Chapter 70 : What was that just now?

The good thing about the military district’s family compound was that there was no need to worry about children wandering off. This area belonged to the military, and there were sentries stationed outside to stand guard.

The weather was nice today. When they arrived at the beach, the breeze was gentle, and the waves were calm. Xiao Cui and Xiaojun had also arrived.

A man was carrying a bucket, picking up things along the shoreline.

Seeing them coming, he happily waved his hands. “Sister Weiwei! Zhou Cheng! Zhou Lin!”

Song Shiwei felt relieved when she noticed that Xiaojun’s complexion looked much better than before.

“Are you still feeling unwell?” she asked.

Xiaojun quickly shook his head with a bright smile. “No! I’m almost fully recovered now! Even my grandpa and grandma are in much better spirits. It’s all thanks to you, Sister Weiwei! Without you, who knows what would have happened to our family!”

Hearing this, Song Shiwei smiled and gently ruffled his hair.

“That’s good! I’m glad to hear that! But honestly, I didn’t do much. That Polygonum multiflorum was already growing in your backyard mountain,I just happened to recognize it!”

No matter what she said, Xiao Cui and her brother remained deeply grateful. In their hearts, they had secretly vowed that she would always be their lifelong benefactor.

This kindness could never be repaid.

Xiao Cui put her bucket down and glanced around. After making sure no one was nearby, she let out a sigh of relief and pulled out several thick stacks of money wrapped tightly in a handkerchief from her chest.

“Sister Weiwei, Doctor Sun came by this afternoon. He sold all the Polygonum multiflorum and returned with the money! We had a total of 286 kilograms of Polygonum multiflorum, and it sold for 4 yuan per kilogram, totaling 1,144 yuan. He gave me a deposit of 200 yuan earlier, so this is the remaining 944 yuan! Sister Weiwei, please count it!”

Song Shiwei was momentarily stunned as she looked at the thick stacks of ten-yuan bills. No wonder something had seemed off when she saw Xiao Cui earlier,her belly had looked noticeably rounder. It turned out she had been carrying all this money!

With so much cash, how long would it take to count it all?

“Did you count it already?” she asked.

Xiao Cui blushed and nodded.

Xiaojun chuckled. “My sister has never seen this much money before, she counted it several times! This stack is 200 yuan, and the smaller one is 144 yuan. I watched her do it!”

Song Shiwei laughed. “Then I don’t need to count it. It must be correct!”

She took out two stacks and handed them back to Xiao Cui.

“Here, take these.”

Xiao Cui panicked and quickly waved her hands. “Sister Weiwei, I can’t take it! You already gave me the deposit! I really can’t accept any more. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have recognized the Polygonum multiflorum even if it grew for another fifty years, let alone sold it! And besides, you saved Xiaojun and helped my family so much. If I take this money, what kind of person would I be?”

Xiaojun chimed in, “That’s right, Sister Weiwei! We really can’t take this money. If it weren’t for you, I might have died a long time ago. You’re my lifesaver. We already took 200 yuan, and that’s more than enough, we really can’t accept the rest!”

No matter what, the siblings refused to take the money. They kept pushing it back and forth between them, drawing the attention of several people nearby.

Song Shiwei started to feel anxious. In that era, this amount of money was quite significant. If someone with bad intentions saw it, it could lead to trouble.

“Listen to me,” she said firmly. “This Polygonum multiflorum wasn’t mine. It grew on your land. If Xiao Cui hadn’t led me to the mountain, we wouldn’t have found it, let alone sold it for money! How about this, I’ll give you 344 yuan, and I’ll take the larger portion, keeping 600 yuan. Does that sound fair?”

The two siblings hesitated, unsure of what to do. Without giving them a chance to refuse again, Song Shiwei quickly stuffed the two stacks of money into Xiao Cui’s arms.

“Put it away quickly, don’t let anyone see it! A man may be innocent, but possessing a treasure makes him guilty! That includes the 200 yuan you already have, make sure you hide it well!”

Hearing her say this, Xiao Cui was so startled that she quickly covered herself up, glanced around cautiously, and only breathed a sigh of relief after making sure no one had noticed.

But she truly had no idea how to express her gratitude to Song Shiwei.

With a sudden “thump,” she pulled Xiaojun down to kneel.

“Sister Weiwei, Xiaojun and I will never be able to repay your kindness in this lifetime. In the future, as long as you need us, we will go through fire and water for you without hesitation!”

As she spoke, she kowtowed three times in a row with a loud “dong, dong, dong.”

Song Shiwei hurriedly pulled them up.

Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin exchanged glances, their expressions deep and serious, obviously touched by the moment.

They stepped forward to help Song Shiwei lift the siblings to their feet.

“Sister Xiao Cui, please get up quickly and stop embarrassing my mother! You should know that she does these things without expecting anything in return!” Zhou Cheng said.

Xiao Cui looked at Song Shiwei with red-rimmed eyes. “I know Sister Weiwei is a good person, and good people will be rewarded! From now on, you will be like family to Xiaojun and me our dearest relative!”

Hearing this, Song Shiwei smiled.

“Good children, I accept your kindness! You said that we will be family in the future, and I don’t ask for anything in return. But I do hope that you, Zhou Cheng, Zhou Lin, Zhou Wei, and Xinxin can grow up healthy and safe. No matter what you choose to do in the future, may you learn well and become people who contribute to society and the country!”

As she spoke, she looked meaningfully at Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin. Seeing their determined nods and firm gazes, she felt much more at ease.

At that moment, the tide had begun to recede.

More and more people were arriving at the beach.

Without further delay, Song Shiwei and the others grabbed their buckets and started searching for seafood.

This time, as the tide went out, a lot of dragontail fish were left stranded on the shore. This type of fish was especially delicious when stewed in fish soup.

Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin put on gloves and excitedly started catching the fish.

Meanwhile, Song Shiwei kept searching among the rocks, hoping to find more sea cucumbers or abalone.

However, instead of those, she only managed to find a few octopuses and scallops.

Just as she was starting to feel a little discouraged, she suddenly noticed something unusual, the water in a small puddle ahead was very murky.

From her experience, if no one had disturbed a puddle but the water was still cloudy, there was likely something big hiding inside.

With that thought, she approached with her bucket. But because the water was so muddy, she couldn’t see what was inside.

She reached in with her hand, feeling around carefully. Suddenly, her fingers brushed against something slippery and soft. Before she could react, the creature violently flicked its tail, sending a splash of water straight into her face.

Hearing the commotion, Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin hurried over.

“What happened? Are you okay, Mom?” Zhou Cheng asked anxiously.

Xiao Cui and Xiaojun also rushed over.

“What was that just now? A fish? How could it be so strong?” Xiaojun exclaimed.

There was a hint of surprise in Song Shiwei’s eyes. It should be a fish, a very big one at that!

If it was big enough, it could probably sell for a good price!

“Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin, stand over there. Xiao Cui and Xiaojun, you stand over here. Let’s surround it and catch it together. I refuse to believe we can’t get it!” she instructed.

Zhou Cheng immediately perked up. “Okay!”

Zhou Lin and the others rolled up their sleeves, ready to wade into the water.

Song Shiwei placed her bucket and the seafood she had already gathered on a nearby rock, then even took off her gloves.

It would be easier to catch with her bare hands.

No matter what, she was determined to catch it today.

Slowly, the group inched forward, feeling around for the fish.

Sensing the disturbance, the fish suddenly thrashed its body, creating a commotion in the water.

As it bolted toward Zhou Cheng, he instinctively reached out, grabbed its tail, and lifted it up.

But in that instant, he saw a huge, ferocious mouth snapping toward him.

Terrified, he flung it away, stumbled back a few steps, and plopped down onto a rock behind him.

Zhou Lin, who had the closest view, was utterly stunned.

“Just now… what was that?”