Chapter 111: Eavesdropping

On a stormy night, with wind and rain lashing outside, no one ventured out—making it easy for Chu Xuan to eavesdrop.

But as the storm intensified, her face mask was soon soaked through, rainwater trickling down her neck.

Still, Chu Xuan gritted her teeth and held on.

She waited for over two hours before Liu Dafang finally managed to get Chu Dashan drunk and started questioning him.

“Dashan, do you think your biological son can still be found?”

Chu Dashan, bleary-eyed, mumbled, “My biological son? Xiao Zhi?”

“No, your eldest son.”

“My eldest son? Wuwuwu… I can’t find my eldest son anymore.”

“Really can’t find him? Wasn’t it a mix-up at the hospital back then?”

“It wasn’t a mix-up. Someone switched him on purpose.”

“Who switched him?”

“Feng Ti! Chunhua said it was Feng Ti, so it must be Feng Ti. But Feng Ti said my eldest son wasn’t breathing back then…”

“How did Feng Chunhua get so much money?”

“She found several pieces of gold jewelry and sold them for cash.”

“Did she really just find them?”

“She said she did. Anyway, I don’t care, as long as I have money to spend. Who cares where she got it!”

“Why did Feng Chunhua go to Haishi?”

“She went to Haishi to strike it rich. You have to keep this a secret, or I’ll have no guarantee of money in the future…”

At this point, Chu Dashan passed out, snoring loudly.

No matter how much Liu Dafang pressed, there was no response.

Chu Xuan quietly restored the metal window guard to its original state and hurried home through the wind and rain.

It seemed Chu Dashan didn’t know the truth.

The key lay with Feng Chunhua.

The rain grew heavier, washing away any trace of Chu Xuan’s footsteps…

In the following days, the sea was rough and the storms continued. For safety, the village committee temporarily forbade anyone from approaching the shore.

Luckily, the power repairs were efficient, and every household had electricity again.

It wasn’t until the early hours of August 11th that the skies finally cleared.

Fishing boats began heading out to sea, and Chu Xuan planned to start collecting skinless fish from today.

After all, she still owed Boss Yuan 2,000 jin of grilled fish fillets.

It was just after five in the morning—too early to notify Granny Gao, Aunt Qin, and the others for work. So she left a note for her little brother, grabbed her gear, locked the courtyard gate, and set out for the shore.

There were no neighbors nearby, and her brother was still asleep. She didn’t want to wake him, so locking the gate was safest. She’d be back by around eight to open up.

She brought her basket, carrying tub, bucket, and shoulder pole.

Instead of heading to the village beach to compete for seafood, she took the mountain path to her secret spot.

She hadn’t been there in over ten days—there should be plenty of good stuff.

Half an hour later, she arrived.

The tide was out.

The beach was scattered with all sorts of seafood, and quite a few sea ducks and seabirds.

Chu Xuan would never catch seabirds—they were the weather vanes of the sea.

But sea ducks were fair game.

One sea duck was feasting, and Chu Xuan easily caught it as she crept up.

The other sea ducks and seabirds, seeing this, immediately kept their distance.

Chu Xuan tied up the sea duck and didn’t bother chasing the others.

She hurried to collect the best finds.

There were quite a few sea cucumbers in this area.

Some had already been eaten by the birds and ducks, so she only picked the intact ones.

After half an hour, she’d filled two carrying tubs to the brim.

Sea cucumbers weren’t always available. After today, it’d be hard to find any just lying around.

Unknowingly, Chu Xuan wandered near a cluster of tidal pools.

There was plenty of good stuff inside.

Live perch, blackfish, octopus—all quite large.

There were also some small sea snails and clams, but she only took the big ones.

Just as she was happily collecting, a familiar, pleasant male voice sounded behind her.

“Nice haul.”

Chu Xuan turned to see Mu Chenze, carrying a shoulder pole, empty tubs, and a basket.

“You’re just in time to help! Come on, let’s catch some fish.”

Mu Chenze grunted in agreement and started gathering seafood.

With two people working, it took less than half an hour to fill two tubs and a basket.

As the tide began to rise, they shouldered their loads and headed for shore.

Though it was heavy and exhausting, joy was written all over their faces.

Once ashore, they didn’t leave right away. Instead, they searched nearby and found over twenty sea duck eggs before heading along the mountain path toward the dock.

“Chu Xuan, I’ll take today’s haul to the city to sell. We’ll just say it was bought elsewhere. My cart is at Li Tong’s stall by the dock. Let’s leave the goods nearby, and I’ll cart them home.”

“You really think of everything—even arranged the cart in advance. Did you guess there’d be a lot of good stuff at the secret spot today?”

Chu Xuan felt proud to have such a partner.

Mu Chenze basked in the praise, “That’s right.”

They didn’t talk much after that.

Near the dock, in a small grove, Chu Xuan watched over the seafood while Mu Chenze fetched the cart.

Everything went smoothly.

They split the sea duck eggs—about ten each. The rest would be taken to the city to sell, including the sea duck. Mu Chenze carted the seafood home; the baskets and tubs would be returned another day.

Chu Xuan picked up her bucket—inside were her tools and the eggs—grabbed her shoulder pole, and took a small path home.

Twenty minutes later, she was back.

Her little brother had already made breakfast and brewed her herbal medicine.

Chu Xuan drank her medicine and told her brother to eat without waiting for her.

She went to her room to change, washed the laundry in the yard, hung it up to dry, and finally went to the kitchen to eat.

Her brother had finished eating, put the sea duck eggs in the cupboard, greeted her, and headed out to tell Granny Gao and the others to come for work at four in the afternoon.

Chu Xuan ate quickly.

There was still a lot to do today.

When her brother returned, she slung a clean basket over her back and headed out.

She needed to go to town to buy supplies, and most importantly, to meet Uncle Long.

Grandpa Qi’s horse cart was waiting at the village entrance. When Chu Xuan arrived, there was no one else, so she hired the whole cart.

Ten minutes later, she reached town, paid the fare, and headed to the market.

She bought two jin of pork belly and two jin of apples, put them in her basket, and went to Uncle Long’s shop.

He was alone in the shop—perfect for a private chat.

“Uncle Long, any progress?”

Uncle Long smiled and waved his hand. “Not yet. Who would’ve thought Feng Chunhua’s train was canceled, and then she had an accident, so she didn’t leave. She’s always tight-lipped, never tells Chu Zhi anything shady. My people haven’t heard anything useful.”

Chu Xuan sighed. “I haven’t found out anything useful either. Chu Dashan doesn’t know anything. I guess Feng Chunhua keeps everything from the two of them.”

“Feng Chunhua is no ordinary woman.”

“True.”

They chatted a while longer. Before leaving, Chu Xuan took out the pork belly and apples from her basket. This time, Uncle Long didn’t refuse, but he brought out ten jin of flour from under the counter and put it in Chu Xuan’s basket.

She couldn’t argue with him, so she accepted it.

After leaving, she wandered the market.

She happened to run into Chu Zhi.

Chu Zhi greeted her, “Chu Xuan, you’re in town? Want to come see the house we bought here?”

He was clearly showing off.

Chu Xuan chuckled. “Sure, lead the way.”

Chu Zhi glanced at the flour in her basket. “That’s flour, right? You can’t come to my house empty-handed.”

“Then I’m not going.”

Chu Xuan turned to leave.

Chu Zhi hurried to stop her. “Don’t be like that, I won’t ask you for anything.”

If Chu Xuan didn’t go, he couldn’t show off.

So Chu Xuan followed him toward his new house.

She had a feeling she ought to check it out.

Who knew—maybe she’d discover something."