Reincarnated as a Fisherman and a Dad Chapter 214
"Heh! Fucking dumbfucks, all they do is gossip about people and do nothing. Why don't you actually work instead so your lives get better!" Kubeta roared at the onlookers. He was deeply annoyed that people stared at him with such obvious disapproval.
The neighbors were utterly speechless. He really should have been saying that to himself. Kubeta was a well-known, good-for-nothing bum in their neighborhood, constantly depending on his parents and his grandmother for survival.
Kubeta spat on the ground and swaggered away like a hooligan. He remained arrogantly confident in his ability to beat any man in a street fistfight.
As he finally neared his house, he spotted someone familiar walking down the road.
"Nannette! Are you heading off to work? How about I take you there? I can handle any punk who tries to mess with you." Kubeta approached a young woman dressed in a crisp nurse's white uniform.
Nannette frowned in disgust at Kubeta's overly eager demeanor. The moment he stepped close, she instinctively covered her nose, hit by the overpowering stench of cheap alcohol radiating off him.
"You don't have to do that. I can commute on my own," she said coldly, taking a sharp step backward. Nannette was widely considered one of the most gorgeous women in the neighborhood, drawing plenty of suitors. With striking milky-white skin, silver hair, and hazel-brown eyes, her appearance was truly remarkable.
On top of her looks, she had graduated with a nursing degree and recently landed a stable job at a prestigious hospital in Maynila. Her future seemed to be on a straight, promising path.
"Hehe, have I ever told you how gorgeous you are?" Kubeta gave a childish grin, but Nannette didn't react positively in the slightest.
'You literally almost beat up my coworker just because he gave me a ride home. We aren't even dating,' she thought bitterly.
Everything about Kubeta repulsed her.
He wasn't hideously ugly, but he certainly wasn't attractive either.
He sported a thick beer belly from his relentless drinking habits and never exercised a day in his life.
He was completely jobless, relying entirely on his aging family elders.
And above all, Kubeta was a violent bully who routinely beat people up, including his own younger brother.
Speaking of his younger brother...
Nannette's eyes brightened slightly as a sudden thought crossed her mind.
"How is Karlos doing? I haven't heard a single thing about him in years. Is he doing alright? Is he healthy?" Nannette bombarded Kubeta with questions.
Nannette and Karlos had been childhood friends. To be precise, the Alejandro children and Nannette had grown up together, remaining quite close for a long time.
Eventually, however, things changed. Both Kubeta and Ivana, the youngest sister, completely disregarded Karlos's existence, treating him more like a servant than a brother.
Nannette had never understood why their family dynamic turned so toxic. Disgusted by their behavior, she had distanced herself from Kubeta and Ivana, choosing to remain friends exclusively with Karlos.
In truth, her feelings for Karlos extended far beyond simple friendship. She had a deep crush on him. It was precisely why she had never bothered having a boyfriend, she simply couldn't get Karlos out of her head.
He wasn't just striking to look at, he was deeply capable, hardworking, and fiercely protective of those he cared about. She still vividly remembered a time when she was being harassed by local kids, and it was Karlos who stepped in to shield her.
Yet Karlos had always been dense, completely oblivious to romance. Or perhaps he simply knew romance was out of his league, given that he was weighed down by his upbringing and unproven status in life.
"That guy?" Kubeta scratched his head blankly, having already forgotten about his younger brother entirely.
While Kubeta and Ivana technically knew Karlos was their biological brother, their parents' relentless mistreatment of him had poisoned their own attitudes, leading them to treat him without an ounce of respect. To them, he was nothing more than an unpaid household helper.
"Well, the last thing I heard was that he got married and has two kids," Kubeta muttered offhandedly.
"...Yeah, I heard about the rumors," Nannette offered a bitter, tight smile. Word had reached the neighborhood last year that Karlos had married someone down in the Timog-Kanluran province. Nannette had actually locked herself in her room and cried for a whole week straight.
Ever since then, she had tried her hardest to move on, but she just couldn't shake her lingering feelings. Their shared history ran too deep, they had spent their entire childhoods side by side.
"As for his current situation? No idea. Never heard a peep about him since."
"Figures. You never treated him like a brother anyway."
"Hey, don't say that. He is my brother, just... the neglected one." Kubeta shrugged. He vaguely remembered asking his parents once why they hated Karlos so much, only to be met with terrifying, icy glares from both Delilah and Emmanuel. Kubeta had never dared to ask that question again.
"So, you don't need my escort service, then?"
"No. I told you, I can commute on my own." Nannette's expression hardened into a glare.
"Hehe, next time I'll pick you up from work in a car. I feel like my luck is finally turning around." Aside from being a chronic alcoholic, Kubeta had inherited his mother's destructive gambling addiction.
"Yeah, right. How is your grandmother doing? Is she still locked up in jail?" Nannette didn't care about old hag Bruha, the elderly woman was a toxic conservative who harbored bizarre prejudices against young women.
"...She's not doing well," Kubeta clicked his tongue, a dark look crossing his face. He deeply hated the people responsible for putting his grandmother behind bars.
"I have to go now. I'll be late," Nannette excused herself. She held zero positive impressions of the entire Alejandro family, with the sole exception of Karlos, of course.
"Take care then!" Kubeta called out. He still held a delusional crush on Nannette, genuinely believing that the moment he hit the jackpot at the casino, she would finally look his way.
Kubeta stumbled back toward his home, his steps heavy and uncoordinated.
"Ivana! You fucking bitch, open the damn gate!" he yelled, kicking the metal gate repeatedly because he was too lazy to slide it open himself.
"Why are you screaming like a lunatic!? It's the middle of the day, and you're causing a scene!" Ivana glared at him as she reluctantly opened the gate.
"Shut your trap! Did you wash my clothes yet!?"
"Yeah, I did!" Ivana grumpily snapped back, turning on her heel to stomp back inside the house. She had essentially been demoted to a full-time housemaid ever since Karlos was gone, and she resented Karlos deeply for it.
Stepping into the living room, Kubeta found Delilah and Emmanuel sitting on the couch with grim, exhausted expressions. But Kubeta was far too drunk to read the heavy atmosphere, walking right up to them to demand food.
"Ma, where's my lunch?"
[Thank you for reading this novel.]