Water Ghost, God Hunter, Immortal Healer, and the Great Xia's Number One Martial Saint!

"Why haven't you gone home for dinner yet after fishing for so long?"

At the East Pond in Peach Blossom Village, Zhang Cui, dressed in a cool summer floral dress, walked outside the pond and called out softly into it, her voice as clear and melodious as a lark's.

As she spoke, she walked forward with her slender, watery body. After only a few steps, she saw the six baskets of fish beside Li Xingdao and her eyes widened immediately: "Wow, how come there are so many fish?"

"Hehe, Zhang Cui, I promised Li Gou and Xiao Hua that the fish they caught in the afternoon would be theirs, and the fish they caught in the morning would be ours, so I caught a lot of fish this morning using three rods."

When Li Xingdao saw Zhang Cui coming over, a simple and honest smile instantly appeared on his face, and he spoke to her as if to ask for credit.

After speaking, he glanced at Li Xiaohua, who was watching him with a smile, out of the corner of his eye, and a thought struck him.

Then his gaze fell on Zhang Cui, who was gentle and kind, and he suddenly stepped forward and hugged her tightly.

"Zhang Cui, I've been fishing under this sun all morning, I've missed you so much."

As Li Xingdao spoke impatiently, his hands embraced Zhang Cui.

Zhang Cui hesitated for a moment, but since he was now the head of the household, he didn't make any big moves.

They only tidied their clothes after Li Xingdao stopped.

"Idiot, don't you know where you are... messing around like this."

Zhang Cui took a deep breath, straightened her clothes which were crumpled into a big ball, and spoke to Li Xingdao in a coquettish tone. As soon as she finished speaking, she couldn't help but angrily reach out and slap his shoulder.

"Zhang Cui, I just miss you."

Before Zhang Cui's hand could fall, Li Xingdao grabbed it and said something in a simple and honest tone.

Then he hugged Zhang Cui, who hadn't even caught her breath, and they became affectionate.

Li Xiaohua, standing to the side, was stunned. She stared wide-eyed at Zhang Cui in Li Xingdao's arms, feeling her heart pound and her whole body go limp.

"Alright, alright, it's so hot today, let's go home first, I'll cook for you when we get home..."

Zhang Cui's cheeks were pressed tightly together, and she kept speaking during the brief moments when Li Xingdao was kissing her cheek and was not paying attention.

"Mua~"

Upon hearing this, Li Xingdao kissed Zhang Cui again, deliberately making a sound, before nodding and speaking with a grin:

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you. Let's go back and eat, let's go back and eat. But we have so much fish and meat, it'll be too slow for just the two of us to carry it all back. How about we ask Li Yigou and Xiaohua to help us carry it?"

"You idiot, how long can all these fish you caught last? Even if you make them into dried fish, they won't taste as good as freshly caught fish!"

Zhang Cui took a deep breath to ease the feeling of weakness in her legs, wiped her mouth, rolled her eyes at Li Xingdao, and spoke.

Upon hearing these words, Li Xingdao immediately froze on the spot.

"Oh yeah, dried fish doesn't taste as good as fresh fish!"

Li Xingdao slapped his forehead, suddenly realizing something, and then shook his head:

"But we've already told Li Xiaohua and Li Gou that we'll help them fish for another afternoon and then divide the catch among their families. Or we could take these fish back and eat a couple more each day."

"Little Flower, why are you here today? Why isn't it your mother?"

Zhang Cui rolled her eyes at Li Xingdao, ignored him, straightened her clothes, turned to look at Li Xiaohua, and spoke with concern.

"Second Aunt, it's like this, my mother pricked her foot when she went into the mountains to chop firewood, and now she can't walk at home, so she had to send me. My father said to get more fish for my mother to eat to help her recover."

Hearing Zhang Cui's words, Li Xiaohua finally snapped out of her stunned state. Her gaze shifted from Li Xingdao, and she hurriedly spoke to Zhang Cui, who was still tidying her clothes.

"Your mother hurt her foot? Sigh, life is really tough these days."

Hearing Li Xiaohua's words, Zhang Cui frowned, sighed heavily, and finally straightened the clothes that Li Xingdao had torn apart. She then frowned and looked at Li Xiaohua:

"Okay then, we'll divide these five baskets of fish among the three families. Don't let that simpleton come fishing this afternoon. Two of our families have sick members, so we'll take more—three baskets each. The remaining half basket is for your uncle's family, and Li Gouwan will take it back with him."

"Okay, I'll listen to Second Aunt."

Li Xiaohua nodded repeatedly.

Upon hearing this, Li Xingdao was immediately displeased and wanted to say something, but Zhang Cui glared at him and tugged at his ear to make him stop talking.

"If you divide it like this, there are so many fish. How much salt would it take to pickle and dry them? They would all go bad if you just left them at home."

Zhang Cui spoke decisively, then looked helplessly at the remaining three baskets of fish and sighed.

Then he carried a basket on his back, and had Li Xingdao carry another basket. Then the two of them carried another basket.

"Xiaohua, you wait here. After our second aunt takes the fish back first, we'll have Li Xingdao come and help you carry it."

Zhang Cui said something to Li Xiaohua again, then casually patted Li Xingdao's hand, which was still rubbing her buttocks, and carried the fish home.

Li Xiaohua nodded without saying anything.

However, the delicate young girl's body trembled slightly as she watched Li Xingdao carrying the fish and walking back with Zhang Cui. Her cheeks were still a little hot, and her wide eyes were fixed on Li Xingdao.

……

"Auntie, I caught so many fish today, can you give me a couple more for breakfast this morning?"

Li Xingdao, carrying the fish basket with Zhang Cui, did not turn around to pay attention to Li Xiaohua as they walked. Instead, he smiled and spoke to Zhang Cui as they walked.

"Okay, I'll cook five fish for you today. With so many fish, I don't know how much salt I'll need to marinate them."

Hearing Li Xingdao's voice, Zhang Cui spoke with a hint of helplessness, looking at the three baskets of fish with a mixture of joy and heartache.

"It's alright, Auntie. We can just hang them up to dry without salt, it'll be the same."

Li Xingdao spoke with a broad smile, licking his lips, his face showing a hint of eagerness. As he walked, something occurred to him, and he couldn't help but speak with a slight flutter of excitement:

"Auntie, I went fishing this morning, and it was really fun! How about I take care of all the fish that our uncles and aunts want to eat, and I'll fish here every day from now on?"

Li Xingdao's voice was tinged with probing.

Zhang Cui rolled her eyes at him: "You've really got into this, haven't you? You can't cook fish every day. At home, if you need a few, you can just cast a net and catch them yourself. Why would you need to fish?"

"I just wanted to go fishing."

Upon hearing this, Li Xingdao spoke with a hint of grievance on his honest face.

But he also knew in his heart that in this place where resources were scarce, it would be difficult to let him fish at will.

Even if you have fishponds, these landlords are very frugal, at most one fish every three days or one fish every two days.

Even the fish he's caught right now will probably keep him from fishing for a long time.

This made him sigh.

He knew, of course, that if he fished slowly, he could increase the number of times he could fish. So, with limited resources, no matter how many fish he caught at once, the total amount of experience points he would gain would be the same.

However, there is a reality that must be mentioned: in about half a month, it will be the harvest season.

Why was Li Lai willing to form a gang?

Isn't it just because there's no one to farm the land?

We need him, this strong laborer, to do the most important work of harvesting and planting the land.

But if he actually does the job, things could get even more unsettling.

As for the matter of arranging for Zhang Cui to have a child.

Li Lai also has his own brothers...