70s Delicate Girl: A Guide to Being a Rich Woman-Chapter 68: Life Is Hard, Don’t Expose It

Xu Mumu also briefly introduced her younger siblings, who were evidently very interested in the visitors from the city.

"When we came over, we saw such a big river here, Mumu, isn’t it really convenient to fish here?" Du Yu said excitedly, as he had brought a fishing rod with him too.

"There aren’t many fish left in the river. When the water first rose, people came every day to catch them," Xu Mumu said helplessly. Everyone was short of food, so naturally, they wouldn’t spare the river fish, especially since it’s meat.

"There must still be some. It’s okay if there aren’t any, after all, we’re just here to fish for fun," Du Yu didn’t mind much. It was just that his cousin and the others were bored, so they thought of coming to fish.

Xu Mumu led them a bit downstream, where the river was wider and the current not as strong; it was easier to fish here.

"You can fish here. No one will disturb you," Xu Mumu said with a smile, looking at them.

"Sure, this place is nice," Qin Hao said with a grin.

The group adjusted their fishing rods, found a suitable spot, threaded a worm onto each hook as bait, and tossed the lines into the water.

"Sis, let’s go a bit further down and use nets to catch fish," Tiedan and Xu Minglei couldn’t sit still any longer.

"Alright, go ahead, but just play at the edge, don’t go to the middle; the water is deeper there," Xu Mumu nodded with a smile.

"Don’t worry, sis, we won’t," Xu Minglei quickly promised his sister.

"Jiaojiao, aren’t you going to play with them?" Xu Mumu asked Xu Jiaojiao.

"No, I want to stay and play with big sis," the little girl shook her head.

"Cousin, why don’t you guys fish here by yourselves? Mumu, is there any fun place around here?" Du Yu seemed restless and was ready to leave his cousins behind, finding fishing too boring.

"There’s not much that’s fun around here," Xu Mumu thought for a moment. She figured the mountain might be the most fun place.

There are wild vegetables on the mountain, and you could also catch game there.

"Weren’t you here to fish, Du?" Xu Jiaojiao looked at Du Yu curiously. She was quite envious of their fishing rods; they didn’t lack bamboo in the countryside, but they didn’t have fishing hooks or lines. To catch fish in the countryside, they either used nets or went in to catch them by hand.

"Fishing is boring. You just sit here waiting for fish to bite, and if you’re unlucky, you might catch nothing all afternoon," Du Yu pouted.

"Hey, we just started fishing, and you’re already being a downer," Qin Hao rolled his eyes at Du Yu, feeling his cousin had no patience.

"I’m just telling it like it is. You tell me, with all the times you’ve gone fishing, how many fish have you caught?"

"You got itchy skin or what?" Qin Hao flicked Du Yu on the forehead. This brat, revealing his failures in front of others, doesn’t know how to keep it together.

"You can’t even tell the truth," Du Yu covered his forehead, glaring at his cousin.

Xu Mumu smiled lightly, watching them clown around. It was evident their relationship was pretty good.

"Mumu, where’s your house? Can we go take a look?" Du Yu’s eyes lit up with curiosity as he looked at Xu Mumu.

"Sure, but won’t your cousins be okay here?" Xu Mumu asked, as the host, she should be staying to accompany them.

"It’s fine, you guys go have fun, don’t worry about us. We’ll just fish here," Qin Hao waved nonchalantly. The river here was quite wide, better suited for fishing than the places they went before.

"See, my cousin said so," Du Yu said with a smile.

Xu Mumu led Du Yu toward her house, and along the way, Xu Jiaojiao didn’t seem shy, asking many things about city life.

Having grown up, Xu Jiaojiao had barely been to the county a few times, still quite curious about things there.

All the questions Xu Jiaojiao asked, Du Yu happily shared with her. Being an only child, to be honest, he felt a bit envious of Xu Mumu’s many siblings and found it novel.

Along the way, one spoke with enthusiasm, the other listened intently, and occasionally there were sounds of surprise.

Upon reaching home, the family was out working, and the Xu Xue sisters were busy with something, not being a concern for Xu Mumu.

"This is your home?" Du Yu was stunned, looking at the earthen walls and straw roof, completely different from city houses. Such worn-down places were something he had never seen before.

"Yes, come in and have a seat. My family is out working now," Xu Mumu said with a faint smile, not needing Du Yu’s pity in his eyes. She felt her life was manageable, and there were families in the village poorer than hers.

The house wasn’t spacious, with only the main room and her room’s doors open. Xu Mumu led Du Yu to the main room.

"What do you do at home?" Du Yu asked curiously.

"Studying. Big sis teaches us every day. She knows a lot," Xu Jiaojiao said proudly.

Xu Mumu poured a bowl of water from the kettle and placed it in front of Du Yu. Family sugar was scarce, carefully kept by Li Caixia, rarely used, sugar being a precious item.

"Indeed, your sister is remarkable," Du Yu said with a smile.

Just as Xu Mumu and the others were chatting in the main room, Xu Minghui emerged from his room.

"Bro, you didn’t go to work?!" Xu Mumu widened her eyes.

"Nope, tired. Didn’t feel like going today," Xu Minghui spoke while yawning, clearly having been asleep until Xu Mumu’s return woke him.

"You’re not unwell, you’re just lazy," Xu Mumu rolled her eyes, feeling her hands itching to give him a beating.

Xu Mumu felt helpless with her father and brother. Going to work was always inconsistent, making Xu Mumu worry. By year-end, how much food would they have? Would it be enough to eat?

"Minghui," Du Yu greeted Minghui with a smile. Every time Xu Mumu came to tutor him, it was Minghui who picked her up, so he naturally knew him.

"So, it was you, huh," Minghui patted Du Yu’s shoulder. This guy chased all the way to their home, likely interested in his sister.

This guy’s conditions were pretty decent, Minghui was quite satisfied with him.

"Bro, you seriously not going to work?" Xu Mumu said, feeling a headache looking at Minghui. Only their grandparents went to work consistently, every day.