Chapter 007: The Harmful Genius Sun Nanhai

Watching Jiang Zhi walk away, Sun Nanhai stopped calling out. He brushed off a bug from his clothes and got up nimbly, contemplating that in order to appease her, he had deliberately allowed her to kick him twice. However, seeing her expression, she still seemed angry. Perhaps he should go to his own pond and gather some river clams and snails to send to her family. For the sake of the adults, he certainly couldn't resort to using "force" against her. Yes, that will do; he decided to take action.

Jiang Zhi was concentrating intently on the front when suddenly someone shouted loudly behind her, "Hi!" Startled, Jiang Zhi slipped and lost her balance, falling into the river with a splash. Fortunately, this section of the river was not very deep, with the water only reaching her waist. After struggling in the water for a moment, she managed to stand up straight, but her clothes were completely soaked. Thankfully, she hadn't brought her phone with her, or it would have been ruined as well.

Li Meihua came out to fetch water and saw Jiang Zhi seriously talking to Xiao Hei. Xiao Hei was half-squatting in front of her, as if he were genuinely listening to her. It looked quite amusing.

At this moment, Jiang Zhi had not forgotten the purpose of coming to the riverbank. After picking two lotus leaves, she grabbed his hand and climbed up the riverbank. As Jiang Zhi reached the top, she forcefully pushed Sun Nanhai, causing him to also fall into the water to "play." With old grievances and new resentments combined, it was difficult to control her hands from pushing him; it was truly satisfying. Ignoring Sun Nanhai, who was roaring at her from the water, Jiang Zhi shook off the wet clothes on her body while holding the lotus leaves and hummed a slightly off-key tune as she headed towards the small pond from before.

Jiang Zhi heard her parents returning and went out to greet them. "Mom, do you remember that time when Aunt made a stir-fry with river clam meat and chili? It was really delicious, so I picked some up."

Jiang Zhi returned home in a disheveled state, and on the way, she encountered several villagers. This was the end for her; even if the villagers were busy, their gossiping would not cease. It wouldn't take half a day for the news to reach Jiang Zhi's family. Fortunately, there was no one at home. Although she would inevitably face scolding, it would be more bearable to tidy up first and then face the reprimand than to be scolded in her current state.

"Hmm, thank you, Dad." Jiang Zhi said it was fine, but inside she was feeling quite conflicted; today's suffering was truly in vain, all because of that bastard Sun Hainan.

The lotus leaf that was wrapped around the river clam was torn, and Jiang Zhi could only use the extra lotus leaf. After standing up and taking a few steps, she noticed that her knee seemed to be scraped, and the damp jeans rubbed against it, causing a stinging pain. Truly, it was an unfortunate year, encountering petty people as she stepped out.

Jiang Zhi turned around in the water. When she looked back, she saw Sun Hainan from Sun Weiguo's family, who lived diagonally across from Jiang Zhi's home. This boy was quite mischievous, a year older than Jiang Zhi, and lived nearby. Their parents had a good relationship, and he had grown up alongside Jiang Zhi and Jiang Che, often engaging in mischief together, such as stealing cucumbers from the east neighbor and tomatoes from the west neighbor. He was quick on his feet, while Jiang Zhi and Jiang Che could not run fast. Whenever the adults caught someone, it was often one of Jiang Zhi or Jiang Che, which was truly a source of sorrow. Little did she expect that even after growing up, he would still haunt her, bringing trouble her way, making Jiang Zhi want to cry even more.

Jiang Zhi wrapped those river clams in a lotus leaf, lifted them up, and only used one leaf, leaving another. The lotus leaf is quite a valuable item; taking it back to grandmother will be very useful.

Jiang Zhi rolled her eyes and couldn't be bothered to turn around to acknowledge him, continuing to walk ahead on her own. Sun Nanhai ran a few steps to catch up with Jiang Zhi, glanced at the item in her hand, and his usual sarcastic remarks began again: "So the lotus leaves you recklessly picked are actually meant to wrap this thing! Truly, you must have nothing better to do after eating."

The water of Xianren Lake has never dried up, and thus the water of the San Shan River has also never run dry. The wild trees and grasses on both sides of the river grow lush and green. However, just about ten meters away from the riverbank, the scenery changes dramatically; some wild grasses have turned slightly yellow, in some areas the soil has cracked open with numerous fissures, and some small ponds are nearly dry. It seems that this year has been particularly severe in terms of drought. In previous years, this area received abundant rainfall, and the small ponds had never been observed to lack water.

Jiang Zhi threw the dirty clothes into the washing machine, pressed the start button, and then left it unattended as she returned upstairs to surf the internet. Just then, Jiang Che was online and heard about Jiang Zhi's unfortunate situation. As expected, Jiang Che sent a series of laughing pig emojis. This guy is as mischievous as Sun Nanhai, always relishing the opportunity to kick someone when they are down. If only she had known not to tell him, it would have been better to talk to Liu Xu. Upon hearing the news, Liu Xu hurriedly called to comfort Jiang Zhi.

Jiang Zhi's heart felt so at ease, her steps became noticeably lighter; indeed, happiness often needs to be built upon the suffering of others

Jiang Zhi held the wrapped river clam in one hand and grasped the remaining lotus leaves in the other, quickening her pace in hopes of tidying herself up before her family returned home; otherwise, she would face another scolding

Everyone had entered the house, and Jiang Zhi was staring blankly at the river clam. After all, it was something she had worked hard to bring back; it would be a waste to just throw it away. Perhaps she could smash it open to feed the puppy. Action speaks louder than words, so she decided to go for it. The vegetable garden was surrounded by leftover red bricks from the house construction. Jiang Zhi casually picked up a brick from the top and sat on a small stool to start smashing the river clam. Xiao Hei also came over, squatting on Jiang Zhi's left side. Xiao Hei was a little puppy that Jiang Che and Tu Shu had picked up from Grandma's mountain during the New Year. Its scientific name was "Chinese Rural Dog"—a rather grand title, but in reality, it was just a local dog. Jiang Zhe said that local dogs have spirit and can guard the house, so they decided to keep it. The name was also given by Jiang Zhe, who said that since its fur was black, it would be called Xiao Hei. Despite its young age, Xiao Hei was quite adept at guarding the house. Chang Jie Jun would often go out to chat with her old friends, and Xiao Hei loved to follow her. Just recently, it had returned from visiting Chang Jie Jun and saw Jiang Zhi seemingly smashing something to eat, so it came over.

Jiang Zhi set up a small basin with some water and tossed in a river clam before heading off to take a bath. Although rural people do not live as delicately as those in the city, they are resourceful in their own ways. The bathhouse has two sources of hot water: one from the coal stove in the kitchen and the other from a metal water tank made on the roof of the third floor, which could be called a simple "solar water heater." The sun is scorching, and the water in the tank is hot to the touch, requiring some cold water to be mixed in for washing. Jiang Zhi quickly rinsed off and came out, only to discover that her knees were slightly red and swollen, with some areas bleeding. No wonder it stung so much when they came into contact with water.

"Hey, how can you be like this? Hey, wait for me..." Sun Nanhai began to shout again

Jiang Zhi did not speak, but directly expressed her disdain for him through her actions. She kicked him in the backside, sending him into the rice field, letting him keep company with the leeches in the field

The small clam shattered upon impact, and there was another clam with a leech inside. Fortunately, Xiao Hei was nearby; before Jiang Zhi had the chance to scream, the leech was swiftly eliminated by Xiao Hei. Jiang Zhi patted Xiao Hei on the head and gave it a thumbs up, saying: Well done, I'll take you along next time.

I understand, Grandma, I will definitely pay attention next time, Jiang Zhi said flatteringly to the picture book

Jiang Zhi was afraid that Sun Nanhai would catch up, so she walked very quickly. However, her shoes were filled with water, making the ground slippery. She tripped over a protruding tree root and stumbled, falling down. Fortunately, the sides of the path were covered with reeds, so she did not scrape her skin. It was all that Sun Nanhai's fault; I would not let this matter rest with him. Jiang Zhi decisively attributed the cause of her fall to Sun Nanhai, as she could not possibly blame the tree root herself.

"It's over, it's over, I assure you there will definitely be no next time," Jiang Zhi hurriedly promised

Ah, Grandma, I'm upstairs, I'll be right down. Jiang Zhi heard her grandmother's voice coming from downstairs and quickly responded, forgetting to turn off the computer, and went downstairs

Jiang Zhi planned to take the clams back, but she had no bag with her. Since her clothes were all muddy, she couldn't use them to carry the clams. After thinking for a moment, she recalled that there were several clusters of wild lotus by the riverbank she had just passed. Jiang Zhi turned back, stood on a rock, and with one hand holding onto a crooked tree, leaned forward to pluck the outermost lotus leaves. She was just a little short and couldn't reach them. Jiang Zhi carefully moved a step forward and continued to reach for the leaves.

Chang Jiejun paused, turned back to Jiang Zhi, and said: "There will be a next time!"

Sun Nanhai said with a smile, "No, this is just a coincidence. Besides, which child in our village doesn't know how to swim? How could they possibly drown you?" Sun Nanhai extended his hand, "Come on, today I'm in a good mood, let's do a good deed and pull you up."

Chang Jiejun saw that Jiang Zhi had changed her clothes and her hair had dried, so she felt relieved: "I will go make you some ginger soup to dispel the chill. Although this river is shallow and won't drown anyone, it is still better for girls to avoid cold water as much as possible"

Jiang Zhi stepped down the pond embankment and onto the pond mud. The mud near the shore had dried, making it hard underfoot, and only a few small puddles remained at the bottom of the pond. Jiang Zhi noticed a small puddle containing several river clams, one of which was palm-sized. With great interest, she reached out to touch them. Preparing the clam meat is a bit troublesome, but it tastes quite good. The river clam meat stir-fried with chili that her aunt made is very delicious

"Hey, beautiful in front, wait for me!" Sun Nanhai crawled out of the river and shamelessly followed behind Jiang Zhi

After about half an hour, Chang Jiejun heard the villagers say they saw her granddaughter return home, drenched. She hurried back home and as soon as she arrived, she called out: "Xiao Zhi, Xiao Zhi"

Li Meihua looked at the sparse three or four clams in the basin, feeling a mix of amusement and exasperation, "With so few, the meat shaved off wouldn't even be enough to fill a single person's gap between their teeth"

Jiang Xinguo looked at his daughter's disappointed expression and stepped in to smooth things over: "Xiaozhi wants to eat it. When we harvest the rice tomorrow, we will leave some behind to bring back and stir-fry."

Grandma, you must have heard someone mention it when I came back. It's nothing, I was just playing around and fell into the river. I've just finished taking a bath, so it's all good. " Jiang Zhi explained hurriedly, looking at Chang Jiejun's concerned gaze.

"Who brought this clam home?" Li Meihua's voice came from the front yard, "It must be that girl Xiaozhi who picked it up; no one else would have the leisure for such a thing." The latter part was shouted by Jiang Xinguo.

Although the sun is quite strong today, Jiang Zhi's bangs are almost dried out from the heat. However, it is autumn, and when a gust of wind blows, Jiang Zhi sneezes twice. It must be that brat Sun Nanhai cursing her. She should hurry back to change her clothes, or she will really catch a cold.

"Sun Nanhai, what are you doing? Are you sick? Are you deliberately trying to scare me? Do you want to drown me?" Fortunately, the sun is shining brightly, and the water is not too cold, just warm; otherwise, Jiang Zhi would really go crazy.