Chapter 7: Chapter 007 Unclean_1

Translator: 549690339

"Hmm! Good! I'll definitely heal quickly and help my wife spear fish!"

Old Man Xue was also watching Muniang spearfish. He originally thought that Muniang's luck had run out, but to his surprise, in just a short while, Muniang speared two more fish, her eyes wide as saucers. Muniang chuckled, "Looks like my luck is still pretty good."

To allay Old Man Xue's suspicions, Muniang randomly speared in the water for a bit longer, naturally catching nothing. Although Old Man Xue still held doubts, he couldn't find a reason and had to let it go, shaking his head as he walked away.

Muniang climbed onto the bank, sat down on the grass, and Erliang excitedly took the fish from her hand to put them in the basket: "We can have a feast tonight!"

Muniang looked at his childishly radiant smile and couldn't help but grin. Just as she was about to search for her socks and shoes, Erliang beat her to it: "Let me, let me."

Erliang sat by Muniang's feet, awkwardly wiping the droplets of water off her calves and feet with the hem of his clothes, clearly his first time doing such a thing. Watching his focused expression, Muniang's heart warmed, and she let him continue without interruption.

After Erliang dried her off, he helped her put on her socks and shoes, all the while speaking in childlike tones, "I am my wife's husband; from now on, my wife's matters are my matters," causing Muniang to burst into laughter.

Just as Erliang finished putting on Muniang's shoes, sharp, sneering laughter could be heard not far away: "How shameless they are, carrying on like that in broad daylight without any sense of decorum."

Erliang stood up swiftly, his voice filled with anger: "What nonsense are you spouting!"

When Qiao Lianhua caught sight of Erliang's appearance, she couldn't help but be taken aback. She had only heard that Muniang had married a fool, but she didn't expect the fool to be so handsome.

Muniang recognized the girl as Mrs. Ji's daughter, Qiao Lianhua, who must have been nursing a grudge for the three slaps Muniang had given Mrs. Ji and had found the perfect opportunity to belittle them. Muniang stood up, holding Erliang and said, "Alright, let's not let these trifling people spoil our mood, I'll go home and cook you fish soup."

Only then did Qiao Lianhua regain her composure, annoyed at herself for her lapse in attention that had made it seem as if she was interested in that fool. She immediately lashed out at Muniang and Erliang: "It's disgraceful for someone to bring a wild man out in public like this, pretending not to be ashamed of their sordid affairs and displaying affection brazenly under the sun."

Muniang replied coldly, "We are a husband and wife who have been solemnly wed. Don't start every sentence with 'wild man.' A young lady filled with such filthy thoughts and words, I wonder where you learned such things. Could it be you frequently come across them?"

Qiao Lianhua's face turned pale: "You!" She quickly looked around to make sure no one was listening. A young lady naturally values her reputation, and if Muniang's words reached the wrong ears, she could forget about getting married.

Erliang hummed with satisfaction: "Unclean!"

Qiao Lianhua was fuming with rage: "Qiao Muniang, I never realized how sharp-tongued and quick-witted you were before!"

Qiao Muniang, holding Erliang's hand, walked away: "There's a lot you haven't realized. You'd better not provoke me, or I can't guarantee your face won't swell worse than your mother's."

Qiao Lianhua trembled with rage as she threw down the bamboo basket in her hand. "Qiao Muniang, you just wait!"

Once Muniang returned home, she excitedly showed Mrs. Lin the basket full of fish. "Mother, look, these are the fish I caught. They're huge! Let's make fish soup tonight."

Mrs. Lin lay in bed, propped herself up with effort, and looked at the three fish in disbelief. "Muniang, how did you catch them? Catching fish isn't this simple. You're a young lady; how would you know how to do this?"

Muniang placed the basket down and helped Mrs. Lin sit up halfway. She smiled and said, "I just thought I'd give it a try, and who knew my luck would be this good? Even Old Man Xue, who deals with fish all the time, praised my good fortune. It seems that Heaven is helping us out."

Mrs. Lin was delighted inside. Ever since she had married into the Qiao family, they seldom saw meat, let alone fish. She hadn't expected to enjoy such a treat today. Mrs. Lin chided with a smile, "How is it that Heaven is helping us? It's possible to have a bit of good luck occasionally."

Muniang laughed in an especially childlike manner, "This shows that our good luck has arrived, and our days will improve. I'll go make dinner now."

Mrs. Lin nodded contentedly. In the past, her daughter had been meek, needing her care in everything, and unfortunately, she was frail and couldn't do much. Her daughter had suffered a lot because of this. But now, seeing her daughter able to stand on her own, the heart that had been hanging in worry for so long was finally more at peace.

Erliang stuffed firewood into the stove, and billows of thick smoke blackened his fair face, but he didn't care at all, his heart leaping with joy at the thought of having meat for dinner.

With three fish, Muniang thought they couldn't finish them all in one meal. So, she boiled two for soup—a great tonic to nourish Mrs. Lin's health—and sliced the other one to air-dry for tomorrow. Since it was already speared to death, it couldn't be kept alive. Thankfully, the weather was still quite cool, so leaving it out for a couple of days wouldn't spoil it.

As the water boiled in the pot, Muniang sat at the kitchen doorway with a knife, skillfully scraping off fish scales. She had always enjoyed cooking, and now it came in handy. After cleaning the scales, she angled the knife into the side of the fish, pulling it open to remove the innards, then tossed them aside. Dahei, the family dog, immediately came over, sniffed the innards with a look of disdain, and walked away. Then he hung his head pitifully, gazing at Muniang.

Muniang placed the fish in a basin of water, wiped her hands on her apron, and gave Dahei's head a rub. "Don't worry, you'll get your share soon."

She then took the cleaned fish and went back into the kitchen. Dahei, as if understanding Muniang's words, joyfully scampered off to play.

"My dear, look, isn't the fire burning fiercely?" Erliang was still focused on adding more wood to the fire.

Muniang glanced at the now boiling water. "The water is boiling; take a break for now. Cooking fish doesn't require such a fierce flame." She then added a few spoonfuls of salt and soy sauce, scraped the last bit of oil from the can, managing to muster half a spoonful of oil. Muniang sighed, making do with what they had, and added the sliced fish to the pot. With few ingredients at home, she couldn't add much more. After covering the pot, it needed to simmer for half an hour.

Erliang sat on a small stool next to the stove, his large body curled up comically, eagerly watching Muniang's deft movements like a child who is eager to please.

Muniang tidied up the stove and then looked back at him, laughing, "It's just adding firewood; how did you get so messy? Look at how black your face is."

She pulled out the cloth from around her waist, squatted down, and carefully wiped his face. Erliang twisted and turned his head, rubbing against the cloth in Muniang's hand, making her laugh even harder at his childlike antics. "Silly."

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