll take these two stones back and have them examined. The light is too dim now; I can't see clearly. I'll have a few experts look at them."

If he wasn't mistaken, then it would be incredible! However, he lacked experience and was unsure.

Zhou Chenglei then came in with a file folder and readily said, "Okay, take it back!"

There are always some people in this world you can trust, and Zhang Rong was such a person in Zhou Chenglei's mind.

"There's a large auction coming up in Hong Kong soon. If this jade has been appraised and is of good quality, I'll have someone send it over to see if it can be auctioned." Zhang Rong felt they had picked up these two stones at the perfect time; they'd caught a great opportunity!

Jiang Xia asked, "Can we cut it open before auctioning it?"

Zhang Rong replied, "Yes, but once it's opened, its value will be immediately apparent, and the price won't be immeasurable. The difference could be huge."

Auctioning raw stones is essentially a gamble. The reason people are willing to spend so much money is because it's the most likely way to make a huge profit!

There are advantages and disadvantages after opening it.

If the jade inside is good, that's great.

If it's not good, then…

well, you can imagine.

Jiang Xia said, "It's okay, I still want to open it."

Zhang Rong looked at Zhou Chenglei.

Jiang Xia looked at Zhou Chenglei.

Zhou Chenglei said, "I listen to my wife; she decides."

Zhang Rong: "…"

He hadn't expected the commander to be afraid of his wife.

Zeng Yuan couldn't help but glance at Zhou Chenglei, her heart aching.

"Okay! I'll go back and find someone to open it. Should we have a few more experts take a look before deciding?" she couldn't help but ask.

Jiang Xia: "No need, go ahead and open it!"

Zhou Chenglei didn't say anything, appearing completely obedient.

Zeng Yuan couldn't stand it anymore and simply walked out.

"Okay," Zhang Rong replied.

He was thinking about the city's tallest commercial building, a 50-story building planned to be built next year, a multi-functional complex integrating commerce, trade, offices, and restaurants.

He had already decided to invest in it. He hadn't originally planned to invite Zhou Chenglei, since investing in one share would require a lot of money, and he probably didn't have that much.

But if he wasn't mistaken, after selling these two stones, he would have the money to invest.

He felt it was a very worthwhile investment, and he couldn't let his brother miss out on such a good opportunity. Without any outsiders present, Zhang Rong told them about it.

"Any of you interested in investing? If we sell these two rough stones and have enough money, I'll help you invest,"

Zhang Rong said. He knew Zhou Chenglei had bought a large ship and would be out at sea for ten days to half a month at a time, so he brought this up beforehand to avoid being unable to contact him later.

Although Jiang Xia was home, this was a very large sum of money, so it was better to discuss it in front of the couple.

"Don't be fooled by the fact that it's a swamp now, with low, gloomy houses. You know there's a lot of development going on there, and its future is definitely bright."

Jiang Xia squeezed Zhou Chenglei's wrist, a little firmly.

Zhou Chenglei said, "Sure, if we have enough money, just let me know how much we're short."

"Okay, I'll let you know later."

It was getting late, so Zhang Rong left after finishing his business.

As Zeng Yuan left, she said to Zhou Chenglei, "I've transferred to this military hospital. If you need any help in the future, feel free to contact me."

Zhou Chenglei nodded, "Okay, when my wife gives birth, could you please reserve a quiet bed for her?"

Jiang Xia: "..."

This guy really dares to say anything!

"Pfft..." Zhang Rui couldn't help but cover his mouth.

Zeng Yuan turned and left immediately!

She genuinely wanted to help him, but he deliberately tried to annoy her with his words!

Zhang Rui happily laughed, "Fourth Brother, are you going to be a father soon? Then I want to be your godfather!"

Zhang Rong also laughed, "Is your wife pregnant ?"

Jiang Xia was a little embarrassed, "No, just kidding."

The two brothers didn't say much, just smiled and said goodbye until tomorrow, then left.

***

The next day, they didn't go out to sea. Zhou Chenglei took Jiang Xia for a run. After their run, they went to the rocks by the sea to pull up the crab traps they had set the day before.

By then, it was already bright daylight.

Wen Wan had also come early to pull up the crab traps.

The three of them happened to meet, but didn't greet each other, each busy with their own things.

Zhou Chenglei pulled out the first crab trap, which contained two crabs, one large and one small. One was a yellow roe crab, looking full of roe, while the other was smaller, and there was also a sand eel.

He took the fish and crab out, keeping the larger crab and throwing the smaller one, which had no roe, back into the sea.

In this era, few people liked to eat crabs, and those that weren't big or had much roe were unwanted. So Jiang Xia watched as Zhou Chenglei unhesitatingly threw a crab larger than her palm back into the sea.

In modern times, Jiang Xia had even seen videos of fishing boats using crab traps specifically to catch crabs, because crabs were more expensive than many fish.

Hundreds or even thousands of crab traps were set down, and machines were used to collect them. The boatmen would pull them off one by one at a time, extremely fast. This kind of thing probably didn't exist yet.

Seeing that the bait in this crab trap wasn't finished, Zhou Chenglei threw another one into the sea.

He couldn't waste it; he had specially used half a pig liver from the pork offal he bought yesterday as bait.

The second crab trap contained three crabs, a small bass, and two shrimp. One crab's roe was sticking out of its belly. Zhou Chenglei pulled it out and threw it back into the sea. The bass was too small, so he

threw it back in as well. He then pulled up another crab trap.

At the other end, Wen Wan was also pulling up a crab trap.

She had already pulled up two traps, but instead of immediately taking out the fish,

shrimp, and crabs, she pulled up the next one. Jiang Xia noticed that Wen Wan's traps contained about the same number of crabs as hers, mostly one or two.

Wen Wan had set up several more traps than they did. Zhou Chenglei had already pulled them all up, but she was still pulling.

Whether she was exhausted or the traps were stuck

, she pulled on the sixth trap with all her might, but it wouldn't budge.

She gave it a hard tug!

As a result, she lost her balance and fell into the water with a "plop!"

A crab trap at her feet was also pulled into the water.

Just then, a wave crashed onto the rocks and receded!

They took her directly away from the reef and towards the deeper sea.

Jiang Xia: "..."

Damn it, she's always causing trouble!

Being with her is never a good thing!

Wen Wan can swim, but after falling into the sea, she choked on the water and was swept away by the waves. Panicked, she struggled desperately: "Help! Help... ugh..."

Jiang Xia: "Throw a crab trap down for her to grab, pull her back!"

Zhou Chenglei had the same idea. He picked up a crab trap and, waiting for the next wave to wash Wen Wan over, aimed and threw it!

The crab trap landed right in front of Wen Wan.

Jiang Xia shouted: "Hold on tight if you don't want to die!"

Wen Wan instinctively grabbed the crab trap.

Zhou Chenglei pulled her closer.

Wen Wan was pulled to the reef by Zhou Chenglei and quickly climbed onto it.

Jiang Xia reached out to her: "Grab me, I'll pull you up."

Zhou Chenglei held Jiang Xia's arm, afraid she would fall.

Wen Wan looked at Jiang Xia with complicated feelings.

She hadn't expected Jiang Xia to offer to save her.

She reached out and grabbed Jiang Xia's hand.

Jiang Xia, his face dark, pulled Wen Wan up, then let go, not saying a word to her, and directly said to Zhou Chenglei, "Pack up, let's go!"

Zhou Chenglei nodded, picked up the crab traps and the bucket of fish, shrimp, and crabs from the ground, and left with Jiang Xia's hand.

They had set five crab traps in total, catching eight crabs, three sardines, one small fish, and a few shrimp.

Wen Wan coughed to catch her breath before looking up at their departing figures.

At this moment, Jiang Xia pointed to the roadside: "It should be Brother Zhang Er coming to transport that jade-like giant clam shell!"

Hearing this, Wen Wan looked at the roadside and saw a jeep followed by a small truck.

So, Jiang Xia really did sell the jade-like giant clam shell, right?

Wen Wan's feelings were complicated.