Chapter 102: Going on an Adventure

September 18, 2023

Author: Zi Tao

The rain was pouring down, and with the wind howling, even though Chu Xuan was holding an umbrella, she still got soaked.

Standing behind the door, Chu Xuan called out, “Who is it?”

“It’s me, Ge Shiming! Open up, Chu Xuan!”

Ge Shiming? Chu Xuan repeated the name softly. It sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it.

“Do we know each other?”

“Of course we do! Don’t you recognize me, Ge Dan? I used to live right next door to you. My mom’s Hua Daling, my dad’s Ge Dagen.”

As soon as he mentioned his childhood nickname, Ge Dan, Chu Xuan immediately remembered, but she still didn’t open the door. “Oh, it’s Ge Dan, the one who went off to be a live-in son-in-law! What do you want?”

People in the village never called him by his full name, so no one really remembered Ge Shiming.

She’d heard from Aunt Hua that Ge Dan was greedy for wealth, lazy, and a glutton. When his family was too poor to put food on the table, he took his wife and moved in with his mother-in-law, never coming back.

In her previous life, Ge Dan fell in with Qiu Daguang and learned to steal money, eventually getting caught.

If he hadn’t shown up today, Chu Xuan would have forgotten to remind Aunt Hua to keep a close eye on him.

Through the crack in the door, Ge Dan spoke in a fawning tone, “I heard the typhoon brought your family a ton of seafood and you made a lot of money. I came to borrow some.”

Li Tong had hired a truck to haul the catch today—the commotion was impossible to keep secret.

Chu Xuan had expected people to be jealous, but she hadn’t thought someone would actually come to borrow money.

She replied warily, “What do you need the money for?”

“My mom’s sick. She needs to go to the county hospital, and we need money urgently.”

Ge Dan had heard his mom made good money working for Chu Xuan. He’d come home yesterday to ask her for some, but she refused.

When the typhoon hit, he was stuck at home and couldn’t return to his mother-in-law’s.

If he didn’t bring back money this time, he’d have to answer to his wife and mother-in-law.

So he thought he’d try to trick Chu Xuan out of some cash. After all, his mom would still come to work for her, and he could just have her wages docked later.

He had it all figured out, but Chu Xuan replied, “Go home first. I’ll go check on Aunt Hua in a bit.”

He couldn’t let her do that. Ge Dan quickly put on a pitiful act, choking up, “My mom’s got… it’s an emergency! She needs to get to the hospital right away or she could die! Chu Xuan, please, just lend me three hundred yuan!”

“Three hundred? I really don’t have it.”

“But didn’t you just sell two or three truckloads of seafood? How could you not have money?”

“They haven’t paid me yet.”

“Then just lend me a hundred yuan to get by.”

“I don’t have a hundred either. I’m going to check on Aunt Hua now.” Chu Xuan didn’t believe a word he said. She called toward the bedroom, “Xiao Feng, I’m going to Aunt Hua’s. I’ll lock up from the outside and take the key.”

She opened the courtyard gate, ready to leave.

But Ge Dan blocked her way.

Ge Dan was about 1.65 meters tall and very thin. Compared to Chu Xuan’s sturdy build, he was several sizes smaller.

Chu Xuan grabbed him by the collar, lifted him aside, shot him a fierce glare, and warned him to behave, then locked the door.

Ge Dan was so anxious he scratched his head in frustration.

Chu Xuan stood with her hands on her hips, her gaze icy. “I’ll give you one more chance. Tell the truth while you still can. If I go to your house and find out you lied, I’ll make sure your mom teaches you a lesson. Is your mom really seriously ill?”

Ge Dan took a few steps back, scared. The old Chu Xuan was just fat and used to let Feng Chunhua’s family boss her around. Why was she so intimidating now?

Just then, Mu Chenze’s voice came from nearby. “Hua Daling is selling seafood outside Li Tong’s house. She looks perfectly fine. Who said she’s seriously ill?”

Chu Xuan looked over at Mu Chenze.

He was dressed in a raincoat, rain pants, rain boots, and a rain hat, with a basket on his back, a shoulder pole in one hand, and two baskets in the other. Had he just finished selling seafood?

Since Ge Dan was there, she didn’t ask.

She raised her hand and aimed a slap at Ge Dan.

Ge Dan panicked, slipped, and fell face-first into the mud. He didn’t even bother to brush off his raincoat and pants—he scrambled away on all fours.

He was terrified that if he ran any slower, Chu Xuan would catch him and give him a beating.

After Ge Dan had run off, Mu Chenze finally spoke again. “Want to try your luck at the secret tidal flat?”

Chu Xuan knew Mu Chenze wouldn’t show up for no reason.

She unlocked the door. “Are you short on money? Another typhoon could hit any time, or the last one could circle back. Are you not afraid for your life?”

Actually, having lived this life before, she knew that this afternoon there would only be heavy rain and strong winds, but not a full typhoon.

The thing was, Mu Chenze didn’t know that! Yet he still wanted to risk going to the secret tidal flat.

Mu Chenze smiled. “Don’t worry about whether I need money. Just tell me—are you in or not?”

Chu Xuan clenched her fists. “Of course I’m in!”

She wanted to earn more money so that when she saw her real mother, she could use it all for her treatment.

In her last life, even when her mom was sick, she still sent Chu Xuan money. This time, she was going to cherish their bond.

Mu Chenze teased, “I heard the typhoon brought your family several truckloads of seafood—at least four thousand yuan’s worth. Why are you still hustling so hard? Looks like you need money even more than I do.”

Chu Xuan didn’t plan to tell him about Tian Xiaoyun’s illness. “Who would ever complain about having too much money? Let me tell my little brother, grab my gear, and we’ll head out.”

“Remember to wear rain boots and a raincoat. An umbrella won’t cut it.”

“Got it.”

“And bring a flashlight.”

“Got it.”

Normally, the trip would take half an hour, but with the weather, it took them over forty minutes.

Even in the rain, the tide would still recede as usual.

As soon as they reached the shore, they were stunned by what they saw.

The beach was covered with seafood, especially sea cucumbers and all kinds of fish. A flock of sea ducks was foraging.

They exchanged a glance and decided to catch the ducks first, before they ruined the seafood.

The ducks scattered as soon as they saw people coming.

They only managed to catch six.

They tied them up and set them aside.

Then they started collecting sea cucumbers.

Chatting as they worked.

“Mu Chenze, have you ever seen a beach covered with sea cucumbers and fish before?”

“Nope. Have you?”

“Me neither. This is a first.”

A first in both her lives.

In her previous life, she’d hidden indoors, blaming herself. No one from her husband’s family could get her to go out, because Feng Chunhua had scolded her for not checking the old house sooner—otherwise, all that seafood would have belonged to the Chu family.

Mu Chenze’s words interrupted her thoughts. “Chu Xuan, this adventure was really worth it!”

Chu Xuan kept picking sea cucumbers. “Absolutely.”

In less than an hour, they filled two baskets and four tubs with sea cucumbers.

They’d picked the beach clean.

Next, they started on the fish.

But they’d run out of baskets and tubs.

Luckily, they both had ropes. Mu Chenze quickly wove a few large net bags to hold the bigger fish.

In less than half an hour, all the net bags were full.

As the tide started to rise, they headed back to shore with their haul.

On the way back, Chu Xuan started to worry. They couldn’t reveal the secret tidal flat, so they needed a cover story for all this seafood.

“Mu Chenze, we need to get our stories straight. We can’t let anything slip.”

Mu Chenze didn’t answer directly. He pointed toward the dock. “Let’s go this way.”

“Why? Aren’t we selling the seafood to Li Tong? He’s not at the dock right now.”

(Another update at noon.)"