It seems the harvest wasn't very good.
Shen Wuqiu awkwardly touched Sanmao's little ears. Seeing that Sanmao was struggling to get down, he put her down. Then, he tried to find a way to save face for his partner and the kids who had caught nothing: "...It seems that fishing is not an easy thing after all..."
Dai Ying glanced at the cat, showing no mercy to her daughter and granddaughters. "It's not that fishing is difficult, it's just that some people can't calm down. It's understandable that the younger ones can't calm down, but it's a bit much when the older ones can't calm down either."
This statement is quite pointed.
Shen Wuqiu didn't know what to say for a moment, so she changed the subject, "Mom and Dad said you've been out for a while. You must be hungry by now. Why don't you go home and have a meal before continuing?"
"I'm actually hungry."
Meow~
Before Daiying could speak, Gu Miaomiao and the other children eagerly chimed in.
"Behave yourselves." Daiying shot her a glare. "Don't try to take advantage of the situation. No one who doesn't catch any fish today is allowed to go home for dinner."
Gu Miaomiao, who was about to throw the fishing rod, silently gripped it again. Seeing this, the other kittens didn't dare to act recklessly. Even Sanmao didn't dare to jump around anymore, afraid of being conscripted. He crouched down and secretly meowed as he rubbed against Shen Wuqiu's side, obediently squatting by her trouser leg, trying to hide his small body by using his mother's large trouser leg.
This, of course, did not escape Ms. Daiying's discerning eye. "Since you've come over here too, I won't show favoritism. Sanmao, why don't you give it a try?"
Sanmao obediently pretended to be dead.
Daiying swiftly lifted her up, saying, "Your sisters are all impatient, so don't disappoint me."
Sanmao blinked its innocent-looking big eyes and pleaded with Chen Wuqiu for help: "Meow~"
Shen Wuqiu originally wanted to play dead, after all, the image of the kitten fishing with its tiny fishing rod was so cute and dreamy. But then she caught a glimpse of Ah Shu and Da Mao secretly doing something sneaky. Cheating was shameful, but Da Mao was truly her precious baby.
So, in order to divert the attention of the big demon cat Daiying, Shen Wuqiu flashed in front of Daiying, took the pitiful third daughter, and said, "Sanmao is still thinking about the little red dot on her nose. She doesn't even want to leave the house. I had to coax her out. If you let her go fishing, she'll blame me."
Daiying neither confirmed nor denied this, but simply tugged at Sanmao's little ear and said, "You look like your mother, but I don't know who you got your love of beauty from."
Sanmao clung tightly to Shen Wuqiu's clothes, afraid that Daiying would force herself on her.
Meanwhile, on the other side, several kittens were fishing. Ah Shu caught a small crucian carp and was trying to sneak it to Da Mao to help her get away with it, but Er Mao coveted it and insisted on taking it from Da Mao.
This time, Si Mao, the sister-protecting maniac, couldn't stand it anymore. Forgetting about the fishing rod in his hand, he jumped onto Er Mao's head and slapped her with his claws.
Er Mao, with his violent temper, instantly lost his composure and immediately started fighting with Simao.
The riverbank has been neglected for years, and in this early summer, it was overgrown with weeds. The two cats, without careful attention, both slipped and fell into the river.
"Er Mao, Si Mao..." Shen Wuqiu panicked immediately and tried to fish the kitten out of the river without thinking. Although this river wasn't a big one, people had still drowned here before, let alone such a small kitten.
Daiying reacted quickly and grabbed her, saying, "Qiuqiu, don't worry, they're alright."
Shen Wuqiu was still worried and kept her eyes fixed on the two sisters without blinking.
The river was still a bit chilly in early summer. Neither Er Mao nor Si Mao were prepared. They tumbled down the river while wrestling, catching them off guard. Both of them choked on water, but they quickly recovered. The one who refused to give up wanted to continue in the water.
Gu Miaomiao got angry when she saw these two troublesome kids. "Why aren't you two coming up? Can't you see how anxious Qiuqiu is?"
You can disobey your mother, but you can't stop feeling sorry for her.
After being yelled at by Gu Miaomiao, the two little ones scrambled to climb ashore again.
Er Mao, being mischievous, deliberately walked up to Gu Miaomiao and splashed water all over her mother after getting wet.
"!!!!"
Luckily, Er Mao ran fast, otherwise he would have lost a few hairs.
The two cats were covered in water, and Shen Wuqiu was worried that they would catch a cold, so she immediately took off her thin coat and wiped them down.
With all this commotion, the fish couldn't be caught anymore, and they had to head home.
For the cats, both big and small, who have been suffering from the torment of fishing, this can be considered a blessing in disguise.
However, Ms. Daiying did not let them be smug for long.
After having lunch at home, Ms. Daiying put fishing back on her agenda:
"Jade must be carved to become a useful object, and people must learn to know. The little ones' patience is just like Ayu's; it seems they need some work on. The weather's been nice lately, so from now on, we'll go fishing by the river every day to train their patience."
After the protests failed, that evening, the big white cat was pestered by the younger ones.
The next day, Gu Junshan, whose back was aching, discussed with his wife: "The children are still too young, why don't we wait until they are older?"
He swore that his suggestion to take the kids fishing yesterday was purely on a whim!
Daiying responded with a glare.
So, over the next few days, the sparsely populated areas along the riverbank became a popular spot for cats to fish.
After enduring the agonizing, fruitless novice period, the fishing kittens not only gradually began to experience the joy of catching fish, but also entered a phase of intense competition.
In order to catch more fish, the kids were no longer willing to sit in a row to fish, and instead found the best fishing spot for themselves.
Da Mao and A Shu are always well-behaved, and Si Mao, who is fiercely protective of his sister, is lazy and can sit in one place for a whole day without changing his posture. The three of them are not a cause for concern. It's just that Er Mao and San Mao are two restless kids. Before long, the two of them ran off with their little fishing rods.
At first, Gu Junshan and Dai Ying were worried and told them not to go too far, but as the kids became more and more skilled at fishing, the couple went with them.
That day, Er Mao and San Mao, as usual, fished for a while at the spot chosen by Gu Junshan and the others before running off together.
Daiying watched for a while, and seeing that they were heading upstream along the river, she didn't pay much attention. She had already scouted the area; the terrain upstream was relatively flat, and the villages upstream were some distance from this side of the river, with groves of sycamore trees in between, making it seem secluded and safe.
The two sisters, Er Mao and San Mao, ran uphill for a while, making a ruckus, and then they fought over the same spot.
Sanmao was at a disadvantage, so she had no choice but to continue searching for a better place in the mountains.
After walking uphill for a while, she was led astray by a small flower snake.
The little snake had just swallowed a mouse and was preparing to find a place to lazily sunbathe and digest its food.
It must have eaten too much, because it became sluggish. It had just emerged from the grass when it ran into this nemesis.
The little snake's skin, with its rings of silver, looked exceptionally beautiful, especially when illuminated by soft, dappled light. Its smooth skin seemed to glow, making it impossible for a cat not to notice it.
Meow~
Upon seeing such a beautiful little creature, Sanmao completely forgot about fishing and immediately pounced on the little snake like a hungry wolf.
"Hiss~" The little flower snake panicked for two seconds at the sudden appearance of this thing, but quickly raised its head and chest and launched a counterattack.
Its mother said that in their kind, the more beautiful the fur, the stronger the attack power.
Sanmao's fur immediately bristled, and he bared his teeth at the little snake, stretching out his little feet as if ready to pounce.
The little snake, probably because it was a newborn and unafraid of cats, coiled up and prepared to attack.
"Meow~" Sanmao wasn't afraid of such a small thing at all. She swung her invisible little paws and gave the little flower snake a critical hit.
By the time the little snake realized what was happening, Sanmao had already circled behind it again.
The little snake was dumbfounded. When it realized what was happening, it prepared to run away and darted off in a flash.
Sanmao refused to give up and immediately followed behind it.
The little snake was no match for the swift-footed one. With nowhere else to go, it slithered into a small ditch above the river through a stream.
The ditch may not look big, but it is the main irrigation channel for nearby farmland, and the water in it is a branch of the water flow from upstream.
Sanmao didn't want to get his fur wet, so he didn't go into the water and instead followed the little snake along the ditch.
Seeing that Sanmao wouldn't go into the water, the little snake assumed that Sanmao was afraid to go in, so it relaxed a lot and continued to move forward in the water, twisting its alluring body.
Little did people know that Sanmao simply enjoyed the thrill of chasing her prey.
After running along the ditch for about two hundred meters, Sanmao was surprised to find that there were fish in the ditch, and these fish would avoid the little flower snake.
After realizing this, Sanmao stopped teasing the silly snake, jumped into the ditch normally, and then slapped the little flower snake, which thought it was agile, with one paw.
"..."
The little snake tried to make a last-ditch effort, but Sanmao slapped it with her claws, knocking it unconscious. Then, she grabbed the stiff, feigning-death snake and leaped straight out of the ditch.
"Meow~" Sanmao flung it to the ground, shook off the water droplets on its body with an air of smugness, and then gave the little flower snake a swipe of its claws.
The little snake lay limply on the ground; faced with overwhelming power, it chose to give up.
Sanmao got angry at its pathetic behavior. After tilting its head and staring at the snake pretending to be dead for a few seconds, it thought of something and flicked its little tail, pausing on the snake's head for two seconds.
Sensing that the little snake possessed some intelligence, she decided to stop bothering it. She retracted her swaggering little paws and gracefully squatted down beside the snake: "Meow~"
I won't hit you anymore, stop pretending to be dead.
Clearly, the little snake had no idea what it was, so when it thought it understood the meowing of its enemy beside it, it came back to life.
Sanmao looked down at it, meowing.
Help me fish, and I'll spare your life.
"..."
Sanmao, engrossed in finding her underlings to go fishing, was completely unaware of the danger around her. By the time she realized what was happening, a tight net descended from the sky, trapping her and her underlings completely.
"It wasn't for nothing that I waited all these days; I finally found this lone money tree."
"Brother Yong, is there a silver-ringed snake in here? What do we do?"
"Grass? Let me see...tsk, this is a good thing too. It's rare to see such beautiful wild things these days. It's just a bit small. If it were bigger, it could fetch a good price..."
"Should we take this snake with us? I heard it's quite venomous; we can't let it ruin our cash cow."
"Release the snake and take the cat with you. Hurry, there's no one around right now..."
"Brother Yong, I must say, this cat is quite cute, and it can even fish. Don't you think these little animals these days are becoming sentient...?"
"It's not some sentient being, otherwise who would spend tens of thousands to buy such a thing..."
A note from the author:
Sorry to keep you all waiting.
A lot has happened lately, and it's not just about heartbreak; compared to that, relationships aren't that important. I haven't been in a particularly good state, and the things I've written in my spare time haven't satisfied me, so I only finished one chapter today.
I'm not saying this to elicit sympathy from you all, but rather to give you a small explanation for waiting so long for me.
Finally, I've always hoped that everyone reads to relax and have fun. So, if my hiatus has affected your reading experience, I apologize in advance and thank you for your support. I also hope you can put me aside for now. Perhaps when you come back in a while, you'll find that I've already finished it, which will be a pleasant surprise, right?
Chapter 145
Amidst the gruff chatter of the group, a few meows could be heard intermittently.