For the current Wang An, anything that could be solved with money wasn't an issue; after all, fines had a limit, but Wang An's money was plentiful.
Regardless, the priority was to save the child.
As Wang An stood up, Mu Xueqing said in a soft, dainty voice
"Are we going right now? Maybe we should wait a few more days, just in case my period comes?"
At this moment, Mu Xueqing's mood and attitude were completely different from when she was with Huaile and Xingfu.
Back then, Mu Xueqing had been expectant, longing, and happy; now, she was afraid, terrified, and unable to face it. Pregnancy had become a massive burden to her.
Wang An smiled slightly and comforted her again
"Wife, just relax. Don't you know how capable I am? With me here, no one dares to do anything to you. I'll destroy them."
Hearing Wang An say this, a reassured smile finally appeared on Mu Xueqing's face, though she still said
"I don't want to go now. Let's wait a few more days."
Wang An smiled helplessly and didn't press further. Instead, he said gently
"Alright, we'll wait a few days then. After this, I'll go catch some fish for you. We'll have boiled sturgeon for lunch."
As he spoke, Wang An walked over to Mu Xueqing, reached out to rub her head, and then turned to leave the house.
He went to the side room to grab a small fishing net, took nothing else, and walked toward the fish pond at the westernmost end of the yard.
Wang An's fish pond was genuinely not small, measuring 100 meters north-to-south and 25 meters east-to-west. Consequently, Wang An didn't know exactly where the fish were, and he felt even less certain about whether he could catch a sturgeon.
Shaking out the net and folding it back into his hand, Wang An cast it out.
If he were fishing in a river, he would need to use bait to attract the fish, but catching fish in his own pond required no such thing.
Once the net sank to the bottom, Wang An pulled the rope in his hand to drag the net back up.
Sure enough, a random cast brought up over twenty fish of various species: crucian carp, grass carp, common carp, and catfish—but notably, no sturgeon.
Shaking all the fish out of the net and throwing them back into the pond, Wang An moved to a different spot and cast the second net. Unfortunately, there was still no sturgeon.
Following that, Wang An cast several more nets in a row, only to catch a single sturgeon—and it was just a fry, weighing barely two pounds. Without a second thought, Wang An tossed it back into the pond.
If it were a grass carp, common carp, or catfish, two pounds would be edible, but it was common for sturgeon to grow to over a hundred pounds. Eating one this small would be a complete waste.
After casting an unknown number of nets and throwing back countless fish, Wang An finally successfully netted a large sturgeon weighing a full twenty pounds.
Looking at the massive sturgeon before him, Wang An almost felt like crying.
Clearly, there were plenty of sturgeon in the pond, but the moment he actually wanted to catch one, they refused to enter the net. How strange!
Carrying the large sturgeon and the net back into the yard, Wang An began to clean the fish with great efficiency.
A sturgeon this size was a treasure from head to tail. The meat would be used for boiled fish, while the head and the meaty bones would be used for stew. No matter how it was prepared, it would be incredibly delicious.
Of course, in the Northeast, people drank less soup; they primarily ate the meat, with the soup being a side.
While his hands kept moving, Wang An's mind was calculating where he should arrange for Mu Xueqing to hide if she truly was pregnant.
Truthfully, while Wang An wasn't afraid of those calculating people coming to his home—and could brutally retaliate afterward, even ruining their families one by one—he didn't want to do so unless absolutely necessary.
Though they were inhuman, Wang An didn't want the unborn child to be tainted by too much karma.
Wang An only wanted his child to grow up safe, happy, and carefree.
After cleaning the sturgeon by the well, Wang An began processing the meat in the outdoor shed.
Sturgeon meat is firm and tender, and it has no small bones, only cartilage. Even the elderly and children could eat it without worrying about choking on fish bones.
To be honest, in Wang An's opinion, using sturgeon for boiled fish was almost a waste of the meat.
Soon, Wang An had disassembled the entire large sturgeon into a large basin of raw fish slices and a basin of bones and the head.
Under the large pot, he stewed the fish head, bones, roe, and swim bladder, while a basin of rice steamed on top.
Next, Wang An prepared the boiled fish slices in another pot.
As the hot oil was poured over the fish, the boiled fish was complete.
In this dish Wang An made, there were no side vegetables other than a few pieces of baby bok choy for garnish; it was all fish meat, making it absolutely satisfying to eat.
Just as the meal was finished, Wang Dazhu and his wife returned.
Although Wang Dazhu and Liu Guilan were helping Huang Zhong build his house, they didn't eat there. Compared to their own meals, the communal food at Huang Zhong's place was simply not up to standard.
Given the choice, who would eat inferior food?
Seeing the old couple enter the yard, Wang An quickly greeted them
"Dad, Mom, hurry and wash your hands for dinner."
Wang Dazhu walked over, sniffed the air, and asked
"What are you tinkering with now? Why does it smell so good?"
Wang An opened the pot lid, and an even richer aroma eagerly wafted out. Pointing to the dish in the pot, Wang An said with a beaming smile
"Boiled sturgeon slices and sturgeon head stew! Hahaha, how about that? Dad, Mom, looking at the food I made, are you drooling yet?"
Unexpectedly, as soon as Liu Guilan saw the boiled fish, instead of praising Wang An, she immediately dampened the mood
"Boiled fish again, and such a huge basin of it! How much oil did that waste? You spendthrift!"
It had to be said that while boiled fish was delicious, it was indeed very oil-intensive.
Wang An smiled faintly and said
"I had no choice. Your daughter-in-law wanted to eat it. She specifically craved this dish, so what was I supposed to do, Mom?"
Hearing this, Liu Guilan's lips twitched, and she finally said
"Xueqing? Xueqing wanted to eat it? Ah, then it's fine. Then it's fine."
The moment Liu Guilan finished speaking, Wang An's face froze. He looked at Liu Guilan in utter disbelief and said
"Mom, I am your biological son. Your biological son worked his tail off for half the morning to make this boiled fish, and then you pull this on me? No, Mom, is that fair?"
Liu Guilan glared at Wang An and delivered a righteous triple-question
"Why isn't it fair? Where isn't it fair? What's not fair about it? You spendthrift!"
Having said her piece, Liu Guilan turned around and went to the well to wash her hands.
Wang An blinked, staring at Liu Guilan's back, then turned to Wang Dazhu and said
"Dad, look at Mom. Why is she like this? She doesn't make any sense at all."