Chapter Seventy-Seven: Do Not Tempt Me with Sweets (Second Update)

Although the dip net was torn, the harvest was still delightful; Zhong Di looked at the fish and shrimp in the net, amazed at the abundance. He hadn’t expected to scoop up so many fish and shrimp in such a short time.

He glanced over the catch and could tell at a glance: mostly small fry, with a few medium-sized fish, and the rest comprised some green shrimp, pond snails, and crabs. Compared to a cast net, the dip net was much smaller; even if there were larger fish, they would simply slip away in an instant.

With help on hand, sorting the catch went quickly. Only a few of the bigger fish were kept for making fish soup later; the rest were all returned to the reservoir. As for the green shrimp and such, Zhong Di didn’t stand on ceremony—he packed them all to take home.

The fish made up the bulk of the haul; what was left barely weighed about ten kilos.

“Uncle Qian, I won’t be polite today. Next time, come over and I’ll cook you a few extra dishes to make it up to you,” Zhong Di said, preparing to head back. This trip was mainly to catch some green shrimp for Xiaoxi to eat.

“It’s just some shrimp, not worth much. No need to be so courteous. By the way, the fishing competition is scheduled now—it’ll start on August twenty-fifth and last three days.”

“That’s when the autumn heat wave will have passed—it won’t be hot, perfect for fishing. The details will be released later, but make sure you come!” After chatting a bit more with Qian Weining, Zhong Di took Xiaoxi and headed home, drawing quite a few glances along the way. The son of the Zhong family had made something of himself—who would have thought you could make money just by farming?

Lately, the hottest topic in Lingjing Village was Zhong Di. Anyone with eyes could see it: first he restructured, then introduced breeding, picking, and small farm models. The shopfront had even been put up. Just judging by the investment alone, who would believe he wasn’t making money?

Now, look—he was earning, and taking his adorable child all over the place.

“Uncle, hurry up! Xiaoxi wants to eat shrimp.”

“Don’t rush, it’s not even noon yet. I’ll make them for you at lunchtime, all right?” Zhong Di looked at Xiaoxi’s cute little face, and truly couldn’t bring himself to refuse.

“I don’t care, I want to eat them now! Uncle doesn’t love Xiaoxi anymore, Uncle doesn’t love Xiaoxi!” Hearing she couldn’t have shrimp immediately, Xiaoxi protested loudly.

“Zhong Di, how about I fry a plate for Xiaoxi? It’s almost noon anyway, and if we eat early, we’ll have more time to prep for guests in the afternoon,” Shao Hong suggested, instructing two of the older ladies to do some simple prep—picking vegetables, cleaning a chicken—while he handled the main ingredients. Everything was nearly ready, just waiting for the guests to arrive before the real cooking began.

“All right then, call those two ladies back for a break. Let’s make a few more dishes. I’ll cook the green shrimp; you handle the rest.”

“Why just the green shrimp?” Shao Hong was puzzled by Zhong Di’s decision. Why not let him cook everything, or do it all himself?

“Because I want to cook the green shrimp myself for my little niece!”

“Uncle is the best, mmmua~” Xiaoxi promptly planted a kiss on Zhong Di’s cheek.

Shao Hong raised an eyebrow and said softly, “Having a niece is such a big deal, huh?”

“It’s the best,” Zhong Di replied without hesitation, not the least bit embarrassed.

Shao Hong decided not to argue further and went off to prepare lunch. With two extra ladies today, there would be five people at the table—so at least six or seven dishes would be needed.

As a rule, the number of dishes should be one more than the number of people at the table—so for five people, six dishes would suffice. If it were six people, you’d add another for an odd number, but even numbers are best.

Shao Hong decided on six dishes: a cold coriander salad, stir-fried lettuce, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, a braised free-range chicken, and, with Zhong Di’s green shrimp, it would be perfect.

As for the day’s catch—there weren’t many crabs, so he’d keep those for himself. The pond snails were just caught and still needed to purge their sand, so they couldn’t be eaten yet.

After quickly making several vegetable dishes, Shao Hong called Zhong Di over to cook the green shrimp, then moved on to the chicken. All the ingredients had been prepped ahead of time, except the green shrimp, which were dealt with on the spot—so nothing was delayed and lunch came together swiftly.

“Zhong Di, we brought our own lunch boxes—why don’t we take some food to a side table?” one of the ladies suggested, seeing Zhong Di holding a child and feeling a bit awkward.

They hadn’t done much work yet, and already such a lavish meal was being prepared. The aroma alone was enough to make one want to eat everything in sight.

“No need for that—come, join us. You’ve worked hard too; let’s eat together,” Zhong Di insisted, taking the lead by picking up a green shrimp and starting to peel it for Xiaoxi.

The green shrimp had already been cleaned, the backs slit open and the veins removed, making them easy to peel.

He dipped the shrimp in sesame sauce, placed it in Xiaoxi’s mouth, and watched her cheeks puff up as she chewed—my goodness…

The two ladies, seeing Zhong Di’s intent, sat down to eat as well. At first they were a little reserved, but as they ate…

By the time lunch was over, it was just past one o’clock. The two ladies didn’t rest or idle away after the meal; instead, they felt refreshed, as if all fatigue had vanished—whether it was an illusion or not.

“Uncle, why do little rabbits eat grass?” After lunch, Xiaoxi lay beside the rabbit hutch, watching the baby rabbits intently.

“It’s just like you needing to eat your meals,” Zhong Di replied. With children, it didn’t matter what they asked—you just needed to answer, or sometimes respond with another question, because they could ask about anything.

Accompanying Xiaoxi on her wanderings, Zhong Di lost track of time. Xiaoxi usually napped in the afternoon, but not today. Zhong Di stayed close, worried she might get overheated or suffer sunstroke.

Only when it finally cooled down a bit did he let Xiaoxi go play, while he busied himself with odd jobs.

Meanwhile, outside the gate, Sun Miaomiao parked her Porsche, gazing into the orchard. She had come prepared today, intending to confront that Su Rou head-on.

Yesterday, she had stumbled across Su Rou’s video on XuanYin and saw how close she was with Brother Zhong Di—how could she tolerate that? She immediately decided to come and see for herself.

So she told Zhong Di she was coming for a meal; if she’d said she was there to cause trouble, would he have let her in?

“Hey, little one, come open the gate for your big sister,” Sun Miaomiao called out, spotting a child playing nearby—a customer’s child, perhaps.

“Who are you looking for? And don’t try to lure me with candy. I won’t go with you. Mom says anyone who uses candy to lure children is a bad person,” Xiaoxi replied, crouching on the ground, poking at a caterpillar. Upon hearing someone call her, she immediately recalled her mother’s warnings—such strangers were usually the bad guys who tried to trick children.

Pfft!

Sun Miaomiao couldn’t help but laugh. Where had such an adorable child come from? She was just too cute—and looked vaguely familiar, though she couldn’t quite place where she’d seen her before.