Reborn In The 90's: Saving My Siblings With A Fishing System

Han Ruochen paused and turned to look at Aunt Luo Zheqing behind her. Her brows furrowed lightly when she saw the woman standing behind her. Though she had nothing against Aunt Luo, the woman was a rather loose-mouthed person. She was even called Aunt Gossip because of how loose her mouth was. It was a known and accepted fact of their Silver Fish Village that as long as Aunt Gossip found out about something, she would broadcast it all over the village in a matter of a few seconds.

She didn’t want to let Aunt Gossip take a look inside her bucket, but there was no chance for her to avoid or stop the woman, as Aunt Gossip immediately peered inside the bucket. She thought that Han Ruochen had only got some mussels or clams and wanted to make fun of her with her friends later on in the evening. After all, Han Ruochen was just a small teacher. But who would have thought that as soon as she took a peek inside the bucket that Han Ruochen was carrying, her smile would freeze? She stared at the peacock mantis shrimp that Han Ruochen had caught, along with the zebra mantis shrimp, like her eyes were glued to the mantis shrimp inside Han Ruochen’s bucket.

It was as if she believed that as long as she stared hard enough into the bucket, those mantis shrimps would jump into her arms and become hers.

"Aunt Luo?"

Aunt Gossip jumped upon hearing Han Ruochen’s words. She looked up at Han Ruochen, who was looking at her in polite confusion, and her expression turned a bit awkward. "Ruochen, how did you catch these mantis shrimp? Wasn’t the tide low?"

She actually caught peacock mantis shrimp, and that too three of them! One of them even had red roe.

This girl—how could she be this lucky?

The current situation of the village was not good, as the wild seafood was in short supply. Fishermen went to the sea every day and returned with a rather pitiful amount of seafood. Aunt Gossip’s husband was having a hard time as well. He was quite a skilled fisherman, but every day when he went to the ocean, he would return with only kelp and some mussels, along with wild fish. If only he could catch these peacock mantis shrimp, then they would be able to earn at least five years’ worth of the salary of a worker in the factory.

If she was not wrong, then these shrimps were going to be worth a thousand yuan! Just the thought alone was enough to set Aunt Gossip’s heart on fire. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"You actually caught mantis shrimp in just a few hours. Your uncle goes to the sea every day and cannot even catch a salmon, and look at you—how lucky, you actually caught three peacock mantis shrimps in one go," remarked Aunt Gossip with a sour expression.

"I was just lucky." Han Ruochen stayed polite even though she could sense that the woman in front of her was feeling envious of her haul. Han Ruochen felt helpless. How many times Aunt Gossip’s husband returned with a big haul, but she had never shown such a sour expression to her. However, Aunt Gossip was showing her such a twisted expression as if Han Ruochen had stolen her family’s mantis shrimp.

Maybe Aunt Gossip also realised that she was being way too expressive and schooled her expression when she saw the awkwardness on Han Ruochen’s face. She then tucked a strand of her hair and said to Han Ruochen, "Are you going to your second uncle?"

"Yeah," Han Ruochen nodded. Her second uncle had been responsible for collecting the seafood in the village, and before him, it was her grandfather and grandmother. Strictly speaking, the job of collecting seafood should have gone to her father, but her father always had different ideas and didn’t want to inherit the mantle that her grandfather wanted to pass on to him. When Han Ruochen thought about how their family could have avoided all of those tragedies if only her father had listened to her grandfather, she could not help but frown in annoyance.

Truly! What bad luck.

Han Ruochen nodded at Aunt Gossip before turning around on her feet and heading toward her grandmother’s house, which was at the other end of the island. Aunt Gossip looked at her go and immediately went to look for a few of her friends. The appearance of the peacock mantis shrimp was something really, really rare; everyone needed to know about it.

On the other hand, Han Ruochen practically flew to her second uncle’s house. She knew that with Aunt Gossip finding out about the peacock mantis shrimp, it wouldn’t take long for Meng Yunhan to find out about it as well. It would be better if she sold these shrimps and left the matter of dealing with Meng Yunhan to her grandmother. In the Han family, only her grandmother could take the reins from her mother. Meng Yunhan didn’t fear her father, but she did fear Grandma Han, with the old woman taking these mantis shrimps. Han Ruochen didn’t believe that her mother would be able to snatch them from her second uncle and grandmother.

Han Ruochen didn’t stop for a second, even when her legs were practically shaking with the effort of carrying her brother and the bucket. And soon arrived at the house where her second uncle lived. It was a simple house with a red roof, much smaller than her family’s home. In the past, she looked down at her second uncle, who was only a small seafood collector and distributor, but now, as she walked past the door—she could hear the laughter of children and the soft coos of her second aunt.

Ah, a house filled with warmth. Compared to her second uncle’s family, Han Ruochen knew that her family was truly poor!

As Han Ruochen stepped inside the house, the laughter coming from the garden abruptly stopped.