Chapter 112: Failed In Pestering
"What are you two doing here?" Old Madam Han asked with a frown on her face. It was already so late in the night; what were these two women doing out on the beach at this hour? Especially Han Ruochen – could she not see how good-looking she was? If someone from the village saw her alone on the beach and some evil thought started to arise in their head, what would happen to her granddaughter?
She was about to scold the two of them, but as if sensing that her grandmother was about to scold her, Han Ruochen immediately said to her, "Grandma, help us. We have collected at least thirty jin of sea urchins. They were washed ashore by the high tide."
As she spoke, she pushed the buckets inside for Old Madam Han to see.
When Old Madam Han saw the sea urchins in the buckets, she was stunned. She didn’t expect Han Ruochen to find so many sea urchins and immediately pulled the two buckets inside the house, while Han Ruochen helped Tong Zhaodi carry the buckets inside the house.
Second Uncle Han also heard the noise and hurried out of the house. When he saw the four buckets full of sea urchins, his eyes widened in surprise. "Ruochen, are you a sea nymph? How come you caught so many sea urchins?" These things were not rare for him, as he had seen many villagers catching these urchins, but he had never seen so many sea urchins caught by the same person. There must be more than thirty jins! What did Han Ruochen do at the beach? Did she dig all over the shore or what?
"Shut up! What do you mean by ’sea nymph?" snapped Old Madam Han as she hurriedly closed the door. She glanced around to make sure that there was no one eavesdropping. Even if Han Ruochen had done nothing wrong, she had attracted quite a lot of envy these days; if someone heard the nonsensical words of her son, then who knows what might happen?
She glared at Second Uncle Han and said to him, "Do you even know what you are saying? If someone hears you, then there will be chaos all over the place."
The last thing she needed was for someone to start calling her precious granddaughter a sea nymph. The last time it happened, the woman who was rumoured to be a sea nymph was sent to the sea and ended up getting swallowed by the furious waves. She didn’t want her granddaughter to be sacrificed as well.
What if someone hears her son’s words and something happens to her?
Second Uncle Han’s expression turned sheepish. He lowered his head and apologised, "I am sorry, Mom. I was just thinking about how it was possible for Ruochen to get so many of the sea urchins and nothing else."
He also realised that he had misspoken and turned to look at Han Ruochen before saying to her, "Ruochen, I am sorry. I didn’t mean any harm."
"It’s okay, second uncle. I didn’t take it seriously," said Han Ruochen with a smile on her lips. She then said to her grandmother, "Grandma, can you help us separate the sea urchins? I will take the broken one with me and keep the rest for my second uncle to sell tomorrow."
When Old Madam Han heard that she was here to separate the sea urchins, she immediately asked her daughter-in-law and son to start working. Soon, they separated the sea urchins. In comparison, the thirty jins of sea urchins were really good, while the other ten jins were broken.
Han Ruochen quickly took two kilograms, while Old Madam Han kept the remaining two and separated the last one kilogram for Tong Zhaodi. Tong Zhaodi didn’t refuse. When she saw the orange and yellowish roe inside the sea urchin, she could not refuse even if she wanted to.
Since Han Ruochen was done with the night’s work, she decided to go back home, but just as she turned around on her feet, she heard her grandmother stop her. "Ruochen, try not to go out for a few days. There will be a storm coming; try to be careful, alright?"
Han Ruochen nodded after hearing her grandmother’s words. She agreed with her grandmother. "Don’t worry grandma, I will not go out if the storm is too intense."
Only then did Old Madam Han hanging heart calm down. She was worried that Han Ruochen, for the sake of earning the lost savings, might end up going outside and hunting for more seafood. She didn’t want Han Ruochen to take unnecessary risks for a mistake that she had not committed. It was Meng Yunhan’s fault that the family had lost decades of savings. Since that was the case, the one who should be looking for a solution was her daughter-in-law. Why should Han Ruochen be the one to make up for the savings that had been used by just one person alone?
Han Ruochen then bid her grandmother goodbye and took her leave before turning on her feet and heading back home.
When she arrived at the small house, she snuck inside and went back home. Of course, when she returned, Han Ziyan was still asleep. Looking at Han Ziyan’s sleepy form, Han Ruochen shook her head. She snuck inside the bed and closed her eyes before going to sleep.
The next morning, when Han Ziyan woke up, it was already daytime, and Han Ruochen was nowhere to be found. Han Ziyan stared at the bedside, which was empty, and her eyes turned wide with anxiety. She jumped out of bed and ran out of the bedroom. "Mom, Mom! Where is Sister Chen?"
Meng Yunhan, who was glaring at the laundry room’s door, turned and looked behind her when she heard her daughter’s yell. "What happened? Why are you screaming?"
"Mom, where is Sister Chen?"
"Ruochen? Why are you asking about her? It’s already past noon. She woke up at eight, prepared breakfast and took that fool with her to god knows where. She didn’t even prepare breakfast for me." Her tone sounded both forced and angry.
