Fishing and Hunting 82, Starting with Three Sisters Who Overprotect Their Brothers

"Alright!"

Zhang Wenshan shrugged, said nothing more, and silently followed behind his third sister.

The original owner had a long history of misdeeds, and no amount of explanation would help; let the facts speak for themselves.

Just then, Zhang Wenhui suddenly slowed down, turned her head, and squinted at him, looking him up and down.

"Something's not right with you," she said firmly, her voice tinged with suspicion.

"Huh?" Zhang Wenshan looked confused. What's wrong now?

"For the first time ever, they came to pick me up, and didn't ask for anything or money." Zhang Wenhui's eyes flashed with a detective-like sharpness. "Are you in trouble again, making me plead for you?"

"Can't I just study well?" Zhang Wenshan shrugged helplessly.

"You, you've turned over a new leaf?" Zhang Wenhui scoffed as if she'd heard the biggest joke in the world. "I've never seen a gambler turn over a new leaf."

Zhang Wenshan was speechless.

You can't exactly say, "Dude, you changed the core, can you?"

The two walked back to the village in silence.

The dirt road was muddy and slippery after the rain, and groups of two or three people were chatting.

"The grass is sprouting after the rain; we'll be busy tomorrow."

"I'm not afraid of a little grass growing, I'm afraid of disease."

"Hey, Shanzi!" someone called out, "Li Dong got bitten by a snake, aren't you going to check on him?"

Zhang Wenhui instantly looked at her younger brother with suspicion.

Based on past experience, this kid will most likely run off there eagerly and not come back all night.

They might even have to take some things from home.

"What does this have to do with me?" Zhang Wenshan frowned slightly, his tone indifferent.

"Didn't you catch a pheasant and take it home? Li Dongxun also went to the educated youth settlement, and got bitten by a snake."

Zhang Wenhui's eyes widened in surprise.

Did you catch a pheasant?

Did you run into Li Dong and not eat with him, and even take the food home?

Is this referring to the younger brother?

"..."

Zhang Wenshan was so angry he laughed. Just as he was about to speak, a loud and sharp voice rang out from the crowd.

"Shut up, all of you. You just want to stir up trouble, don't you? Li Dong brought this on himself, why blame others?"

"Shanzi said he's not associating with Li Dong anymore and won't gamble anymore, are you all deaf?"

Zhang Wenshan recognized the fierce woman who stood with her hands on her hips, silencing all the men, as the brigade leader's wife, who was related to his mother.

"It's my aunt, I won't play anymore."

He immediately expressed his opinion loudly.

"I, Zhang Wenshan, keep my word. I will absolutely not play this game again! No one can persuade me to!"

Real relatives are reliable!

If we don't distance ourselves from the situation, who knows what kind of rumors will spread, just like my brother-in-law back then, everyone said he was mute when he gave birth.

His parents died without seeing their son get married, passing away with regret.

Nobody knows where the source is, and there's nowhere to reason with them.

"Okay, let's go home."

The aunt waved goodbye and left without a trace.

Zhang Wenshan took a couple of steps and noticed his third sister standing still, staring intently at him. He immediately burst out laughing: "What's wrong?"

"fine."

Zhang Wenhui followed with her head down, without saying another word.

It wasn't until I got home and saw the two large pieces of chicken in the bowl that I was surprised and spoke up.

"Was that saved for me?"

"Of course, we've all eaten," Zhang Wenshan said with a mischievous grin. "Come and try our mother's cooking."

Zhang Wenhui took a sip of chicken soup, her eyebrows twitching involuntarily: "Mom's cooking is so good, no one in our village can compare."

"Always causing trouble." Xu Xiulian rolled her eyes at her son. "It was your younger brother who did it. He used a huge spoonful of lard, he..."

"Oh, I'm going to lie down for a while."

Seeing that his mother was about to start chanting scriptures again, Zhang Wenshan hurriedly made an excuse to slip into the house. He was thinking of planning his next move, but soon his eyelids became heavy and he fell asleep.

……

Summer days in Northeast China reach their peak length.

It wasn't until 7:30 p.m. that the sky completely darkened. When Zhang Jianshe led his daughter and son-in-law into the house, the table was already set with food.

"Third brother, have you tried the chicken soup?"

As soon as the eldest sister, Zhang Fengxia, entered the room, she couldn't wait to ask questions, her face full of pride.

"Hmm, did you catch any toads?"

Zhang Wenhui looked somewhat dazed; her mother's words seemed unreal to her.

"Fourth brother said to just leave it there and we'll talk about it tomorrow morning." Zhang Fengxia yawned and asked, "Where is he?"

"She's asleep." Xu Xiulian looked at the small house, her face full of heartache. "I can't wake her up."

"Do more work and..."

Zhang Jianshe habitually wanted to say something derogatory, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the three women cast unfriendly glances at him, so he could only lower his head dejectedly.

"Let's eat! Let's eat!"

……

The next day, it was dawn.

Zhang Wenshan was woken up by the aches and pains all over his body.

The original owner of this body was always lazy and loved to eat, and suddenly the intensity was too much for him. There was a constant clanging and banging outside, and his family had already started to get busy.

He gritted his teeth, crawled out of bed, folded the bedding, put on his shoes, and went to the outer room.

"Why didn't you sleep a little longer?" Xu Xiulian felt heartbroken when she saw her son rubbing his eyes, looking like he hadn't woken up yet.

"It's alright, just wash your face." Zhang Wenshan walked to the large water vat and scooped up a ladle of cold water.

This was drawn back from the public well by my father early in the morning; it was chilling to the bone.

He reached his hand into the enamel basin printed with the Double Happiness symbol.

The cool sensation instantly invigorated him. He looked at the handmade soap next to him, sighed, and picked it up anyway. After washing his face, he felt his entire face was tightly stretched together.

I feel very uncomfortable.

"The cheapest bar of soap costs more than 30 cents, and shampoo costs more than a dollar."

When Zhang Wenshan thought about the price, the pain all over his body lessened a bit.

The crumbling house, the uncomfortable kang (heated brick bed), the debt-ridden family, the terrible food—I couldn't live like this for even a day.

We need to make money, and we must make money as soon as possible.

After breakfast, the whole family headed straight for the mountain. No one spoke along the way, but their steps were filled with urgency.

My nephew took the lead and headed straight for the net.

"Toads, so many toads!"

Zhao Qiang jumped up excitedly and waved repeatedly.

Zhang Fengxia quickly ran over and covered her son's mouth, scolding him in a low voice, "You brat, what are you yelling about? Do you want everyone to know?"

"There must be more than twenty, right?" Zhang Wenhui followed closely behind, her gaze sweeping over the deep pit, and she gasped.

The room was teeming with toads, their backs gray with yellow spots, which were now listlessly huddled on the leaves, occasionally puffing out their cheeks.

"Husband, this method is really good. It won't interfere with the work in the fields." Xu Xiulian looked at her son, her eyes full of praise and satisfaction.

Zhang Jianshe couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Catching frogs is easy; just dig the pond, and you can wait to count your money every autumn.

Having skills is still a good thing!

It's a pity that this scoundrel didn't even let his master receive any tribute, and didn't even say a word when the old man passed away.

How can you do things like this?

"Not that many."

Zhang Wenshan calmly squatted down by the pit, took out two long wooden sticks that he had sharpened beforehand, and began to pick and choose.

"Small ones won't survive."

In the blink of an eye, only about ten frogs remained in the pit. The family members felt sorry for them and wanted to dissuade them, but they dared not.

Zhang Wenshan also found it strange.

Logically, the quantity shouldn't be this small. Could there be a problem with the equipment?

Just then, my nephew Zhao Qiang suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

"Fish, so many fish!"