Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 45_1

Chapter 45: Chapter 45_1

With Gougou’s "Emperor Ou" aura of blessing, Nanzhi felt a bit more confident. It wasn’t that she was superstitious, but Gougou’s luck was just so good, almost like the lucky koi fish characters she had read about in those novels.

Whether it was Gougou’s words that had worked or the heavens didn’t want to see mother and son starve, Nanzhi felt the weight when she lifted the fishing net again. The whole "net" was already covered with a layer of plump river shrimp, which remained still even out of water, waiting for Nanzhi to pour them into a wooden bucket with a grin, then they started hopping around as if they had just woken up.

"Wow, so many bugs." Gougou’s eyes widened at the sight of the river shrimp in the wooden bucket.

Nanzhi continued to haul up another shrimp net, pouring the teeming river shrimp into the wooden bucket before calling Gougou to head home.

...

"Mom, are we going back to the river to catch bugs later?"

"We’ll go back one more time." Nanzhi had just set her sights on the water jar in the corner of the wall, which she was now vigorously scrubbing clean in preparation for use.

Not hearing Gougou’s response, Nanzhi turned her head and asked with some concern, "Is Gougou tired?"

Gougou lowered his head to look at his toes and hesitated for a while before saying, "Mom, I want to go to Grandma Liu’s house to play with Brother Doudou."

Nanzhi was taken aback for a moment, then smiled at Gougou’s coy manner and said gently, "Then be a good boy, and we’ll go see Brother Doudou later. But you must come home with Mom when I come back, okay?"

Gougou’s black eyes sparkled as he smiled and showed off his white Xiaomi teeth, "Yes, I’ll be good and come home after playing for a while."

Nanzhi said no more. Over the past half a month, she had only thought about how uneasy she was leaving Gougou at home alone, always taking him wherever she went, and had forgotten that Gougou was at an age where he liked to play with other kids.

Having received his mother’s nod of approval, Gougou sat on the side with his cheeks propped in his hands, looking utterly content, feeling even the large river clam in the wooden basin seemed more pleasing to the eye.

After finally cleaning the water jar, Nanzhi went to the well to draw several buckets of water, stopping only when the jar was half full.

Having fished out all the river shrimp from the wooden bucket and basin and put them into the water jar, Nanzhi finally took a moment to wipe the sweat off her forehead.

With the water jar cleaned, from now on, whenever they caught river shrimp, they could put them directly into the jar to keep them fresh to eat for a few more days. Perhaps letting Gougou touch the water might even make them last longer.

But why did the water in the well seem to be rising? Could it be that the heavens were going to send rain?

Yet the weather didn’t seem to suggest that.

Shaking her head to dispel those thoughts, after tidying the house, Nanzhi took Gougou to the neighbors’.

Liu Grandmother’s house had been renovated a few years back for the Shen Family’s second son’s wedding, so although the courtyard walls and the house had collapsed partially during the recent earthquake, it was still in better shape than those of others.

Now, like everyone else, the entire Shen Family, big and small, was sleeping in tents they had set up in the yard.

Hearing their own courtyard gate being knocked, Liu Grandmother quickly went to open it with an "Ah" of acknowledgment.

Seeing it was Nanzhi, she smiled and beckoned them in to sit for a while.

"Grandma Liu, I’m here to play with Brother Doudou."

Before Nanzhi could speak, Gougou had already piped up, his little hands clasped together, looking a bit nervous.

"Ah, Gougou is here to play with Brother Doudou—come in, come in!" Liu Grandmother’s face beamed with affectionate smiles at Gougou; who wouldn’t like such a well-behaved child?

"Gougou, come quick! I caught a big cicada!" Doudou had been squatting inside playing with a cicada his dad had caught but ran over excitedly upon hearing Gougou had arrived.

"Grandma Liu, thank you. I’ll come back later to pick Gougou up and take him home."

Nanzhi watched as Gougou was led away by Doudou, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"What’s there to be embarrassed about? Just let Gougou have dinner at my place. After dinner, I’ll send him back to you. It’s just a short walk."

With that, she pushed Nanzhi out the door.

"Hey, Auntie, I’ll come back for Gougou in a bit!" Nanzhi touched her nose as she watched the courtyard door close behind her. Was this the first time she had been turned away by Aunt Liu?

Carrying her bucket, Nanzhi headed back towards the river.

In less than half an hour, when Nanzhi picked up the shrimp net again, it was full. If she hadn’t known it was impossible, she might have suspected someone was deliberately stocking the net with shrimp.

Having something to take home, Nanzhi was naturally pleased. She happily gathered the shrimp, hid the nets back among the water grasses, and carried her bucket back home.

The spot was almost a fifteen-minute walk from the edge of the village, which totaled half an hour. The more she walked, the more Nanzhi realized how little she thought about these things daily. Gougou was only a little over three years old, following her around everywhere, and it was no wonder he would get tired.

Thinking of this, Nanzhi felt a pang of tenderness and guilt. If she had to go out to work in the future, it might be better to let Gougou go to Aunt Liu’s house to play with Doudou and bring something over herself, so as not to trouble them.

As the day grew warmer and darkened, Nanzhi arrived at Aunt Liu’s door.

"Aunt Liu, I’ve come back to pick up Gougou!"

Inside the courtyard, the overjoyed Gougou heard Nanzhi’s voice and immediately got up, thumping towards the door to open it.

"Mom’s here."

Seeing Gougou’s excited expression, Aunt Liu felt amused and pretended to put on an angry face, asking, "Does Gougou not like staying at Grandma Liu’s? Grandma Liu is mad!"

Gougou, who was about to open the door, paused, looked at Aunt Liu with blinking eyes, and said, "Gougou loves Grandma Liu, but Mom has come to pick me up, so I have to go home now!"

Watching Gougou looking at her with big, expectant eyes, Aunt Liu’s heart melted, and she gently pinched his little face. "Gougou is such a good child."

Outside, Nanzhi was wondering why the door wasn’t being opened, when she heard the courtyard door creak open.

"Mom, Gougou missed you." Gougou launched into Nanzhi’s arms, startling her so she didn’t dare move, afraid of touching the injury on his chin.

"Be careful," Nanzhi chuckled softly and then looked at Aunt Liu, who seemed envious, and said, "Aunt Liu, bring something over, and I will give you some fresh treats."

Aunt Liu waved her hands dismissively. "What should I bring? Just keep it for Gougou to eat."

"Auntie, why be so formal with me?"

Gougou obediently stood aside, and once Nanzhi had both legs free, she was about to carry the bucket inside when Aunt Liu didn’t say anything further and just shut the door.

Nanzhi felt a warm breeze pass over the tip of her nose, and by the time she realized it, she had been locked out again.

She couldn’t help but be surprised; this was the second time today that Aunt Liu had locked her out.

Nanzhi glanced at Gougou, who was clutching the hem of her clothes with a look of excitement, and then at the river shrimp jumping in the bucket, feeling somewhat downtrodden. Well, she thought, she might as well cook the shrimp and bring a bowl to Aunt Liu tomorrow.

"What did you and Brother Doudou play today, Gougou?"

Upon hearing his mother’s question, Gougou let go of the hem of her clothing and started counting on his little fingers. "Brother Doudou caught a really big cicada, and we watched it crawl on the ground – it was so loud! We also watched the little ants fighting..."

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