Ye Zhinan stepped closer for a look and couldn't help bursting into laughter.
Right now, it was not just a puddle of water; it was more like a pond. It was extremely clear but so deep that one couldn't see the bottom. More importantly, there were fish swimming in it, all kinds of edible fish.
Ye Zhinan rolled up her sleeves and skirt, then squatted down and fished for a while. Before long, she caught quite a few fish from it, including some fry.
"Once the fishpond is ready, I'll put you all in it. Then it won't be long before the pond is full of fish."
As Ye Zhinan thought of this, a whole table of fish feasts popped up in her mind: steamed fish, boiled fish, fish hot pot, grilled fish, fried fish, cold - dressed fish skin...
The more she thought about it, the happier she became and the more energetic she felt. While she was daydreaming, a ray of light shone in from outside.
Day had broken. The rosy dawn shone through the window onto her body. It was warm and so comfortable!
Ye Zhinan rolled over and sat up on the bed.
Since she couldn't fall asleep, she might as well get out of bed.
Thinking so, she opened the door and went out. Coincidentally, she bumped into Han Xiangmei who was also coming out of the room. However, her expression wasn't that good!
"Mom, what's wrong? Didn't you sleep well?"
At the sight of her daughter, Han Xiangmei immediately forced a smile, "It's okay, it's okay. I'll go cook."
Ye Zhinan noticed that Han Xiangmei had been getting up very early recently. Without thinking, she grabbed her mother's hand and felt her pulse.
"The pulse is steady. There are no major problems."
Han Xiangmei pushed Ye Zhinan's hand away. "I've already said I'm fine. I'm getting old, so I need less sleep. There's no need for you to make a fuss."
"Not sleeping well can be a serious issue. How can you say it's making a fuss? Wait until I make you some calming and refreshing pills. Don't overwork yourself recently."
Looking at her mother's once - delicate hands that were now full of calluses due to hard work, Ye Zhinan felt a pang in her heart. Thinking of this, she took out a small bottle from the pouch on her waist.
"This is the hand cream I made recently. Apply it to your hands every day."
Hearing this, Han Xiangmei quickly pulled her hands into her sleeves. "Where did you get these things, girl?"
Ye Zhinan made up an excuse casually. "I found some herbs when I went up the mountain and secretly brought them back. Don't ask so many questions. Just use it."
With that, she stuffed the bottle into Han Xiangmei's arms, then turned around, picked up a hoe and was about to go out.
"Have breakfast before you go!"
"I have to go check on the flooded field. I'll just take this."
Saying so, she grabbed a few steamed buns left over from yesterday and rushed out in a hurry.
She not only cared about the field but also wanted to see if the fishpond was completed so that she could put the fry caught in the space into it earlier.
Before she even arrived, she heard the noisy sounds from the field. She squinted and saw a figure squatting in the field.
Since the person had their back to her, Ye Zhinan quickened her pace. Just as she was about to get closer, the person suddenly turned around.
"Miss Ye, you're here!"
"Chen Zhenhai!"
Surprise flashed in Ye Zhinan's eyes, but there was more disappointment.
"The boss has something to attend to and will come later. So he sent me here first to give you some instructions."
"I didn't ask about him."
Ye Zhinan quickly explained, but Chen Zhenhai gave her a look that said "I understand everything" and grinned at her. The more he was like this, the more she wanted to clarify.
"Since it's all set up, there's no need to trouble the officials anymore. I'll handle the rest myself. When the fish grow up, I'll hand them over to the government according to the regulations. As for the rest, can it still be counted as my family's?"
"Of course. Miss Ye is extremely smart and came up with such a great remedy. Our boss naturally believes in your production ability. We'll rely on you in the future!"
Rely on me? To leave plenty of time for Qin Yihuai to date Wei Shishi?
As Ye Zhinan thought of this, she unconsciously tightened the corner of her skirt. The skirt became more and more wrinkled. Just as it was about to be balled up and expose her underwear, there came a cold snort from behind.
"Umph, are you hot?"
Qin Yihuai's cold eyes stared intently downward. Ye Zhinan followed his gaze and found that her trouser leg was already exposed. She quickly let go of her hand and casually patted the skirt.
"The weather is really getting hotter."
"By the way, speaking of the heat, I just remembered that there's still some tea here. If the young lady doesn't mind, please stay and have some."
With that, Chen Zhenhai pointed to a basket on the ground not far away. There was a pot of tea and two sets of teacups in it.
Ye Zhinan could tell that it hadn't been touched at all. It wasn't something left over. Besides, there was no habit of having morning tea in the Northern Border in the early morning.
Seeing that Ye Zhinan just stared at the teapot and didn't respond, Chen Zhenhai ran over, picked up the basket and deliberately placed it in front of her. He whispered, "This was specially selected by the boss for the young lady. It's flower tea that can beautify and nourish the body."
Specially selected? Was he afraid that she would tell others about last night's incident, so he came to bribe her?
Ye Zhinan looked at him in surprise and saw Qin Yihuai give Chen Zhenhai a cold look.
"If there's nothing else, we'll leave."
With that, he turned around and was about to leave. At this moment, a woman was walking carefully towards them from afar.
Sixth Aunt was sent to look for Ye Zhinan early in the morning. It showed how eager they were about making money.
Seeing the woman coming, Qin Yihuai stopped in his tracks.
Since Chen Zhenhai was closely following behind him and didn't notice that he suddenly stopped, he bumped his head into Qin Yihuai's back.
"Ouch, boss, why did you stop suddenly?"
Don't be deceived by Qin Yihuai's tall, thin and pretty - boy appearance. He was actually a man with a good build under his clothes. So Chen Zhenhai's head hurt badly from the bump. He rubbed his head and was about to speak again when he heard a shout.
"Great - niece, you're so hard to find!"
After seeing off Qin Yihuai, Ye Zhinan was just about to take out the fry when she suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind. She quickly withdrew her hand.
"Sixth Aunt, you're up so early! You've been more diligent than the sun recently. Look, it's not even fully dawn yet."
The concubines in the Wei family used to sleep in until late in the morning with their doors tightly shut. Now it really proved the old saying: there's no smoke without fire.
"Great - niece, you're joking. Come and help me. This road is really hard to walk on!"
Sixth Aunt had stumbled all the way here. If it weren't for the order from the eldest mistress, no matter how overbearing the tenth young master was, she would never have come all the way here to find someone.
Ye Zhinan walked around Qin Yihuai and the others and rushed over to help Sixth Aunt.
"Ouch, Inspector Qin is here too. You're really a good official who works hard for the people. I used to not believe that Inspector Qin took such good care of the Ye family. I always argued with those gossips. Now it seems that I was being over - cautious."
"Well, Aunt of the Wei family, you really are being over - cautious! You people who are serving a punishment should talk less and work more!"
Chen Zhenhai couldn't help retorting, but the next second he noticed Ye Zhinan's strange look. Looking at Qin Yihuai again, his eyes were blazing with anger and his killing intent was so strong that it seemed anyone who saw it would go straight to the Underworld.
Because Ye Zhinan was also a person serving a punishment!