Chapter 393
Charlie asked, “So, are you and your brother close?”
Milly’s hands paused as he recalled Leon’s face.
Honestly, she had landed in this story from another world, so logically, she shouldn’t feel much attachment to Leon as her foster brother. But whenever she thought of his gentle, refined face, she couldn’t help but feel a warm connection.
“Yeah, my brother is really good to me. Life wasn’t as lavish when I lived with the Smiths before, but whenever I wanted something, Dad, Mom, and my brother made sure I got it.”
If the original owner were still around, she’d probably answer the same way.
Charlie’s eyes darkened slightly, but in the end, he said nothing. He simply crouched down, suppressing his cleanliness obsession, and began picking at the grass roots. “I’ll help you!
He dug hard, but after a while, the roots he found were either too small or broken, totally useless as medicine.
Milly frowned, feeling sorry as she looked at the nearly destroyed bupleurum. Unable to hold back, she asked, “You and Matthew… Is there some issue between you two? Do you not want him to live?”
Charlie said, “Huh? I didn’t.”
“Forget it. Just stay aside. If you keep going, Matthew won’t have any of this lifesaving herb left.”
After shooing Charlie to the side, Milly dug faster. Before long, she had enough bupleurum. “Okay, that’s enough. Let’s head back now. We’ve got to brew the medicine when we get back.”
“Okay.”
As they passed by the spot where the fishing net had been laid earlier, Charlie suddenly stopped in his tracks. “Wait a moment. I’ll go check. Looks like there are fish inside.”
“Really?” Milly perked up at his words.
Could they have caught fish that fast? Could that worn- out fishing net really catch fish? There wasn’t even any bait inside, and the net was full of holes.
Are fish really this easy to catch now?
Charlie was right. As they approached, they indeed saw fish inside the net. The fish seemed decent in size, splashing waves that spread and crashed onto the rocks by the shore.
The fish was thrashing around so much, making it hard to see its exact species through the water’s surface.
Charlie pursed his lips and softly spoke to Milly behind him, “Step back a bit. I’ll pull it up.”
Milly obediently blinked and took a few steps back. “Okay”
Once she was in a safe position, Charlie grabbed the rope tied to the stone on the shore and exerted force to pull it up.
Seeing the splashing water and the looming shadow of the big fish, he thought it would be difficult to haul it up. But surprisingly, with just a bit of effort, the fish
immediately stopped resisting and obediently allowed him to pull it up.
Charlie raised an eyebrow and then exerted a strong force with his palm. With a loud “thud,” the fish was pulled out of the water.
“Aoaoao…”
Through the patched hole in the tattered fishing net, the head of a small white shark squeezed through. It seemed completely unfazed by its situation, even excitedly wagging its tail and fins as it was lifted up by the net.
That familiar call…
That familiar way of meeting…
After recognising the same dumb little white shark she had seen yesterday, Milly twitched her mouth corner. Is this little guy doing this on purpose? Does it think this fishing net is made of gold? It clearly got caught in it last time, yet here it is in the net again!
The dumb little white shark clearly spotted her too, wagging its tail in excitement. “Aoaoao!” Its cries were louder this time, with a touch of playfulness.
Its strength was too much, causing Charlie to almost lose grip of the rope for a moment.
Milly sighed. It seemed the fishing net couldn’t be cast anymore. Instead of catching fish, it caught nothing but a fool!
Just as she was about to step forward to release the little white shark from the fishing net, Charlie grabbed her arm firmly. His expression was serious, and his voice was solemn. “Don’t go over there. It’s too dangerous. Normally, with newly born shark pups like this, the mother shark is usually close by.”
The little white shark’s cries grew louder, as if complaining about how slow she was and how long it had to wait!
Milly looked helplessly at Charlie and explained, “I know. It’s okay. I know this shark. There’s no danger.”
“You know it?” He clearly didn’t grasp the meaning of those words, still holding onto her arm firmly.
Watching the little shark thrash around more vigorously, Milly worried it might run out of oxygen if left too long on the surface. She hurriedly explained to him, “Yesterday, when I came out to find food, I saw it and decided to rescue it. So, I know it. But don’t worry, it won’t harm me.”
After saying this, ignoring Charlie’s attempts to stop her, she hurried forward and quickly pulled up the fishing net, rescuing the small white shark trapped inside in just a couple of moves.
Just as Milly said, the little white shark was indeed very well-behaved, staying still in her palm and letting her touch it.
“No more coming into nets next time, okay? It’s too dangerous!” Milly gently tapped its head with her finger after giving it a little lesson, then quickly tossed it back into the sea.
It was lucky it was her both times. If someone else had been there, they might have feared the danger or thought it could cause trouble and just smacked it!
The little shark flipped over as it was tossed back into the sea, excitedly wagging its tail. “Aoaoao…”
Clueless as ever, it seemed the little shark hadn’t understood her words at all.
Milly knew it probably couldn’t understand human speech, but that didn’t stop her from being happy to see the little creature again. She crouched by the shore, watching the small white shark thrash and wag its tail in the water, smiling as she exchanged a few words with it. She stood up only after she saw it dive and disappear.
“Let’s go.”
Charlie followed behind her, watching the girl walk ahead of him. A moment of confusion flickered in his eyes, as if he were trying to figure something out, then softened into a gentle warmth.
She seemed to possess a kind of magic, a power to manipulate the world around her effortlessly. Being around her felt like breaking free from all the usual constraints, making one want to submit to her, including everything else in existence.
Yet, she appeared unaware of it all.
The intensity of the gaze behind her was too strong for Milly to ignore. Unable to resist, she turned around and met those eyes directly. She curled her lips into a slight smile. “You… seem like you have something you want to ask me?”
Charlie casually looked away from her and replied in a flat tone, “Nothing.”
Milly smiled knowingly, in a good mood, as she approached, clearly not believing him. “Are you sure? But your eyes say otherwise. If you have something to ask, just ask. I promise, I’ll tell you everything!”