Earning some money (Part 1)

It was still early in the morning, around nine o'clock, and the villagers had finally left their houses to get started with their daily businesses.

Da Xia and Li Jun silently made their way toward the river that was located on the north side of the village. She finally got to see the vast farming lands that were spread out in all directions.

"Wifey, where are we going?" Li Jun asked as he walked beside her while holding her sleeve like a little child who was afraid of getting lost.

"We are going to earn some money." Da Xia replied simply as she recalled the conversation that she just had with the kitty who reminded her that she would earn prowess points whenever she did anything good for the villagers. Of course, if she wanted to earn hundreds and thousands of prowess points then she needed to work on getting the economy of the Jia Province on the right track - the increasing track.

"Money? How are we going to earn money here?" Li Jun asked as he was surprised by his wife's answer. He looked around him and only found fields and some villagers who were there to take care of the crops or veggies.

"We will earn money by distributing free goods today." Da Xia replied and almost broke into chuckles when she noticed the dumbfounded expression on his face.

Though Li Jun was confused by what his wife was planning, he decided to stay silent and follow her. If he got a chance to help her with her plan then he would be more than happy to do so.

Within a few minutes, the two of them finally reached the riverbank. Da Xia searched around the area and noticed bamboo trees standing at some distance. She noticed a man in his late forties and a woman who looked to be around the same age as well. The couple was cutting the bamboo sticks while chatting merrily.

Da Xia approached the couple and greeted them with a warm smile. Li Jun followed her but remained silent as he stood behind his wife and observed everything. But then he finally whispered in her ear, "That's Uncle Bao and his wife, Madam Chu Xie. They own this small piece of land and their only son runs a noodle stall in the busy square of the village. He's married and expecting their first child in a couple of months."

"Aren't you the newlywed wife of Li Wei and Jun'er, Chen Da Xia?" The woman asked as she looked at Da Xia with warm eyes.

"Aunt Xie and Uncle Bao, please accept Xiaxia's greeting." Da Xia again greeted the old couple in a sweet voice.

"Hehe...! Such a sweet child you are. Not only you are so beautiful but you also are so polite. God has finally done justice to those Li brothers by giving them such a good wife like you. But where are your husbands, child?" Madam Xie looked around the area to see if she could spot either Li Jun or Li Wei.

"Both of them have gone to collect firewood from the forest. After taking care of the household work, there was nothing much to do at home. So I came here to catch some fish." Da Xia explained as her eyes moved to observe the bamboo trees standing behind the old couple.

"You are here to catch fish?" Uncle Bao asked with a surprised look on his face that matched with his wife's expressions.

Da Xia just nodded her head in response as she walked closer to the bamboo trees and started looking for one of perfect thickness.

"Uncle Bao, can you please lend me a bamboo stick? I promise to pay you by the end of the day." Da Xia requested as she turned to look at the old man after she spotted what she needed.

"What are you talking about child? It's just a bamboo stick. There's no need for money. Tell me which one you need. I'll chop it down for you." Uncle Bao hurriedly moved to pick up the cleaver and started cutting the bamboo that Da Xia pointed out.

It did not take him long to cut the stick and then he sliced off all the sharp edges, making sure that she wouldn't get hurt while holding it. Da Xia thanked the couple before she returned to the riverbank with Li Jun.

She could feel the gazes of the old couple on her but she tried not to pay them much attention. She opened the little pouch that she was carrying with her and took out the string and little nails that she found while cleaning the house the previous day.

She wrapped the string around the mouth of the bamboo stick before she found a big stone and started bending the nails into a curved shape. Though Jun'er kept asking her to let him do the risky job, she could still see the old couple's eyes following her every move which made her stay silent as she worked on the nails on her own.

It took her quite some time and a bit more effort than she thought but eventually, the fishing rod was ready to use.

"Jun'er, I'm going to show you one of my great talents today. Just wait and see," she whispered to her husband as she took out some bread crumbs from her pouch and sprinkled them into the river to attract the fish.

Li Jun watched in silence as his little wifey moved to find some worms by digging up the ground near the bank. But he was not the only one who was surprised by her actions. Uncle Bao and his wife were also shocked to see the girl moving around doing random stuff.

But their surprise level only increased when they saw the girl pulling out a medium-sized fish hanging from the string that was tied around the bamboo stick. It took her barely a couple of minutes to catch it and this was just the mere beginning.