Chapter 117: The Key

Mu Chenze and the others stood quietly by the side, not saying a word.

Because they knew that Chu Xuan was never someone who suffered losses easily.

Qiu Zhi, determined to get the compensation, didn’t hesitate. He pressed his right index finger into the red ink pad and then left a bright red fingerprint next to his name.

Chu Xuan calmly put away the ink pad. As for the paper, she folded it neatly and held it in her hand. She turned to Granny Gao and said softly, “Granny Gao, could you please call the security team and report that someone in the village is trying to extort money? We’ll send someone to escort him over.”

Granny Gao agreed without hesitation. “I’ll go right now!”

She hurried toward the village office.

Qiu Zhi was dumbfounded. Why were they calling the security team?

Mu Chenze and Liu Dapeng both looked at Chu Xuan, their eyes asking if there was anything they could do to help.

Chu Xuan’s expression was calm. “Mu Chenze, Liu Dapeng, could you two escort Qiu Zhi to the town security office? If he refuses to confess when you get there, take him to the hospital for an examination to see if he really has the knee injury written on this paper.”

Qiu Zhi hadn’t expected Chu Xuan to have this up her sleeve.

He was at a loss and looked to his family, asking in a low voice, “What should I do?”

Before the Qiu family could answer, Mu Chenze and Liu Dapeng had already stepped forward and lifted Qiu Zhi up.

Just then, Xun Ren drove a tractor back from outside the village, with Village Chief Wang sitting in the trailer.

“Stop!”

Seeing the commotion at the entrance of the village, Wang Depin quickly got off the tractor.

After understanding the situation, he first scolded Qiu Zhi, “How could you do something like extortion? Aren’t you bringing shame to our village? I’ll give you a chance—if you admit your mistake, I’ll mediate, and they won’t send you to the security office.”

But Qiu Zhi was stubborn. “I did nothing wrong! I was hit by the truck! I’ll say the same thing at the security office.”

Wang Depin was stern. “You’ll be exposed as soon as they examine your injury. You really dare to go?”

Qiu Zhi acted fearless, because his family had just whispered to him, reminding him of his old knee injury—he could use this opportunity to extort money.

“Of course I dare!”

Wang Depin didn’t bother arguing anymore. He waved his hand. “Xun Ren, get down. Mu Chenze, Liu Dapeng, you two use the tractor to take Qiu Zhi to the town security office.”

Xun Ren immediately got off and let Liu Dapeng take the driver’s seat.

Liu Dapeng drove the tractor, with Mu Chenze and Qiu Zhi sitting in the trailer.

Qiu Zhi pretended his leg hurt terribly, making a fuss about getting into the trailer.

Chu Xuan simply hoisted him up and set him inside.

The onlookers couldn’t help but marvel at Chu Xuan’s strength.

Just as the tractor was about to leave, Chu Xuan suddenly remembered that in her previous life, by the end of this year, Qiu Zhi couldn’t walk because of knee pain.

She quickly called out, “Qiu Zhi has an old knee injury. When they examine him, make sure to remind the doctor. And he has rheumatism, too.”

Qiu Zhi panicked. Outsiders didn’t know about this—how did Chu Xuan know?

Suddenly, he didn’t want to go to the security office anymore.

He was about to speak up, but his family quickly chimed in.

“Don’t listen to Chu Xuan’s nonsense!”

“Your knee injury is new, not old.”

“You have internal injuries!”

“They won’t find anything in the examination! Chu Xuan’s just trying to scare you!”

That last sentence finally reassured Qiu Zhi.

He stopped hesitating and sat firmly in the trailer.

The tractor drove off...

The crowd dispersed.

The truck was parked outside Chu Xuan’s house.

Widow Niu was in charge of loading the packaged grilled fish slices. Now that she didn’t have to chop firewood and only needed to fetch water and do some heavy lifting, her pay remained the same, and she never missed out on overtime. She worked hard, and before long, all 1,200 jin of grilled fish slices were loaded into the truck.

The payment had already been made in full.

But the truck driver wasn’t in a hurry to leave. Instead, he walked into Chu Xuan’s kitchen to see how much stock was left.

Judging by eye, there were about 500 jin left. He immediately took out 800 yuan and said he’d buy it all.

Chu Xuan calculated—before the 25th, she needed to rush out 1,500 jin for Boss Hou’s order, plus what Mu Chenze took to sell in the city every day. Time was tight, but manageable.

She agreed in the end.

Widow Niu loaded the remaining 500 jin into the truck.

After watching the truck drive away, everyone got back to work.

Not long after, there was a knock at the door.

Chu Xuan went to check—it was Feng Shuai.

Feng Shuai wore a flattering smile and spoke first, “I heard you’ve been busy with a big order these days, so I didn’t dare come to buy fish slices. I just saw the truck leave—could you spare 300 jin for me today? Oh, and some good news: Qin Xuehong’s family brought in an old Chinese medicine doctor from Beijing. They say he might be able to wake her up, but the treatment will take at least a year.”

Hearing about Qin Xuehong, Chu Xuan didn’t make things difficult for Feng Shuai. “I can have 300 jin ready after five this afternoon. Come by then—if you’re late, you’ll miss out.”

“Great! I’ll be here on time, I promise.”

Feng Shuai left.

Chu Xuan felt relieved—Qin Xuehong waking up was truly good news!

She told Widow Niu to go to Li Tong’s stall at the dock and bring back another 2,000 jin of skinless fish. After greeting everyone in the yard, she slung her basket on her back and headed out.

She was going to the county to see the old Chinese medicine doctor and get some herbal medicine.

And to ask Uncle Long if he’d managed to make a copy of the key to Feng Chunhua’s bedroom.

At the village entrance, she hired Grandpa Qi’s horse cart and set off for town.

Once there, she first bought two jin of bananas to take to Uncle Long’s shop.

As soon as Uncle Long saw Chu Xuan, he lowered his voice and said, “I’ve got the key. But if you go yourself, it’ll attract too much attention. Why don’t I send someone instead?”

Chu Xuan knew that if Feng Chunhua and her son caught her, the consequences would be dire.

But she had to do this herself.

If someone else went into Feng Chunhua’s bedroom, they probably wouldn’t find any useful clues.

“Uncle Long, just give me the key. Please help me distract Feng Chunhua and Chu Zhi. There are some clues only I can find.”

“This is just the bedroom key. We haven’t got the key to the courtyard gate yet. Her courtyard is locked—how will you get in or out? When my guy copied the key, the bedroom key wasn’t with the courtyard key. He figured he could just climb over the wall, so he didn’t bother copying the courtyard key. Wait a bit longer—once I get the courtyard key, I’ll give them both to you.”

Uncle Long was worried that if he gave her the bedroom key now, Chu Xuan would risk climbing over the wall.

Given her size, she’d definitely leave traces if she tried.

She had no choice but to agree. “Alright, I’ll wait. Thanks, Uncle Long! I have to go to the county—need me to bring you anything?”

Uncle Long chuckled. “No, nothing. Oh, but if you can get men’s long-sleeved shirts from the city, let me know. Your Aunt Liu is still waiting.”

“No problem. I’m off.” Chu Xuan got up, and Uncle Long quickly put a heavy package in her basket. “Uncle Long, what are you giving me now?”

Uncle Long pointed at the bananas on the table. “You bring me fruit, so why can’t I give you some peanuts? Xiao Huan got them from Liu Dapeng’s uncle’s place. I had someone roast them with the skins on. Take them home and eat them with Xiao Feng. If you dare leave them here, don’t blame me if I don’t help you with the keys.”

“Thank you, Uncle Long.”

Chu Xuan waved goodbye with a smile.

Half an hour later, she arrived in the county and headed straight for Doctor Zhang’s clinic.

There were quite a few patients today—Chu Xuan was sixth in line.

While waiting, she took the chance to think things through.

She needed to investigate Feng Chunhua’s bedroom as soon as possible.

Just then, a woman’s voice sounded behind her. “Chu Xuan, is that really you?”"