Chapter 93: Jealousy Beats the Autumn Wind

Li Juan nodded: "Then we'll follow A An."

"Place the Snake Skin Bag on the mud horse, and the two of us will push it along."

Pour all the Butter Crabs from the four buckets into the Snake Skin Bag; it's slightly smaller than the first Snake Skin Bag.

Mei Yueqin, a bit worried, asked: "We shouldn't crush them, right?"

Wu An shook his head.

In fact, he didn't dare to guarantee it.

The condition is just that condition, and having to avoid people makes it even more cramped.

If some get crushed, it's also fine.

Then we'll just keep them for ourselves to eat.

Butter Crabs aren't farmed at the moment; they rely entirely on wild mutations, a one‑in‑ten‑thousand rarity. They've grown this big yet have never been eaten before.

No one can say what the flavor is like, why they're so coveted.

Once we buy a boat, we must prepare more boxes on it.

He silently planned, watching Aunt Li Juan and sister‑in‑law walk away.

It was just past six o'clock; the sky had become completely dark, and no one would notice them at all.

Wu An and the other two also carried buckets back; the buckets weren't empty—they contained pipi shrimp, sea snails, and quite a few clams.

After walking up for a while, they met villager Ran Fei, a street drifter about the same age as Wu Ping, still unmarried and already dubbed a "bachelor" in the village. He came over to look at the three people's buckets, saw there was little seafood, and laughed: "No way, that's all you got?"

"I alone caught more seafood than you three combined."

"A An, today's luck isn't great."

Wu An replied casually: "Yeah."

"Planning to go worship Goddess Mazu another day."

Saying that, he kept walking forward.

Wu Ping and A Qing stayed silent; they feared that speaking would give themselves away, so they desperately suppressed the urge to show off.

"Wait for me, I'm coming back too."

That person also turned back.

The group chatted intermittently, mainly Ran Fei bragging about how much seafood he caught, including two green crabs.

Wu An, with an envious face, complimented him with two sentences.

Ran Fei became even happier.

A Qing pursed his lips: "What's the point of bragging about just two green crabs? We caught hundreds of jin and didn't show off."

"It's normal you didn't catch any."

"This year's mudflats aren't good; normally you can still find green crabs. This year I only got two. Some are unlucky, like that guy Lin Hu, who didn't find a single green crab."

A Qing's expression turned strange.

Wu Ping was desperately trying to keep his smile from rising.

Guess why the green crabs are few?

"Serves you right for getting rich…" Wu An said perfunctorily, scanning around for Gu Anran, and saw Gu Anran surrounded by several people.

But it was a bit far, so he couldn't see clearly what was happening.

"WTF!"

He cursed, leapt up straight, his rain boots didn't keep up and stayed in the mud; he couldn't mind the boat and hurried that way.

Ran Fei, not noticing, said: "Jealousy is jealousy, why are you still cursing…"

Then he saw A Qing also rush out, finally realizing something had happened.

Wu Ping reacted a bit slower, begged Ran Fei to watch the bucket, grabbed a sea‑chasing claw and a rake from the bucket, and ran over; these tools can herd sea creatures, and in a fight they become weapons!

When they got close.

Wu An saw Gu Anran protecting a water bucket, arguing about something, and among the people surrounding her was Lin Hu, who immediately reached for the bucket.

Gu Anran was pressing down on the bucket; when Lin Hu let go, Gu Anran couldn't react in time, and both she and the bucket fell into the mud.

The bucket tipped over on the ground, and a large green crab fell out.

The onlookers started laughing.

Lin Hu chuckled mischievously, boldly picked up the big green crab, put it into his own bucket, and urged others to take some too.

Gu Anran's eyes shone with crystal clarity, glaring angrily at Lin Hu and the others.

Wu An swore, cursing especially filthy, but it still couldn't vent his fury, shouting: "A bunch of men actually bullying a little girl!"

Hearing the roar, Lin Hu and the others quickly turned back.

Seeing Wu An, the others instinctively stepped aside, but Lin Hu stayed put, sneering as Wu An charged toward him.

"Wu An, watch your mouth, who bullied the little girl?" Lin Hu said fearlessly, pointing at Gu Anran, and added: "I'm defending our village's property."

"A An, is this your girl?"

"Then you should've said so early, this is just a misunderstanding."

"Your girl is really something."

Wu An ignored them, hurried over, helped Gu Anran up from the ground, and asked: "Are you okay?"

Gu Anran shook her head.

"Damn it, who bullied the sister‑in‑law?" A Qing, holding a sand shovel, rushed to Lin Hu's front, disregarding everything, and smacked Lin Hu's head.

Lin Hu jumped in shock, quickly stepped back, watching the shovel press against his nose as it struck.

A Qing had a point; it was serious.

Wu Ping also came over, handed the claw to Wu An; when closed, this thing is almost like an iron rod. He held the claw in one hand and the rake in the other, coldly staring at Lin Hu and the others.

Lin Hu remained terrified, then flew into a rage, shouting, "Wu An, rein in your little brother!"

"Just now, killing him with that move would count as legitimate self-defense."

"What about your woman? This is our Village's tidal flat; she's an outsider, she has no right to come here to gather seafood."

He looked at the others.

The other villagers murmured in agreement: "It's a bit inappropriate."

"She alone caught so many blue crabs, while we didn't catch any."

"It should have been ours."

"We didn't even try to take them; we just wanted to look, but she was stingy and wouldn't even let us look."

"Lin Hu, unable to contain his anger, shoved her a little, and she fell because she was careless."

"Enough, enough, it's not a big deal, it's just a misunderstanding, let's disperse, let's go."

Someone acted as an elder mediator, smoothing things over.

"The matter isn't huge, nor is it trivial; simply put, Lin Hu and his group failed to catch any blue crabs, saw Gu Anran catch many, grew envious, and because Gu Anran is an outsider, they wanted to take advantage."

"Perhaps they also wanted to take advantage of Gu Anran's beauty."

Wu An saw that Gu Anran was unharmed, then turned his gaze to Lin Hu and the others.

Lin Hu needs no saying—he's still a scoundrel as before, but a bit better; he's obsessed with fishing and occasionally brings fish home.

But the good is limited; this time he clashed with Lin Bin, beating him so badly Lin Bin is still in the hospital—he's definitely a ruthless person.

Those people nearby are much the same—his drinking and gambling buddies, indulging in eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, basically covering all vices.

Don't think he's just as bad, but he's not of the same ilk as those guys.

Everyone's bad in different ways.

Wu An stepped forward, his hand suddenly tightened; looking back, he saw Gu Anran holding his hand.

Someone shoved Lin Hu.

Lin Hu then went along with the slope, cursing as he turned and walked away: "This time I'll let it go."

"If you wave knives and sticks at me again next time, don't blame me for being impolite."

"Watch your own woman properly."

Wu An shouted: "Stop!"

"Hand over the blue crabs you just took."

Lin Hu's face changed, and he barked: "Wu An, are you trying to save face?"

"The blue crabs in my bucket are mine."

"Otherwise, let your woman shout and see if the blue crabs agree."

Everyone chuckled lightly.

Wu An held the sand shovel upside down and said: "Let's try—if we fight, the three of us versus you, will these people help you?"

"You're also out here mixing; let everyone know you, Lin Hu, are a scoundrel who bullies young girls."

Lin Hu's face changed again.

The others dared not laugh anymore, quickly stepped forward to speak kindly, and some urged Lin Hu to let it go, after all, bullying a young girl is neither proper to say nor pleasant to hear.

"Damn!" Lin Hu cursed, took the blue crabs out of the bucket, threw them on the ground, and snarled: "Don't think I'm afraid of you."

"We'll see how it goes."

"This isn't over."

Wu An looked at the others.

These people hurriedly said they hadn't taken anything, then quickly followed Lin Hu away.