Peaceful Farm Life

Chapter 197: Chapter 197: That Would Cost Him His Life, Right?_1

Xiao Changyi once again spoke indifferently, ”We can’t sell all the fish to you. Our family needs to keep forty jin. As for the rest, you can buy them all.”

Wang Youbao said, ”That’s fine. But how many fish are there in your family’s paddy field?”

Xiao Changyi remained silent.

It was An Jing who smiled and said, ”We only raised fish in one mu of land, probably around four to five hundred of them. Each fish weighs about half a jin, so the total should be between two hundred to two hundred and fifty jin. Since we’re keeping forty jin, you should be able to buy about two hundred jin.” She paused for a moment, ”We’ll postpone plowing and transplanting for a few days, letting the fish stay in the field longer, to avoid catching so many at once and having them die on you.”

”That’s excellent!” Wang Youbao was very satisfied, ”I’ll have the restaurant spread the word in advance and sell them during those few days when you postpone the plowing. Fresh live fish that taste this good will certainly sell out.”

An Jing didn’t ask how much Wang Youbao would sell a dish of fish for, she simply said, ”This fish makes an even tastier soup.”

Wang Youbao immediately caught on and gratefully said, ”Thanks. I’ll have the restaurant try selling fish soup.”

As Wang Youbao felt that he was about to make a big profit again, his appetite was great, but just as he was about to eat another large bowl of mixed-grain rice, An Jing stopped him.

”Didn’t you say you wanted to lose weight? Start from today then, cut back, eat less at every meal.” It wasn’t that An Jing was reluctant to part with her family’s food, but she was genuinely worried that her friend Youbao might fall ill if he didn’t start dieting.

Wang Youbao didn’t quite understand: ”How can I have the energy to lose weight if I don’t eat enough?”

An Jing found herself at a loss for words.

Xiao Changyi called out indifferently, ”Wang Youbao.”

Wang Youbao immediately said, ”I’ll cut back! I will eat less at each meal! I definitely won’t overeat, don’t worry!”

An Jing: ”...”

Yet An Jing still said, ”It’s not just about cutting back; you need to exercise more. As for how, just run around the perimeter of your large courtyard twenty times every morning.”

”Twenty times?!” Wang Youbao’s eyes widened. That would be the death of him, wouldn’t it? He couldn’t even run one full lap.

An Jing: ”Is there a problem?”

”Of course—” Just as Wang Youbao was about to say there was a problem, he caught Xiao Changyi looking at him and he quickly changed his tune: ”No problem! Of course no problem!”

Knowing that running twenty laps would be very difficult for the overweight Wang Youbao, An Jing added, ”If you’re tired, you can take a break before continuing, but make sure you complete those twenty laps.”

”Mmhmm!” Under Xiao Changyi’s watchful gaze, Wang Youbao nodded vigorously, without any hesitation.

An Jing found it amusing. Wang Youbao really took her husband’s word seriously.

”You must persevere, diet and exercise every day. Don’t fall into a pattern of stops and starts; if you do, you’ll never lose weight,” An Jing reminded him.

Wang Youbao nodded repeatedly, ”Understood, understood.”

...

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed and An Jing and Xiao Changyi had started to hurriedly harvest the rice. An Jing wielded the sickle in the field, while Xiao Changyi carried the harvested rice back to their own yard.

A few days earlier, Wang Youbao had visited once again, asking when they would start the rush harvest so he could come to purchase pearl spot fish.

Because Wang Youbao had been persistent in his weight loss effort, although he still looked just as plump, he was much more energetic and no longer got out of breath as easily as before after walking only a short distance.

During that half-month, many people from the county had come wanting to reserve stinky tofu from their family, but An Jing had turned them all down, citing farming work as her reason.