Time Travel: A Fisherwoman Goes to the Sea to Raise a Baby

"Si Hai carried a small basket to the vegetable garden to help his elder sister pick some vegetables."

Xu Yiyi poured water onto the iron plate, and Xu Anyang came in at this time.

"My grandmother asked me to come over and help."

The old lady thought that Xu Yiyi would start cooking at about this time, and seeing that her grandson was very leisurely, she rushed out and asked him to come and help Xu Yiyi with the work.

"What vegetables are you picking? Let me go! There are a lot of bugs in the vegetable garden, and the meat is tender. Don't get bitten."

Xu Anyang carried the basket and prepared to go out.

"Children who grew up in fishing villages aren't that pretentious. You two can go together. Pick me a couple of greens, a handful of wild onions, and some ginger."

When Sihai heard this, he stuffed the uneaten banana into his mouth.

He walked ahead of Xu Anyang with a proud look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

Sihai tilted his little head, his tender cheeks moving, and a puzzled voice sounded.

Xu Anyang looked at Sihai walking with his legs spread out and wondered who he was, thinking he was the boss.

"Nothing, let's go."

After saying that, he picked up the basket and walked to the front of Sihai. The child quickened his pace as if he was competing with someone.

The two of them chased each other to the vegetable garden.

At this time, Li Xiuying, who was carrying a basket of vegetables in her own vegetable garden, was even more upset.

It was irritating to see the happy faces of the Xu family's little brats.

He focused on the quarrel between the kid and Xu Anyang.

My thoughts went back to a few months ago, when this child was still dull and not only did he speak softly himself, he would also be scared when others spoke a little louder.

She was always crying, which is completely different from what she is now.

As she looked at it, she inexplicably felt that something was not pleasing to the eye.

I thought that I shouldn't let them do what they want.

Li Xiuying pondered for a moment, her eyes turned around, as if she had thought of something, and smiled sinisterly.

"There is..."

Li Xiuying murmured something, turned around and went home with the empty basket.

The noisy sounds from all around behind her were still drifting away along with her figure.

"Brother Anyang, you can't do this! The ginger is even broken before you can pull it out."

Sihai pouted as if he was teaching a child, pinched his waist and straightened his body, and his bulging belly instantly stood out.

He looked at the broken piece of ginger in Xu Anyang's hand earnestly, shook his head and sighed.

He spoke word by word.

"Brother Anyang, please use a hoe to loosen the soil. Otherwise, the soil is too hard and the ginger won't grow."

Xu Anyang threw the ginger pieces in his hand into the basket.

"And the hoe?"

Sihai blinked and tilted his head to look at Xu Anyang.

He drawled, "I thought you took it."

He touched his bulging belly in confusion and tilted his head: "?"

"I don't know either. I just pull the vegetables out of my garden. I've never used a hoe."

Xu Anyang felt guilty when the child looked at him, so he reached out and broke off a small section of the fence surrounding the vegetable garden.

I dug the root of the ginger several times with a wooden stick, and then pulled it gently, and the whole piece of ginger was pulled out.

Sihai nodded proudly, his eyes full of pride.

"See! That's what I said."

The short and thick little finger pointed at the wooden stick in Xu Anyang's hand, and he raised his hand and patted his chest in a pretentious manner.

One big and one small, chattering non-stop.

Er'er was thinking at home that these two people might have gone out with their vegetable baskets, forgotten what they were doing, and gone out to play.

Thinking of this, he said something to Xu Yiyi and ran out.

As the saying goes, enemies often meet in a narrow road. When I passed by Aunt Li's house, I happened to see Li Xiuying walking home.

The little girl rolled her eyes and both of them raised their heads.

No one looks down on me.

Er'er had just taken a few steps when he heard Aunt Li's voice behind him.

"Have I, your mother, finally gotten enough of you? I asked you to go pick some vegetables, but you kept making excuses and refused to go. After finally going out with your basket, you came back empty-handed. You're really infuriating."

The more Aunt Li thought about it, the angrier she became. However, Li Xiuying just took a look and threw down the basket and went out.

"Where are you running off to again?"

Li Xiuying said calmly, "It's none of your business."

Walk straight towards the river.

Er'er was listening to the excitement with great interest, but felt a little guilty when he saw Li Xiuying come out.

Just when she thought Li Xiuying was going to argue with her, Li Xiuying just left.

Er'er poked her hand innocently, and from far behind her she heard Sihai's voice, a continuous "cluck, cluck" sound.

"I thought you two were out having fun, and was just about to go look for you."

Er'er pinched Sihai's chubby face.

When the three of them returned home, Wu Yuan, the little troublemaker, had also woken up.

She was nestling comfortably in Xu Yiyi's arms, drinking milk.

Normally, children at home would not come over at this time because they think the boiled goat milk is too fishy.

But Wu Yuan was drinking enthusiastically.

Xu Anyang helped Xu Yiyi cut the old hen into pieces, and Er'er moved out a large earthenware jar covered with dust from the utility room.

It seems that all these were purchased when Xu Yinli was still alive.

At that time, the two got married and bought a lot of things.

But now there are only children in the family, and their appetites are not too big.

Xu Yiyi put away all the things that were not used.

"Sister, is this old hen stewed with abalone?"

Xu nodded and said, "Divide the abalone into two portions. I will stew them together with the braised pork later."

When Sihai heard that there was braised pork, his face almost broke with laughter.

He was mumbling something, it really felt like Chinese New Year.

"You are just a foodie. You have become a fat baby."

Er'er said this mercilessly, and Sihai, who was stunned, subconsciously touched his belly.

The chubby little hands patted the little belly, making a banging sound.

"Sister——"

Sihai pouted and looked at Xu Yiyi with grievance, his eyes rolling around and he poked his belly, looking a little unhappy.

"Not fat, not fat at all, it's just baby fat, I'll lose it as I grow older."

Xu Yiyi said this seriously, and Sihai was instantly happy when he heard this.

He came closer to Er'er with a smug look on his face.

"Okay, okay, you're not fat."

Er'er said something perfunctorily, and Sihai left only after getting a satisfactory answer.

"Take your brother to play in the yard. Big sister is going to cook."

Xu Yiyi placed Wu Yuan, who had eaten and drunk his fill and solved his physiological problems, on the bamboo mat. It was cool and perfect for lying on at this time of year.

She washed the milk bowl, broke the legs of the crabs that had been washed in the yard, tied a seagrass rope around them, and put them in a clay pot.

Fresh crabs steamed with ginger vinegar sauce or garlic oil sauce, with a sweet and sour or fresh and fragrant taste, Xu Yiyi can't wait to eat it as a meal.

"Sister Yiyi, are we going to steam this now?"

Xu Anyang was lighting a fire in the kitchen and asked a question as he looked at the earthenware jar that Xu Yiyi brought in.

"No rush, wait until Sanchuan comes back and start steaming."

Crabs are naturally more delicious when they are freshly steamed, but they will have a slight fishy smell after they are cooled.

"That'll take more than half an hour. I'll pick him up after he finishes school, and pick up my sister at the same time."

Xu Anyang said this, adding fuel to the fire.

Xu Honglian went to the town to sell embroidered handkerchiefs at this time. As soon as she came out of the embroidery workshop, she saw Li Xiuying walking hurriedly past.

"Xiuying! Where are you going?"

Xu Honglian followed two steps forward with a puzzled look on her face. Li Xiuying seemed to have heard it, but she walked forward without looking back.

"That's strange. Didn't you just return to the island?"

Xu Honglian muttered to herself, with a troubled look on her face.

The two of them came to the town on a boat, but Li Xiuying chatted with the owner of the embroidery workshop for a little longer, so she went back first.

When she came again at this time, she just thought that Li Xiuying came to see her fiancé again.

……

At this time, Li Xiuying's eyes were wandering, and she found Zhan Jilan at a noodle stall in the alley.

"Auntie——"

Li Xiuying called out from a distance, but Zhan Jilan didn't react yet.

"Aunt Gillan."

Li Xiuying frowned and took a few steps forward.

Zhan Jilan bit off the noodles in his mouth and turned around to look.

She tilted her head, looking a little strange.

This is Li Shunan’s eldest daughter, whom I recognized. I have no connection with her.

I don't know what to ask her to do for no reason.

"Is this Li Xiuying?"

Zhan Jilan asked tentatively and Li Xiuying nodded.

"Why did you become so dark? You're so ugly."

Zhan Jilan said something with disdain, which almost broke Li Xiuying's defense.

"Auntie, what you said is wrong. People living by the sea are not very white. It's normal for them to get a little darker under the sun. There are many people in the village who are darker than me."

The implication is that she is not the darkest one.

As Li Xiuying spoke, she unconsciously walked to a shady place, subconsciously squinting her eyes and pouting, and the next moment a smile appeared on her face again.

"Your smile is so fake. If you say that people living by the sea are all dark, I don't agree. Have you ever looked at my children? They are all white. It's a fact that you are dark. I remember you were dark when you were born. You don't look very good when you are dark. Don't tell me you got a tan in the womb."

Li Xiuying closed her eyes in anger, and when she opened them again, she tried hard to force a smile.

"Auntie, you haven't been home for a long time, so you may not know that your children also have black ones."

Isn’t Xu Yiyi evil?

Zhan Jilan snorted coldly, "How can I be more ruthless than you?"

Li Xiuying was so confused that she was stupid enough to say such things to Zhan Jilan.

"Auntie, let's not talk about this anymore. I came here to tell you that your family has some great event today and they made a lot of delicious food. Why didn't they call you?"

Li Xiuying said coaxingly.

To be honest, Zhan Jilan's life has been really different since she ran away from home.

Look at the coarse linen clothes he is wearing now. That was something Zhan Jilan used to look down upon.

She just didn't believe that Zhan Jilan wouldn't be moved after hearing this.

After all, as long as I go back, I can live a good life again.

"Did my child provoke you? Did you come to me and stir up trouble?"

Zhan Jilan slurped the noodles in the bowl and wiped his mouth clean with a handkerchief.

His gaze turned to Li Xiuying again, with a scrutinizing look in his eyes.

"I remember you've been at odds with my Yi Yi since we were little, right? Do you think my Yi Yi is pretty and you're jealous?"

Zhan Jilan is a very good-looking person, and Xu Yinli is not bad looking either.

The children born were naturally not bad either. Apart from anything else, the two girls in the family were among the best in the village.

Otherwise, when Xie Yushu and Zhan Jilan were desperate, they would not have had such a crooked idea to sell Er'er to a brothel.

"Nonsense, I just came here to remind you out of kindness. After all, you are their mother. Your status is there. No matter what you do, they should be filial to you."

Li Xiuying continued to add fuel to the fire. Zhan Jilan threw down her chopsticks and looked at her coldly, then stood up and walked out of the alley.

"Auntie, won't you come back with me? I heard it's not easy for you to go back to the island. If you want, I can take you back."

Going back will cause trouble for Xu Yiyi and the others.

When she thought about Xu Yiyi and the others being angered by the sudden appearance of Zhan Jilan, she might be so excited that she couldn't sleep tonight.

"You've gotten even darker because of this. You're the worst. Go back and cover yourself up. I heard you're getting married at the end of the year. Don't get married like a charcoal-black man now."

Zhan Jilan looked Li Xiuying up and down thoughtfully.

She knew where Li Xiuying's defense was most vulnerable.

As expected, when Li Xiuying heard this, she immediately clenched her fists, touched her palms with her fingertips, and pierced into them fiercely.

As soon as he finished speaking, he left with satisfaction after seeing Li Xiuying's reaction.

After leaving the alley, Zhan Jilan ran to Sanchuan's school thoughtfully.

Although she didn't like Li Xiuying, what Li Xiuying said was very pertinent.

She is the mother of these children, and it is natural for children to be filial to their mother.

Li Xiuying followed closely behind and left with satisfaction after seeing Zhan Jilan's reaction.

"I was saying that a woman like Zhan Jilan doesn't seem like someone who can endure hardship. As soon as she heard her family was well off, she rushed to join them."

Li Xiuying watched from a distance and saw Zhan Jilan's anxious look, and couldn't help but smile smugly.

I heard that Xu Yiyi hates this person the most. I wonder how gloomy his face will be when he sees Zhan Jilan appear in front of him later.

On the way back, Li Xiuying suddenly remembered what Zhan Jilan said, and hid in a cool place all the way to the dock.

August is coming soon and the days are getting longer.

The sun was not setting for a long time, so it seemed she would have to stay at home longer.

At this time, Xu Yiyi was busy preparing delicious food.

The pork belly I bought that morning was weighed down in the well. After being cut into pieces, it was placed in the kitchen. But when I came in again, I found that one piece was missing.

"Si Hai Si Hai—Have you been into the kitchen?"

That was raw meat, and Xu Yiyi was worried that the child would stuff it directly into his mouth.

"No, I'm playing with my brother."

Sihai waved his hand and picked up Wuyuan by the calf.

The child was very strong and had no difficulty holding Wu Yuan.

The two stood by the pond, looking at the fish in it.

Xu Yiyi planned to save the black sea bream that Er'er brought back for eating tomorrow.

It was now swimming around in the pool, and Wu Yuan's eyes widened as he watched.

"Brother, when you grow up, I'll take you out fishing. I heard there are a lot of good things in the sea outside."

Sihai touched Wuyuan's sparkling mouth. The tender, short and fat child was holding an even tenderer baby and said these words seriously, which made people laugh.

"It's so dangerous to go out to sea. Aren't you fine at home? You have your elder sister to take care of you."

Yuanbao is bigger than the four seas and knows more things.

If possible, he would not go out to sea.

Aunt Li couldn't help but sigh when she heard what her son said.

They were also incompetent. Their children had no choice but to stay in the village and become fishermen at sea, or go to the provincial capital to become salt farmers. These were the only two paths that lay ahead of them.