Chapter 36

Most children of Li Tiezhu’s age were still in school, but since there was no school in Qingshui Village, the children there had to walk half an hour along the mountain road to attend the commune’s school if they wanted to study.

Because of the long distance, poverty, and the presence of Educated Youths who had been sent down to the countryside after high school, many people believed that studying was useless. As a result, quite a few children in Qingshui Village were never sent to school.

Instead, they stayed home to take care of their younger siblings or did light work to earn labor points.

Li Tiezhu was one of them. However, he had two younger sisters, and Jiang Ailing spoiled him. Whatever work needed to be done, she made his two sisters do it, while the labor points were recorded under his name.

Meanwhile, Li Tiezhu spent his days idly wandering around with his group of “brothers.”

His so-called “brothers” were either like him—spoiled at home—or simply had no one to discipline them.

Today, they had played a round of “guerrilla warfare.” and when they got hungry, they went looking for food. By chance, they ran into Wangcai and his group and took Wangcai’s fish without hesitation.

Had it been other children, they might not have dared to steal, but they all knew Wangcai’s background. They often liked to tease him, and even if they robbed him, he wouldn’t necessarily dare to go home and complain.

So they took the fish with an air of righteousness.

However, there were five of them in total, and the fish they had stolen weighed less than half a catty. Even if they roasted it, it wouldn’t be enough to fill a single person’s stomach.

After Three Baos and his group left, they stayed behind to continue fishing.

When Shen Yiyi arrived with Three Baos and the others, they had not yet left.

Upon seeing Shen Yiyi, Li Tiezhu no longer showed the same fear as he had in the past two days.

Two days ago, his Mom had scolded him, saying that no matter what, Shen Yiyi was nothing more than a delicate woman.

If they really got into a fight, she might not even be able to defeat him.

Li Tiezhu thought about it and found it reasonable. He was already nine years old and well-built. If Shen Yiyi hadn’t grabbed his collar and choked him that day, she might not have been able to beat him. Besides, he had so many “brothers” by his side to back him up.  

Li Tiezhu considered himself someone who “roamed the streets.” Since he was “mixing in the underworld.” he couldn’t let others look down on him!  

To reestablish his dominance, Li Tiezhu immediately called his “brothers” over. The group of boys glared at Shen Yiyi and her companions with hostility before finally fixing their gaze on Wangcai.  

Their eyes were full of intimidation—who would have thought that this punching bag actually dared to go back and complain today?  

Wangcai noticed their stares and, frightened, shrank into his Mom’s embrace. He spoke timidly: “Mom, it was them who stole my fish.”  

Lin Daniu held Wangcai protectively in her arms. She looked at Li Tiezhu and his group, her face fierce, though her heart was somewhat uneasy.  

However, in front of her child, she couldn’t show weakness. Summoning her courage, she questioned them: “So it was you who stole my Wangcai’s fish?”  

“What do you mean we stole Wangcai’s fish? We saw that fish first!” Li Tiezhu immediately shouted.  

“No, it was clearly… it was me…” Wangcai faltered under their hostile stares, his voice growing weak.  

Truthfully, if Three Baos and the others weren’t here today, he wouldn’t have dared to go back and report it at all.  

“It was Wangcai who saw it first!” Er Bao immediately grabbed his friend’s hand, giving him courage, and shouted loudly: “You’re lying!”  

“What proof do you have that we’re lying?” One of Li Tiezhu’s companions, He Weidong, the son of Wang Yan, immediately retorted.  

When they took the fish, only the two groups had been there—where could any proof come from?  

Seeing the bewildered expressions on Er Bao and Wangcai’s faces, Li Tiezhu’s group became even more emboldened. They all started clamoring at once, demanding evidence. Otherwise, they claimed, they were being falsely accused.  

Li Tiezhu’s side had five people. Aside from Goudan, the remaining four were all around eight or nine years old. Compared to Three Baos and his group, who were only five or six, their presence was far more intimidating.

Three Baos and Wangcai were so angry that their faces turned red.  

These boys were shameless and unreasonable, making it impossible to do anything against them.  

Wangcai felt the most aggrieved and looked up at his Mom.  

Lin Daniu held her belly and found herself at a loss when faced with such scoundrels. She turned to look at Shen Yiyi instead.  

For some reason, she inexplicably trusted her.  

Shen Yiyi seemed to have thought of something. Her gaze landed on a small, newly dug water pit beside the ditch. Inside, there was a fish—not too big, not too small. Suddenly, she smiled and said: “Forget it. This fish is too small. If they want it, let’s just give it to them. We’ll catch a few bigger ones instead, alright?”  

“Mom, there aren’t many fish left in the water now.” Da Bao hesitated.  

Shen Yiyi glanced at the ditch. Not far away was the river, and the flowing water was abundant. However, because it passed through the rice fields, a lot of mud had been washed down, making it very murky.  

She remained confident. “But I think there are plenty.”  

As soon as she spoke, Li Tiezhu and his gang burst into laughter, mocking her for overestimating herself.

Qingshui Village was located in the middle reaches of the river, where fish were already scarce.  

Since farmers didn’t have meat tickets, the only way to eat meat was by catching fish in the river.  

Recently, due to the autumn harvest, everyone had been trying to get some meat to nourish themselves. During the preparation and early stages of the harvest, many families had racked their brains to catch fish. By now, there were barely any left in the river.  

Just now, Li Tiezhu and his group had spent ages fishing but hadn’t caught a single one.  

They had grown up in the countryside—if even they couldn’t catch any, how could Shen Yiyi possibly succeed?  

Shen Yiyi ignored them. She casually rolled up her pant legs and walked over to the ditch, staring intently at the water’s surface.  

Everyone saw her focused expression and followed her gaze. All they could see was the turbulent and muddy water, yet they couldn’t help but hold their breath, watching her every move.  

At that moment, Shen Yiyi suddenly stretched out her hand and reached into the water.  

“Pa! Pa!”

A large, oval-shaped, laterally compressed fish was scooped out of the water by Shen Yiyi’s hand. Its broad, blunt, and rounded tail fin flapped vigorously from side to side, producing a loud slapping sound.  

“Wow!”  

Three Baos and Wangcai exclaimed in astonishment, while Li Tiezhu and his gang widened their eyes in disbelief at the scene unfolding before them.  

“Er Bao, step aside!” Shen Yiyi called out, then casually tossed the fish onto the ground.  

The fish landed and immediately started flopping energetically.  

Everyone finally snapped out of their shock. Er Bao squatted down excitedly, picked up the fish, and cheered: “What a big fish!”  

Just as he spoke, another fish was thrown onto the ground.  

Then a third.  

A fourth.  

A fifth…  

Each time she caught a fish, Shen Yiyi moved to a different spot. Of course, she didn’t catch one every time—whenever she missed, she would sigh regretfully and say, “Ah, it got away.”  

But her speed at catching fish was already shocking enough.  

Catching them herself wasn’t enough—seeing how thrilled Er Bao was, she waved him over.  

To Er Bao, his Mom seemed to be glowing at that moment. Without hesitation, he ran up to her. “Mom, are you going to teach me how to catch fish?”  

“Yes.” Shen Yiyi rolled up his pant legs. “Be careful, don’t slip. Just squat here and wait for me to tell you when to grab, understand?”  

“Mm-hmm!” Er Bao nodded repeatedly, his excitement overflowing.  

“Alright, watch the water carefully. Do you see it? There’s a slight ripple, isn’t there?” Shen Yiyi spoke with a serious expression, completely making things up. She actually knew nothing about fishing—every fish she caught had been secretly taken from the space she controlled with her mind.  

Er Bao widened his eyes, trying to find the so-called ripple, but he couldn’t see anything. Just as he was about to ask, “Mom, where—”  

“Lower your voice! You’ll scare the fish away!” Shen Yiyi whispered urgently. “Keep your eyes on that ripple… Now—grab it!”  

Er Bao’s mind went blank, but as soon as his Mom told him to grab, he reached out without thinking.  

The next second, his face lit up with joy as he shouted: “I caught it! I caught it! Mom, I caught it!”