Chapter 226: A Casual Dig by the Sea
Chapter 226: A Casual Dig by the Sea
Before Jiang Dong returned to the boys' dormitory to call Jiang Xia, Jiang Xia received a call from Zhang Fuyan.
Jiang Xia learned from Zhang Fuyan that Jiang Dong had been slapped by Ye Xian and that she wanted to break up with him.
Jiang Xia clenched her teeth and said, "That's good. Consider it a lesson for him, and I even feel like slapping him twice!"
If a slap could lead to a breakup, it would be worth it!
If she dares to bother Jiang Dong again, Jiang Xia would slap her silly!
Zhang Fuyan: "..."
She suspected that Xia Xia had deliberately set a trap to make Jiang Dong and Ye Xian break up.
But why would Xia Xia do such a thing?
Right after hanging up with Zhang Fuyan, Jiang Xia received a call from Jiang Dong, almost monopolizing the production team's phone that day.
She felt a bit embarrassed.
Jiang Dong happily asked Jiang Xia over the phone what she needed to buy, as he would receive his share of the profits from the shop on October 1st.
However, Jiang Xia asked, "Does your face hurt?"
Jiang Dong: "..."
"Sis, can you please not rub salt in the wound?"
Jiang Xia's mournful tone made her feel like a dark cloud was passing through the phone.
With a hint of mischief, Jiang Xia laughed and said, "Little brother, how about a bet?"
"What are we betting on?"
Jiang Xia: "I bet Ye Xian will come crawling back to you soon."
Jiang Dong: "..."
Jiang Xia, seeing his silence, continued, "I'll write a letter and send it to Sister Xian for safekeeping. If Ye Xian really comes back to you, don't agree right away. Go and ask Sister Xian for the letter first."
Jiang Dong: "..."
"Is that okay?"
"Okay."
To prevent this sheltered little sapling from having idle thoughts, Jiang Xia added, "Xiao Dong, can you see if you can design a production line for the retractable handle and spinner wheels of a suitcase? I'll send you the design drawings later, so please work on it as soon as possible."
Jiang Xia had just spoken to Zhang Fuyan, who mentioned that they had to borrow a handcart from the train station to bring back the fish jerky to school.
It was then that she thought of having Jiang Dong design a production line for suitcase components to keep him too busy for romance.
Jiang Dong: "..." No, sis, I haven't even finished the two designs you asked for last time, and now you're asking for more?"
Why does his sister have so many things for him to design?
Jiang Xia: "So, why are you taking so long? You haven't designed a single one in all this time! Stop spending all your time chasing after girls and do something productive! You're there to study, not to date! I'll have many more things for you to design in the future, and at this rate, do you think you'll be able to design the vacuum machine by the time you graduate?"
Jiang Dong: "..."
It was truly unjust!
He had been working day and night in the research lab; when would he have time for romance?
And he was accused of only focusing on dating!
He and Ye Xian had only been together for about two months, and he had spent one of those months in the research lab!
With the Ye Xian issue resolved, Jiang Xia cycled back home, humming a tune the whole way!
When she arrived, the roof deck had been poured, and Zhou Chenglei had even arranged for the empty space in the old courtyard, the path leading to the new house, and the concrete-covered area to be paved with concrete, ensuring a cleaner yard in the future.
To prevent trampling on the newly paved surface, wooden boards were laid on top for easier walking.
Zhou Chenglei had been waiting for Jiang Xia at the entrance.
When he saw her return, he stepped forward to take the bicycle from her.
Jiang Xia smiled and handed him the bicycle, carefully walking on the wooden boards.
Zhou Chenglei pushed the bicycle onto the boards. Noticing Jiang Xia's cheerful mood, he asked, "What good news do you have?"
Jiang Xia smiled and said, "Jiang Dong and Ye Xian broke up."
Zhou Chenglei understood, as he had always sensed that Jiang Xia didn't quite like Ye Xian.
Jiang Dong's girlfriend clearly had ulterior motives, and his father-in-law probably saw through her as well, hence his polite yet distant attitude towards her.
As for why his father-in-law didn't stop him, Zhou Chenglei could understand.
Jiang Dong had always had it easy since childhood, but no one's path in life can be smooth forever.
Once you leave home, you'll encounter all sorts of people and face various problems and challenges.
You gain wisdom through experience.
Especially for boys, who will shoulder the responsibilities of family and nation in the future, how can they not learn to discern people?
Zhou Chenglei asked Jiang Xia, "Do you want to go to the seaside to set crab traps? Let's also check if there's a squid in that jar."
Jiang Xia's eyes lit up. "Great!"
Zhou Chenglei then took a few crab traps and left.
The butter crabs they found last time were good, and Jiang Xia loved eating crabs. Since he would be going out to sea in a couple of days, Zhou Chenglei wanted to catch more crabs for her.
Wen Wan had just finished pouring the foundation slabs for her new house and was paying the workers when she saw Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei carrying crab traps and buckets as they headed out.
Thinking that crabs were indeed delicious at this time of the year, she hurried home to get her own crab traps.
Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei arrived at the rocky shore by the sea.
Jiang Xia watched as Zhou Chenglei threw crab trap after trap, each baited, into the sea. She asked, "How long do we leave the traps for?"
Zhou Chenglei replied, "At least overnight. We can retrieve them when we return from the sea tomorrow morning or afternoon."
Jiang Xia asked, "Won't someone steal them?"
Zhou Chenglei said, "Usually not. We're all from the same village, and it's rare for someone to do such a thing. Anyone who wants to eat crabs can set their own traps and usually catch some."
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, many villagers set crab traps in the sea, which was rare on regular days.
Of course, everyone preferred blue crabs as they were considered nutritious, but Jiang Xia loved all kinds of crabs and wasn't picky.
There was no one around the rocky shore at this time, so Zhou Chenglei took off his shirt, leaving only a vest, and handed his shirt to Jiang Xia. "I'll go check on that jar."
Jiang Xia held his shirt and reminded him, "Be careful."
Zhou Chenglei responded and jumped directly into the water. He quickly found the jar he had wedged in the rock crevice and took it out.
Zhou Chenglei took a look; there were three squids inside, and one was quite large.
He grabbed them and handed them to Jiang Xia.
Jiang Xia quickly passed the bucket for him to put them in and smiled. "I didn't expect there to be any."
Zhou Chenglei said, "These squids like to hide in bottles and jars, but you need luck to catch them. We used to love doing this when we were kids, and we often caught some."
After taking out the squids, Zhou Chenglei placed the jar back into the rock crevice.
He didn't immediately climb out. "I'll dive down to see if there are any crabs under the water. I'll catch a couple for you to eat."
"Okay, then I'll go pick some shellfish to steam with squash. Be careful," Jiang Xia said, seeing that the tide had receded quite a bit, exposing a stretch of beach that was usually not visible. She wanted to collect some shellfish to eat.
If it were a regular day, she wouldn't bother, as this was the beach near the village, and villagers would come here daily to collect shellfish to add to their meals. It was too difficult to find any!
"You go pick on the sandy beach, not here at the rocky shore," he said.
Jiang Xia agreed and headed towards the newly exposed sandy beach with her bucket.
Arriving at the newly revealed beach, she dug casually with her small shovel, and with each scoop, she found thumb-sized conch shells! Jiang Xia couldn't resist digging again, and with each scoop, she found more conch shells!
Had she stumbled upon a conch shell nest?
Jiang Xia excitedly dug with her shovel.
With each dig, she uncovered a pile of conch shells.
She had indeed found a conch shell nest!
Wen Wan came over with the crab traps and saw Jiang Xia digging vigorously.
She hurried towards the beach!
(End of Chapter)
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