"You really have a good eye, Boss. These crabs are top-quality seafood I just hauled straight from the mudflats."
"Three yuan a pound. How many do you want?"
Shen Lang flashed a big smile as he picked up a green crab and held it right in front of the man.
"Hmm, the price is fair enough."
The man in the Zhongshan suit didn't glance at the green crab Shen Lang was offering. Instead, he used a small wooden stick to nudge the other two crabs, which were sitting a bit farther away.
"Young man, you're an honest sort. How about this—I'll give you five yuan a pound, and you sell all these crabs to me. What do you say?"
"As for these clams, I'll take the lot of them as well."
With that, the man in the Zhongshan suit named a price for the clams too.
Hearing this, Lin Xiaoyu was completely stunned.
The man in front of them was certainly generous!
Children of poor families learn to shoulder responsibilities early.
Lin Xiaoyu had taken on the heavy burden of supporting her family at a young age, doing odd jobs to help make ends meet.
She knew the market prices for seafood inside and out.
"We'll sell them! Shen Lang, hurry up and pack them up for the uncle."
As she spoke, Lin Xiaoyu shot repeated glances at Shen Lang.
Regular green crabs usually went for about two yuan a pound.
The slightly larger ones might fetch around three yuan.
Every single crab Shen Lang had caught was bigger than the last.
She guessed the lightest one must weigh at least three jin.
"I'm sorry, Boss. You can have all the other seafood, but these two crabs are out of the question."
Unexpectedly, Shen Lang shook his head and refused.
Lin Xiaoyu was half-convinced she had misheard.
The buyer was offering nearly double the normal market price, and Shen Lang actually wouldn't sell?
"Young man, the price I'm offering is more than fair. Why won't you sell all the crabs to me?"
The man in the Zhongshan suit frowned in displeasure.
"Uncle, don't be mad, I..."
"Boss, these two female crabs are for my future mother-in-law to build up her health, so I can't sell them to you."
Lin Xiaoyu was just about to appease the man in the Zhongshan suit.
To her shock, Shen Lang's next words made her flush crimson with shyness.
Shen Lang spoke with complete sincerity, declaring that Lin Xiaoyu was his partner.
Her mother was seriously ill and needed proper nutrition.
"Hahaha, so that's how it is."
The man in the Zhongshan suit was slightly taken aback, then burst into laughter and teased, "Little lady, your young man is a dutiful boy who knows how to respect his elders. Once you two get married, I'm sure he'll treat you with all his heart for the rest of your life."
At these words, Lin Xiaoyu wished she could crawl into a crack in the ground.
She desperately wanted to explain that she was not Shen Lang's partner.
Yet a sudden wave of warmth in her heart left her completely speechless.
Lin Xiaoyu was just kind-hearted; she wasn't a fool.
She had a vague inkling of the truth.
The only reason the man in the Zhongshan suit had been willing to pay a higher price to buy all the seafood at once was likely because of those two female crabs.
Even at the risk of angering the buyer, Shen Lang was keeping the most valuable female crabs for her mother.
"Could it be... does Shen Lang really like me?"
Lin Xiaoyu kept her head lowered, casting sideways glances at Shen Lang from the corner of her eye.
"Boss, if you really want butter crabs, I'll save all of them for you the next time I catch any. But I'm sorry, these two are out."
Shen Lang said with a faint smile.
Butter crabs were a specific type of green crab.
They were also known as the king of crabs.
The moment the man in the Zhongshan suit had walked over, Shen Lang had guessed he was after the two butter crabs.
Seeing that Shen Lang had put it so plainly, the man in the Zhongshan suit smiled and said, "I respect a dutiful son above all else. If a man can care for his family and elders, his character goes without saying."
"You keep these two female butter crabs for your future mother-in-law, young man. I'll take the rest of the seafood at the price I just mentioned."
The man in the Zhongshan suit instructed Shen Lang to weigh the seafood while pulling out his wallet.
Even if he couldn't buy the king of crabs this time, he wouldn't be returning empty-handed.
Since Shen Lang had promised to save all future catches of butter crabs for him, the man didn't mind spending a little extra money.
It was a good way to build a connection.
"Here's eighty-seven yuan, little lady. Count it."
Ten minutes later, the man in the Zhongshan suit handed a stack of bills to Lin Xiaoyu.
He teased the young girl about her good fortune in finding such a fine match.
At the same time, he made an arrangement with Shen Lang to return right here next Sunday.
If Shen Lang managed to catch more butter crabs, he had to save every single one of them for him.
"Shen Lang, you're a bully!"
The moment the man in the Zhongshan suit left, Lin Xiaoyu shoved the money—which she had counted several times—right into Shen Lang's hands.
She scolded him for talking nonsense and deliberately making a fool of her out of him.
"Now what kind of talk is that? When did I talk nonsense or make a fool of you?"
Shen Lang put on an innocent look.
"You big scoundrel! When did I ever agree to be your partner? My mom is not your mother-in-law!"
Lin Xiaoyu's face was so red it looked ready to drip water.
"Campus belle, did you really waste all those years of schooling? Don't you know that when a man and a woman kiss, it won't be long before the woman gets pregnant?"
Seeing Lin Xiaoyu's shy and delicate appearance, Shen Lang felt a sudden urge to tease her.
He put on a deadpan expression.
He explained that babies were made when boys and girls kissed, which caused the woman to conceive.
"Ah?!"
Lin Xiaoyu was terrified.
Even if she was a top student in primary school, the problem was that school never taught you how men and women made babies...
Shen Lang shrugged and said, "Don't worry, I'll take responsibility. I'll go to your house to propose in a couple of days."
"I... I'm going to have a baby..."
Believe it or not, Shen Lang's straight-faced act completely fooled Lin Xiaoyu.
At the mere thought of having a baby soon, tears began to well up in her voice.
How could a simple kiss make someone pregnant?
Getting married, having children, and spending her whole life with the village's little tyrant—Lin Xiaoyu wasn't mentally prepared for any of it in the slightest.
"Hahaha, you're hilarious. You're so easy to fool."
"You!"
Seeing Shen Lang doubled over in laughter, Lin Xiaoyu gave him an angry punch in the arm.
"Here, take this. This is your share of the seafood money."
Dodging her blows, Shen Lang pulled out five large bills and handed them to Lin Xiaoyu.
"That's too much. Just give me twenty yuan."
Lin Xiaoyu stopped chasing him and only asked for two bills.
"Take it because I told you to! Why so much arguing?"
Shen Lang put on an overbearing air and insisted on giving her fifty yuan.
No matter what she said, Lin Xiaoyu refused to take it: "If you hadn't taken me out mudflatting, I wouldn't have earned a single cent. Twenty yuan is already plenty. I'll only take what I've earned. Besides, your family isn't well off either, and you probably have plenty of places where you need money."
Hearing this, Shen Lang felt a sharp pang of heartache and self-reproach.
What a wonderful girl.
He must have been a total bastard in his past life to have accidentally stabbed Lin Xiaoyu and cut her life tragically short.
"Shen Lang... can you take me mudflatting again next time?"
Lin Xiaoyu asked timidly.
"Of course! I'd be crazy to give away a helper as useful as you."
Shen Lang masked his inner guilt with a cheeky joke.
They agreed to go mudflatting again in a few days to catch more butter crabs.
"Thank you. You really are a good person."
Lin Xiaoyu said, deeply touched.
"Silly girl, hurry back now. Watch your step on the way."
Remembering that he still had something else to take care of, Shen Lang waved goodbye to Lin Xiaoyu right then and there.