The Concubine's Daughter Travels Through Time and Space and Takes the Road of Confrontation

Director Wan returned to his former fishing village.

The fishing village looked no different from before, with women busy drying their nets and mending their nets, little kids chasing and playing in the open space in front of their houses, and dried fish hanging under the eaves of every household.

Wan Ji followed his memory and came to a mud house. The old man sitting at the door looked up at the visitor, and a smile broke out on his dark face. "Aji, how come you have time to come back today?"

After being invited to sit in the house, Director Wan handed the snacks he brought to his aunt. "Uncle, where's Auntie?"

The old man smiled and said, "He's gone out to sea. If you want to find him, you'll have to wait a while."

Director Wan: "I heard that A-Tai is working for the Jiang family now. A-Tai is such a good sailor, why doesn't she do it herself?"

The old man asked, "I heard someone say your job was canceled by a nobleman? Are you no longer working for them at the treasury office?"

Hearing the old man's concern, Director Wan smiled and said, "My job hasn't been cancelled. But I'm no longer in the treasury. I'm currently working for another nobleman. Thanks to that nobleman, I even met the Crown Prince of Nanyue a few days ago."

The old man smiled again when he heard this. "That's good, that's good!"

After a while, he sighed deeply, "We have been fishermen going out to sea for generations. If we can't go out to sea anymore, how will we survive in the future?"

Director Wan frowned. "Uncle, what do you mean? Why can't we go out to sea?"

The old man was stunned and waved his hands quickly, saying, "I'm just worrying about nothing. It's nothing."

Director Wan chatted with the old man for a few words, then stood up and walked out the door. Suddenly, he heard a commotion coming from the east end of the village, and a crowd quickly gathered towards the place where the sound came from.

In the middle of the crowd, a ragged woman was holding a blood-soaked man in her arms, crying in agony, "Those Jiang family members are such ruthless people! Chaosheng, don't leave! What will I do if you leave? Chaosheng!"

The man's back was torn to the point of exposing his bones. He lay face down in the cabin, motionless, surrounded by only a few palm-sized dead fish.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way!" Director Wan yelled, "Uncle, help me get a doctor!"

The crowd was motionless, their sun-burned faces showing the familiar numb expression. The old man squeezed into the crowd and said, "Aji, give me a hand."

Director Wan suppressed his doubts and helped the old man move the man from the ground into the house. Chao Sheng's wife, having wiped away her tears, deftly boiled water and carefully cleaned the scars on her husband's back.

The neighbor next door brought half a bottle of liquor, and the old man went home to get the medicine powder. Director Wan took the knife on the stove, tore his undershirt into long strips and handed it to the woman, "Sister, boil it in water first before using it."

The woman nodded with tears in her eyes.

The man's wounds had been bandaged, and the woman sat by the bed, guarding him motionlessly.

Director Wan pulled the old man outside and asked, "Uncle, what's going on?"

The old man glanced at the sunset in the distance and said, "Aji, you are no longer in the treasury."

Director Wan's face was as dark as water. "Uncle, the Jiang family? Could it be the Jiang family of Jiang Er, the tax director?"

The old man shook his head. "Who would have known? Three years ago, a man from the Jiang family suddenly came to the village and said the sea where we fished belonged to the Jiang family. If we go back there to pay taxes, our ancestors have been fishing here for generations, and we've never heard of such a claim. The villagers didn't believe it. The next day, ten people went there, but only three were carried back. All of them had injuries similar to Chaosheng's. The villagers had no choice but to move to another place. Who would have thought that the sea would also become the Jiang family's, and the number of people in the village dwindled."

"Uncle, why didn't you tell me?" Wan Siye said in pain.

The old man said, "You are a promising kid. You have finally made it out of this poor place. The Jiang family is obviously not someone you can easily mess with. What can we do if they become a burden to you? We rely on nature for our livelihood. If God doesn't give us a way to survive, there is nothing we can do."

"What's the matter with A Tai going to work at the Jiang family?"

The old man sighed, "Everyone has to eat. The Jiang family won't let us go out to sea to fish, forcing us to work for them, using our boats and nets. Every time we go out to fish, we can only keep 30% of the fish, and they take 70%."

"This is outrageous!" Wan Siye stood up angrily. "Every time we go out to sea, we pay for the fish we catch with our lives, and they want to collect 70% of the fish without spending anything! Uncle, can you please stop fishing and find some other way to make a living?"

"Our ancestors all made a living by fishing. What else can we do?" The old man immediately shook his head. "It's not as easy as you say. No matter how unreasonable the Jiang family is, as long as we fish well, they won't force us to death."

At the dock on the coast, more than a dozen boats were lined up. Soon it was the turn of a strong man in his thirties who bent down and carried the caught fish up in baskets.

He could keep one and a half baskets of fish out of the five baskets divided into 30% and 70%, but his hand was stopped in mid-air.

The triangular-eyed man tapped his hand with the stick in his hand. "Didn't you read the rules we just announced this morning? Every able-bodied laborer under the age of 35 must catch at least six baskets of fish every day. If that's not enough, the fish you hand in must not be less than four. The rest belongs to our Jiang family, and you are not allowed to touch it!"

Wan Tai stood up straight and said in a muffled voice, "What if there's not enough?"

Triangle Eyes snorted coldly, "If it's not enough, remember it first and make up for it next time. You can only take the fish after you have balanced the account!"

Wan Tai clenched his fists, veins popping out on his forehead. "According to you, all the fish we catch with our own boats belong to your Jiang family!"

The thugs gathered around, gazing coldly at the crowd before them. Seeing this, the other fishermen also gathered around and stood silently behind Wan Tai.

The man with triangular eyes took a step back, his expression slightly changed. "As long as you fish more, you will catch more fish. The Jiang family made this rule for your own good. The more fish you hand in, the more fish you will get. Otherwise—" He looked around at everyone and snorted, "No one can go out to sea on our Jiang family's territory."

Wan Tai roared, "Bullshit! I've been fishing for generations and have never heard of your Jiang family's bullshit rules. The sea belongs to all of us!"

The man with triangular eyes proudly shook the silk in his hand and said, "I don't care about other places. With this document in hand, this piece of land belongs to my Jiang family. But if you are dissatisfied, go to the government office and sue me! Go ahead!"

"Atai, don't be impulsive. Let's talk about it when we get back!" The middle-aged man in the crowd tightly grasped the young man's arm and said helplessly, "We can't afford to offend the Jiang family."

Wan Tai swallowed his anger and said nothing more, watching Triangle Eyes carry the fish away. He turned and jumped into the sea, pulling up the rope.

"Stop! I'm giving you permission to go!" Triangle Eyes stood on the dock, looking down at the person in the water. "Go, lift his basket for me!"

The thugs looked at each other in confusion, "Master Jiang, this isn't good, is it?"

Triangle Eyes said impatiently, "He's just a cheap fisherman, what are you afraid of? Our Jiang family is not a pushover!"

"What are you doing!" Wan Tai screamed and struggled to protect his fish, but was pushed down to the beach by three people. He didn't care about his cheek being scratched by gravel, and ran desperately towards the fish on the ground, trying to collect them back into the basket. This was the food for everyone in his family.

The triangular-eyed man glanced at everyone with a sinister look, "If you still don't agree, come find me. I won't be so polite next time!"