Saturday, Heba Bungalow.
In the past weekends, Xue Yuantong often stayed in bed until 9 or 10 o'clock before getting up slowly.
Today, she got up at just 7 o'clock.
Because of the temptation of crayfish.
Although the crayfish was just a pie in the sky painted by Jiang Ning, Xue Yuantong decisively pounced on it and took the bait.
The reason was simple: Jiang Ning never lied to her about important matters.
Xue Yuantong was standing at the door wearing flip-flops, shorts and a short-sleeved shirt.
She looked out at the open fields in the distance, lush and green, and felt relaxed.
Two white arms stretched above his head, his waist stretched lazily, and he couldn't help but say:
"Today is sunny and bright. It's a good day for catching shrimp."
Jiang Ning came out from next door. The weather was indeed good. It had been sunny since the rain stopped a few days ago.
He glanced at Xue Yuantong and urged:
"I'm hungry, hurry up and cook."
Upon hearing this, Xue Yuantong went back to cook obediently without any complaints.
Breakfast was simple. Xue Yuantong made an omelet, fried a side dish, and used a soy milk maker to squeeze two bowls of soy milk.
Aunt Gu won the soymilk maker in a company lottery. It’s worth two or three thousand yuan and is the most popular model on the market. The soymilk squeezed from it tastes great.
Xue Yuantong is an expert at cooking and is very quick.
They shared breakfast together. Aunt Gu had two days off a week at work, but on Saturday, she hardly took any rest and chose to work overtime at the company.
The treatment of grassroots employees of Yuchang Changqingye Group is among the best in the entire Huizhou Province. Of course, it is still slightly inferior to some "cigarette factories".
Changqing Liquid strictly abides by the law and overtime work on Saturdays is double pay.
The work content is not onerous. Aunt Gu had worked hard for many years. Now that she has got such a job, she is very dedicated and will not slack off.
A few days ago, the Gu family set the goal of buying a car, and Aunt Gu was full of confidence in the future.
Xue Yuantong was eating while fiddling with her cell phone. She was planning to call Chuchu.
She sent a message to Chuchu last night, but Chuchu didn't see the message and didn't reply to her.
Soon, the call was connected.
"Chu Chu, why didn't you reply to my message last night?" Xue Yuantong questioned her.
On the other end of the phone was a house on the seventh floor of an old residential area in the city.
Xue Chuchu sat by the window in the living room reading a book: "Ah, I was studying last night and didn't turn on the data."
She has used a lot of data this month, but she is reluctant to spend money to buy a data package, so she has to disconnect from the Internet.
"Chu Chu, come to my house for dinner today!" Xue Yuantong invited. She never forgot Chu Chu when she had something delicious.
When Xue Chuchu, who had just finished breakfast, heard about the dry rice, she felt a little moved. The last time she saw Tongtong was on the picnic at the beginning of the month. It had been 20 days since they last saw each other.
"Rabbit meat is so delicious..." Xue Chuchu was greedy.
Compared with the colorful lives of her classmates, Xue Chuchu was young and had not eaten many delicious foods. She thought that the rabbit meat was simply the most delicious thing.
"I still have a test paper to finish." Xue Chuchu was polite out of habit.
Xue Yuantong: "Don't do it anymore. Combine work and rest. I'll help you catch shrimps."
Picking shrimps? Xue Chuchu used to pick them when she was a child, but now that she thinks about it, she hasn't done it in many years.
"Come quickly, the shrimp I cook is delicious, I guarantee you'll be satisfied." Xue Yuantong said temptingly.
Xue Chuchu: "Should I go now?"
"Yeah, I'll wait for you." Xue Yuantong put down his phone, a satisfied look on his face.
She took credit for it and said, "Jiang Ning, I found a helper for us. Chuchu is really good at taking out shrimps. She even dares to take out snakes!"
Jiang Ning: "I don't believe it."
"When Chuchu arrives, you'll know."
"Thinking back to those days, Chuchu and I were walking along the river. You can't imagine it."
Xue Yuantong took a bite of the omelet and asked, "What time will Geng Lu arrive? Why don't you contact her?"
"They have already set off. They will be there in about ten minutes." He contacted her, in front of Xue Yuantong.
Jiang Ning's mobile phone is placed on the table with the screen facing the table. He does not need to touch the phone with his hands, but only uses his spiritual consciousness and spiritual power to chat.
Just now Xue Yuantong called Chuchu, and he was texting with Geng Lu.
Xue Yuantong had a good impression of Geng Lu and often received snacks from Geng Lu at school.
After the meal, Jiang Ning cleaned up the dishes quickly while Xue Yuantong prepared the tools for catching shrimps.
Fifteen minutes later, Jiang Ning received a message from Geng Lu and walked towards the dam.
…
On the dam.
The car turned around in a wide area and drove back a distance. Geng Lu, who was sitting in the passenger seat, looked out the window:
"Mom, stop the car."
The person in the driver's seat was a woman in her thirties, who looked similar to Geng Lu, but with a more mature demeanor.
"Be careful and call me when you get home in the afternoon and I will pick you up," Geng Lu's mother advised.
"Got it." Geng Lu agreed immediately and looked down the dam excitedly, where she saw Jiang Ning.
Geng Lu's mother glanced away without leaving a trace, and sure enough, she saw a handsome young man.
'He must be the Jiang Ning that Lulu often mentioned.' Geng Lu's mother was stunned. She had only heard of him before, but today she saw Jiang Ning for the first time and he was indeed handsome.
"Okay, you can go down now." said Geng Lu's mother.
Before she could finish her words, Geng Lu had already opened the car door, leaving the woman with a helpless look on her face.
She educated Geng Lu very well and was not worried about her playing around.
Geng Lu got out of the car, waved, and watched the car drive away.
"Jiang Ning Jiang Ning!" Geng Lu shouted excitedly, her face was sweet, her eyes were dark and bright, and there was a smile at the corner of her mouth.
Jiang Ning climbed up the dam in a few steps and scanned Geng Lu with his spiritual sense.
Her clothes didn't fit her well and her T-shirt was rather tight, but it was this feeling of tightness that brought out her strengths.
Jiang Ning glanced at Geng Lu's waist and said, "You've lost some weight."
When she first started school, she had some baby fat, and now she still has it, but much less, probably because it has moved to another location.
Geng Lu took two steps forward and explained, "I do yoga with my mother every night. It's a good exercise."
As she spoke, she made some graceful little movements with her arms to demonstrate her results to Jiang Ning.
Jiang Ning picked up Geng Lu and walked towards the bungalow with her.
At this time, Xue Chuchu was almost there, so Jiang Ning didn't wait for her any longer.
Compared to Geng Lu, this was not Xue Chuchu's first visit. She knew the way and did not need to be picked up.
After arriving at the bungalow, Geng Lu visited Jiang Ning's room. There were a lot of things in the room, but it was unusually tidy. At first glance, it seemed particularly harmonious.
Geng Lu stayed in Jiang Ning's room for a few minutes, and Xue Yuantong outside shouted:
"Let's go, let's go!"
Outside the bungalow.
Xue Yuantong wore a straw hat, slippers, and carried a bamboo pole on his shoulder with an empty bucket hanging behind it.
The empty bucket barely maintained balance. Xue Chuchu stood beside the bucket, trying not to fall.
She also held a ball of wool in her hand.
The equipment for catching shrimps is very simple, there are only these three items.
"Chu Chu, I told Jiang Ning, if you dare to dig out the snake, wait until we get to the river and perform a show for Jiang Ning." Xue Yuantong said.
Xue Chuchu's cold eyes froze, and she looked embarrassed:
"Tongtong, are you serious?"
She is very afraid of snakes.
"You were obviously capable of it when you were a child." Xue Yuantong said confidently.
Xue Chuchu: "So that was when I was a kid."
At the next door, neighbors Mr. Tang and Mrs. Tang were taking their granddaughter out to eat when they saw this scene.
Uncle Tang shouted, "Tongtong, are you guys catching fish?"
Xue Yuantong said: "No, I catch shrimps."
Uncle Tang: "Can you catch him?"
Xue Yuantong: "There are four of us, let's grab one bucket."
Uncle Tang looked at the four people. According to his judgment, the only one who could really be of use was probably Xiao Jiang.
"You guys go catch shrimps, I have to go to the hospital today!" said Uncle Tang.
Xue Yuantong: "When will Xiaofan be discharged from the hospital?"
Xiaofan is a child living in their row of bungalows. He is 9 years old and is only in the third grade. Jiang Ning had bought the geese raised by his mother before.
Uncle Tang sighed: "Xiao Fan had 8 stitches on his head, and Xiao Fan's mother cried miserably."
Xue Yuantong: "I will go to the hospital to see him with my mother tomorrow."
It is human nature for neighbors to help each other.
…
After saying goodbye to the neighbors, Jiang Ning and his group set off.
Xue Chuchu took Tongtong's bucket and held it in her hand.
Geng Lu followed Jiang Ning empty-handed.
It was around 8 o'clock in the morning, the sun had just risen above the horizon, and the temperature was cool.
There are a lot of people on the dam, some taking a walk, some exercising, and some selling fish.
Xue Yuantong climbed up the dam, and the vast Huishui River came into view. From this point, the reeds on the river bank were clearly visible, and early risers were standing by the river.
Sure enough, given the terrain of the Huishui River, you can always find people fishing no matter what time it is.
They get up earlier than Xue Yuantong, who is in high school!
Xue Yuantong led the team forward. The river bank they were heading to was more than a thousand meters away from here.
Halfway through the journey, there was a figure sitting in the middle of the dam ahead, and people passing by subconsciously avoided him.
Xue Yuantong reminded: "Don't look at that man later, he is sick!"
ill
Hearing this, Geng Lu moved his gaze. It was a man in his twenties, wearing tattered clothes, with a dirty face, a full beard, and an abnormal expression.
Xue Yuantong stopped and said in a low voice:
"He is mentally ill. He hit our neighbor's child on the head with a stone."
"Because he was sick, no one could take care of him."
Xue Chuchu and Geng Lu consciously moved away, but Jiang Ning remained the same.
It seems that every village has a mentally ill person, a retarded person, or a "madman".
Most crazy people don't hurt people, but Heba's case is quite rare. He actually attacked children actively, which is quite abnormal.
This time the person who was beaten was a boy who was Xue Yuantong's neighbor. The last time was probably a few years ago, I heard that a little girl's finger was hit and it seemed to be broken. The family of the mentally ill girl paid compensation of one or two thousand.
When Geng Lu passed by, he unexpectedly glanced at the 'mental patient'. As a result, the 'mental patient' stared at him straightly with an indescribable cold smile on his face.
For some reason, Geng Lu felt a chill in his heart and an inexplicable sense of fear.
That smile was so strange. Geng Lu had never seen such a smile before. It was as if he was looking at a cold object.
Geng Lu walked silently to Jiang Ning's side.
Suddenly, a nervous voice sounded: "Bucket, I want a bucket, a red bucket, haha!"
The mentally ill young man grinned, revealing a mouthful of disgusting teeth, opened his arms, and staggered towards this side.
Xue Chuchu quickly distanced herself from him.
Pedestrians around stopped and stared at this scene, including some people who often came to the dam for walks, and they all knew the "mental patient".
Jiang Ning shouted calmly: "Get away."
This sentence contained spiritual power and divine consciousness intimidation, and the mentally ill young man was so frightened that he trembled and collapsed to the ground.
The passers-by were amazed.
After Jiang Ning walked away, Geng Lu came back to his senses and patted his chest: "He is so scary!"
Xue Chuchu was puzzled: "He wanted to take my bucket."
Xue Yuantong turned around and looked at them, then said, "He not only steals people's buckets, but also their vegetables. In the past, when my mother came back from shopping, he would steal our vegetables."
Geng Lu thought of that scene and said angrily:
"He's lawless now. Is there no one to take care of him?"
Xue Chuchu said: "No one cares. He is mentally ill. Even if he kills someone, he won't be held criminally responsible. This group of people... is very confusing."
Geng Lu: "That's not fair. I'm afraid he's not mentally ill, but bipolar."
"I don't know. Fortunately, he is usually not around, so we don't run into him very often." Xue Yuantong pointed to the village that was vaguely visible in the distance. "He is usually over there."
As Jiang Ning walked, he silently performed a spell.
'A mentally ill person who likes to hurt others should not stay in a crowded place.'
He snapped his fingers and the magic flew backwards.
A mentally ill young man was chasing a child, and the child was dodging left and right in fear. At this moment, the 'mentally ill' young man's body was stiff, as if he had been shot, and he fell straight down.
When the passers-by around saw this scene, they hurried over to check the situation.
…
But Jiang Ning had already gone away.
The bank of the Huishui River is about two hundred meters away from the dam. There are rice fields in the middle and many ponds, some of which are connected to the river.
Xue Yuantong: "It's especially easy to catch shrimp in those small ditches."
Following the path down the dam, Jiang Ning approached the potholes on the river bank.
Jiang Ning was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and flip-flops, looking like a country boy.
The road below the dam is all dirt. Fortunately, the weather is fine and the ground is dry. If it rains, it would be very difficult to move forward in the mud and your shoes would be soaked by the wet mud.
Trees, green grass, wheat fields, Geng Lu walked in the countryside, feeling light-hearted and cheerful.
Xue Yuantong passed by a large pond. The water in the pond was quite clear. She stood beside a big tree and described it:
“This is a hole dug by an excavator.”
The pond is rectangular, about twenty meters long and seven or eight meters wide, and the water surface is about twenty centimeters above the ground.
"The water is so clean, can we swim in it?" Geng Lu asked curiously.
Xue Chuchu shook her head: "Don't do that, this kind of pit is the most dangerous and it's easy to drown people."
"Look at the edge of the pit. The excavator dug it very steeply. Once you go into the water, it's very difficult to get out."
"The water looks clear, and if you look closely, you can seem to see the bottom, which makes people mistakenly think it is not deep, but once you go down, you will know how deep it is."
Geng Lu had never come into contact with this before, and after hearing this, she was puzzled:
"How deep is this pit?"
Xue Chuchu thought for a moment, then she took Tongtong's bamboo pole and walked to the edge of the pond.
Xue Yuantong was worried about her, and Xue Chuchu said, "Stay away and watch carefully."
She carefully approached the edge of the pond and stretched the bamboo pole into the water until it was almost completely submerged before touching bottom.
Xue Chuchu pulled out a bamboo pole and stood next to Jiang Ning.
The part of the bamboo pole that was submerged in the water was much taller than Jiang Ning.
Geng Lu looked surprised: "More than two meters deep."
"Well, many children fell in and disappeared in an instant," said Xue Chuchu.
Geng Lu looked at the pond again, and felt that the calm water surface was like a huge mouth that could swallow people. She shuddered:
“So scary.”
After saying goodbye to the pond, we continued forward. There were many trees planted by the river. The forest was particularly peaceful and the sound of birds could be heard occasionally.
They walked along the path along the edge of the ponds, passing one pond after another.
"Dang, dang, dang." The woodpecker knocked on the tree frantically.
Geng Lu took out her cell phone and took a photo from a distance.
After passing through the forest, the view suddenly opened up. The ground ahead was still filled with pits. These pits were close to the river and were not so regular but had strange shapes.
There are clumps of grass growing near the pond, some with yellow flowers, some with pink flowers. The eastern sunlight shines down, and the light is reflected on the water surface, making the pond full of vitality.
Xue Yuantong: "These are natural ponds, unlike the ones dug by the excavator just now, which are dead ponds."
Xue Chuchu added: "Dead ponds usually have no fish or shrimp."
"Start picking out the shrimps!" Xue Yuantong spread his legs and swung the bucket in his hand.
She took the lead, ran to the edge of the pond, and searched around with her eyes.
Xue Yuantong had good eyesight, and soon she found a lobster hole by the water.
“Come on, come on!”
Jiang Ning and others approached.
The lobster hole is located at the edge of the pond, above the water level. There is a circle of unique soil around the hole, and the difference can be seen at a glance.
"I said, there are definitely shrimps in it." Xue Yuantong said with certainty.
Xue Chuchu said: "Yes, this is a standard lobster hole."
Jiang Ning: "Then the question is, who will take out the lobster first?"
Xue Chuchu expressed her opinion: "The entrance of this lobster hole is relatively narrow, which is suitable for people with thin arms."
Xue Yuantong crossed his arms and said proudly, "Yes, it is me."
She had already planned to take action, and one move would definitely shock Jiang Ning.
At this time, Geng Lu plucked up the courage and said, "I want to try it."
After saying this, the three of them looked at her together.
Geng Lu said: "I have never fished out shrimps."
Xue Chuchu explored the lobster hole again and based on her experience, she was sure that it was 99% certain to be a lobster hole, not a snake hole.
"Then try it, but be careful not to get pinched," she reminded kindly.
"Yeah." Geng Lu looked at Jiang Ning and handed him the phone.
She squatted down and reached into the lobster hole.
Xue Chuchu had touched shrimps before, and she said, "Your posture is wrong, you can't dig deep, lean to the side."
"Oh oh." Geng Lu was a novice and didn't quite understand. After Xue Chuchu's guidance, she decided to change her posture.
Geng Lu started to touch the shrimp.
The lobster hole was tilted toward the inside of the pond and had a certain curvature, so she could only squat sideways.
Geng Lu practiced yoga and her body was very flexible. She pressed her chest completely against her thighs and reached her hands towards the lobster hole with great effort.
Xue Yuantong, who was standing next to him, saw this and whispered, "They're all flattened."