Xu Qingqing hadn't expected Wei Donglai to say something like that. She lowered her head and explained softly, "That's not what I meant."
"I believe you too, so will you take the money back now?"
Xu Qingqing raised her head, refusal showing in her clear eyes.
Although what Wei Donglai said made a lot of sense, deep down she still didn't want to owe anyone a favor.
Wei Donglai seemed to understand what she was thinking. He took the money and firmly stuffed it into her brother's pocket.
"Your brother still needs to build up his strength, and your younger sister is still little. So I definitely can't take this money. My conscience wouldn't be at ease if I did. I know you don't want to owe me a favor, so how about you help me with a few things you can manage in the future, as a way of thanking me?"
A trace of wariness instantly appeared in Xu Qingqing's eyes. Clearly, Wei Donglai's old reputation had given her some unpleasant ideas.
"Don't overthink it. It's nothing difficult."
Wei Donglai pointed at the two drunks slumped over the table. "I need to take these two drunkards home. Sorry to trouble you, but could you help me clear the table?"
Xu Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief. "No problem. I'll make sure everything is clean."
After she answered, Wei Donglai pointed at the food on the table. "You and your brother probably haven't eaten tonight, have you? If you two don't mind, have a bite. The bowls are in the kitchen. You can get them yourselves. There's still some hot crispy rice congee in the pot."
With that, Wei Donglai hauled the two drunks up, one under each arm, and headed outside.
In a drunken haze, Li Changfeng opened his eyes and caught sight of Xu Qingqing. A lecherous look spread across his face. "Pretty lady, have a drink!"
Xu Qingqing's fair face instantly turned red.
Dark lines appeared on Wei Donglai's forehead. In one stride, he hauled Li Changfeng out the door.
Damn it, this wasn't the drink making him act out. This was his true nature coming out after a drink.
He'd opened his mouth and laid himself completely bare.
The two men were no lightweights, but carrying them didn't feel as strenuous as Wei Donglai had expected.
Inside, Xu Momo had long since gone over to Xu Qingqing's side. Her younger brother, Xu Yiming, looked at the food on the table and couldn't help swallowing.
He had been given two IV drips at the clinic, and by now he was starving.
He looked at Xu Qingqing, holding the roll of money Wei Donglai had stuffed into his pocket, his eyes full of longing for the food.
Xu Qingqing gazed in the direction Wei Donglai had left, her thoughts tangled like a ball of yarn.
If she still didn't know what he meant by now, she really would be a fool.
This time, she owed him even more.
She took the money from her brother, put it in her purse, and sighed. Then she went to the kitchen to get a bowl and served her brother some rice.
"Go on, eat."
Perhaps because he was nervous, or perhaps because he was in an unfamiliar place, Xu Yiming took very small bites. But once the delicious food reached his taste buds, he began gulping it down in great mouthfuls.
"Momo, are you full?"
Hearing her sister's question, the little girl nodded and gently patted her belly. "I can't fit any more in."
Turning to see Xu Yiming wolfing down his food, she couldn't help giving him a light pat.
"Slow down. No one's going to fight you for it."
"Sister, it's really good. Have some too."
Xu Qingqing didn't refuse again. She served herself a bowl of rice and began eating.
After taking the two drunks home, Wei Donglai was wondering whether he should go back a little later. It would be awkward if he ran into Xu Wanqing before she had finished eating.
But then he suddenly remembered that he hadn't collected the fish traps he'd set that morning.
Between rescuing someone and looking after the little girl Momo that afternoon, he had completely forgotten about them.
He didn't want to wait until tomorrow. If any groupers inside died, he'd suffer a huge loss.
Li Laosan probably hadn't closed up yet. If he had a catch, he could take it over and sell it while there was still time.
He had no oxygenating equipment at home, so even if he had a good catch, it probably wouldn't last until tomorrow.
After all, live fish and dead fish fetched different prices, and the difference between fresh fish and rotten fish was like heaven and earth.
With that thought, Wei Donglai no longer had time to worry about whether Xu Qingqing had finished eating. He set his legs flying and hurried home.
When he got home, Xu Yiming was in the courtyard looking after Momo, while Xu Qingqing was washing the dishes in the kitchen. She was almost done.
"I put the leftovers in the cupboard for you. They won't go bad overnight, so you can still eat them tomorrow."
Wei Donglai nodded, then hurried straight into the house, changed into rubber shoes, and grabbed two buckets and a flashlight.
"You're going out again this late?"
Hearing Xu Qingqing's question, Wei Donglai gave a small nod. "I set a few fish traps this afternoon and need to collect them. Otherwise, by tomorrow, even a good catch will have turned rotten."
Hearing that he was going out alone to collect the traps so late, Xu Qingqing was a little worried.
"I'll go with you!"
Wei Donglai looked at her in surprise.
Xu Qingqing quickly explained, "I can hold the flashlight for you, and if anything happens, we can look out for each other."
Wei Donglai knew that Xu Qingqing felt she owed him too great a favor and wanted to do something to repay him.
"Are you comfortable leaving the two children?"
"It's fine. Yiming can take good care of her younger sister. Wait for me a moment."
With that, Xu Qingqing ran over to Xu Yiming, gave him a few instructions, then came back.
"Let's go. I told Yiming to stay here and play with Momo for a while. I'll pick them up when we get back."
Seeing that, Wei Donglai said nothing more. He handed the flashlight to Xu Qingqing and led the way toward the sea.
The tide hadn't gone out yet. Wei Donglai estimated it would be around ten before it did.
It looked like he'd have to get up at the crack of dawn to forage on the shore over the next few days.
Following his memory, he slowly felt his way to where he had set the fish traps.
The moonlight was fairly bright tonight, but visibility over the sea wasn't very good.
Wei Donglai took the flashlight and shone it over the water. It took him a long time to find the first trap.
He immediately waded in and dragged it ashore.
Without any light, all he could hear was splashing inside the trap. He had no idea what he had actually caught.
"Sister Qing, shine the flashlight into the net for me. Let me see what I caught."
Xu Qingqing heard him and immediately shone the flashlight over.
When a green grouper weighing about three jin appeared at the bottom of the net, Wei Donglai knew he hadn't come for nothing.
Besides the green grouper, there were a few octopuses and gobies.
Wei Donglai untied the bottom of the net, emptied the catch into a bucket, and felt his way toward the second trap.
There were no groupers in the second trap, but it held two conger eels and a black seabream.
The third trap contained another grouper, a sesame grouper weighing about two jin. There was also a flathead grey mullet; its flesh was a little dry and tough, and it wasn't particularly tasty. The rest were a few small octopuses.
There were no groupers in the last trap either, but there were two conger eels: a whitespotted conger and a yellow conger.
Wei Donglai put the four groupers and the black seabream together, then put the other fish in the other bucket.
Seeing that he had too much to carry, Xu Qingqing spoke up.
"Let me carry one of the buckets."
Since he had to carry the fish traps, Wei Donglai didn't refuse.