“Xiao Yi, look at what your sister caught?” Tang Wanwan showed her catch to her brother.
Xiao Yi took a look and immediately grinned from ear to ear, “Wow, a big fish!
Big sis, you’re amazing.”
“Catch, do you want more?”
“Yes!”
Tang Wanwan tossed the fish onto the shore with decent accuracy, and Tang Xiao Yi caught it in his hands.
The fish was injured but still full of life, struggling desperately, though it was pointless.
Having caught a fish was like finding a lifeline for Tang Xiao Yi, who hadn’t seen any meat in ages.
He ran back to the shore without bothering to search for snails, tightly hugging the fish.
Tang Wanwan found Xiao Yi’s nervous look both funny and saddening; just how hungry was he, that he’d want to bite directly into the fish, holding it tightly in his arms, fearing it might fly away.
She quickly said, “Xiao Yi, grab some cogon grass to thread through the fish’s mouth, so it won’t escape.
Hugging it like that will just die soon and dirty your clothes.”
“Okay, I can do that.” Immediately, Tang Xiao Yi pulled some cogon grass and, with his clumsy little hands, wrapped it into a simple string, then threaded it through the fish after much effort.
“Big sis, is this right?” Tang Xiao Yi showed off to his sister.
“Yes, that’s it.
Xiao Yi, how do you know how to do this?”
“I learned it from our dad.
I learned a lot from dad, but I forgot some of it,” Tang Xiao Yi said, scratching his head sheepishly.
“Did dad use to make things often?”
“Yes, dad made great bows; many people in the village wanted him to make them, but they never paid him.
All the money went to our grandma.
Sis, don’t you know these things?
How come you forgot?”
“Oh, I was just testing your memory.” Tang Wanwan said and went back to catching fish.
Soon, she caught another big one.
Two, three, four fish… One by one, the fish were tossed on the shore, helplessly flipping their eyes and flapping their gills…
Gu Mingyuan saw this sight and fell back on his butt in fear, “Good grief, where’s this woman from?
She’s like a female Asura.”
How is she so skilled, catching fish with her bare hands?
If she used a crossbow against people, wouldn’t lives be lost?
While catching the eighth fish, Tang Wanwan felt someone watching her from the shore.
She swiftly put away the crossbow, clenched a stone in her palm, and flung it towards the shore, hearing a startled cry.
Poor Gu Mingyuan was hit on the head, causing an egg-sized bump, and now he couldn’t hide anymore.
He might as well reveal himself.
“Please, heroic woman, stop hitting me!
I concede, alright?”
A young man in white stepped out from the bushes on the shore, wearing a friendly smile, and his voice carried a familiar tone.
Tang Wanwan soon matched this person to the ghost faced man.
Could he be the unlucky fellow?
He looked fine, but what a coward.
Seeing Gu Mingyuan suddenly appear before her, Tang Wanwan wasn’t too surprised.
She glanced at him slightly and said, “Watching people from the bushes isn’t gentlemanly behavior.
Or maybe you have a fondness for hiding, whether in trees or in bushes?”
“Where’s your ghost faced man mask?
Not wearing it to scare people anymore?”
Prepared to go ashore, Tang Wanwan stepped on something hard underfoot.
She picked it up and couldn’t help but chuckle.
Wasn’t it his mask?
Seems I gave him quite a blow!
“Lost it, it’s no fun anymore, so I stopped.
You seem skilled, what’s your name?
Can we be friends?”
Gu Mingyuan had just spoken when Tang Xiao Yi rushed up to him, blocking between him and Tang Wanwan with his hand, sternly asking, “Who are you?
Do not even think about my sister.
Brother Lu said anyone who tries to get close to big sis is a bad person.”
Gu Mingyuan laughed, realizing Tang Xiao Yi was repeating what someone taught him, not his own words.
These siblings are amusing, so he pretended to be curious and asked Tang Xiao Yi.
“Who is Brother Lu?
Does he forbid anyone to get near your sister because he has an interest himself?”
Tang Xiao Yi was dumbfounded by the question but replied quickly, “Brother Lu is Brother Lu, and yes, he’s quite interested in my big sis.”
Though her brother didn’t understand, Tang Wanwan understood Gu Mingyuan’s implication, and she couldn’t help but glare at Gu Mingyuan with a tinge of anger, already labeling him a bad person.
“Xiao Yi, ignore this bad person; let’s pack up the fish and hurry home.” To Tang Wanwan, Gu Mingyuan was just a spoiled child from a wealthy family, and she had no idea where he came from, bothering her persistently.
She had already tried to avoid him, yet he showed up again.
If he doesn’t take the hint, she won’t be polite next time.
For those who bothered her, Tang Wanwan had three tactics: hit, hit, and hit until they’re scared off.
Seeing the siblings messily gathering the fish to go home, Gu Mingyuan couldn’t help saying slowly, “Miss, it’s not that I’m pestering you.
It’s just that my things were taken, and I can’t report back empty-handed.
I’m a cook, you see, and I came to your Tang Family Village to find some rare ingredients.”
“Why don’t we make a trade?
I’ll lend you my seasoning pack to cook the fish; in return, you give me some honey syrup?”