Ch 24: Transmigrated to become a Koi Husband

Village West

Qin Zhao leaned back against the shade of a tree, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

“I told you that your body isn’t strong enough, yet you still insist on helping us move things,” Lin Lao’er said as he carried a basket of clay bricks. He wore only a vest on his upper body, exposing his muscular chest.

Lately, with nothing else to do, he had responded to the notice and was helping Qin Zhao build his house.

In the distance, a group of burly men was huffing and puffing as they carried bricks, the air thick with the indescribable smell of sweat.

Qin Zhao, feeling a bit dizzy from the sun, shook his head. “It’s nothing, I’ll be fine after a short rest.”

It was almost summer, and the weather was getting hotter by the day. Qin Zhao was finding it increasingly difficult to stay outside in the midday heat.

Lin Changzhong also called out loudly, “I’ve been telling him to go home and rest; we’ve got this covered. But the kid wouldn’t listen no matter what. I don’t know why he’s in such a hurry—are you rushing to get married or something?”

“Listen to you, Lin Shu. Qin Zhao is already in his twenties; shouldn’t he be anxious? By the time you were his age, your wife was already pregnant with your second child,” someone in the distance chimed in, and everyone burst into laughter.

“Shut up and get back to work,” Lin Changzhong barked.

One of the perks of working with the villagers was that they were all familiar neighbors. They could chat and joke around when they were tired, which made the work go faster.

Qin Zhao rested for a while, and once he felt a bit more recovered, he used a nearby tree trunk to help himself stand up.

The small courtyard was beginning to take shape. The main house was mostly built, with just the roof left to complete. Another smaller structure, intended to be the kitchen, already had its foundation laid. A deep pit had been dug in front of the main house, where a pool would eventually be built.

After catching his breath, Qin Zhao lifted the basket of bricks beside him.

Just then, a shout came from a distance.

“Qin Zhao! Qin Zhao, something’s happened at your house!”

It was Li Dali, running toward them. He grabbed Qin Zhao and tried to pull him along.

Qin Zhao’s heart skipped a beat. “What happened?”

Li Dali’s shout had also caught the attention of the others, who all put down their work and gathered around. “What’s going on?”

Panting heavily, Li Dali explained, “I just saw a few outsiders heading toward your house. They’re blocking your door right now. Some of the villagers are keeping them out, and someone’s already gone to get the village chief!”

The crowd grew angry.

“Who are these people?”

“Coming to Linxi Village and acting out of line? They must have a death wish!”

“I don’t know!” Li Dali urged, “Anyway, you’d better come with me quickly, or it’ll be too late!”

“Move aside!”

“What are you people doing here? It’s illegal to trespass in Linxi Village! Aren’t you afraid we’ll report you to the authorities?”

“This is none of your business! Get out of the way!”

Outside the door, the clamor grew louder. Inside, the little koi had sunk to the bottom of the wooden bucket, even curling the tip of its tail in fear, trembling all over.

These people… they had come to capture him.

There was a loud bang as someone outside tried to force the door open, causing the little koi to shudder.

The noise outside grew even more intense. Fortunately, Qin Zhao had recently installed a new lock, and the intruders couldn’t break it easily. However, the door itself was old and decayed, barely able to withstand much more forceful impact.

There was another loud bang, and the door clearly started to give way, with dust falling from the impact.

The wooden cabinet where the bucket sat was directly in front of the door; if the intruders broke in, they would spot it immediately. Jing Li could no longer stay put out of fear and jumped out of the water.

He didn’t dare to stay in the outer room, so he flopped his way into the bedroom. After a quick search, he used his tail to propel himself onto the bed. With great difficulty, his small fish body wriggled into the bedding, wrapping himself tightly.

Where is Qin Zhao…?

As time passed slowly, the tension and fear made him feel dehydrated faster than ever before. His tail gently flapped behind him, and his breathing became increasingly difficult.

But still, he didn’t dare move, silently waiting.

Just then, a voice was heard outside the door.

“What are you doing?”

Jing Li’s eyes brightened. Qin Zhao was back.

Outside, the four or five strange men standing by the door turned around to see who had spoken.

Qin Zhao stood there, his gaze calm and detached, but when his eyes swept over them, the group of strong men felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

However, they quickly regained their composure.

These men were clearly different from ordinary farmers, dressed in fine clothes that indicated they came from wealthy families.

They exchanged glances, and one of them stepped forward. “Are you Qin Zhao?”

Qin Zhao replied, “I am.”

“Someone reported that you are hiding the prized koi. We need to search your house.”

Qin Zhao didn’t respond immediately.

Seeing his silence, the man who spoke found a bit of courage and continued, “Not saying anything means you’re admitting it, right? Don’t pretend you haven’t seen the reward notice for the koi. You found it but didn’t return it—is that because you want to keep it for yourself?”

Qin Zhao calmly replied, “If you’re talking about the small red fish, I did take care of it for a while. Once it recovered, I released it. You won’t find it here.”

“He’s lying!” A voice called out from the crowd.

Qin Zhao turned his head to see who it was—it was the fourth son of the Chen family.

Chen Laosi was still young, small and thin, with dark skin. There was a crowd gathered in front of Qin Zhao’s house, and Chen Laosi had blended in, so Qin Zhao hadn’t noticed him before.

Chen Laosi declared confidently, “That fish is still in the house. I saw it with my own eyes last night!”

Qin Zhao’s eyes flickered slightly.

So, it was him last night.

Chen Laosi met Qin Zhao’s gaze, a sense of satisfaction rising within him.

When his wife had switched out the old lady’s medicine, almost causing her death, Chen Laosi had known about it. He was a cowardly man, only interested in drinking and playing, with no real skills to earn a living. If it weren’t for his wife managing the household, he wouldn’t have gotten this far.

So, he had turned a blind eye to the medicine switch, thinking that the old lady’s death would benefit him when it came time to divide the family’s property.

But things hadn’t gone as planned, thanks to this man.

Now, his wife was locked up in the county office, and because of this, when the family split, he only got a small plot of land and a dilapidated house.

He had no idea how to farm and was now facing a bleak future, uncertain of how he would survive.

His life had turned miserable, yet this sickly man was bustling around the village, building a house, and seemingly doing better each day.

Chen Laosi was consumed with jealousy, his mind constantly scheming revenge.

If he couldn’t have a good life, then neither should this man.

For the past few days, Chen Laosi had been loitering around Qin Zhao’s house.

In the small mountain village, the people were simple and honest, and most households rarely locked their doors, whether they were home or not. But only Qin Zhao’s house was always locked up tight, with doors and windows sealed as if there was something inside that shouldn’t be seen.

Chen Laosi had his suspicions. Qin Zhao’s house was always locked during the day, so he chose to check at night.

To his surprise, his investigation the previous night had indeed uncovered a shocking secret.

Qin Zhao had not released that fish as he claimed.

Almost everyone in the village knew about the reward for the koi and that Qin Zhao might have kept the fish for a while. Qin Zhao’s explanation was that he had released the fish shortly before the reward notice went up, but Chen Laosi always found that too coincidental.

Seeing the fish still in Qin Zhao’s house last night, everything suddenly made sense to him.

Qin Zhao was trying to keep the valuable koi for himself.

The town’s notice was very clear: anyone who found the koi would be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver, and even providing credible information would earn one hundred taels.

A hundred taels would last him half a lifetime.

So, early this morning, he went to the town to report what he knew.

It was an opportunity to make money and make Qin Zhao suffer—an unbeatable deal.

Qin Zhao understood the whole situation, but he just shook his head and said, “Even if you have grievances against me, you shouldn’t abuse your power to settle personal scores by falsely accusing me.”

“Falsely accuse you? How am I falsely accusing you? I clearly saw you feeding that fish yesterday!”

Qin Zhao withdrew his gaze calmly, refusing to engage further.

This only made Chen Laosi appear more agitated.

“Chen Laosi, don’t go too far!” Li Dali, who had been by Qin Zhao’s side the whole time, finally couldn’t hold back any longer. “I’ve seen you lurking around here for days. Are you just waiting for a chance to cause trouble for Qin Zhao?”

The villagers had recently grown fond of Qin Zhao, and given what had happened with Chen Laosi’s wife, they held some prejudice against him. Hearing what Li Dali said, they started to discuss among themselves.

“Yeah, wasn’t it Qin Zhao who messed up that situation with his wife? He’s probably holding a grudge.”

“But lying and deceiving people like this, and bringing a whole group to break into someone’s house—that’s just bullying.”

“Exactly, exactly…”

Chen Laosi turned red with embarrassment, stammering for a long time without being able to say a word in response.

The man who had spoken first grew impatient and interrupted, “Your grudges are none of our concern. We’re here to find that koi. If you say you didn’t keep it, then open the door and let us see. If there’s no fish inside, we’ll leave.”

Qin Zhao remained silent, lowering his eyes. Just then, a voice called out from behind the crowd, “Qin Zhao, open the door.”

Everyone turned to see the village chief approaching, surrounded by a few villagers.

The village chief said, “Neither side can convince the other, and this standoff is disturbing the peace of the entire village. It’s better for everyone to take a step back.”

“Open the door and let all the villagers here witness it.”

“Of course, if what Qin Zhao says is true and he hasn’t hidden the fish, I will enforce the village rules and punish Chen Laosi.”

Hearing the village chief’s words, Chen Laosi finally found some backbone and said, “No need for the chief to punish me. If there’s no fish inside, I’ll leave the village tomorrow!”

His declaration caused an uproar among the onlookers.

Only Qin Zhao frowned slightly, deep in thought.

After a moment, he smiled faintly and said, “Very well.”

Qin Zhao stepped forward, and the crowd parted to let him through. He slowly and deliberately took out the key to the door, raising his voice so everyone could hear: “If there is no fish inside, I expect the village chief to clear my name.”

With that, Qin Zhao unlocked the door and pushed it open.

Chen Laosi was the first to rush inside.

The room was silent, and the wooden bucket on the low cabinet was filled with clear water, but there was nothing in it.

“How can it be empty? He was definitely keeping the fish in here last night!” Chen Laosi lifted the bucket, looking around as if suspecting that Qin Zhao had hidden the fish at the bottom.

Qin Zhao remained calm. “I did keep the fish here before, but as I said, I have already released it.”

“Impossible, that’s impossible! I saw him feeding the fish with my own eyes last night. He must have hidden it somewhere!” Chen Laosi shouted angrily. “What are you all standing around for? Search the place! The fish must be in this house!”

The small room quickly filled with people, with most of the villagers unable to squeeze in and waiting outside.

Qin Zhao’s house wasn’t very large, and the outer room was quickly turned upside down by the searchers.

Someone pulled back the curtain leading to the bedroom.

But they stopped in their tracks, stunned.

“Why are you blocking the way? Get in and search!” Someone behind them pushed the person forward, and the crowd streamed into the room.

In the narrow bedroom, a pale-skinned young boy was huddled at the foot of the bed, looking at them with fear in his eyes. “W-who are you…?”

The boy seemed terrified, clutching the blanket to cover himself tightly, only his delicate, pretty face and a bit of his bare, white shoulder visible.

His eyes were rimmed with red, his watery gaze resembling that of a small, frightened animal, full of helplessness and grievance.

Everyone present felt a heavy thud in their hearts, suddenly finding their mouths dry.

In the deafening silence, Qin Zhao pushed aside the curtain and entered the room.

Clearly not expecting such a scene, Qin Zhao also paused briefly. However, he quickly composed himself, calmly looking away as he walked over.

Seeing his arrival, the boy’s eyes grew even redder.

Qin Zhao approached the bed, but instead of looking at the boy, he turned around, subtly blocking everyone’s view. “Gentlemen, have you found the fish?”

“Fish… Yes, the fish, keep searching!” Chen Laosi was the first to snap out of it.

But there was no place left in the room to hide a fish.

The search yielded nothing.

However, only Chen Laosi and the few men from town seemed intent on finding the fish. The villagers, on the other hand, had long lost interest in the fish, their attention entirely captured by the boy on the bed.

Countless eyes openly scrutinized the boy, who huddled in the corner, helplessly looking to the man beside him for support.

But Qin Zhao never once glanced back at him.

Jing Li was now terrified.

He was afraid these people would discover his true identity and take him away, and he also feared that Qin Zhao, upon seeing him like this, would realize he had been deceived all along.

Was Qin Zhao… angry?

Jing Li bit his lip and, hesitantly, reached out to lightly tug at Qin Zhao’s fingers. “Qin Zhao…”

His voice was faint, laced with a sob, as if he was on the verge of tears.

Qin Zhao closed his eyes briefly, exhaling silently, but just as the boy was about to withdraw his hand, he grasped it in return.

The warmth of Qin Zhao’s hand seeped through their fingers, and Jing Li looked up as Qin Zhao finally spoke.

“Please don’t be alarmed,” Qin Zhao said gently. “This is my newly wedded husband, and he’s a bit shy around strangers.”