CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 54: FOUND A TREASURE

The fish in Chen Wenjun’s fishing net were enough to fill several barrels. He alone couldn’t pull all the fish ashore, and dragging the net through the water risked tearing it on underwater rocks, which would be counterproductive.

He knew he couldn’t afford to be reckless given the current situation and could only lean on the bamboo pole forcefully, waiting for Lin Qin to come over.

The water here reached Chen Wenjun’s thighs; when Lin Qin arrived, half of her body was submerged.

As the fishing net rose, the fish inside had less room to move, increasing the impact against the net.

Lin Qin scooped up a whole barrel at once, several fish jumped out, luckily falling back into the net and not escaping.

Chen Wenjun shook his head repeatedly, "This isn’t working, you should load less and make more trips, or if it doesn’t work, I’ll do it while you hold the bamboo pole for me, sound good?"

Lin Qin didn’t have the strength, so she first took away some medium-sized fish and made five or six trips, only then did the net lighten by half.

Lin Qin panted, "Can we drag it now? I’m really afraid of handling those big fish inside, what if they escape with a powerful thrust?"

Chen Wenjun was worried too, so he had to team up with Lin Qin, cautiously bringing the net to the shore.

When the entire net got ashore, its contents were fully revealed: five grass carp weighing over three pounds each, a carp mixed in weighing at least two pounds, along with smaller bream and grass carp, and a jumble of sludge, aquatic plants, and rocks, forming a pitch-black mess.

Chen Wenjun first moved the big fish into buckets and delivered them to the boat.

Lin Qin tidied the net, sifting through the foul-smelling sludge.

Numerous river shrimps jumped on the dark sludge.

These had to be collected too.

While rummaging, Lin Qin also found a small turtle playing dead, delightedly cleaning it and tossing it into the bucket; it could be brought back to amuse the kids.

She continued to tidy up afterward.

After discarding two large aquatic plants, the bottom of the net revealed a small rectangular box resembling an old antique from feudal times.

The box had been soaked in water for a long time; its exterior paint had peeled off, showing no esthetic appeal. There was a small brass lock on the box, covered in verdigris and some white and yellowish substances resembling rust or decayed slime.

Lin Qin felt a bit repulsed but was curious about the contents, so she casually tossed the box into the bucket.

She continued working.

After clearing all items from the net, she cleaned the net by submerging it in water.

Once Chen Wenjun arrived, the chore fell on him.

She cleaned the sludge from her legs and hands, took the remaining two buckets aboard.

Her clothes were soaked now, she needed to fetch water onto the boat to heat a pot of hot water for a proper bath.

This weather allowed for heating enough water for two people to bathe.

After Lin Qin finished washing her hair and taking a bath, she stepped onto the deck and saw Chen Wenjun still catching tilapia.

It seemed he was determined to make another trip to Guoxing Restaurant today.

Lin Qin paid him no mind, turned to clean the dirty clothes she had just removed, and idly began studying the strange antique box.

The thing had been submerged for too long; the tiny brass lock was practically ornamental, coming off with a few hits from a stone.

Lin Qin’s heart leaped with joy; she quickly opened the box to find a gold chain, a gold ring, and a broken pocket watch inside.

Her heart raced uncontrollably; she instinctively glanced around at the fishing boats and discreetly carried the items into the cabin, and didn’t go out again.

Chen Wenjun changed locations, scooped two more nets of tilapia, and packed up when he deemed it enough to head back.

Upon reaching the deck, he secured the boat and used the bamboo pole to steer it away from the shore, then fetched two barrels of water to clean his hands and feet before shouting, "Ah Qin, where are you?"

Lin Qin stealthily opened the cabin door, revealing her dark head, "I’m here, lower your voice, come in, I’ll show you something."

Chen Wenjun found Lin Qin’s actions peculiar, driven by curiosity; he ignored his sweaty odor and squeezed into the cabin.

Lin Qin gave the exterior a glance, seeing no nearby boats, only then did she bring out the box, suppressing her excitement and saying with exhilaration, "See! Didn’t I say? Wish fulfillment!"

Chen Wenjun opened the box and was instantly stunned, "Gold chain! Gold ring! Really?"

Lin Qin grinned, "I bit it and it left a mark, it should be real! Look how thick this gold chain is; at least three or four taels, and the ring is quite heavy too. This set looks like a man’s; the owner must have been a wealthy landowner!"

Chen Wenjun laughed like a fool, "Ah Qin, it seems you really can manifest your desires!"

"Indeed!" Lin Qin proudly tilted her chin, brimming with excitement, "If we sell this gold, it should be enough for our house build."

She remembered the current gold price was around ninety per gram; this gold could sell for nearly twenty thousand yuan.

Chen Wenjun, however, shook his head, "We’re still earning well from fishing now; keep the gold safely, don’t sell it, it will be worth more in the future."

Lin Qin widened her eyes, full of confusion, "Why? Although gold will be worth more in the future, building a house is our priority now, selling the gold would spare us the money troubles."

Chen Wenjun placed the items back into the box, glanced outside, lowered his voice, "There are just one or two gold shops in town; once we sell this much gold, word will certainly spread which may invite unnecessary trouble.

And remember, Uncle Qingxiang and Shaoyun are building our house; they roughly know our family situation. If the house suddenly turns large and grand, how do you think they’d perceive it?

It’s better for people to misjudge us as borrowing money for the house than suspecting us having a fortune."

This was his wisdom from two lifetimes.

Only then did Lin Qin remember why Chen Wenjun was once knocked out in the alley near the Liu family, her face becoming notably pale, "But.....keeping it on the boat isn’t safe!"

"Why worry? We have a vast uninhabited island, don’t we? When we send Uncle Qingxiang and the others back at dusk, we’ll go up and find a good spot to hide the items, mark it well, so there’s nothing to worry about losing them," Chen Wenjun said with amusement, looking at Lin Qin.

Lin Qin had to admit he made sense, so she compromised, "Fine! Let’s do as you say, I’ve heated the water, go take a bath, later we’ll send these fish to Boss Zheng. Also, my stone snails are so plump, Boss Zheng might buy them, maybe even raise the price, so sell them as you see fit, I’ll stay here instead."

Now that there were valuables on the boat, she decided to stay put.

Chen Wenjun understood her intention, after bathing and resting a bit, seeing Lin Qin had washed and hung his dirty clothes, immediately steered the boat to the shore, moving the cart onto the land until it was full.