Beauties in Simulation Cross over into Reality

Chapter 190: Chapter 171: Don’t Be Angry, Okay?

For a solid hour, Xiao Mo and Jiang Xin failed to catch a single fish.

Trying to catch fish under the blazing sun in the middle of summer for an hour, only to come up empty-handed, left Xiao Mo feeling more than a little frustrated.

Just as despair began to set in.

Suddenly, a large catfish swam toward him. With swift reflexes, Xiao Mo snatched it right out of the water!

“Ah Xin! The fish basket!” Xiao Mo shouted joyfully to Jiang Xin.

“C-Coming…”

Jiang Xin quickly grabbed the basket and pattered over, her small, fair feet splashing through the stream.

Although her face was smeared with thick charcoal dust and her body was covered in mud, the stream water washed her little feet, revealing their truly fair complexion.

Jiang Xin hurried to open the fish basket.

Xiao Mo placed the large catfish inside, unable to stop himself from drooling.

For the past few days, Xiao Mo had been living on the grain his brothers had left behind. It had been a long time since he’d had any meat.

In his mind, he could already taste the tender, smooth flesh of the fish.

“Alright, let’s head back,” Xiao Mo said, satisfied. “We’re having fish congee tonight.”

“Mhm,” Jiang Xin replied, nodding happily.

But just as Jiang Xin was about to step onto the bank, she lost her footing and, with a SPLASH, tumbled into the stream.

The fish basket was knocked open.

The large catfish made a great escape. Xiao Mo tried to salvage the situation, but it was too late.

The catfish vanished in an instant, and all Xiao Mo could do was watch it disappear into the distance…

“I… I’m sorry… Xiao Mo, I… I didn’t do it on purpose…”

Jiang Xin knew she had messed up. Her small face was deathly pale, her expression filled with guilt and self-blame.

Knowing the fish congee was gone, Xiao Mo swallowed hard and looked at Jiang Xin.

It would be a lie to say there was no blame or anger in his eyes.

He really had been craving meat, to say nothing of fresh fish.

But what was done was done. What else could he do?

The fish was long gone. What good would blaming her do?

“Forget it, forget it. The fish is gone, so be it.” Xiao Mo waved his hand dismissively and turned to walk back. “The sun’s getting stronger. Let’s head back for now.”

“O… Okay…”

Jiang Xin quickly scrambled ashore and followed beside Xiao Mo.

Several times, Jiang Xin lifted her head to look at Xiao Mo’s profile, her expression growing more and more guilty.

She didn’t know if Xiao Mo was truly not angry with her.

With anyone else, Jiang Xin could easily read their thoughts.

But Xiao Mo was different.

To her, Xiao Mo’s heart was shrouded in a thick fog.

She couldn’t see through it at all.

After gathering some wild vegetables, Jiang Xin and Xiao Mo returned to the courtyard.

Xiao Mo sat on the stone bench, wondering how he could buy some meat.

’I’m at a crucial age for growth,’ he thought. ’I can’t just go without eating any meat.’

’But I’m just a little beggar. It would be too absurd for me to use gold to buy things, even a tiny fleck of it. I’d be targeted immediately.’

While Xiao Mo was lost in thought, Jiang Xin suddenly came to a stop in front of him.

“What’s wrong?” Xiao Mo asked, puzzled as he looked at the girl before him.

“Xiao Mo… d-do you want to hit me a few times…?” Jiang Xin asked timidly, her small hands clutching her chest.

“What?” Xiao Mo was taken aback. “Why would I hit you?”

“Because I lost that big fish,” Jiang Xin said, her head hanging low.

“I told you it’s fine. You didn’t do it on purpose, so I’m not going to hit you,” Xiao Mo said with a smile, surprised she was still thinking about it.

“If you won’t hit me, you can scold me,” Jiang Xin said with a hint of stubbornness. “It’ll make me feel better. Besides, whenever I did something wrong, my mother would feel a lot less angry after she hit or scolded me.”

“There’s no need for that.” Xiao Mo waved his hand. “I’m not going to hit you, and I’m not going to scold you. Don’t overthink it. Go and make dinner, I’m starving.”

“Oh…”

Hearing this, Jiang Xin lowered her head and walked toward the kitchen, though she kept looking back at Xiao Mo every few steps.

Jiang Xin was convinced Xiao Mo was truly angry, just that he wasn’t saying it out loud.

That afternoon, Xiao Mo was still spacing out in the courtyard, thinking about how to handle the tainted gold in his possession.

Meanwhile, Jiang Xin kept glancing at Xiao Mo from time to time.

The more she watched him, the more certain she became that he was sulking.

’That’s just how Sister Ah Zi used to act when she was sulking,’ she thought.

’Why else would Xiao Mo not say a single word…?’

Before long, night fell. After a simple dinner, Xiao Mo took a bath in the courtyard and went to his room to sleep.

But in the dead of night, Xiao Mo woke needing to use the outhouse. As he stepped into the courtyard, he noticed that Jiang Xin’s door was ajar.

Puzzled, Xiao Mo walked to her door and peeked inside, only to find that Jiang Xin was gone.

’Don’t tell me she ran away out of guilt over a single fish?’

A jolt of fear shot through Xiao Mo.

’I waited so long to finally find her.’

’If she leaves, who knows when I’ll ever find her again.’

Xiao Mo quickly ran out of the courtyard, hoping she hadn’t gone far.

“Ah Xin! Where are you?”

“Ah Xin, come back! I’m really not mad at you!”

“Ah Xin… that fish swam back on its own! If you don’t believe me, come on out and I’ll show you…”

“Ah Xin…”

Xiao Mo called out her name again and again in the woods.

But there was no response.

Just as Xiao Mo pushed aside a bush and arrived back at the side of the small stream.

The sight that greeted him was a little girl with her sleeves and pants rolled up, her small feet planted in the middle of the stream.

The pure moonlight cascaded over her, outlining her form with a faint halo.

The stream had soaked her clothes, washing away the mud that had covered her body and most of the black charcoal from her face.

Under the moonlight, a young girl, as fair and delicate as a porcelain doll, appeared before his eyes.

Xiao Mo figured it must be the Seven-Orifice Exquisite Heart nourishing her from within, making her look like the young lady of a wealthy family.

Otherwise, how could someone who was exposed to the wind and sun all day, never knowing where their next meal was coming from, have such fair and delicate skin?

The stream was a little higher than it had been during the day, the water reaching up to the little girl’s thighs.

Even though it was summer, the late-night stream was bone-chillingly cold.

But the little girl didn’t seem to notice at all.

Her eyes were fixed on the water, her beautiful pupils reflecting the moonlight, full of determination.

Under the moon, she lunged into the stream time and time again, sending up splash after splash.

In the short time Xiao Mo had been watching, she had already lunged and missed four times. Her clothes were completely soaked, clinging to her small, thin frame.

Just as Xiao Mo stepped forward to see what Jiang Xin was doing.

The little girl lunged fiercely into the water again.

This time, when she stood up, she was holding a fat catfish in her arms!

The big catfish thrashed its tail wildly, but the little girl held on for dear life!

Finally, the little girl deftly placed the catfish into the basket beside her and quickly sealed it shut!

Only then did the little girl wipe the stream water from her forehead and let out a sigh of relief.

“Ah Xin.”

Xiao Mo called out.

Hearing Xiao Mo’s voice, Jiang Xin looked up.

When the little girl saw Xiao Mo, her eyes suddenly lit up.

She carefully placed the basket with the catfish on the bank first, then climbed out herself. Picking up the basket again, she hurried over to Xiao Mo.

“Xiao Mo, why aren’t you asleep? What are you doing out here by the stream?” Jiang Xin asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“You’re asking me? What about you? What are you doing out in the mountains in the middle of the night?” Xiao Mo retorted.

“I was catching fish,” Jiang Xin said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Then, Jiang Xin held the fish basket high:

“Look, Xiao Mo! I caught that fish for you…”

“So…”

The girl’s eyes shone as brightly as a river of stars.

“Can you not be angry anymore, okay?”