Chapter 183: A Laidback Hunt (II)
Han Ruochen walked over to the third cage and pulled it up. However, unlike the other two cages, this one was empty. Seeing this many villagers couldn’t help but chuckle. While some were laughing just for fun, there were indeed some who were gloating at the sight of the empty cage. Han Ruochen pursed her lips when she heard the villagers laughing at her. She silently wondered if these people even remembered that they too were in the same situation as her just a few hours ago.
However, she had no intention of getting into a quarrel with the villagers. She turned her attention to the fourth crab cage and unfortunately for her, even this cage turned out to be empty. This time around the laughter turned even louder and someone remarked, "It seems like Han Ruochen’s luck has run out."
Hearing the remark, Han Ruochen simply smiled and did not say anything. She simply turned on her feet and walked toward the fifth cage; behind her, Zhai Heng glared at the man who made that nasty remark, as he disliked anyone mocking Han Ruochen. His glare was so intense that the entire crowd that was laughing at Han Ruochen turned silent.
Only then did Zhai Heng snort in satisfaction and follow after Han Ruochen. He said to Han Ruochen, "Why are you not saying anything? Even if your cages turned empty, you still earned more than them, what is the point of laughing at you? Who do they think they are?"
Zhai Heng was still young after all; he couldn’t control his temper at all at that very moment. Han Ruochen, on the other hand, was calm. She simply stated in a collected voice, "There is no need to get angry."
"But!"
"Why are you so angry when you know why they are laughing at me?" Han Ruochen questioned with a raise of her brow.
When Zhai Heng looked at her with confusion in his eyes, she explained helplessly, "They are simply jealous. Because they cannot catch as many fish as me, they are upset and when people are not happy they will take it out on someone else. In this case, it is me. So there is no need to get angry." Han Ruochen did not think that there was anything wrong with the villagers laughing at her, compared to the past, where she was mocked and insulted for being a vixen and a slut, this was nothing. In fact, she felt that it was much better than what she went through in the past.
Zhai Heng did not know what she had gone through so naturally he had no idea why Han Ruochen was so calm when she was being treated in such a manner; he could only purse his lips and follow after Han Ruochen quietly.
When they arrived at the sixth crab cage, Han Ruochen saw that there was something thrashing inside of it. She did not see what it was clearly because the thing was moving too hard. She frowned a little before pulling the crab cage up to the shore.
As soon as she pulled the crab cage out of the water, someone exclaimed behind her. "Is that an earth grouper!?"
Everyone knew that the earth grouper was really delicious and could be sold for more than a thousand yuan. Seeing the thrashing earth grouper in the crab cage, the villagers were all amazed. They all looked at the crab cage with awe as they praised Han Ruochen.
"What kind of luck is this? She can actually catch a grouper with a crab cage!"
"Han Ruochen, tell us the truth. Was this crab cage blessed by a priest or something? How can you catch such a thing from just a crab cage alone?"
Han Ruochen was speechless. How could she take a crab cage and have it blessed by someone? A priest would chase her away with a broom if she were to do such a thing. Looking at the crowd that had surrounded her, she felt a bit helpless. She should have stayed at home and collected the crab cage at night; that way, she would have been able to do it without being watched by so many people. They were looking at her as if she were a celebrity.
Being watched by so many people made Han Ruochen uncomfortable, as she had lived her past life in close scrutiny. Her mother-in-law was worried that Han Ruochen would run away after being schemed against so badly by the Yang family, so she would always keep an eye on her. That feeling of being stared at as if she were a criminal – it was something that Han Ruochen might never be able to get used to at all.
She sucked in a breath and told herself that there was no need to think too much. She was not locked up and she was not staying at the Yang family like a dog that had been bullied by its master. She was free and there was nothing that was going to stop her now.
With a grand procession following her, Han Ruochen pulled her sixth crab cage. Inside this crab cage, the things were not quite astonishing. There was only a pair of white pomfret. They could be sold for fifty yuan per catty but given that Han Ruochen had captured an earth grouper, they did not make a loud splash.
Anyway, Han Ruochen did not want to sell this white promfret and was going to cook it for her younger brother. There was no point in capturing so much seafood when she couldn’t even give the desired nutrition to her family, her younger brother was severly malnourished thanks to her mother’s care. So as his elder sister, she had no other choice but to take care of Han Beijiang.
Han Ruochen walked to the last spot and pulled the last cage that had caught more than three blue crabs. One of the legs of the large crab was broken, which made it impossible to sell. Han Ruochen simply placed it in the bucket which she was going to take home and poured the rest down in Tong Zhaodi’s bucket. Today’s hunt should at most amount to two thousand yuan.
