Chapter 29

When Xu Mei moved to the countryside, she stole all the savings from her home. She also took everything she had secretly taken from others over the years—it was a considerable amount.

Early the next morning, Xu Mei was taken to the Public Security Bureau.

After Jiang Aiguo handed over the cloth doll, the officers at the bureau indeed found a packet of croton powder hidden inside.

They also thoroughly investigated the origins of every item inside the doll.

With multiple charges of intentional harm, framing others, and theft, Xu Mei was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Lan Xiruo remained silent for a long time after hearing the news.

Had she been so foolish in her past life? To trust Xu Mei repeatedly, only to almost lose her life in the end.

“Only eight years? That’s too light a punishment,” Gu Xizhi muttered in dissatisfaction.

All his efforts to set up an illusion for Xu Mei and Wen Ze were now wasted.

Lan Xiruo sighed. “Eight years is good enough. By the time she gets out, we’ll have already returned to the city. A woman with a criminal record—her life is ruined.”

It was just a shame that they couldn’t drag that scumbag Wen Ze down with her. Since he had managed to argue his way out of the scandal of being caught half-dressed and embracing Xu Mei by the seaside, he only received a stern warning from the team leader.

Fine, let him enjoy his days for now. Next time she returned, she would find a way to make sure he suffered a miserable fate.

—-

Because of Xu Mei’s incident, the deputy team leader suggested assigning another person to Lan Xiruo’s fishing team. He said to Jiang Aiguo:

“Team Leader, at the core of this problem is the fact that Xu Zhiqing was envious of how much Jiang He’s team was earning.

Besides, they are going into deep waters now, and hauling in the fishing nets twice a day is exhausting. Adding another person will lighten their workload.”

Jiang Aiguo thought about it and then called Lan Xiruo’s group to inform them.

Since he had already brought it up, it was clear he agreed with the deputy leader’s suggestion.

Before returning, Uncle Jiang He had already discussed this possibility with Lan Xiruo and the others, so they were mentally prepared and accepted the arrangement without protest.

Even so, Uncle Jiang He still made it clear to Jiang Aiguo and the deputy leader: if the new recruit didn’t cooperate, they would request a replacement.

Both leaders had no objections.

After Lan Xiruo’s group left, the deputy leader said, “Among those who are still unassigned, only two educated youths remain.

Team Leader, how about letting Gu Zhiqing join them at sea?”

Jiang Aiguo gave him a long, unreadable look, making him feel a little uneasy before finally nodding.

“That works. Gu Zhiqing seems to get along well with Lan Zhiqing, so there shouldn’t be any conflicts in Jiang He’s group.”

The deputy leader quickly nodded. “Exactly, that’s what I was thinking.”

Jiang Aiguo suddenly chuckled. “You seem nervous. I never said you weren’t thinking that.”

Deputy Leader: “…”

No wonder Jiang Aiguo was the team leader while he was just the deputy. Look at this old fox—he operated on a completely different level.

Fortunately, he had only accepted a pack of biscuits from Gu Zhiqing for his son. If he had taken anything more, who knew what kind of trouble this old fox would stir up?

—-

At 11:30 AM, Lan Xiruo and the others boarded the fishing boat with their supplies.

At 11:40 AM, Gu Xizhi rushed over with a backpack. “Sorry, I’m late.”

Sun Yuqing was surprised. “Gu Zhiqing? Why is it you?”

Lan Xiruo, however, wasn’t surprised.

Knowing Gu Xizhi’s personality, once he found out she was in Jiang He’s group, he would do everything in his power to join. She just hadn’t expected him to act so quickly.

With a slight smile, Gu Xizhi explained, “The two team leaders sent me. Uncle Jiang He, everyone, please take care of me from now on!”

Uncle Jiang He wasn’t familiar with Gu Zhiqing, so he simply nodded in acknowledgment before starting the boat.

As the fishing vessel slowly left the harbor and sailed toward the open sea, Wen Ze met with someone in the commune. The two spoke in a secluded courtyard for over an hour before Wen Ze left with a confident expression.

At the same time, a tall and imposing man accompanied Ren Lao—the person Lan Xiruo had rescued the previous day—onto White Horse Island.

Half an hour after the boat set sail, A’Dong and the others, who had been observing Gu Xizhi for a while, finally spoke up to test the waters.

“Gu Zhiqing, have you ever been out at sea before?”

Gu Xizhi nodded. “Yes, but they only let me do odd jobs.”

“Do you get seasick?”

“No.”

“Oh, that’s good. As long as you don’t get seasick, you can pick up the rest quickly. The only tricky part is casting the nets, but everything else is easy to learn.”

Casting nets required an experienced fisherman. Based on water currents, depth, and salinity, they determined where the best fish were before setting the nets.

“Got it, thanks!” Gu Xizhi responded with a polite smile, making him seem approachable.

Seeing this, A’Dong, Jiang Dazhu, and Heiyu relaxed and quickly warmed up to him, enthusiastically explaining the different fishing tools on board.

Gu Xizhi listened attentively, occasionally asking thoughtful questions, making them feel like seasoned mentors.

Meanwhile, Sun Yuqing and Lan Xiruo were preparing lunch. Listening to the conversation, Sun Yuqing whispered to Lan Xiruo:

“I always thought Gu Zhiqing was hard to get along with. But today, I realized he’s only like that toward Wen Zhiqing and Xu Mei. He’s actually quite easygoing with others.”

Lan Xiruo’s gaze remained fixed on Gu Xizhi as she replied, “That’s just how he is. If he doesn’t like someone, he won’t even bother pretending.”

But if he did like someone, he would treat them so well that they wouldn’t want to leave him.

“Hey, Xiruo, how did you two meet? Did Gu Zhiqing join the countryside program because of you?”

Sun Yuqing’s gossip instincts flared as she noticed the frequent glances exchanged between Lan Xiruo and Gu Xizhi.

Lan Xiruo only smiled and nodded slightly but didn’t elaborate.

Since she wouldn’t spill the details, Sun Yuqing had no choice but to keep observing on her own.

By the time lunch was ready, Gu Xizhi had already bonded with A’Dong and even arranged a fishing contest with them.

Lan Xiruo overheard and raised an eyebrow. “Do you even know how to fish?”

Gu Xizhi shook his head. “No, but all I have to do is sit and wait for a fish to bite. I have the patience for that.”

She knew it.

Remembering something she had bought the previous day, Lan Xiruo suggested, “Fishing all the time gets boring. Why don’t we try something different today?”

“What do you have in mind?” The others were intrigued.

“We’re still in shallow waters, and the water quality here is great. There should be large lobsters. Let’s have a lobster-catching contest today!”

“You can catch lobsters? With what?”

Wouldn’t a normal fishing hook just get snapped in half by those powerful claws?

“Of course, we can! But we won’t be using regular hooks. We’ll use something else.”

“What do we use?” The group was even more curious.