Salty Fish Coo Coo

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Li Wenchuan looked so bewildered that no one would have doubted he might fall asleep the next second.

But his expression was far too innocent, making it hard for anyone to be cruel to him.

Just then, the hen opened her eyes. Stretching out her neck, it stared from afar at everyone looking their way, then simply shuffled over to sit in front of Li Wenchuan. It looked every bit as imposing as a mother hen protecting her chicks.

Everyone else: Why did it feel like they were being glared at by a hen?

After discussing it, they unanimously ruled out activities like cutting pig grass and feeding pigs. They were easy to get hurt doing and far too hot.

"How about somewhere near the water?" Jiang Hansheng suggested.

"Fishing? None of us really know how..." Xiao Yi frowned.

If they failed to catch enough fish, they would not be able to complete the task, and lunch would become extremely awkward. Breakfast in the countryside had not been particularly expensive—forty-six yuan for all five of them—so they only had fifty-four yuan left. They could not possibly eat the same thing for lunch, right? Besides, there was still dinner.

Jiang Hansheng shook his head and pointed to one of the activities listed above. "I meant harvesting water caltrops. This place isn't far from the village, and I asked around just now. There are especially many water caltrops there at the moment, and the owner really needs help. Besides, the workload shouldn't be too heavy."

The task did not sound difficult, and everyone approved it unanimously after nodding.

In truth, they also had to consider their respective images when choosing a task. It would not be good if things got too out of hand.

The production team's main purpose was to have celebrities experience life through their own labor and help the villagers with farm work. On one hand, it could teach viewers some extra knowledge and give them a sense of novelty, since most viewers were city dwellers and did not know much about rural life.

On the other hand, it could help the villagers as well and held a certain educational value. After all, many children watched the show too, so the production team had to take such things into consideration.

The water caltrop field was actually a vast stretch of paddy water. Uncle Zhang not only had this patch of water caltrops, but several lotus fields as well. He harvested water caltrops in summer and lotus roots in autumn, which helped supplement the family income quite a bit.

Quite a few people were already working in the fields. Uncle Zhang's water caltrops tasted good, and he had previously contacted an agricultural distributor who regularly came to buy his produce, so sales were fairly decent.

But when they met Uncle Zhang today, his face held nothing but exhaustion.

"You're here. Go change clothes before you head down," Uncle Zhang greeted them. "The sunlight may seem weak, but it'll burn you badly if you stay under it too long."

They had brought arm sleeves and hats themselves. Working under the sun without making preparations would practically peel off a layer of skin.

They changed out of their shoes and put on flip-flops, since they might have to go into the water later.

Uncle Zhang led them to the shore and assigned them three small boats. They carefully stepped aboard. The boats swayed as though they might capsize, but with one push of the bamboo poles, they drifted away from shore and headed straight into the deep green water caltrops.

With a long pole in hand, they slowly drifted toward the deepest grasses. Emerald lake water met the sky, and beneath the untouched water caltrops, clouds from the whole day reflected on the surface.

The five split into three groups. Xiao Yi was to look after Su Mingwei, while Jiang Hansheng volunteered to go with Li Wenchuan. Tang Jingran alone held a bamboo pole, the king with an entire boat all to himself.

At first, they were unfamiliar with it and could not move the boats, only spinning in place. Once they got the hang of it, a gentle push sent them gliding far away.

The pale-yellow hen with a patterned tail also boarded Li Wenchuan's boat. Li Wenchuan had not carried it aboard; after recognizing his intention on shore, it had flown and hopped onto the boat by itself.

It nestled in the middle of the boat, softly clucking. Jiang Hansheng wanted to pet it, but it turned its head away and refused to let him.

"This hen has quite the personality." He had never expected that after so many years in the industry, he would one day be rejected by a hen.

"It understands people, probably." Li Wenchuan picked up the hen, man and chicken meeting each other's eyes at the same level. "Be good. I'm putting you outside the boat now. If you need to use the bathroom, then go. Girls can't just relieve themselves anywhere on a boat."

Jiang Hansheng: "..."

So changing locations meant it was no longer just anywhere?

Yet when Li Wenchuan held the hen out over the side of the boat with both hands, it really did use the bathroom.

"Coo Coo, you're way too obedient." Li Wenchuan stroked its feathers and set it back in the boat.

"Coo Coo?"

"It's Coo Coo—the coo coo of pigeons."

"It already has a name?"

Li Wenchuan nodded. "And the name has commemorative meaning."

"???"

"I've recently been following a webnovel author named Jiang Yuxing. I hope she never skips an update, or she'll turn into the hen in my hands." Li Wenchuan said viciously. Fortunately, when he logged into the app to check yesterday, the author had not only updated, but posted an extra chapter. Jiang Yuxing was awesome.

"That's excessively vicious," Jiang Hansheng said slowly.

"No, I'm the author's little darling. I bookmarked her work and even sent flowers." Li Wenchuan remained unwavering.

Their strange conversation was soon drawn away by the water caltrops. Before, whether Li Wenchuan or Jiang Hansheng, they had only seen ripe water caltrops, which were black or yellowish-brown. Only after seeing fresh ones today did they realize how varied their colors were—yellow, green, and some even red or purplish-red.

A great deal of duckweed floated on the water, but Li Wenchuan did not mind in the slightest as he reached in and pulled it aside.

Water caltrops differed from lotuses. They had no vines and no long root systems; they simply floated on the surface. With one pull, they could see the densely packed roots and the water caltrop fruits growing from them.

Pull them up, pick off the fruits, then put them back—done in one smooth motion.

"It's not that tiring!" Tang Jingran shouted from the other side. It was unexpectedly easy.

He had thought they would have to get straight into the water and feel around in the mud, or stand up to reach for vines. Instead, they only needed to sit in the boat and stretch out a hand. This was great.

"Wow, a toad!" Su Mingwei cried out unusually loudly.

A toad sat on a water caltrop leaf with its cheeks puffed out. The water caltrop plant resembled a blooming green flower, and the toad perched there as though seated atop a lotus. Frightened, it leapt into the water and vanished in a flash.

There were also many water striders gliding across the surface. To keep them from disturbing Jiang Hansheng's work, Li Wenchuan picked up Coo Coo. "Coo Coo, eat them!"

Coo Coo pecked with perfect accuracy, and the water striders around the boat were instantly wiped out. Whenever bugs appeared on the water caltrop leaves, Coo Coo was dispatched as well.

And every so often, Li Wenchuan would hold Coo Coo outside the boat to signal that it was time to use the bathroom. The hen was unexpectedly cooperative.

The cameraman following them was dumbstruck. He had never seen such seamless handling before.

Li Wenchuan controlled Coo Coo's eating and pooping, while Jiang Hansheng picked water caltrops with complete focus. Before long, a horn-shaped little mountain had piled up in their boat, and the patch they worked on had been stripped clean.

Su Mingwei's side had also been badly frightened by bugs, so Jiang Hansheng steered his boat forward with Li Wenchuan and his chicken. It had the grand feel of a blockbuster riding the wind and breaking the waves—if only the protagonist had not been holding a hen.

Today, the water striders suffered an unprecedented, bug-unworthy massacre, forcing them to flee the work area of these demons. If they had brains capable of secreting hormones, they would be furious right now.