Chapter 68: Point-Blank Ultimate

An illusion.

It must be an illusion.

Duan Dajie told herself.

She had come to witness Wu An and A Qing's luck: others picking spicy snails used their fingertips, finding only two or three at a time, and that was already good luck.

Wu An and A Qing, however, simply used both hands to scoop.

Each scoop yielded a big handful.

She had observed before.

Where the two passed, it wasn't just "geese passing, feathers plucked"; she also found many spicy snails, reached out and dug, only then discovering the snails she dug up were very small.

She couldn't believe it: "No way, are the two of them deliberately leaving these behind?"

Otherwise, how could it be explained?

She stubbornly followed them a while longer before finally having to give up.

There's simply no way to scoop up leftovers.

A Qing looked up, saw Duan Dajie walking to the side, and cheerfully greeted: "Duan Dajie, walk slowly."

Duan Dajie walked even faster.

She could be certain those tiny spicy snails were left by the two, deliberately to tire her out.

Such tiny spicy snails require bending over to pick.

After picking them, they still have to be thrown away.

Going back and forth like this, she's busy in vain and ends up with a sore waist.

Wu An and A Qing explored quickly, walking forward and encountering many villagers from their village, one of whom was Mao Wang, who asked: "How did you two come here?"

Wu An casually replied: "Duan Dajie summoned us."

Mao Wang looked at Duan Dajie with a resentful face and shouted: "Duan Dajie, why did you summon those two?"

"Look at how venomous their eyes are—one grab and they get a big handful."

"..." Duan Dajie rolled her eyes and retorted: "Mao Wang, if you can't do it, don't blame others."

"It's truly not that Mao Wang can't do it."

"Look how fast those two are—they were just behind me a moment ago, and now they've surged ahead of me."

"Where those two pass, not a blade of grass grows; we might as well not bother picking anything."

"Duan Qiqi, I also need to say a couple of things to you: you don't know how lucky those two are; with them here, will there even be any left for us to pick?"

Duan Dajie was left speechless by the remarks.

"Alright, alright, let's each say a little less."

"This place is so big; let's walk a few more steps and go around to the other side."

"Exactly; instead of chatting, we might as well pick a few more spicy snails."

This reef beach is vast, layered; if one isn't afraid of danger, one could go further down onto deeper rocks to pick spicy snails.

Instead of wasting time blaming people, wouldn't it be better to find a couple more spicy snails?

Wu An and A Qing never lifted their heads.

The spicy snails were too many to pick up.

After scooping nearly a bucket, Wu An finally straightened his waist, feeling his legs a bit numb—a sign of insufficient blood flow; he twisted his waist, shook his neck, looked left and right, and saw only unfamiliar faces.

Without realizing it, they had already reached the border of the neighboring village; he didn't think much of it, turned back to look, and was instantly drawn to the distant sunset and evening glow.

It's beautiful indeed.

Such scenery isn't common even by the sea.

After looking a while, a glint caught his peripheral vision; he lowered his head and saw—good grief—a flower crab.

The flower crab seemed to sense danger and tried to burrow into the rock crevices.

Not stopping to admire the scenery, Wu An rushed over; the flower crab waved its claws, this tiny flower crab, laughable, he grabbed it with tweezers, threw it onto the rock, and lightly stepped on it with his foot.

He asked A Qing for two rubber bands, tied the crab up in a few quick moves, handed it to A Qing, who tossed it into the net hanging at his waist.

A Qing happily said: "Brother, these two buckets of spicy snails must weigh over a hundred catties, right?"

Wu An weighed it and said: "Roughly about that."

No one knows the current price of spicy snails, but they're certainly a bit more expensive than clams.

A Qing worried: "How are we two going to carry this back?"

Wu An thought, then said: "I'll go find my sister-in-law, dump the spicy snails on the rocks for her to watch, then call my older brother to borrow a vehicle for transport."

"You don't need to go; keep picking yours and just toss them straight into the net."

"Don't go down; go up instead, pick for ten minutes and then return."

"Remember that?"

A Qing nodded repeatedly.

Wu An, uneasy, had him pull out his phone—kept in a plastic bag—set an alarm, then A Qing put it away.

It's nearly six o'clock now, and the tide has begun to rise.

The luck value on his gloves had been exhausted, while A Qing's gloves still had luck left, so naturally they had to race against time.

A Qing, somewhat worried, said: "Then brother, you go slower."

Wu An nodded.

With one hand holding a bucket, he tried it and found it fine; mainly, he'd been eating well these days, full of strength, and walking upward made the rocks steadier underfoot.

Wu An didn't know that, while he was admiring the scenery, not far ahead there was a girl wearing a hat and mask who had been watching him.

Until Wu An walked away, the girl murmured: "He actually just left like that……"

This girl is none other than Gu Anran.

Just now, when Wu An walked over to her side, she was quite happy, planning to greet him when he came near, but Wu An was attracted by a flower crab and didn't notice her at all.

Gu Anran felt a bit disappointed: "Too bad I couldn't scare him."

She lowered her head and saw only half a bucket of Spicy Snail, sighed helplessly—gathering seafood really is a matter of luck, and her luck is just terrible.

She has been here for a while.

Even when Wu An was still far away, she saw him, saw him holding the Spicy Snail with both hands, which made her envy him terribly.

"His luck is really good; otherwise I'd go find him to buy some."

"No matter what, being able to set up a stall without being bullied, I should thank him in person."

Thinking this, Gu Anran simply stopped picking up, grabbed the bucket and ran toward the direction Wu An had gone.

……

Wu An had just walked back when he saw his sister-in-law surrounded by a group of people gossiping.

Duan Dajie was among them.

"Wu An is no longer idle; he should find a proper job, otherwise it'll be hard to find a wife."

"What Duan Dajie says makes sense."

"Supporting a household isn't temporary; one needs to be able to bring money home steadily, so having a legitimate job is very important."

"These days young ladies are sharp; they're not easy to deceive."

Everyone was chattering away, Mei Yueqin didn't even get a chance to speak; the reason was that someone said Mei Yueqin had gone back to her parents' home to help Wu An look for a bride, which provoked everyone's criticism.

As for how that person knew, it was naturally someone deliberately spreading it.

"Is it true or false?"

"Yueqin, I'm not saying this to blame you, but you're really terrible."

"Yeah, Wu An's appearance isn't bad; if a girl from another family took a liking to him, it wouldn't be jumping into a fire pit."

Wu An, hearing this, turned green with anger.

These long-tongued women, just love to talk!

"What are you talking about? You can badmouth me, but not my sister-in-law."

When everyone turned around and saw it was him, they all sullenly shut their mouths—being caught badmouthing someone, some felt embarrassed, some didn't care, and still retorted, "We didn't say anything bad; we were just telling the truth."

Wu An strode over, put the water bucket on the ground, took two breaths, and said, "Aunt, let me also tell you the truth."

"I remember your daughter is about my age, but don't worry, I don't think highly of your daughter—she couldn't even manage to jump into a fire pit."

"It's just a matter of slapping someone in the face and going all out."

"Who's afraid of whom!"