Chapter 272

Lv Youwei arrived at Water Village Lake; this lake was very large, occupying almost a third of Water Village Town, and it was also a major feature of the place.

Looking into the distance, quite a few fishing boats were floating on the clear lake water.

The work the shopkeeper had mentioned earlier was helping these fishermen with odd jobs.

He asked a few families, but these fishermen waved their hands; after all, fishing was hard labor, and although Lv Youwei looked quite sturdy, he had a lame leg, so no one was willing to hire such a person.

"Young man, you've come to the wrong place. We fishermen are all just trying to make a living like you; if we could do the work for a day, we wouldn't hire anyone."

An old fisherman pointed toward the center of Water Village Lake and said, "There is the largest fishmonger in town over there; you can go ask if they need anyone."

"Many thanks." Lv Youwei cupped his hands and walked toward the center of Water Village Lake; there was a large pier there, which indeed looked more bustling than this side.

He had originally intended to go there, but this side was just closer.

Just after walking a short distance, Lv Fang saw a pleasure boat ahead; judging by the attire of the people on it, it should have been a boat belonging to a wealthy family. His eyesight was excellent, so he could see the general situation on the bow.

It seemed to be a group of young noblewomen touring the lake, but the young woman on it was anxiously pointing at the lake water; it looked as if a valuable item had fallen into the lake.

Lv Youwei took one look and immediately withdrew his gaze; first of all, the pleasure boat was some distance from the shore, and furthermore, there were already people on the boat jumping into the lake to search, so there was no need for him to join in the excitement.

"Quick, someone help! His leg is cramping! Where did everyone else run off to!"

The leader of the group on the pleasure boat, a woman wearing a peach-petal long dress, shouted anxiously; because she was so flustered, her voice was exceptionally loud.

Although Lv Youwei wasn't looking that way, he had kept his attention on it, so he heard this cry for help; he stopped and gazed for a while, only then discovering that there was a young man who had jumped into the lake some distance from the boat and appeared to be drowning, soon leaving only his arms visible.

As for the others who had jumped into the lake, they were likely diving to search for the valuable item and hadn't noticed what was happening on the surface.

"Sigh! I'll just consider it an act of charity."

Lv Youwei sighed, took off his shoes, and dove into the water like a fish; his swimming ability was excellent, and even with a lame leg, he was like a fish in water, quickly swimming to the vicinity of the pleasure boat.

By this time, the drowning young man was already nowhere to be seen.

And the woman in the peach-petal long dress on the pleasure boat was anxiously pointing in a direction, while several servants who had just surfaced from the water were momentarily confused about what was going on.

Lv Youwei didn't have that problem; he had witnessed everything that happened just now, so he dove into the water with a splash and, without much effort, found the drowning young man, carefully swam behind him, grabbed his neck, and surfaced.

"The person over there has been saved, hurry and help!"

Seeing Lv Youwei bring the person to the surface, the woman in the peach-petal long dress hurriedly shouted.

The following events were simple; with the help of several servants, Lv Youwei successfully rescued the young man onto the pleasure boat.

Because the rescue was timely enough, the young man woke up after a short while.

After understanding the sequence of events, the young man bowed to Lv Youwei and said, "Many thanks to you, sir, for saving my life."

"Just a small effort." Lv Youwei replied casually, and seeing the shore some distance away, he was about to take his leave.

The woman in the peach-petal long dress called out to Lv Youwei, saying, "Wait, don't tell me you intend to swim back?" She furrowed her peach-leaf eyebrows and gestured toward the drowning young man, saying, "We were just planning to kick him off anyway; let the boatman pull into the shore and you can get off then."

"Miss Zhao Weiru, I have admired you for a long time; please just let me stay on the boat, okay? I promise not to cause trouble; just consider the fact that I almost died trying to retrieve the hairpin you dropped, so please don't drive me away."

The drowning young man smiled shamelessly.

Before the woman named Zhao Weiru could speak, the maid beside her scolded, "You scoundrel, you have the nerve to say such things? If it weren't for you, would my young lady's hairpin have fallen into the lake? If you dare to pester us again, we will have someone throw you back into the lake."

"Xiao Hui." Zhao Weiru glanced at the maid, though she didn't give the drowning young man a good look either, saying, "Qian Zheng, please mind your words and behavior in the future."

Qian Zheng's expression was somewhat dejected, but he quickly returned to his grinning self, showering Zhao Weiru with praise, which made Lv Youwei's skin crawl.

It was evident that this Qian Zheng truly liked Zhao Weiru very much, but his actions were a bit too much, making people feel burdened.

"May I ask, is the hairpin you dropped into the lake very valuable?" Lv Youwei asked, looking at Zhao Weiru.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Weiru sighed and said, "It was left to me by my mother; although it is not very valuable, to me, it is more precious than treasures worth a thousand gold."

Hearing this, Lv Youwei's eyes lit up, and he said, "My swimming ability is excellent; if I can retrieve the hairpin from the lake, can you pay me some reward?"

"Ah!" Zhao Weiru subconsciously looked at Lv Youwei's lame leg and said with some difficulty, "Forget it, don't go and drown yourself too, I..."

Lv Youwei interrupted, "You only need to say whether it is possible or not; don't worry about my swimming. If I didn't have some skill, I wouldn't have jumped into the water to save someone just now."

After saying this, he smiled bitterly and shook his head, because he didn't need to persuade Zhao Weiru at all; he just needed to go into the water and retrieve the hairpin.

Thinking of this, he dove into the water without another word.

"This uncle is being too reckless." Qian Zheng shouted toward the lake, "The water is deep here, you must be very careful."

However, Lv Youwei, who had already entered the lake, could not hear him; his only thought was to find that hairpin and exchange it for some silver to make a living.

Zhao Weiru stomped her foot anxiously; she had not expected that Lv Youwei would actually do what he said and really jump into the lake.

"You all hurry down and keep an eye on him; he is a cripple, it would be bad if something happened to him." Zhao Weiru ordered the servants beside her.

The three servants acknowledged and jumped into the lake again.

However, after waiting for a while, the servants all surfaced from the water, but none of them saw Lv Youwei.

"I didn't see him!"

"I didn't see him either."

"Logically speaking, he should have surfaced; he can't hold his breath for that long, could something have really happened to him?"

Everyone was talking at once.

"You all hurry back down and look for him." Zhao Weiru said anxiously.

Just then, Lv Youwei surfaced from the water, holding an exquisite plum blossom hairpin in his hand.