Once the fishing net got soaked, it became extremely heavy, even heavier than the more than 5 kilograms of fish he was carrying.
Xu Changnian really couldn’t carry it on his back anymore and had no choice but to drag it home.
If he wanted to use it again in the future, it would definitely need a thorough repair.
But just as he reached the village entrance, he saw a large group of people noisily gathered there.
“You’re finally back.” Seeing Xu Changnian slowly appear, Shen Yourong finally breathed a long sigh of relief and ran straight into his arms.
Xu Changnian froze for a moment. What on earth happened?
“My clothes are dirty. We’ll be affectionate tonight instead,” he whispered teasingly beside her ear while gently patting her back.
“Go away.” Shen Yourong flushed with embarrassment, lowered her head, let go, and quickly wiped her tears.
“There’s a wolf pack on Xiaoyue Mountain. Zhang San and Wang Wu almost became wolf food today and barely escaped back. The village chief was worried something had happened to you, so he asked Dashan to lead people up the mountain to look for you,” Yun Niang explained.
She really knew how to speak. Just two sentences clearly explained the situation while conveniently attributing the concern to the village chief. Clearly, she and Shen Yourong were the most worried, yet she deliberately credited the village chief. She truly understood how to handle people and situations, even unintentionally pulling the chief closer to their side while suppressing Wang Wu’s group.
“Good, as long as you’re back,” Li Youtian nodded. The Xu family women really understood how to handle matters.
Hearing Yun Niang’s explanation, Xu Changnian immediately understood. So Zhang San and Wang Wu had run into wolves. Serves them right.
Still, their lives were tough enough to survive it. The wolf pack had been fighting the wild boars repeatedly, so their condition probably wasn’t great, which was likely why those two made it back alive.
“I saw a small pond in the mountains a few days ago with a few little fish in it, so I went fishing today. Sorry to trouble you, Village Chief,” Xu Changnian said with an honest smile, scratching his head politely.
“Oh right! Xiao Yue came to my house this morning to borrow a fishing net!” Ma Han finally slapped his thigh, suddenly remembering.
Everyone rolled their eyes. Now you remember?
“Go… fish…” Wang Wu cursed silently in his heart. You went fishing yet chose a small hidden path—one that even led toward the back of the mountain? You nearly got me killed out there!
But as Xu Changnian walked past them carrying the bamboo basket, everyone’s eyes turned red with envy.
Inside the basket were big fish, still wildly flapping. At least six or seven of them. And he called that a small pond with a few small fish? Truly infuriating. Under everyone’s jealous and bitter gaze, Xu Changnian disappeared.
They had to admit—they now genuinely sympathized with Zhang San and Wang Wu. How was it that everything good in the mountains always ended up in Xu Changnian’s hands, while they only got to breathe cold wind?
“This Brother Nian really isn’t the same as before. Impressive,” Li Yunshan muttered bitterly, feeling sour inside. His Li family was the wealthiest in Qingshan Village, living in brick houses, never lacking food, even able to enjoy good meals on holidays.
But seeing how the Xu family was now eating fish and meat so often… he couldn’t help feeling jealous.
“Old Xu sure raised some good sons. Xu Changqing may be gone, but now there’s Xu Changnian,” Village Chief Li sighed to himself.
Qingshan Village had always been dominated by the Li family—until Old Xu Hei rose up. That man was troublesome to deal with. And now the Xu family seemed ready to rise too. Thinking of this, the village chief subconsciously glanced over and saw Old Xu Hei’s dark face in the distance, just as unpleasant as expected.
He was well aware Old Xu Hei had thoughts about Yun Niang. He even knew far more. Not long ago, Liu Ermazi instigating Xu Changnian to trade liquor for food was actually orchestrated by Old Xu Hei behind the scenes.
If the Xu family was pushed into desperation, Yun Niang would naturally fall into Old Xu Hei’s arms. That woman was definitely not someone easy to control. Unfortunately for him, Xu Changnian suddenly changed completely, almost like rebirth, ruining Old Xu Hei’s plans.
The Xu family and Xu Hei’s family would definitely clash sooner or later.
Why not just sit back and watch?
Once they exhausted each other, the Li family would still remain the unshakeable pillar of Qingshan Village.
…
“Good heavens, you practically emptied an entire fish nest. These fish are so fat!”
Back home, when Xu Tielin saw the basket of fish, even his eyelids twitched. The son had surpassed the father indeed.
“Uncle is amazing! Mother, I want fish soup tonight!” Xiao Yue happily lifted the biggest carp—almost 2 kilograms—and danced around joyfully. This story is hosted at g.com.
“You little glutton.” Yun Niang scolded lightly but couldn’t stop smiling as she looked at the basket full of fish. Even eating fish every day, it would last several days. Life was almost heavenly now.
“Yourong, tell Brother Nian not to go up the mountain for a while. We have enough food for now. Wolves, snow… these days are getting more dangerous.” Yun Niang said with lingering fear. Today had been too close. He managed to avoid both the wolves and Zhang San and Wang Wu. His luck was truly good.
Shen Yourong nodded while boiling hot water to warm Xu Changnian’s feet to drive out the cold.
“What happened?” Xu Tielin immediately sensed something was wrong and frowned.
“Those two useless idiots need a proper lesson or they’ll never learn,” he roared angrily after hearing what happened at the village entrance, slamming the table.
“Don’t worry,” Xu Changnian laughed. “I was the one who deliberately led those two bastards to the back of the mountain.”
Before going up the mountain, he had already noticed someone tailing him, so he had purposely taken a small hidden path.
Everyone finally understood. This kid was truly ruthless.
“Husband, don’t take such risks anymore. The mountains are really dangerous. Stay home for a few days while the heavy snow passes,” Shen Yourong pleaded worriedly.
“All right. I’ll listen to you,” he said gently, pulling her into his arms to comfort her affectionately.
But there was something Xu Changnian did not say. Zhang San and Wang Wu were just an unexpected surprise. That small back-mountain path had originally been prepared for Liu Ermazi. Unfortunately, that man hadn’t followed him today.
After today, Zhang San and Wang Wu would definitely behave themselves for a while, at least not daring to follow him again. But was Liu Ermazi showing up earlier at the market in Zhoujia Town really just a coincidence?
Was he overthinking things?
Even now, Xu Changnian’s heart was still full of doubt.