The Fake Daughter Want to Be Villainess - Chapter 12

Jiang Shu clutched her hard-earned money in one hand and carried two fish in the other as she hurried towards the old lady’s house.

The old lady lived in an old-fashioned gabled house, which Jiang Shu spotted from a distance. She instinctively slowed her pace, hesitating as she approached the front door.

She remembered the old lady’s dog.

Jiang Shu felt a bit apprehensive. She stood at the door, holding the fish, and struggled for a few seconds before lightly knocking.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

The dog barked almost immediately, and Jiang Shu instinctively withdrew her hand, taking a step back.

The old lady’s voice echoed slowly from inside the house: “Yuanbao, stop making noise.”

She came to the door, squinting as she looked around, then her gaze fell on Jiang Shu: “Oh?”

The old lady adjusted her reading glasses, carefully examining Jiang Shu, and then smiled warmly: “It’s you, little girl.”

She showed no caution, stepping aside slightly to make room, leading the dog inside. She opened a cabinet, took a handful of loose hard candies from a small jar, and handed them to Jiang Shu with a smile: “Here, have some.”

They were the most common fruit-flavored hard candies found in supermarkets.

Jiang Shu didn’t hesitate. She took the candies without any pretense and put them in her pocket. Then she handed the two fish to the old lady: “Grandma, these are for you.”

The old lady was surprised: “Oh, why are you giving me fish?”

She waved her hand: “You should take them home and cook them yourself.”

It sounded like a good idea, except Jiang Shu didn’t know how to cook fish, and neither did Pei Wang. The production team wouldn’t provide any cooking utensils either.

Jiang Shu blinked: “These two fish are a bribe. We have a favor to ask you.”

Her voice was naturally sweet, and when she drew out the end of her words, it had a hint of cajoling.

The old lady laughed, her wrinkles deepening. Then she looked at Jiang Shu kindly, shaking her head and humbling herself: “I’m just an old woman, what can I do to help you?”

Although she said this, the old lady’s gaze remained on Jiang Shu, patiently waiting for her to continue.

Jiang Shu straightforwardly asked her question: “Grandma, do you know when the fish merchants usually come and where they collect the fish?”

She explained: “We have a basket of fish we want to sell.”

“Fish merchants?” The old lady tilted her head, listening for a moment, then slowly said: “They collect at the village entrance, usually around four o’clock.”

Jiang Shu’s eyes lit up. She thanked the old lady and was about to leave when she suddenly remembered something. She turned back and asked: “Grandma, do you know where we can buy vegetables in the village?”

“Vegetables?” The old lady looked at her curiously: “Child, are you new to the village? No one here buys vegetables.”

She took Jiang Shu’s sleeve and led her to the backyard, pointing to the ground full of greens: “What do you want? Just take what you need from here.”

Jiang Shu: “…”

This was somewhat embarrassing.

She hesitated at the edge of the field, just as she saw the old woman bending down in the backyard, parting through a cluster of waist-high plants. She picked a few tomatoes, some water spinach, and a couple of green peppers, then turned around to ask, “Is this enough?”

She wanted to pick other vegetables, but Jiang Shu quickly nodded and stopped her: “That’s enough, thank you, Granny!”

Then she hesitated for a moment and quietly added, “Granny, I don’t have any money to give you.”

Before coming to the village, the Program Team had searched them and confiscated their wallets and phones.

The old woman chuckled at this: “What’s that worth?” She found a plastic bag and placed the vegetables she had picked into it, handing it over to Jiang Shu.

“If you really want to show your gratitude,” the old woman sighed, her voice dropping slightly and revealing a hint of loneliness, “it’s fine to just come by and sit with me sometimes.”

Jiang Shu pressed her lips together firmly.

She looked at the plastic bag the old woman handed over, raised her hand to grab the old woman’s hand, and promised, “Granny, I will definitely come tomorrow.”

She solemnly bid farewell to the old woman, then picked up the bag of vegetables and turned to find Pei Wang.

It was now the hottest part of the day, and when she saw Pei Wang, he was standing under the eaves, with a button of his shirt undone and his sleeves rolled up halfway, revealing a small section of his arm.

With a basket of fish next to him, he looked as though he was engaging in some form of performance art.Pei Wang probably heard her footsteps and turned to look at her. Then, his eyelashes lowered, and his gaze fell onto the plastic bag she was holding.

Jiang Shu, feeling in a good mood, boasted, “These are vegetables.”

She shook the plastic bag, saying, “The grandmother gave them to me.”

Jiang Shu opened the plastic bag, displaying the vegetables in it to Pei Wang. Then, she gathered the bag’s opening and confidently handed it to him, “You carry it!”

Even though Pei Wang still had to carry an entire basket of fish, the Vicious Supporting Female Character wouldn’t care about that!

Being unreasonable was just a way to embarrass him.

Jiang Shu eagerly watched Pei Wang, waiting for him to take the bait.

But she didn’t get what she expected. Instead, she saw Pei Wang reach out, take the plastic bag from her, tie the opening in a knot, and place it into the fish basket.

Then he turned to look at her, the narrow corners of his eyes curling up slightly as he reminded her, “The fishmongers.”

Jiang Shu unconsciously began to give the time and place, then tilted her head to look at him, “Are we heading to the village entrance now?”

It wouldn’t be convenient to do other tasks while carrying a basket of fish. Pei Wang replied affirmatively, lifted the fish basket with one arm over his coat, and led Jiang Shu toward the village entrance.

When they reached the village entrance, the fishmongers had just arrived, and not many people were there to sell fish yet.

Pei Wang placed the fish basket in front of the fishmonger and skillfully initiated the conversation, “How’s the fish price lately?”

The fishmonger tossed the cigarette stub he had been chewing to the ground and stamped it out, casually replying, “The market price is alright, about the same as in previous years.”

He bent down, reached into the fish basket, and inspected the fish inside.

“This basket of mackerel you have here,” the fishmonger withdrew his hand, slightly disgusted, “is mostly half-dead, I can only give you four yuan a pound at most.”

He grabbed the fish basket, dumping the fish into a plastic box on the scale, “Just over twelve pounds, I’ll give you fifty.”

The fishmonger pulled out money from his waist pouch, glancing sidelong at Pei Wang, as if to say it was a good deal, “Is that alright?”

Pei Wang glanced at him, furrowed his brows, and quickly swept a look over the digital scale, then bent down to ask, “Do you have a plastic bag?”

The fishmonger looked at him, puzzled, and then pulled a small white plastic bag from the side, tossing it toward him, “What do you need a bag for?”

Pei Wang turned the plastic bag inside out, grabbed two fish through the bag, then flipped the bag right-side out again and held the fish up.

He calmly said, “Taking two fish with me.”

The fishmonger became anxious, “Hey, what’s the idea here? We’ve already discussed the price, and now you suddenly want to take two fish—”

Pei Wang raised an eyebrow and shot him a glance. His narrow eyes, when narrowed, seemed sharp: “Do you need to weigh it again then?”

He quickly returned his gaze, smiling gently and politely, stating at a leisurely pace, “If we’re weighing it again, I’ll just get a different scale.”

Pei Wang’s tone was very composed, his voice lowered slightly, carrying a hint of subtle warning.

The fishmonger’s expression stiffened for a moment as he understood the implication in Pei Wang’s words. Irritated, he glared at Pei Wang, unzipped his waist pouch, pulled out a crumpled fifty, then shoved it to Pei Wang, urging him, “Quickly leave! I won’t argue about the fish with you, don’t delay my business!”

He raised his hand to push Pei Wang away, but as soon as he did, someone grabbed his wrist. He inhaled sharply in pain and was about to curse, but then he caught sight of the camera behind Jiang Shu, and his expression instantly changed.

The fishmonger quickly pulled back his hand, turned his face away, and shielded his electronic scale, “What are you doing! Journalists? An undercover investigation?”

He raised his voice, waving his hands in the air, trying to bluff, “Don’t film! I have the right to my likeness!””I’m going to sue you for filming me!”

The staff member accompanying them finally reacted; he hurried over, first signaling to Pei Wang and Jiang Shu to continue recording and not to worry about the situation. Then he turned to explain to the fishmonger.

Pei Wang had already begun to lead Jiang Shu back.

The voices of the staff and the fishmonger were low, so Jiang Shu could only vaguely hear a few words. She turned her head to ask Pei Wang, “Does his scale have a problem?”

Pei Wang replied softly, “Yeah.”

Jiang Shu blinked, a bit confused. “Aren’t we going to expose him?”

“Exposing him would be troublesome,” Pei Wang explained. “The village has its own trading customs, and breaking them isn’t good. Besides, we’re just here to film the program; how much is sold doesn’t really affect us.”

The task only required ten yuan, and the price the fishmonger offered had already exceeded that amount.

Jiang Shu nodded slowly, pondering. Suddenly her eyes brightened, “If the task only requires ten yuan, does that mean the rest is ours?”

“Not quite,” she quickly remembered something, her voice dropping slightly. “The program team confiscated our wallets, so won’t they take this money too?”

Pei Wang lowered his eyelashes. “Most likely.”

Jiang Shu’s spirits sank. When she was at home, she never cared about such small amounts of money, but now it suddenly made her feel pain.

She asked Pei Wang pitifully, “Is it possible for the program team to be lenient?”

“It shouldn’t be,” Pei Wang said, glancing at Jiang Shu’s expression for a moment before suddenly smiling. “But while the money will be taken, the supplies won’t.”

He held the vegetables and fish in one hand, and lightly tapped the crumpled bill against Jiang Shu’s fingertips with the other. “I saw a small supermarket in the village center.”

Pei Wang lowered his voice, speaking in a whisper, “Do you want to go buy some snacks?”

The author has something to say: The reason for taking two fish will be explained in the next chapter qwq