Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 21: Fishing in the River

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Fishing in the River

Since her eldest brother had already spoken and her husband was just considering her, thinking about how good her parents’ family had been to her, Sun Cui gritted her teeth. The worst case scenario was that she would eat less and share her food.

Lin Ercheng looked at his wife, letting out a sigh. His wife was a good woman, he had let her down, failed to provide her with a good life.

With everyone feeling like this, Chen Qiulan found it hard to say anything more. Now that her father-in-law had spoken, and her husband had agreed, what was there to say?

She could only nod her head in agreement.

Mother Lin, seeing everyone agree, stopped crying as well. She pulled a handkerchief out of her sleeve to dab at the corner of her eyes, then couldn’t help laughing at the sight of Nanzhi with her runny nose.

Nanzhi, who was still in shock from being called ’fatty’, finally snapped out of it when she saw everyone in the room staring at her. She subconsciously sniffed then hurriedly pulled out her own handkerchief to wipe her nose, feeling the weight of her runny nose.

Nanzhi was momentarily embarrassed. How could her first visit home be so humiliating? She waved dismissively, saying, "No, no need."

Watching her young sister-in-law, Chen Qiulan couldn’t help but chuckle. She had been married into the family a few years earlier than her siblings and had seen her sister-in-law grow up. Thinking of how Nanzhi used to call her ’sister-in-law’, she softened her tone, "Just stay here, how can you and Gougou cope alone? Although our home is not wealthy, we can still afford meals."

Nanzhi was touched by these words. Her parents and brothers wanted her to stay because of their blood ties, but her sister-in-law wanted her to stay out of genuine kindness. She also realized that the current situation at home was probably not much better than hers.

"Sister-in-law, it’s okay. This time Gougou and I came to bring you some things," she said, pointing to the donkey cart in the yard.

Father Lin looked at it, puzzled. He glanced at the small donkey in the yard curiously, "Did you bring us a donkey? No, wait, where did you steal this donkey from, you little girl?"

The moment of tenderness Nanzhi had felt quickly crumbled. Is this how a father is supposed to feel?

"Grandpa, the big donkey is from Granny Liu’s house." Gougou was somewhat displeased by Father Lin’s words and ran over to the donkey cart, pointing to the cart and saying, "Mom is here to deliver food."

Gougou’s words were like a bucket of cold water thrown into a hot pot.

Everyone in the Lin family stood up, looking at Nanzhi with strange expressions.

"I didn’t steal it, really. It’s not mine," Nanzhi hurriedly defended herself. She felt her father really had quite an imagination. Hopefully, he wouldn’t think she was a thief.

"Mom picked them up," Gougou said again. The chestnuts were picked up by mom, the black flour was bought with the money mom got from selling the chestnuts, all were picked up.

"Picked up?" Lin Dacheng looked at his sister, skeptical. Could one still pick up food in these times?

Only then did the family approach the donkey cart. Nanzhi moved the thatch on the cart to reveal the bags of grain hidden underneath.

The village roads were rough, and the ride on the donkey cart was bumpy. Many families would put a thick layer of thatch on the cart, otherwise, no one could sit on it. The thatch was blocked by wooden boards on the cart’s sides, making it the best place to hide food.

"I brought some black flour and chestnuts with me," Nanzhi said while moving the thatch.

The sight of the three bags of grain left everyone in the Lin family dumbstruck. They thought that Nanzhi had come back with Gougou because she couldn’t make ends meet, they hadn’t expected her to bring grain to them.

"Girl, where did you get this grain from?" Mother Lin’s fingers trembled as she pointed at the grain.

"Gougou found a rabbit. I sold it in town and used the silver to buy these. The chestnuts were collected from the hill at the back of the village."

"Are rabbits so valuable now?" Sun Cui’s eyes widened in shock.

She knew that wild game sold for more than domestic animals, but with the current high grain prices, could a rabbit really be traded for a hundred pounds of black flour?

Mother Lin looked at her youngest daughter, her heart filled with compassion, "You should keep it for yourself, why bring it home? We still have grain."

"Mom, remember I borrowed some silver from you before? I think it’s better to pay you back with grain in these tough times. Gougou and I still have food, don’t worry," Nanzhi said, swinging Mother Lin’s arm as she spoke.

"You silly child." Mother Lin patted Nanzhi’s hand, her heart was comforted. Even though she said there was food, didn’t she know what their home situation was really like?

The young girl is good, it’s just a pity that she has such unfortunate fate, losing her support so early.

Lin Dacheng and Lin Ercheng moved the food into the kitchen, feeling light-hearted.

Their sister is a good one, not like other girls, who only know how to take things from their parents.

Chen Qiulan and Sun Cui, the two sisters-in-law, also breathed a sigh of relief. As long as their young sister-in-law could make ends meet, things would be fine. Seeing their husbands bringing food into the kitchen, they felt a bit guilty. Even though their home had barely any food, it’s certainly harder for their sister-in-law who is raising a child on her own.

Nanzhi didn’t stay at her parents’ home for long. She only asked them to hurry and buy food in town. After confirming that her parents understood, she urged Gougou a couple of times before rushing back to Lihua Village.

She was still thinking about fishing when she got back to the village.

After bidding Nanzhi and Gougou farewell, the rest of the Lin family gathered together again.

In fact, before Nanzhi came back, they had already been discussing the issue of buying food in town. Now, upon hearing from her that the price of grain had gone up and could continue to rise, the family grew a bit anxious.

The Lin family members were all industrious, having saved up thirteen taels of silver over the years. But they did not know how much grain they needed to buy to feed their eleven-member family.

If they were to expend all of their money at once, what would they do if something else were to happen in the future?

After a long discussion, they finally decided to use eight taels of silver initially. Once they had made up their minds, Mother Lin and her husband set out for the town along with their two sons.

By the time Nanzhi returned to the village, the day had already grown quite hot. Most of the women in the village had gone to East Mountain to pick chestnuts, leaving only the men at home to weed the fields. Some who saw Nanzhi arriving with Gougou greeted her.

When Nanzhi got home, she first returned the donkey cart to Mrs. Liu. Then, she picked up a bamboo basket and headed with Gougou to the river beach at the edge of the village.

The river at the end of the village was not wide, just over ten meters across. Due to a long period with no rain, half the riverbed was now exposed. Only the middle of the river still had a slightly higher water level.

Looking at the thin layer of water on the riverbed, Nanzhi told Gougou to stay under the tree to escape the sun while she first went down to check the situation.

Gougou obediently nodded and watched her nervously with his head outstretched.

She had walked about three or four meters before she felt the silt under her feet begin to sink slightly. The places near the shore were quite safe.

Turning her head, she saw Gougou anxiously looking at her from under the tree. She smiled, raised her hand and asked, "Gougou, do you want to come down?"

"Yes!"

Gougou responded and then ran quickly down the slope where Nanzhi had just descended the river.

"Take it slow and stay by the side to play in the water."

"Got it, Mom."

Seeing that Gougou was really obediently staying on one side, Nanzhi redirected her attention back to the river’s surface.

The water at this spot wasn’t deep enough, just enough to reach her calf.

After searching for a while, Nanzhi could not find any fish but did find two palm-sized river clams.

Nanzhi knew that river clams were edible. After setting the clams aside, she continued her search.

Maybe she would get lucky and find a couple of fish.

Nanzhi was so motivated that she searched more intensely. In no time, she had found a heap of clams, the smallest one as big as a fist, and the larger ones as big as her two palms put together.

"Mom, Mom!" Gougou had been playing by poking the mud on the riverbank with a little wood stick. Suddenly, he found that the stick was stuck as if something had caught it. He couldn’t pull it out no matter how hard he tried.

Children are known for their courage. Gougou rolled up his sleeves, learning from Nanzhi, and started to dig. When he saw the real shape of the thing, he excitedly called out a couple times.