The original owner of this body had never really paid attention to this “Bear Number Two” son of hers. So in her memories, the second son was only good for two things: working and eating!
Cheng Kang’s eyes sparkled. Mother had finally asked about it.
“Mom, I told you before! I’m really good at catching fish. Not only fish—I’m great at catching frogs too. I can also hunt rabbits and catch pheasants…”
“Forget rabbits and pheasants, there aren’t many of them. Frogs—well, field frogs—those won’t sell either. Are there a lot of fish and shrimp in the river?”
“There are tons! It’s just that ordinary people can’t catch them easily, and they don’t have the time. Besides, they’re not oily enough, don’t taste great, and eating too much makes your stomach hurt. During the famine before, some families ate too much plain boiled fish and shrimp, and their stomachs hurt terribly.”
Ye Manshu understood. Living on nothing but plain boiled fish, shrimp, and crabs without staple grains for too long could practically kill a person.
She didn’t want to dwell on that topic. As long as there were plenty of fish and shrimp in the river, that was enough.
As for her own fishing skills—especially angling—they were top-tier.
Ye Manshu had Cheng Kang weave fish traps. Though he acted like a goofy husky, his hands were surprisingly skillful. He could weave baskets and cages and even make simple furniture.
This time, the traps he wove had one-way openings, specifically designed for catching fish and loaches.
Meanwhile, Ye Manshu fashioned her own fishing rod and hooks. Though crude, they were more than sufficient for ordinary fishing.
She instructed Cheng Kang to place the traps in different spots. Some were set facing downstream to catch fish.
Others were sunk to the riverbed to catch loaches and shrimp.
After preparing her hook, Ye Manshu walked along the riverbank for a while before finding a suitable spot—a calm eddy where the current slowed and curled back on itself. She chose a place there and cast her line.
The bait was earthworms she had dug up.
Ye Manshu waited quietly.
Meanwhile, Ye Yuze, Wang Nian, and Cheng Yunfan went to the mountain slope on the other side of the pool to continue gathering herbs, since medicinal plants were more abundant there. Ye Manshu could still see them from where she sat.
Suddenly, the float twitched.
Calmly, Ye Manshu jerked the fishing line upward.
A one-jin crucian carp flew out of the water.
“Oh yeah!”
Ye Manshu happily removed the fish from the hook and tossed it into the bucket.
The crucian carp flopped around wildly a few times before finally calming down and swimming in circles inside the bucket.
“Wow, this one’s over two jin, isn’t it?”
Ye Manshu was very satisfied. Even though she had transmigrated, her skills were still intact.
“Auntie, you’ve already caught so many fish!” Ye Yuze’s eyes were full of admiration and envy.
By mid-afternoon, Ye Manshu had caught five fish in total. Most weighed over one jin, and one of them was over two jin.
Cheng Yunfan’s eyes sparkled. “We can eat fish now!”
Ye Manshu looked at him. The brat had his cute moments too. She casually ruffled his hair.
“If you behave obediently from now on, you won’t go without food.”
“Really?”
“Of course. But if you don’t behave, not only will there be no food, your butt will get spanked too!”
The place where Cheng Yunfan had been beaten before still ached faintly. He immediately replied, “Grandma, I’ll definitely behave.”
That’s more like it. Time to head home.
Meanwhile, Cheng Kang had also harvested quite a lot.
The two fish baskets contained around two jin of tiny fish and shrimp.
The two loach traps held more than thirty loaches, along with some shrimp.
“Mom, you’re amazing! This is way faster than catching fish and shrimp by hand. And it barely interferes with work—we just need to come collect them regularly.” Cheng Kang truly admired Ye Manshu. As expected of his mother.
Once they got home, Ye Yuze began stewing the fish. Ye Manshu told him to make extra. After the fish was done, she instructed Cheng Yuan to deliver one fish plus some small fish and shrimp to Cheng Yi’s household.
“Then you have to wait for me to come back before eating!” Cheng Yuan stared longingly at the fragrant fish, practically drooling inside.
Then Ye Manshu set aside another three fish and had Cheng Kang deliver them to Li Daoshun, Ye Wu, and Doctor Li.
Looking at the single remaining fish in the house—though it was the biggest one—Cheng Kang felt a bit unwilling.
“Mom, you’re giving away too much.”
Ye Manshu pointed at the large basin of stewed tiny fish, shrimp, and loaches.
“There’s still plenty here. Mom will go fishing again tomorrow, so you won’t go without food.”
“Alright!” The moment he heard there would be more tomorrow, Cheng Kang stopped complaining instantly.
In a foodie’s world, there was only food.
And honestly, it wasn’t strange that Cheng Kang loved eating so much. The fish was rich with oil, seasoned thoroughly, and even stewed with bits of pork. It was fragrant enough to make someone swallow their tongue.
The children from neighboring houses turned into little food-seeking radars, following the aroma all the way to the Cheng family’s door once again.
Auntie Li next door and Auntie Wang next door scolded their children while painfully bringing over two or three eggs each, asking to trade them for some fish soup.
Ye Manshu smilingly accepted the eggs and gave each family a large bowl of fish soup with small fish, shrimp, and loaches inside.
“Thank you, Manshu.”
None of them dared demand things for free. The original owner of this body had fought with them more than once before, and without exception, they had always lost miserably. Even if they could win physically, Ye Manshu had influential uncles backing her up.
Over time, no one dared fight with the original owner anymore.
Thinking about it made Ye Manshu want to laugh. The original owner’s unreasonable, fierce personality had actually benefited her now. It saved her from having to personally deal with troublesome neighbors—people obediently brought goods to exchange instead.
After all, Auntie Li was manageable, but Auntie Wang was definitely not easy to deal with. She often freeloaded soup from one household or “borrowed” eggs from another—with no intention of ever returning them.
Yet in front of Ye Manshu, she didn’t dare act crooked at all.
Holding the bowl of soup, Auntie Wang grumbled to her little grandson, “Honestly, wouldn’t eggs have been better for you? You just had to eat fish. Two eggs exchanged for one tiny bowl of fish soup…”
Ye Manshu replied lightly, “Auntie Wang, how about you return the fish soup and I’ll give you your eggs back?”
Auntie Wang’s expression stiffened awkwardly.
“Manshu, could you maybe give a little more? You gave the Li family a huge bowl.”
“Of course. Bring another egg in exchange. Don’t tell me you were hoping to get extra for free? That won’t do. I used quite a bit of oil, salt, seasoning, and firewood. If we weren’t neighbors, I wouldn’t even be exchanging with you.”
After being casually shut down by Ye Manshu, Auntie Wang angrily yanked her grandson.
“You little glutton, you’re going to die from greed someday.”
Her grandson’s drool was practically forming a waterfall already. He couldn’t care less about his grandmother’s bad mood and loudly clamored for soup.
Without accumulating tiny steps, one cannot reach the neighbor’s house.
Without accumulating drool, one cannot form a waterfall!
When Cheng Kang returned, his basket was filled with food—fruit, eggs, white flour flatbreads, and more.
After asking around, it turned out all three households had contributed them.
That was how relationships deepened: through reciprocal exchanges.
Ye Manshu instructed Cheng Kang to place the traps back into the water overnight and retrieve them the next morning.
The next morning, before dawn had fully broken, Cheng Kang already headed for the riverbank.
He had risen even earlier than usual. When people had something to look forward to, they naturally became more motivated.
“Mom!” Cheng Kang came running back with loud thumping footsteps. “Mom, guess how much we caught this time?”