Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family!-Chapter 34: The Voracious Men

Chapter 33

The Voracious Men

Finally, the speeding cart arrived at the coconut garden safely, but the condition of its passengers was quite disheveled. Xiaolin sat sulking on the cart until Tianchen came to apologize hurriedly.

"I’m really sorry. How about this? Today, I’ll be your servant for a day. How does that sound?"

"Then, Uncle, please gather a lot of aromatic coconuts. I want to give them to everyone at the beach," the round-faced girl demanded, pointing towards the nearby fragrant coconut trees with her chubby hand.

"Right away, little miss. Your servant will collect them immediately."

Tianchen hurried to fulfill his niece’s command, fearful that the round little one wouldn’t cook delicious food for him anymore. Having brought a knife today made cutting the coconuts a bit easier.

Xiaolin got down from the cart to let her uncle load about twenty coconuts onto it before he lifted her onto the coconuts once more.

"We don’t need to rush this time."

"Understood, little miss."

"Hmph."

The two uncle and niece slowly pushed the cart along the beach to the two small huts built side by side. At this time, a group of people were working diligently.

The Wu Zhong’s crew had been out at sea since midnight, storing the squid on the shore since dawn. After resting for a bit, they started processing the squid because the sun was just right.

"Where have you two been?" Hui Song greeted them as he saw the small cart parked in front of the hut. He walked over to lift the chubby child from the cart.

"We went to gather the coconuts, Uncle."

"That’s great. Then let’s crack them open and have a drink to refresh ourselves."

Xiaolin enjoyed a freshly cracked coconut, swaying happily from side to side, when a dark brown figure appeared before her.

"Xiao Zhong! Wow, Xiao Zhong is also wearing a winter coat?" Xiaolin observed Xiao Zhong, who was wrapped in a black cloth, coming to nuzzle against her. She hugged it back just as fondly.

"Eh, Xiao Zhong’s horns are starting to grow. So cute." She stroked its small horns, which it seemed to enjoy, lying down in front of her and tilting its head for more.

Xiaolin continued to pet its small horns and scratched its chin until the chubby cow fell asleep right there. The round girl then walked over to the oyster rocks where the Ling family was busily shucking oysters.

"Brother Ling Hai, A’Han, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?"

"Oh, Xiaolin, what are you doing out here? Aren’t you cold?" Ling Hai asked the round child, but upon turning to see her, he noticed the child was bundled up so tightly that only her pink-cheeked face was visible.

"Not too cold," she glanced at Ling Han, who was quietly shucking oysters and never spoke much.

After a brief conversation, Xiaolin excused herself to leave, with Ling Han glancing at her back for a moment before returning to his task.

Xiaolin stopped to watch her father and the two uncles preparing oysters for her. The fresh, plump oysters looked very appealing.

"Oysters can be eaten fresh."

"Do you mean eat them raw?" Liu Hao turned to ask, making a face when the little girl nodded vigorously. Seeing his reaction, Xiaolin burst into laughter.

"They really can be eaten raw. Try them with some spicy sauce and fresh vegetables."

"I can’t eat it either, Xiaolin," Tianchen looked at the plump oyster in his hand, feeling as if his breakfast was stuck in his throat.

"Come on, you’ll get hooked once you try it," she herself wasn’t fond of uncooked food either, but she had heard others rave about how delicious it was. It would be great if she could sell fresh oysters in the future.

"I want to try. Go tell your mother to make some dipping sauce, yeah?," unlike his two younger brothers, Tianrong had tried raw fish before and thought it wasn’t too bad.

The tall figure stood up and walked back to his wife, who was boiling salt beside the hut, along with the wives of his older friends and her mother.

"Big brother has gone mad," Tianchen watched his brother’s back. He turned back to the oyster with goosebumps.

Xiaolin thought if he saw his brother enjoying it, he would surely want to try it too.

"Just shuck half the bucket, please. I will try making it first."

"Alright, Xiaolin, go warm up in the hut. Your cheeks are all red," Liu Hao said to the little girl who then obediently walked back to the hut.

The chubby figure stopped to watch her grandfather grooming Xiao Zhong. The chubby cow seemed so content.

"Little Xiaolin, do you still have salted eggs left? I’d like to buy some," the wife of Wu Zhong asked as she saw the round child come and sit on the porch.

"Yes, I do. But I won’t open the jar for another two days. Auntie can come and buy them then. For you all, I will sell them for one brass coin each."

"Is that so? Thank you very much, dear. We’ll come to buy them."

They looked fondly at the round child, so small yet already adept at trading, smart and capable beyond her years.

"Where have mother and father gone, Grandma?"

"They said they were going back to make the dipping sauce at home. Your mother is also preparing extra rice for lunch here. Every time they come here, they end up looking for something to eat."

"Hehe, because it’s delicious, Grandma. I’ve not eaten shrimp for a long time either."

"You greedy child, are you still eating non-stop with that round body of yours, hmm?" Zhang Rua hugged and nuzzled her granddaughter playfully. The little girl giggled because it tickled.

"Grandma, stop teasing me," the chubby girl wriggled away when Zhang Ruo tickled her waist.

"Who made you so plump, hmm? You cheeky little girl," Zhang Ruo teased, nibbling at her round cheeks non-stop.

"Ah! Grandma!"

The plump figure scrambled to hide behind Hui Song, who then hugged his granddaughter, a little piglet that helped warm them up nicely.

"You little cheater, looking for help?"

"I’m giving you my thumb."

"Tch, I won’t talk to you anymore, then."

Hui Song sat, holding his granddaughter, rocking her gently. Xiaolin, having woken up before dawn every day to prepare the goods for sale, seemed to have run out of energy and gradually fell asleep, her round cheeks resting against his arm.

"Oh, she’s fallen asleep. A’Ruo, bring her blanket over, please."

"Has she fallen asleep?"

"Yes, she’s been waking up early to sell the goods every day."

Hui Song received a soft, lightly fragrant blanket to cover his granddaughter up to her neck, leaving only her plump, white cheeks peeking out.

Xiaolin slept soundly until she was woken up for lunch, which today had many participants, including Wu Zhong’s group and the wives, as well as the Ling family. The menu featured grilled seafood, squid, shrimp, and boiled oysters with spicy dipping sauce.

The chubby child opened her mouth wide to eat a plump shrimp that her mother had peeled for her, not wanting her daughter’s hands to get dirty, followed by a big mouthful of rice, chewing until her cheeks bulged.

"It’s strange, we’ve been making a living from the sea for decades, but never knew these could be eaten," Tian Yi said, both annoyed and amused. If they had known, they wouldn’t have had to endure so many meals skipped.

"Indeed, how foolish of us," Chang Sen said, eating grilled squid contentedly. There were times they caught no fish at all, leaving their families hungry, which was infuriating. He looked at the grilled squid in his hand before biting into it fiercely.

"True, we need to learn more," Tianrong joined in.

The round-eyed child accepted the food, glancing around at everyone. What were they so upset about with these grilled squids? Sigh.

After lunch, everyone enjoyed fresh coconut water for refreshment, with some asking where it was gathered. Tianchen explained without much thought.

"It’s good that you have this little lucky charm with you. Look at my child, the same age as Xiaolin, but still can’t speak properly yet," Guo Lu said, laughing until his wife smacked him on the back.

"Don’t say that about our child."

"What? I wasn’t saying anything bad. He’s my child, after all."

"Hmph!"

Guo Lu looked puzzled at his wife before cracking open a new coconut to please her.

"And how much longer do we need to dry the squid, A’Rong?" Wu Zhong asked.

"We need to dry at least a hundred and twenty jin. After that, you should dry some to store as provisions before the snow falls and we can’t go out to sea."

"We planned to do just that. And do we need to dry the oysters too?"

"I’ve assigned the Ling family the task of drying oysters. They have enough provisions, and when I asked, they were happy to dry them for us," Wu Zhong nodded. He had spoken with Ling Heng and knew they were about the same age.

"That’s good. Then we can focus on drying the squid. The sun isn’t as strong these days; it’ll take several days."

"And will we continue after winter?" Tian Yi asked hopefully. Drying squid was more profitable than when they sold fish themselves.

"After winter, we still have work to do. My family intends to open a dried seafood shop."

"Oh! Will our village have a big merchant now?" Lei San, who had been quiet for a while, said. He hugged Tianrong’s shoulder closely. Tianrong chuckled softly at that.

"Not to that extent, Brother Lei. Just a small shop."

"I’m confident your Tang family will become a big merchant with many businesses in hand," Chang Sen added.

"When that time comes, don’t forget about us, Master."

Laughter from the men sitting in front of the hut drifted in. Xiaolin, wrapped up like a round bundle on the porch of the hut, watched this scene with interest. Seeing her father’s smiling face, she couldn’t help but smile too.

"Xiaolin, can you make a salad again? I want some shrimp salad," Tianchen, who was lying idly not far away, slid over to snuggle into his niece’s lap. Xiaolin looked down at the greedy man and sighed.

"You’re going to get fat like me at this rate."

Hearing this, Tianchen looked at his own belly and, patting it, noticed it was starting to layer up.

"It’s okay. I will be a strong, fat pig like you, Xiaolin."

"Sigh."

What could she do but make the salad for him since the spicy sauce was still available, and her mother had brought onions too? She sent her young uncle to catch some shrimp to boil and then toss in the spicy sauce and sliced onions. The young man sat eating deliciously until the other men came to snatch it away.

"It’s so good, make more, Tianchen," Lei San told Tianchen when he saw the boy’s bowl had no more shrimp left.

"You all snatched it away from me. I only got to eat three pieces myself."

"Come on, we’ll help peel the shrimp. You just boil them and add the onions. How about that?"

"But I’m not going to catch any more shrimp."

"We’ll catch them ourselves then."

The group of lazy men gathered to head to the pond with buckets in tow. Tianchen got up to ask his sister-in-law to slice a lot of onions, while he prepared water in the pan to boil the shrimp. Fortunately, Wu Zhong’s group had brought a large water bucket to the hut and filled it up.

The voracious men returned with a large bucket of shrimp, peeled them diligently before handing them over to Tianchen to boil and then mix with the spicy sauce and onions. They then devoured the shrimp salad happily until they were full.

"It’s so delicious. Should we try making squid salad tomorrow?"

"Sounds good."

"Time to get back to work, you lot. You can’t just be eating; don’t you see how many buckets of squid your wives have prepared?" Hui Song looked at the group of unproductive young men eating as if they were starved and shook his head.

He shouldn’t have gone back to bring milk and grass for the chubby cow; otherwise, he could have joined the feast.

Scolded, they all returned to their duties, energized after a full meal.

"It’s not just random scolding, you know," Zhang Ruo gave her husband a knowing look.

"What nonsense? They are just lazy gluttons."

"Hehe, if you wanted some, you should have just said so. There is still shrimp left," the chubby hand pointed to the bucket of shrimp the uncles had caught.

"In that case, I might as well cook some for myself. A’Ruo, slice some onions quickly," Hui Song hurried to sit by the shrimp bucket and started peeling rapidly. Zhang Ruo sighed as she watched her husband.

"Sigh, is every man in this village such a glutton? It’s really quite embarrassing."

Hearing this, Xiaolin chuckled gleefully.

Meanwhile, in a large manor at the city center, a beautiful figure in a pretty winter outfit sat sipping tea in the pavilion by the manor’s lotus pond with a melancholy face. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"What’s been troubling you these days? You don’t seem very cheerful," a tall figure walked into the pavilion and greeted his beautiful wife, who was sitting with her maids.

Seeing their master approach, the group of maids quickly made themselves scarce to give the couple some privacy. The beautiful figure turned to look at her husband before sighing deeply.

"These past few days, I haven’t seen the little merchant with plump cheeks at all. I’ve gone out to wait every morning but haven’t found her. Even the employees at the pharmacy don’t know where she has gone."

"The little merchant you used to buy eggs from and got two ducks to raise?" He remembered the ducks that were treated like royalty, dressed in beautiful outfits and fed so well they had become quite fat.

"Yes, she’s very adorable, honey," Lian Hua held her husband’s hand, expressing her longing to see the little merchant again. If possible, she would like to adopt her.

Zhou Ming looked at his wife and sighed. He knew where the little merchant was but didn’t want her to disturb the child’s family because he knew if she found out the location, she would want to visit every day. He understood her attachment, stemming from the loss of their own daughter.

"Hua’er, remember this: stay calm and remember that she is someone else’s child. I don’t mind if you are fond of her, but do not covet another’s child, understand?"

At her husband’s words, Lian Hua’s tears began to flow. Zhou Ming had to embrace his wife to comfort her.

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