Chapter 6 The Collapse of Yang Xi

Yang Xi, with her bouncing and skipping, truly delighted the eye, making the monotonous and dull time much more interesting.

"Hehe, indeed not bad," Liang Jingxian poured the crayfish and loaches into the bucket, added more bait, and then tossed it back into the small river, "Come back in two hours to collect them."

"Ms. Xi, you don't have to catch crayfish yourself anymore; it's too tiring and you won't catch much. How about this, I'll lend you these fishing traps during the day, you can catch as many as you can, and that will be your business."

"Ah? But you, you could come and collect them yourself, why…" Yang Xi felt somewhat embarrassed.

"I've got other things to do during the day, and since they'll just be lying around anyway, the more you catch, the more I can sell. It's a win-win," Liang Jingxian explained.

To alleviate Yang Xi's embarrassment, he deliberately added, "If you don't use them, I'll just have to take the traps back and wait until the evening to set them again. Ms. Xi, think of it as doing me a favor."

"Okay, okay, I'll use them during the day," Yang Xi thought for a moment and nodded, her face turning red.

If it were someone else, she would refuse and then go buy her own fishing traps. She lived a hard life but didn't want to accept charity from others.

But then she thought about how much she already owed Liang Jingxian in favors; this was like as the saying goes, when you owe a lot, you can't be overwhelmed by the debt.

Moreover, Liang Jingxian took her feelings into account, making it seem as if using his fishing traps was helping him.

Next, Liang Jingxian collected the fishing traps while also explaining how to use them and how to make bait, taking out all nine remaining traps.

For some, the catch was abundant and those traps were set again; for others with a lesser catch, they were moved to a different spot.

This operation wasn't hard; after watching a couple times, one could get the hang of it. For the last five traps, Liang Jingxian intentionally let Yang Xi do the work to help her get used to it.

The ten traps captured a total of twenty-five pounds of crayfish, almost a pound of loaches, and a few eels, though they were small except for one larger one that weighed close to a pound.

"Ms. Xi, these eels are really nourishing. When I'm done cooking, take a bowl back for Xiao Long and Xiao Feng to eat."

Liang Jingxian was very pleased with the catch. Even if the crayfish sold for 5 yuan a pound, the cost of the traps was almost covered.

"This..." Yang Xi hesitated, "I've already taken advantage of you, how can I accept more..."

"With our relationship, what's there to feel embarrassed about with me?" Liang Jingxian said offhandedly, but what he meant was that they were all from the same village, and Liu Can used to take good care of me, so what's a bit of eel?

Yang Xi blushed deeper, scoffed, and said, "What relationship do we have? We don't have any kind of relationship, okay? Don't talk nonsense!"

Her skin was fair, and with her face flushed red, her plump cheeks truly resembled apples.

Liang Jingxian blinked and said with a smile, "We have a partnership relationship, Ms. Xi. What are you thinking?"

"Stop it," Yang Xi's face turned even redder, extending down to her neck, and she gave Liang Jingxian's back a playful punch with her fist, causing Liang Jingxian to laugh heartily.

"Ms. Xi, I came on an electric tricycle, let me take you back first," said Liang Jingxian with a smile.

"Okay." Yang Xi didn't refuse.

Carrying the bucket onto the vehicle, Yang Xi sat in the back, holding onto the railing. Just as she crouched down, her phone in her pocket rang.

Liang Jingxian was about to start the vehicle, but upon hearing Yang Xi's ringtone, he didn't move. There was no seat on the tricycle, and the mountain roads were rugged; it wouldn't be safe for her to sit at the back and answer a call.

"Hello, Mom…" Yang Xi answered the phone, asking cautiously.

"Yang Xi, come back home with Xiao Long and Xiao Feng the day after tomorrow, this weekend."

Yang Xi's phone was a cheap one, and although it wasn't on speaker, Liang Jingxian could still clearly hear Yang Xi's mother.

"I... I still have a lot of work to do here." Yang Xi hesitated.

"What do you mean you have a lot of work? What can you possibly do in Huang Liang Village, that godforsaken place?" Yang Xi's mother suddenly yelled, "Your cousin mentioned Boss Wang; he's coming to Junyang City at the end of this month, and I've arranged for you two to meet then."

"I don't want to meet him; I'm fine on my own. What do I need to see him for?" Yang Xi said, her eyes reddening.

"Boss Wang himself is taking the trouble to come; his intentions are genuine. And this Boss Wang, I've video chatted with him, he's quite the catch," Yang Xi's mother truly sounded exasperated, "And Boss Wang promised me that as long as you marry him and bear his children, he'll give a dowry of 150,000 yuan. 150,000 yuan, how many years would it take for you to earn that? Besides the dowry, the nutrition fees during pregnancy are extra; your latter half of life would be worry-free."

Liang Jingxian in the front was dumbstruck, this…

Yang Xi's mother, was she even human? To force her own daughter for some dowry?

Angry, Yang Xi said, "Mom, stop it, I won't meet this Boss Wang. Not for 150,000 yuan, not even for fifteen billion, I won't consider it."

"Who are you yelling at? You think you're somebody now?" Yang Xi's mother also had a fiery temper, "How could I have given birth to such an ungrateful creature? Your father has always been unwell, we have no money for his treatment, and earning this money could cure him, couldn't it?"

"Also, Boss Wang comes from a family of doctors, who knows, he might even treat your father for free. Such an outstanding man, and you, a widow, what more could you possibly want?"

"You must come home before the end of the month. If you don't, I'll have your brother tie you up and bring you home."

After finishing her tirade, Yang Xi's mother hung up the phone.

Yang Xi clutched her phone, biting her lip, silent for a long time, tears streaming down her face.

Liang Jingxian, feeling heartbroken, sighed softly, stepped down from the tricycle, and gently patted Yang Xi's shoulder.

He was about to offer her some words of comfort, but Yang Xi threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly and crying out loud.

The breakdown of an adult can sometimes be this unexpected.

"Uh…" Liang Jingxian never expected Yang Xi to be this upset.