Chapter 42: Calling Him Husband Won't Help
Chapter 42: Calling Him Husband Won't Help
Wan's hand almost touched the Sea Chrysanthemum Clam when a tender, white hand grabbed the longest spine and picked it up.
Wan's pupils contracted sharply as she looked up at Jiang Xia, realizing something. She tried to keep her tone gentle and soft, saying, “Sister Jiang Xia, this thing has so many spines. It’s not good if it stays on the beach and someone gets pricked. Shall I throw it away?”
Jiang Xia carefully examined the Sea Chrysanthemum Clam, remembering the plot from the novel. She had even looked up pictures of it, but she wasn’t entirely sure. She asked Zachary Cheng, “Do you recognize this guy?”
“Sea Chrysanthemum Clam,” Zachary Cheng replied.
Jiang Xia hadn’t planned to pick it up, but Zachary Cheng was about to. This big guy had a slim chance of containing a pearl.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Xia put it in the bucket, “This thing is quite beautiful. I’ll take it home for decoration.”
Wan: “...”
She persisted, “It has so many spines. Won’t you be afraid of getting pricked at home? I think we should throw it away! Sister Jiang Xia, you have a child at home, and children are playful. What if they play with it and get hurt?”
Jiang Xia: “I’m not afraid. I’ll mount it on the fence. It can deter intruders and protect the house.”
Wan: “...”
Ah!
This infuriated her!
So close!
So close!
Who kicked it? Why didn’t it kick the Sea Chrysanthemum Clam towards her?
Jiang Xia ignored Wan and said to Zachary Cheng, “I’ll continue looking around the rocks.”
Zachary Cheng was worried about her going alone.
“I’ll go with you.”
Wan finally snapped back to reality: Right, there’s still a pearl-encased sea snail!
She quickly ran back to the rock pile to search.
This time, she absolutely couldn’t let Jiang Xia find it first.
The couple didn’t notice Wan’s strange behavior as she walked away and then hurriedly left.
After the typhoon, the sky remained overcast, and the waves were still large, but the tide was gradually receding, exposing many rocks.
The couple walked together towards the rock pile, occasionally bending down to pick up a shrimp or dig a shell from a crevice and toss it into the bucket.
White clams and flower clams were quite delicious, and Jiang Xia loved them.
They picked some to keep in seawater, which would help the clams expel sand by the next day, though there was a risk they might not survive.
The beach was crowded with people picking shrimp and shellfish, but the rock area was less crowded because the waves were still strong, occasionally splashing onto the rocks.
With the waves so high, Zachary Cheng warned Jiang Xia not to go where the waves hit, but to search among the exposed rocks.
Jiang Xia nodded.
The two of them searched at a distance from each other, not too far apart.
Jiang Xia quickly found a crab larger than her palm in a crevice and immediately picked it up with a pair of tongs.
The crab, seeing the tongs, raised its claws and clamped onto the tongs, making it easier for Jiang Xia to hold it steady.
She put the crab in the bucket and continued searching, finding a flower crab next. People here didn’t like eating flower crabs, but Jiang Xia did.
After a while, it seemed they weren’t finding as many good things as they had hoped.
Suddenly, Jiang Xia saw a large white sea snail, about the size of a watermelon, in a crevice not far away.
She wasn’t sure if it was edible but decided to check it out.
Wan kept an eye on Jiang Xia. When she saw Jiang Xia’s gaze fall on something, she looked over and her pupils contracted sharply!
A sea snail!
A big sea snail!
The one in her dream that contained a pearl!
Wan ran over immediately.
Seeing her run, Jiang Xia jumped up.
Damn!
Was there no sense of martial virtue anymore?
This was clearly an attempt to steal it!
Zachary Cheng saw Jiang Xia hopping and running on the rocks with the bucket in her hand, her body swaying with the bucket.
His heart raced. If she slipped and fell, it could be serious!
He quickly ran over.
Jiang Xia made a few jumps and reached the sea snail, picking it up. Good grief, it was heavy!
She held the snail and looked at Wan provocatively.
Wen Wan wasn't as quick as Jiang Xia. She slipped and fell as Jiang Xia picked up the conch shell.
Wen Wan's knees were grazed, and a burning pain spread through her body, but she didn't have time to check her injuries.
She quickly got up and shouted, "Jiang Xia, that Emperor Crown Conch is mine! I saw it first!"
Jiang Xia, a civilized, cultured, and gentle beauty, couldn't help but curse, "You're full of it! You didn't see anything!"
Wen Wan: "..."
Zhou Chenglei: "..."
His lips twitched, but his eyes betrayed a hint of amusement.
Wen Wan was always so gentle that she couldn't bring herself to say such vulgar words, nor did she know how to argue with others.
But thinking about the two pearls she had missed, her eyes turned red with pain. She looked at Zhou Chenglei, "I saw this conch earlier, but I thought it was too heavy to carry, so I planned to pick it up on my way back. Big Brother Zhou, this conch is mine! Jiang Xia took my conch."
Jiang Xia: "Don't call him Big Brother Zhou, calling him husband won't work either! Even if the Emperor himself came, this conch is mine!"
Zhou Chenglei strode over to Jiang Xia, ignoring Wen Wan, and scolded her, "What nonsense are you talking? Why did you run? Don't you know it's dangerous?"
Calling him husband, is that something to say lightly? Who's husband is he, if she doesn't know?
Jiang Xia: "This 'White Lotus' tried to steal my conch, how could I not run?"
If she didn't run, she'd be a fool!
Zhou Chenglei didn't understand why Jiang Xia called Wen Wan a 'White Lotus,' but he wisely didn't correct her.
Wen Wan was furious. She understood what 'White Lotus' meant, having been reborn.
She couldn't argue, but Jiang Xia's words made her face flush. She hated people who spoke in such a sarcastic tone and turned to Zhou Chenglei, "Big Brother Zhou, I really saw this conch first. It should be mine."
Jiang Xia: "Just because you saw it first, it's yours? By that logic, since I was the first to arrive at the beach, all the seafood should be mine. Why should you pick anything up?"
Zhou Chenglei: "Just because you saw it first, it's yours? Jiang Xia was the first to arrive, so everything on the beach should be hers?"
Wen Wan: "..."
Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei spoke in unison, leaving Wen Wan speechless.
Jiang Xia glanced at Zhou Chenglei, surprised that he had said almost the same thing.
Zhou Chenglei ignored Wen Wan, took the conch from Jiang Xia, and placed it in the bucket, then helped her up, "Let's go! Don't run next time. It's just a conch. Falling and getting hurt isn't worth it."
Jiang Xia ignored him.
Zhou Chenglei continued, "Nothing is more important than your safety..."
Wen Wan watched as Zhou Chenglei helped Jiang Xia walk away, his words full of concern. She pulled up her pants and saw that her knees were scraped and bleeding, a fist-sized wound. A wave of injustice, frustration, and grievance washed over her, and her eyes turned red.
Clearly, she had been reborn with a golden finger, able to dream about the future and gain an advantage.
She had dreamed of two pearl conchs.
And she had been the first to arrive at this reef. Why was she still slower than Jiang Xia?
Even though they both discovered the conch at the same time, Jiang Xia was closer to it.
Life was always so unfair to her!
The first pearl conch was taken by Jiang Xia, and the second one was also spotted by Jiang Xia, who was closer and had the advantage.
Wen Wan watched Zhou Chenglei holding the bucket in one hand and supporting Jiang Xia with the other, and her frustration grew even more.
One day, Zhou Chenglei would be her husband.
When she called him husband, it would be with pride and justification.
Wen Wan thought about her dream where Zhou Chenglei saved her from being swept away by the waves. She looked at the rolling sea and walked over.
He had been a soldier and wouldn't stand by and watch someone die.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
