Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation-Chapter 697 - 425: Catching Loaches and Buying Loaches_2

His white T-shirt remained immaculate, contrasting vividly with his surroundings.

Xue Chuchu’s lips tightened slightly as her gaze passed over Jiang Ning and settled on the distant sky. "The clouds up there are oddly shaped, like a rabbit."

Time passed, and after about fifteen minutes, the water level in the small puddle dropped quickly, just barely covering their ankles.

With the naked eye, one could even faintly make out the shadows of loaches in the water.

Jiang Ning placed a bucket near the puddle, bent down, and scooped up the loach he had released earlier.

"We’re good," Jiang Ning said.

Xue Yuantong happily took off her sandals and stepped into the puddle, her feet immediately sinking into the soft mud.

She slipped a little, shivered with a "sliiick," and Xue Chuchu hastily grabbed hold of her.

Stabilizing herself, Xue Yuantong immediately forgot the danger she had just faced. Her eyes were now solely on the loaches!

Xue Yuantong had excellent vision. She locked onto a loach that was lying still, swooped down with her hands, and grasped it with incredible speed.

Her smile had just appeared when, the next second, the loach wriggled free from her grasp with agile movements.

"It’s too slippery!" Impossible to hold on to!

Xue Yuantong felt as if the loach had no friction at all.

Xue Chuchu tried a couple of times, not going for a direct grab, but instead slowly inserted her hands into the mud.

Tongtong watched with bated breath, so tense she dared not breathe too loudly for fear of startling the loaches.

As Xue Chuchu’s hands came together, she trapped a loach in her palm, where it twisted and squirmed.

She tossed the loach into the bucket, which already had a few others in it.

Without Tongtong needing to ask, Xue Chuchu started to share her techniques for catching loaches, such as staying calm, breathing evenly, and having quick hands and eyes.

In truth, Jiang Ning was even more skilled at catching loaches, able to snatch them singly with one hand, each grab precise.

However, his method wasn’t something that could be learned in a day or two.

Xue Yuantong humbly learned from her, and with Xue Chuchu helping her find targets, after several attempts, Xue Yuantong succeeded in catching a slippery loach.

She smiled slowly, clenching the loach in her palm, feeling its squirming vitality.

Standing in the muddy water, her delicate face splattered with a few drops of mud, Xue Yuantong laughed a silly, tinkling laugh.

"Jiang Ning, Jiang Ning, look! I caught one!"

To have captured such a slippery little creature in her hand, Xue Yuantong’s sense of accomplishment exploded, making her want to boast to everyone she knew:

"I, Xue Yuantong, caught a loach with my bare hands!"

Xue Chuchu found herself influenced by her silliness, a smile budding at the corners of her mouth.

She turned, lifted her head, and saw, dozens of meters away by the river dam, figures moving about, people parking their cars, looking this way, others setting up stalls to sell goods.

The slanting rays of the setting sun spread tranquility over the human landscape, a scene deeply imprinted in Xue Chuchu’s heart.

...

A black Volkswagen drove onto the river dam.

Wei Zishan and Li Shi, in the back seat, looked through the car window at the passing fields and rivers.

"The view’s not bad, better than in the urban area," commented Wei Zishan. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

Li Shi replied, "The more secluded places often have nicer scenery."

Compared to living by the river dam with all its inconveniences, Li Shi preferred staying in her family’s detached villa, which had beautiful views and was situated next to Hu Qi Mountain.

Even though the Volkswagen wasn’t traveling fast, it didn’t take long to cover the kilometer or two of road, with Wei Zishan constantly scanning the scenes outside the window.

Sure enough, she saw a row of bungalows and muttered to herself, "So this is where they live."

On the other hand, Li Shi, whose gaze had been casual, suddenly tensed as she saw two familiar figures, the difference in their heights bringing Jiang Ning and Xue Yuantong to mind.

"Uncle, stop the car," said Li Shi.

Wei Zishan looked puzzled. "Shishi?"

Stepping out, Li Shi walked to the edge of the tarmac on the river dam and peered into the distance, indeed seeing Jiang Ning.

"Look, isn’t that the person you’re looking for?"

Wei Zishan glanced. "Indeed, it is. What are they doing in the water?"

Li Shi speculated, "They seem to be fishing. They know how to have fun."

"Let’s go down and find him," decided Wei Zishan. Recalling how Jiang Ning had brushed her off today and even enticed her to send photos, she felt a surge of annoyance and was determined to confront him.

After deciding, the two women made their way down the steep dam, crossed a stretch of dry stream, and approached where Jiang Ning was.

Jiang Ning, with his Divine Sense, had already noticed them. Xue Chuchu and Xue Yuantong noticed as well, but they didn’t pay much attention.

Wei Zishan’s anger grew as she approached the puddle.

She glared at Jiang Ning, who was catching loaches, and stood on the bank to question him, "You..."

Wei Zishan spat out a word and immediately got stuck because she realized she didn’t know what reason to use.

"What are you doing?" Wei Zishan asked.

Li Shi disdainfully swept a glance over Xue Yuantong and another beautiful girl. Unfortunately, such a pretty girl was fishing in muddy water, completely unaware of how to cherish herself.

Xue Yuantong recognized Li Shi, and as for the other girl with the grayish-white braids, she seemed familiar but dared not to confirm.

"We’re catching loaches," Xue Yuantong flaunted while holding a loach.

Wei Zishan frowned and took two steps back. Xue Yuantong noticed her disdain, and her eyes dimmed a bit. Then she heard Chuchu say, "Jiang Ning, it feels like there aren’t many loaches left."

Jiang Ning threw the loaches in his hand into the bucket. With a sweep of his Divine Sense, there were thirty to forty loaches in the bucket, weighing two taels, not in vain as he had forced all the loaches out of the mud.

"Okay, let’s call it a day," Jiang Ning said, knowing that Tongtong and Xue Chuchu felt uncomfortable being watched by onlookers.

He pulled up his slippers and stepped out of the puddle, reaching out to help Tongtong.

With strangers around, Xue Yuantong grew much quieter, keeping her joy deep inside.

Wei Zishan took the chance to glance at the loaches in the bucket, wanting to take a better look, but that little girl hid the bucket by her side...

Wei Zishan cursed inwardly.

Seeing that Jiang Ning was unresponsive, Li Shi took the initiative to say, "The loaches are fetching a good price right now, these could sell for a few dozen."

"If you’re willing to sell, I can take them off your hands," Li Shi said with a sense of superiority.

Once, she had gone to the countryside with her father and uncle, they bought sheep from the farmers. Once the money was right, they would sell immediately, with incredibly pleasing attitudes.

Li Shi could take this opportunity to let Wei Zishan see the gap between Jiang Ning and them.

"I’m willing to pay extra. You can sell me the bucket too," Li Shi considered thoroughly.

Jiang Ning didn’t pay any attention to her and walked right past her, leaving a question behind,

"What makes you think I would sell?"

Xue Yuantong followed behind Jiang Ning like his most loyal little follower.

Xue Chuchu added, "We’re planning to eat them ourselves."

She, unlike Tongtong who was always silly, was sensible and perceptive. Xue Chuchu clearly judged the intentions of the two girls.

Wei Zishan and Li Shi watched as the three walked away.

Li Shi’s complexion wasn’t very good, "Fine, if they don’t sell, it’s their loss. Let them do as they please."

Wei Zishan scratched her head, feeling at a loss. She couldn’t find Jiang Ning’s weakness. Unlike the men she used to flirt with before, who’d come at her like panting dogs as soon as she tempted them.

But Jiang Ning was different, showing no initiative whatsoever, so she didn’t know how to proceed with the next step.

For the first time, Wei Zishan understood the difficulty and challenges ordinary men faced when seeking a mate.

...

Xue Yuantong quickly forgot about the incident and considered the seasonings at home, scallions, garlic, etc., hmm, not much ginger left.

And for stewing loaches, ginger is best.

"Chuchu, do you have any ginger at home?" Xue Yuantong asked.

Xue Chuchu: "I only have a little bit at home, ginger has been too expensive recently to buy much."

"Yes, last time my mom said that ginger in the urban market was selling for eight yuan a tael, it’s gone up several times," Xue Yuantong said, surprised.

"Yeah, last year ginger sold too cheaply, many people stopped growing it, and today it suddenly skyrocketed." Xue Chuchu watched the news and was informed of the reason.

"Let’s check the river dam to see if they have any for sale," Xue Yuantong said.

As they spoke, they carried the bucket to the river dam. Xue Yuantong’s face was still muddy, and her clothes were also quite dirty. With the bucket in tow, passersby could tell they had been catching loaches.

One by one, they clicked their tongues in wonder, as it was rare to catch loaches these days.

Beside the river dam, there was a vegetable stall, with a tarp laid out with vegetables such as lettuce, scallions, tomatoes, and ginger.

Xue Yuantong touched the ginger and asked the stall owner, "How much per tael?"

The old man said, "Ginger’s selling for a high price now, nine yuan a tael."

This price was on par with pork.

Hearing the price, Xue Yuantong felt a twinge in her heart, but ginger was essential for cooking loaches.

She picked a few pieces and put them on the digital scale to weigh, a tad over a tael.

Jiang Ning let his Divine Sense wander over, noticing there was something fishy about the digital scale.