Chapter 457: Chapter 453: Sought After
Chen Shulan’s face was swollen, and she’d bitten the inside of her mouth. Gu Jiaojiao had even ripped out a small clump of her hair. With her face smeared with tears and mud, she looked absolutely wretched.
To make matters worse, no one around paid her any mind. After crying on the ground for a bit, Chen Shulan picked herself up and scurried away in disgrace.
After the vicious beating from Gu Jiaojiao, Chen Shulan was filled with both hatred and fear.
Meanwhile, Sun Yeshu pulled Auntie Sun aside and violently shook off her mother’s arm.
"Mom, what was that all about? Why on earth would you claim Second Brother was beaten to death by Leng Yuan? Do you have any idea how humiliating that was?"
For Sun Yeshu, who had been admired since childhood, watching her mother wail on the ground and accuse Leng Yuan of murder while onlookers pointed and gossiped was the most humiliating moment of her life.
Auntie Sun felt wronged herself.
"I was just so worried! It’s all the fault of those gossips. If they hadn’t told me your brother’s head had been smashed in, would I have been crying like that?"
"Now what are we going to do?"
Auntie Sun grew frantic. She had made such a fool of herself, making the entire Sun family the village laughingstock. If word of this spread, how would her youngest son ever find a wife, or her daughter get married?
Sun Yeshu’s eyes shifted, an idea forming in her mind. Thinking of the competition between her brother and Leng Yuan, she patted the back of her mother’s hand.
"Don’t worry, Mom."
"Leng Yuan just agreed to a competition with my brother. If Leng Yuan loses, Gu Jiaojiao will have to kowtow and apologize to me. Tell me, who’s going to be the more humiliated one then?"
A smile immediately bloomed on Auntie Sun’s face.
She knew Sun Yecheng’s skill at fishing; you couldn’t find anyone in the entire Qingshan Team better than her son. Leng Yuan was doomed to lose.
Once Leng Yuan lost to Sun Yecheng and Gu Jiaojiao had to kneel in apology to Sun Yeshu, people would surely forget about her own little incident.
"Good, my clever girl. You always have a plan."
Sun Yeshu looked proud. "Mom, I’m not going back with you. I have to go wait for Gu Jiaojiao to kowtow and apologize to me!"
Now that Auntie Sun knew about the competition, she was counting on Gu Jiaojiao’s humiliation to overshadow her own shameful display, so she certainly wasn’t going to stand in her daughter’s way.
Not only did she not stop her, she even gave Sun Yeshu a little push.
"Hurry up and go! The competition is only an hour, and time is almost up."
Sun Yeshu nodded and turned back toward the riverbank.
Because of the earlier strange "misunderstanding," a large crowd had now gathered by the river. It was safe to say that nearly everyone in the village who could make it was there.
Everyone stood on the bank, watching the spectacle.
Large groups of people surrounded each of the contestants, watching them fish.
Sun Yeshu wove through the crowd to Sun Yecheng’s side and asked in a low voice, "Second Brother, how many fish have you caught?"
A few of the people supervising Sun Yecheng immediately started laughing.
"Your brother is incredible! We’re really seeing something special today. During the last fishing event the Qingshan Team organized, we thought he was giving it his all, but we never imagined he was still holding back."
"Fish are hardest to catch in the winter, yet your brother has already caught nine in just over half an hour."
Sun Yeshu’s eyes lit up at the news.
’Her brother’s luck was exceptionally good today. Normally, he wouldn’t catch this many fish in an entire day, yet today he’d caught this many in just over half an hour.’
A proud look appeared on Sun Yecheng’s face.
’This time, I used a whole white steamed bun for bait each time I cast my line, which attracted far more fish than usual. That, combined with my quick reflexes, is why I was able to catch so many.’
’On a normal day, I’d be reluctant to use even half a white steamed bun for the entire day.’
’White flour is very valuable these days; using too much just isn’t cost-effective.’
’After all, fish meat only sells for a few dimes a pound, while a white steamed bun costs a dime all by itself.’
’If I hadn’t brought two white steamed buns for my own lunch, I wouldn’t have had so much to use as bait!’
