Chapter 30: Want to see a joke? You'll be disappointed!

Lao Xie didn't wait for the rolling shutter door to rise, bent over and crawled out, seeing a group of people standing outside, his words trailed off, he asked: "This... what's this formation?"

Old Wu, Old Chen...

Come smoke.

Chen Gui took the Cigarette, Wu Yingwei didn't want one, and asked: "Have Wu An and the others been selling seafood at your place these two days?"

Lao Xie nodded: "Yeah, Old Wu, I'm telling you, these two kids have become really diligent, they go out to gather twice a day, noon and night, and each time they manage to catch something good..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Gui let out a puff of laughter.

Anyone in this Village could be diligent, except Wu An.

If Wu An even slightly acted like a person, Wu Yingwei wouldn't have to use the Village loudspeaker to broadcast and sever ties with him.

Chen Gui asked with a smirk: "Old Wu, do you believe it?"

Lao Xie shouted angrily: "What do you mean?"

"You think I could still lie?"

"Then... A An, what seafood did you catch today? Mind if we take a look now?"

The last sentence was directed at Wu An.

Wu An originally wanted to keep a low profile, but with Father here, if he didn't give an explanation, this matter probably wouldn't pass; he nodded and said: "Take a look."

Lao Xie lifted the straw hat, lowered his head to look into the bucket, and instantly widened his eyes: "Holy shit!"

"Crab Tigers, so many Crab Tigers!"

"Awesome, awesome, every time we go gathering we can get good stuff."

He grinned so wide he couldn't close his mouth.

Everyone hearing about Crab Tigers flocked over to look, seeing the bucket full of Crab Tigers, they all stared wide-eyed.

"How could they catch so many Crab Tigers?"

"This thing isn't easy to catch."

"Yeah, last time someone caught two, they were so smug it was almost as if the whole Village knew."

"With so many Crab Tigers, they must be worth a good amount of money."

Everyone whispered among themselves.

Chen Gui said: "Lao Xie, take a close look—are these farmed?"

Lao Xie shouted irritably: "I've been in the purchasing business for over ten years; I can tell at a glance whether they're wild or not."

"These are definitely wild."

"They're not small at all; not even a small one among them."

"Did they release all the small fry?"

Wu An nodded.

A Qing smugly said: "Yeah, my brother said something about not exhausting the fish and draining the pond..."

Someone corrected: "You don't even get the phrase right—it's 'exhaust the pond to fish'!"

"I didn't expect A An to have this awareness."

"If you'd done this earlier, Old Wu couldn't..."

The rest of what that person was going to say, he tactfully didn't continue.

A Qing scratched his head and shouted: "My brother said, we've reformed now—this is called the prodigal son returns... the prodigal son returns..."

That person added: "Priceless."

A Qing: "Right, right, right, it's priceless."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Old Wu's usually stern expression seemed to relax a bit.

His dark face faintly showed a hint of a smile.

Chen Gui frowned; this wouldn't do—he came to see a joke, hoping to witness Wu Yingwei discovering Wu An stealing others' catch and then righteously cutting ties with kin.

But instead, now Wu An has reformed, priceless, and Wu Yingwei feels relieved!

Someone curiously asked: "What's the price of Crab Tigers now?"

"Over a hundred, right?"

"This bucket of Crab Tigers must weigh at least over ten catties, right?"

"That would be worth over a thousand bucks!"

"And besides, there's also half a bucket of green crabs nearby."

"What damn luck did these two rascals have!"

"Pay attention, Old Wu is here; maybe Goddess Mazu saw these two reforming and priceless, so she gave them special favor."

"A An, where did you catch so many Crab Tigers?"

The reason there is seafood to pick up at the seaside is because of the rising and falling tide; the seafood is pushed ashore by the tide, and then when the tide suddenly recedes, they don't have time to flee and are left behind.

When it's a small tide, the amount of seafood one can pick up is also relatively small.

Normally, making a hundred or two from gathering seafood is considered good.

Wu An and A Qing's two buckets of seafood selling for over a thousand bucks really makes everyone envy and jealous.

Some speak well, some speak ill; the myriad aspects of humanity are laid bare.

Wu An casually said: "Over there on the tidal flat."

That person pressed for the exact spot; Wu An turned toward the voice and saw it was Mao Wang, that shameless guy, and Chen Gui shook his head: "Last night it was too dark; I and A Qing just wandered randomly, and luckily we found it."

"You want me to explain, but I really can't make it clear."

Mao Wang clung like a medicated plaster, asking: "Then take us there for a trip."

Wu An hadn't spoken yet when A Qing snapped, "Mao Wang, is your face big or are you just handsome? What right do I and my brother have to bring you along?"

Mao Wang, scolded, wanted to retort but had no grounds, his face flushing red from holding it in.

Chen Gui suddenly said, "I think you can't come up with an explanation."

"Everyone else goes gathering from the seaside to the dock, so why are you coming from the village?"

"What's up?"

"Does our village have a crab tiger den?"

A Qing had wanted to say something, but when the words reached his lips he looked at Wu An.

"My brother secretly brings seafood home; he wouldn't dare just blurt it out."

Seeing him like that, Chen Gui raised his voice and shouted, "You can't speak, right? Come clean—whose did you steal?"

Wu An snapped, "Are you an idiot?"

"I guess my dad came here too, thanks to you dragging him along."

"You just want to see a joke, huh?"

"Sorry about that, but I'll have to disappoint you."

After being scolded by Wu An, Chen Gui couldn't keep his composure and shouted sharply, "It's your sneaky behavior that's too suspicious!"

"Others come back from gathering covered in dirt, but you two are spotless."

"How do you prove these crabs tigers were caught by you while gathering?"

Wu An laughed in anger.

He suddenly recalled seeing some bizarre news in his past life: a father had died, went to the administration office to handle affairs, and was asked to prove he was the father's son.

At that moment.

A villager coming from the mudflats saw Old Xie surrounded by a crowd, curiosity drew him over, hearing Chen Gui's words, he shouted, "I can testify."

"Back when we were gathering, I ran into A An and his group."

"Yeah, when they left, I even peeked at the harvest in their buckets, but they covered it with a straw hat—I saw nothing."

Several villagers came over and joined in, seeing the crabs tigers in the bucket, they laughed and scolded, "A An, you're not being fair—you found the crab tiger den yesterday and didn't say a word."

"No wonder you ran so fast—it turns out you were afraid we'd find out you caught crabs tigers on the mudflats."

"I was wondering why you covered it with a straw hat so we couldn't see."

Chen Gui was dumbfounded: "You… you…"

Wu An joked, "Chen Gui, you wouldn't be suggesting they're all shills I hired, would you?"

"Don't show off your intellect."

"Besides, only someone with a dirty mind sees everything as dirty."

"What I did isn't sneaky; it's low-key. As for coming from the village, I first went home to deliver the seafood."

Having said that, he glanced at Wu Yingwei, observing his expression change.

"Father isn't stupid; once he gets home and sees the crabs tigers, he'll surely guess it was him who delivered them—better for him to just say it outright."