It was right to not tell Qian Jiyun about herself and the two little ones. If Qian Jiyun took the two children back with him, how would they live with a stepmother like Xue Ling?
That woman could be ruthless to Qian Yiyun—let alone the two children!
…
After asking Qian Yiyun to stay home with the four children, An Jiuyue went into the mountains to reclaim land again in the afternoon. When she returned home at night, she saw Qian Yiyun gutting a fish under the tree.
“Where did the fish come from?” she asked, approaching her.
“I caught it,” Qian Yiyun looked up at her and replied.
“An auntie from the village came by today to ask you to catch some fish in the fields at the foot of the mountain. You weren’t around, so I went. I caught several fish! I placed them all in the vat. Sister Jiuyue, can you rear fishes in that vat?”
An Jiuyue looked in the direction she was pointing at. It was the water vat that she used to collect rainwater.
“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”
“Wait, you went to catch fish? Are all the villagers catching fish?” she asked Qian Yiyun.
“Yeah, they were all catching fishes.” Qian Yiyun nodded.
There were not many live animals in the village now, and the villagers did not dare to touch the corpses of the poultry. However, the fishes were still alive.
“I only caught 23 fishes. I wanted to catch more, but I was a little embarrassed. I heard that the fields at the foot of the mountain belong to other families. However, the aunties told me to go again tomorrow. Sister Jiuyue, I’ll catch more tomorrow.”
Catching fish was her forte! She was not afraid of shallow waters and was only caught in the flood this time because it occurred so quickly and swept everyone away.
An Jiuyue was silent.
You caught 23 fishes, and that’s still not enough? You want to catch even more?
I reckon you can’t do much besides eating. These many fishes are considered little to you?
“There’s enough fishes. Gut the fish well, and I’ll cook braised fish for you.”
“Okay!” Qian Yiyun nodded.
“Sister Jiuyue, Aunt Ju asks you to catch some fish tomorrow. There’s nothing else in the fields, but there’s plenty of fish everywhere. Everyone was saying that eating the fish could sustain us for many days.
“But Aunt Ju told me secretly to ask you if the fishes are edible? But we have no choice either, right?”
There was no more food after the flood, so it was good that they could catch some fish to eat. They could also harvest some wild vegetables in the mountains to survive.
However, no one knew how many days they could survive like that. After all, they would not be able to grow and harvest grain anytime soon.
“Let’s talk about this tomorrow. I’ll descend the mountain tomorrow and talk to them myself,” An Jiuyue replied and went upstairs.
She definitely had enough food here. She had no intentions of snatching food from the villagers initially, but she wanted to remind them that they should only catch live fish.
“Master, are you going to catch fish?”
An Jiuyue heard Wei Na’s soft voice in her head after she returned to her room.
“Can’t I?” An Jiuyue retorted.
What’s wrong with catching fish? I can rear them in my space.
“You can, but… Master, we don’t have many points left, right?” Wei Na reminded with a trembling voice.
Does Master want to exchange the wild boars for points in the Points Mall again? If she does that, we won’t be able to survive anymore. It’s very difficult to make ends meet here.