Chapter 46: Fortunately, Preparations Were Made in Advance

Hearing that Liu Guilan had actually reported him for speculation and profiteering, Lin Yu felt his heart skip a beat. His face instantly darkened, and his eyes were filled with sheer disbelief and anger.

He could never have imagined that a family member, who could at least be considered a relative, would do such a thing. How could they possibly be called kin? They were worse than complete strangers.

Back when his family was struggling and could barely afford a single meal, not only did they fail to offer a helping hand, but now, seeing that his family's life was starting to improve slightly, they were eager to step on him while he was down. Such malice was truly venomous.

The more Lin Yu thought about it, the angrier he grew. Unable to hold back any longer, he retorted to Liu Guilan, his voice trembling slightly with rage. "Stop spouting baseless accusations! If you're going to accuse me of speculation, you need proof. When have I ever done such a thing?"

Hearing this, Liu Guilan let out a cold snort, her face beaming with triumph. She immediately fired back, "Hmph! If you weren't speculating, how could your family afford to eat steamed white flour buns? If you weren't speculating, where did you get the money to renovate your house?"

"The first time you sold fish was right here at this dock. Not only did I see it, but others present saw it too! After that, you got your hands on crabs, and even a meter-long large mackerel. Where did all those things go? Don't tell me your family ate them all. With just those few people in your family, could you possibly finish all that?"

Her rapid-fire interrogation was shrill and piercing, echoing across the dock as if she were terrified someone might miss it.

Furious to the point of grinding his teeth, Lin Yu clenched his fists and shouted back, "None of your damn business! Do I need to report to you on how my family lives?"

Seeing Lin Yu react this way and assuming he was speechless and had no comeback, Second Aunt Liu Guilan grew even bolder. She immediately turned to Uncle Laoshuan and the surrounding crowd, saying, "Look at him! He doesn't even dare answer. That definitely means he sold those seafood catches, which is pure speculation and profiteering! You all need to deal with this properly and have him arrested."

Hearing this, the village's fishing wives standing around couldn't help rolling their eyes in disgust.

Everyone knew the situation in Lin Yu's family all too well. When they first returned, life had been unimaginably harsh, and they had been on the verge of starvation. Catching a little seafood to improve their standard of living and fill their stomachs was something everyone considered completely reasonable.

It was blatantly obvious that Liu Guilan was simply green with envy over their improving livelihood and had deliberately come to stir up trouble.

Uncle Laoshuan kept a stern face throughout, listening to both sides. He cast a serious glance at Lin Yu and asked, "Xiaoyu, is everything she said true?"

Without a single moment of hesitation, Lin Yu retorted, "Of course it's not true, Uncle Laoshuan. Don't listen to her nonsense."

Taking a deep breath, he continued, "I did sell some seafood, but I was only helping Big Brother Dachun sell it. I work on Dachun's boat, so is it really a crime to help him sell a few fish? Besides, Big Brother Dachun is my master's apprentice. Seeing my mother and me starving and freezing, he kindly looked after us, lent us money to buy rice and white flour, and even helped us renovate our house. That's all entirely reasonable, isn't it? It's certainly better than certain people who talk about family all day long, yet spend all their time doing despicable things."

As soon as those words left his mouth, Second Aunt Liu Guilan flew into a rage. Stamping her feet, she shrieked, "You're lying! I'm just acting in the righteous cause of eliminating a traitor for the public good! You're making this up. When you sold those fish, you weren't on Wang Dachun's boat at all. You only started working on his boat today, so don't bother trying to twist the truth!"

Lin Yu rolled his eyes in exasperation and shouted back, "When I started working on Dachun's boat and when I started helping him sell fish—how do those two things even conflict with each other? Why are you twisting yourself into knots to make a fuss here? What on earth is your motive?"

Uncle Laoshuan frowned. In truth, he was well aware of what was actually going on.

Village Chief Luo Quan had already given him a private heads-up, sternly instructing him not to make things difficult for Lin Yu's family and to leave them a way to survive.

Furthermore, the mandatory quota deliveries were slowly being phased out, and villagers wouldn't have to make these deliveries in the future. However, at this present stage, if they didn't put on some kind of show, nobody would be willing to fulfill their quotas willingly going forward.

After pondering for a moment, Uncle Laoshuan turned his gaze to Wang Dachun and asked in a grave tone, "Dachun, you're an honest man. Tell me the truth—is what Lin Yu said true?"

Wang Dachun did not hesitate for a second. He nodded firmly and said, "Yes, Uncle Laoshuan, everything Xiaoyu said is true. I even planned to have Xiaoyu help me sell the rest of my fish today."

Uncle Laoshuan had never intended to make things hard for Lin Yu's family in the first place. Hearing Wang Dachun's testimony gave him a justifiable reason to settle the matter. He immediately announced, "Since that's the case, it doesn't count as speculation and profiteering. Wife of Lin Qiang, stop making a scene here. Everyone scatter and get back to whatever you were doing."

Upon hearing this, Second Aunt Liu Guilan stomped her feet in fury. She wanted to continue arguing her case to Uncle Laoshuan, but he simply ignored her and walked away.

The other fishing wives gave her looks of utter contempt. Not a single person stepped forward to speak on her behalf, and some even muttered under their breath, "Liu Guilan's heart is completely rotten. When Xiaoyu's family couldn't even afford a meal, she didn't lift a finger to help, and now she insists on kicking them while they're down. Is she even human?"

Standing there in bitter resentment and seeing that no one paid her any mind, Liu Guilan stamped her feet in rage, but with no other options, she could only glare angrily.

Meanwhile, Lin Yu felt a profound sense of relief, secretly thinking that it was fortunate he had prepared in advance and coordinated his story with Wang Dachun. Otherwise, the label of a profiteer might well have truly been pinned on him today.

Working with brisk efficiency, Wang Dachun and Lin Yu packed the remaining fish into fishing baskets and carefully secured the boat to the dock. Making certain everything was completely secure, they finally straightened up.

Remembering Liu Guilan's actions just moments before, Wang Dachun couldn't suppress his rising anger and cursed indignantly, "That Liu Guilan is truly inhuman! Who on earth reports their own family members? Her heart is venomous!"

Lin Yu let out a helpless sigh and said, "She has never once treated us like family. Don't lower yourself to her level. Look at Uncle Laoshuan—he clearly has no desire to pursue this matter further. She can't stir up much trouble, so let's just ignore her."

As the two of them spoke, noticing that they still had a considerable amount of fish left, they began to discuss their plans.

After a brief thought, Lin Yu suggested, "Big Brother Dachun, since there are so many fish left today, and I'm heading into town to sell fish tomorrow anyway, why don't you let me take the rest of yours along? Fish prices are higher in town, so we can fetch quite a bit more money."

Finding the idea completely sound, Wang Dachun nodded in agreement without hesitation.

With everything settled, the two men picked up the fish and headed straight away from the dock.

Wang Dachun intended to go back and share a quiet drink with Lin Yu. Chatting and laughing just like real brothers, the two figures stretched out long shadows under the lingering glow of the setting sun.

Not long after they left, Second Uncle Lin Qiang's fishing boat slowly chugged back toward the dock.

Standing at the bow, Second Uncle's face was as gloomy as a gathering storm, his brows knitted tightly together. It was painfully obvious that his mood was rock-bottom.

The moment Liu Guilan spotted their fishing boat returning to the dock, she eagerly scampered over with a face full of eager expectation, shouting at the top of her lungs, "You're back pretty early! How many fish did you catch?"

Hearing this, Lin Qiang's expression grew even heavier. He hesitated for a long while before finally forcing the words out as if it took a monumental effort: "I... I didn't catch any fish."

Stunned into absolute silence, Liu Guilan stared at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. She muttered dazedly, "How could you not have caught anything? You've never once come back empty-handed! What on earth is going on?"

With a bitter and helpless expression, Lin Qiang explained, "I don't know what happened either. There was a huge school of fish right near where I was, and I was just about to pull in a massive harvest. But out of nowhere, some giant old sea turtle showed up—God knows what crawled into its head—and scared the entire school away! Sigh, I've just had the worst possible luck today."

As Lin Qiang stood there sighing heavily, he suddenly remembered Lin Yu and Wang Dachun and asked, "By the way, Lin Yu and Wang Dachun came back earlier, didn't they? They couldn't have caught anything either, right?"

At the mere mention of this, Liu Guilan flew into an absolute rage. Stamping her feet and turning crimson in the face, she shrieked at the top of her lungs, "Hmph, you have the nerve to ask! Those two little brats caught a ton of fish! And here you are calling yourself the best fisherman in the village, yet you can't even outfish the likes of them. You're completely useless! Why on earth did I ever marry you, you embarrassing piece of trash..."

Her caustic words drilled one by one into Lin Qiang's ears.

As he listened, Lin Qiang's face turned even uglier. Yet, unable to find any rebuttal, he could only lower his head and silently endure Liu Guilan's vicious scolding, creating a scene of supreme awkwardness and oppressive gloom.