It wouldn't hurt to let this kid feel a little guilty.

An hour or so later, dawn was breaking. The surrounding villages had not yet awakened, with only the mournful howling of the chilly wind.

Tang Jianbing, accompanied by Tang Jianwen and Tang Jianbo, had practically run all the way here.

The three of them were smart enough not to alert anyone, nor did they bring carrying poles and baskets; instead, they brought shoulder poles and hemp sacks.

Using hemp sacks to pack fish was indeed much more efficient than using baskets.

"So many fish?!"

Seeing the mountain of fish piled on the ground, Tang Jianwen and Tang Jianbo were both dumbfounded.

"Stop daydreaming and hurry up and pack the fish. It's already dawn, and many people have probably woken up. We must get all the fish out of here before they step outside, or it will bring unnecessary trouble," Tang Genshui urged.

Tang Jiancheng nodded and said, "Dad is right, let's speed up!"

Working together, the group quickly loaded all the fish into the hemp sacks and baskets.

"Jianbing, go cut some thatch grass to cover the baskets," Tang Jiancheng instructed. "Dad, Big Brother, you guys tidy up the fishing nets over here. Third Brother and I will handle the ones over there."

Before long, Tang Jianbing returned with several bundles of thatch grass, while Tang Jiancheng and the others neatly rolled up and tied the fishing nets.

"Fourth Brother, what should we do with these fishing nets?" Tang Jianbing asked.

"We're coming back tonight, so we can hide these fishing nets, hoes, and machetes in some hidden spot."

Tang Jiancheng glanced around the bank, spotted a very dense clump of bushes, shoved the fishing nets, hoes, and machetes inside, and covered them with dead branches and fallen leaves. From the outside, absolutely nothing could be seen.

Fearing that they might not find the spot themselves at night, Tang Jiancheng deliberately poked six bare sticks into the ground next to the bushes. Unless someone looked for them on purpose, no one would pay attention to the strangeness of these six sticks.

With everything done, the five of them shouldered their baskets and sacks and left Haoshan Reservoir.

Along the way, they didn't encounter a single soul.

"Jiancheng, are we really going to carry all these fish back to the village?"

As they neared Dapeng Village, Tang Jianwen couldn't help asking.

Tang Jiancheng understood his eldest brother's concern—he was afraid of being seen by the villagers upon entering the village.

Fishing was quite different from hunting wild boars or capturing wild oxen; the latter relied more on luck and were one-off deals, whereas the former could be repeated multiple times without requiring much luck, as long as one knew the methods.

Tang Jiancheng looked at the group and asked, "Then should we carry them straight to the township and sell them to Huang Tianyue? But each of these loads weighs nearly two hundred catties. Wouldn't it be too exhausting to haul them all the way to the township?"

Tang Genshui glared and said, "What's exhausting about that? The worst we can do is take a few more breaks along the way."

"Jiancheng, it's fine. If you feel tired, Big Brother will help you carry it for a stretch," Tang Jianwen smiled.

"Right, Third Brother can help you too."

Tang Jianbo smiled as well.

Both of them knew very well that Tang Jianbing had only called the two of them and no other brothers because Tang Jiancheng had deliberately instructed him to do so. The reason Tang Jiancheng did this was partly because they treated him well in daily life, but mostly because he wanted to bring them along to get rich.

Therefore, they felt deeply grateful to Tang Jiancheng, and of course, full of admiration.

In such a short span of time, Tang Jiancheng had picked up a wild boar, hunted a wild boar, dug out a badger, and captured a wild ox. Every single feat was astonishing, and today he had caught so many fish—he was simply like a god.

"Fourth Brother, I can help too."

Being a beat slower, Tang Jianbing also gave an honest, good-natured smile.

"All right, listening to you guys makes me feel like a frail little chick. Let's go! What's to fear about a couple of hundred catties? Besides, this isn't even two hundred catties yet!"

The group of five immediately changed direction and headed toward the township.

Making bold declarations was easy, but actually hauling such heavy loads to the township left all five of them utterly exhausted. In the snowy weather, they were drenched in sweat, and when the biting cold wind blew, it chilled them to the bone.

Chug, chug, chug...

Just as they reached the only main street in the township, they heard the rumble of a tractor ahead. Raising their heads, the five of them saw Huang Tianyue sitting on the tractor, looking right toward them.

"Brother Jiancheng?"

Huang Tianyue's eyes widened in surprise, and he quickly told the tractor driver to stop.

Before the vehicle came to a complete halt, he jumped down from the cab and strode over to Tang Jiancheng and the others. "Uncle Tang, Brother Jianwen, Brother Jianbo, Brother Jiancheng, little brother Jianbing, where are you all headed?"

While greeting them, Huang Tianyue handed out cigarettes to everyone.

The others accepted, but Tang Jiancheng politely declined. "We were just about to look for you. Are you heading to our village to haul the wild oxen?"

Huang Tianyue took out a match, struck it, cupped his hands against the cold wind to light the cigarettes for Tang Genshui and the others, and then lit one for himself. He took a drag, exhaled a thick cloud of white smoke, and said, "That's right! I'm striving to haul the remaining four oxen back this morning! Last night, letting you count money publicly—didn't that cause you any trouble?"

"Tianyue, I knew you did that on purpose! You almost got me killed!"

Tang Jiancheng deliberately put on a terrified expression and complained bitterly, "You have no idea. After you left, the way those villagers looked at me was like a pack of wolves eyeing a little lamb; they looked ready to eat me alive!"

Tang Jianwen and the others thought back and realized the villagers' gazes at the time had indeed been terrifying, though perhaps not quite as exaggerated as Tang Jiancheng made it sound.

However, being shrewd, they said nothing and simply lowered their heads to smoke.

Huang Tianyue apologized repeatedly, "I'm sorry, Brother Jiancheng, it was my fault. At the time, I just wanted to see the look of shock on their faces and didn't think much about it. It wasn't until I got back that I realized while it felt great for me, I really put you through hell... How did you handle it afterward?"

Tang Jiancheng smiled bitterly, "How else could I handle it? The money hadn't even warmed up in my hands before it was all distributed."

"Huh? Distributed?"

Huang Tianyue was greatly shocked. Believing that Tang Jiancheng had handed out all the money to the villagers, a wave of intense guilt washed over him.

"That's right."

Knowing that Huang Tianyue had misunderstood, Tang Jiancheng didn't bother to explain further.

He wanted this kid to misunderstand; letting him feel some guilt wasn't a bad thing. Otherwise, who knew what kind of trouble this hidden official's son might stir up in the future? Making him feel deeply guilty right now might spare them a lot of trouble down the road.

As for what Huang Tianyue would think when he eventually found out the truth, that wasn't Tang Jiancheng's concern. Anyway, he hadn't explicitly said the money was all given to the villagers—Huang Tianyue had jumped to that conclusion himself. Who could he blame?

"Tianyue, I've got a few hundred catties of fish here, and I'm planning to send them to your restaurant." Tang Jiancheng pointed at the baskets and said.

"Fish?"

Huang Tianyue was stunned for a moment before remembering what Tang Jiancheng had told him at the county people's hospital. Surprised, he asked, "You really caught fish? In this freezing weather, where did you catch them?"

Tang Jiancheng stared straight at him. Huang Tianyue instantly understood, raised his right hand, and said, "Brother Jiancheng, don't worry, I swear I won't tell a single soul."

Only then did Tang Jiancheng speak in a near-whisper, uttering four words: "Haoshan Reservoir."