Chapter 115: He Can Do It Too

""Chu Xuan, come out for a moment. I need to talk to you alone.""

Mu Chenze’s tone wasn’t very friendly.

Chu Xuan was baffled. Did she do something to upset him?

No way, right?

She walked to the tree outside the courtyard gate. ""Can we talk here?""

Mu Chenze’s gaze swept over the people in the yard gutting fish, pausing briefly on Liu Dapeng, who was pouring water into a tank, before quickly looking away. ""Let’s talk over by the beach.""

Chu Xuan refused outright. ""Boss Hou’s driver will be here soon to pick up the goods. I don’t have time to go to the beach. Let’s just talk under the tree. Make it quick.""

Mu Chenze walked up to Chu Xuan and deliberately lowered his voice. ""Do you know what people in the village are saying about you and Liu Dapeng?""

Chu Xuan looked surprised. ""No, what are they saying?""

""They’re saying Liu Dapeng wants to marry into your family as a live-in son-in-law.""

""He’s just here to chop wood and fetch water for wages. It’s only his second day, and people are already gossiping? They must be really bored.""

""He’s the only man among all the workers you hired…""

""People can say whatever they want. I don’t care. Right now, I need reliable help. Liu Dapeng works hard and is quick-witted. I’m not going to fire him.""

Mu Chenze felt a tightness in his chest. ""Here’s your share of the profits from selling the seafood.""

He pulled out a wad of cash and stuffed it into Chu Xuan’s hand.

With a wave, he turned and left.

Once he was gone, Chu Xuan muttered under her breath, ""Why is Mu Chenze even angrier than me about the village gossiping about Liu Dapeng and me?""

She counted the money quietly—370 yuan.

About ten minutes later, Liu Dapeng went to the creek to fetch water and saw Mu Chenze waiting there.

""You went to Chu Xuan’s place just now to try to get her to fire me, didn’t you?""

Mu Chenze saw the challenge in Liu Dapeng’s eyes. ""If you really like Chu Xuan, you should care about her reputation.""

""There’s nothing going on between us. She got a big order and needs help, and I’m just working for wages. It’s an employer-employee relationship, no matter what others say. I don’t have time for this—I’ve got a lot of water to fetch.""

Liu Dapeng quickly filled his buckets and headed back.

Unable to persuade Chu Xuan or reason with Liu Dapeng, Mu Chenze was a bit frustrated.

Back when the villagers gossiped about him kissing Chu Xuan, he hadn’t even gotten mad. But now, over this…

After watching Liu Dapeng leave, he pulled out a bucket and carrying pole from behind a big rock.

So what if he worked at Chu Xuan’s place too?

He could do it!

He’d rather have people gossip about him and Chu Xuan than hear a single word about Liu Dapeng and Chu Xuan.

While Chu Xuan was chatting with Boss Hou’s driver, Mu Chenze walked into the yard carrying two buckets of water.

Everyone else was busy and didn’t notice him.

Chu Xuan did see him, but before she could ask why he was fetching water, he’d already emptied the buckets into the tank and left again.

Chu Xuan went back to chatting with the driver.

""Has Boss Hou expanded the sales network?""

""That’s right. Now there are stores outside the city and even out of province. They’re all at train stations, long-distance bus stations, or airports. Your grilled fish slices sell the fastest. Otherwise, our boss wouldn’t send me personally to pick up the goods—the transport costs are pretty high, you know.""

""I sell at a lower price at the city’s farmers’ market. That won’t affect your sales, will it?""

""No, we mainly promote small packages and gift boxes of different weights. They look high-end and fetch a good price. Besides, our customers are mostly from out of town.""

""That’s good to hear.""

After chatting a bit more, the driver pulled out a stack of cash and paid 800 yuan for 500 jin of grilled fish slices, then counted out another 800 yuan as a deposit for the next batch.

They agreed that he’d come back on the 25th of this month to pick up 1,500 jin.

Chu Xuan did the math—there was enough time—so she agreed.

This meant the overtime she’d promised everyone would be extended by five days.

But with more money to earn, no one minded the extra work.

After seeing the truck driver off, Chu Xuan handed the money to her younger brother, telling him to put it away and get some more sleep.

Chu Feng had only slept five hours last night and was indeed tired, so he didn’t refuse.

When Mu Chenze came back with a second load of water and emptied it into the tank, Chu Xuan said apologetically, ""Before the 25th, I won’t have any grilled fish slices for you to take to the city to sell—they’re all pre-ordered…""

Mu Chenze didn’t seem the least bit disappointed about missing out on a share of the profits. Instead, he was happy for her. ""That’s great! From now on, I’ll come by in the afternoons to help—fetch water, chop wood, marinate fish, whatever you need. Just pay me a little, or nothing at all.""

Chu Xuan looked at Qin Mahua, then at Mu Chenze. ""Did you talk this over with your family?""

Before Mu Chenze could answer, Qin Mahua laughed and said, ""I agree. Xiao Xuan, we really are short-handed here, especially strong workers. No need to pay him—just feed him a meal.""

Mu Chenze grinned triumphantly.

Chu Xuan had no choice but to agree, but insisted he had to be paid.

Liu Dapeng felt Mu Chenze was doing this on purpose, but instead of arguing, he just worked even harder.

Just then, Ji Ping arrived with a delivery of fish.

Mu Chenze went to help unload and took the opportunity to ask about the investigation into Li Qin’s death.

Ji Ping shook his head helplessly. ""No progress at all. Sheng Damei has already asked the security team to send the body for cremation. Keeping it in cold storage isn’t a solution. Tomorrow I won’t go out to sea—I’ll go with her to take Aunt Li’s ashes up the mountain to be buried with her father.""

""Will Sheng Damei stay in the village or move elsewhere?""

""She’ll live with me. I’ll announce publicly that we’re siblings.""

Ji Ping didn’t care who in the yard heard.

Hearing this, Chu Xuan couldn’t help but rub her forehead. In her previous life, Sheng Damei schemed to marry Accountant Wen. This time, she failed and latched onto Ji Ping instead.

Chu Xuan still felt a bit guilty about this, since it meant Ji Ping would have an even harder time finding a wife.

But who could blame her? Sheng Damei’s reputation was notorious.

Everyone present sighed inwardly.

Just then, Widow Niu came back, fuming and empty-handed. ""Those Qiu family people are unbelievable! They got a bunch of villagers to go to the village committee and demand that Xiao Xuan pay for firewood and water. They even stopped me from chopping wood. At first, I could scare them off with my axe, but more and more of them showed up and surrounded me. Worst of all, they put their kids right next to me so I couldn’t even pretend to go crazy with the axe.""

She couldn’t risk hurting the kids.

After all, the children didn’t know any better, and if they didn’t listen to their parents, they’d get beaten.

Gao Meijuan ran out of the kitchen. ""Let them try! With my Lao Wang around, no one’s going to make Xiao Xuan pay a cent.""

The creek water flows anyway—even if Chu Xuan’s family didn’t fetch so much, it would still run by.

The firewood was just dead wood from the mountain.

Who knew why those people were so bothered?

Chu Xuan checked the firewood at home—only enough for three or four days.

If Widow Niu kept getting blocked, they’d run out.

Buying from town, with transport costs, would be much more expensive.

""Everyone keep working. I’ll go to the village office.""

Before she could leave, Li Lin came running over.

""Xuan-jie, several people selling skinned fish have suddenly raised their prices to 0.1 yuan a jin. Otherwise, they won’t sell to my dad. He asked me to come ask if you’re willing to wait an extra day—he’s contacted a fishmonger friend from the next town over who can deliver for 0.05 yuan a jin first thing tomorrow morning."""