Chapter 122: What Happened That Day

October 1, 2023

Author: Zi Tao

“No need. I have enough money. Xiaoxuan, thank you and Xiaofeng on behalf of your mom. Take care of each other, and get in touch when you have time. I have things to do here, so I’ll hang up now.”

Before Chu Xuan could tell him that Xiaofeng was right next door, Wu Bingcheng had already hung up.

He relayed Chu Xuan’s message.

After hearing it, Tian Xiaoyun was so moved and happy that she kept wiping away her tears.

Her daughter was not only sensible but also capable. She had to get better soon and try to return to China as soon as possible.

Seeing that the call had the desired effect, Wu Bingcheng was relieved.

For Tian Xiaoyun to recover quickly, she needed to stay in good spirits.

He hadn’t told Chu Xuan the truth about Tian Xiaoyun’s condition. Those things would have to wait until Tian Xiaoyun could tell her in person.

He couldn’t overstep his bounds...

After hanging up, Chu Xuan was filled with mixed emotions—joy and excitement mingled with guilt and heartache for her mother.

She went to Accountant Wen’s office to tell Chu Feng about it.

Chu Feng’s eyes turned red, and he told his sister to make sure to call him next time so he could join the call.

He wanted to hear their mother’s voice too. He never said it out loud, but deep down, he longed for her love.

Chu Xuan understood why Wu Bingcheng hadn’t asked someone from the village office to get Xiaofeng to join the call.

He probably worried that Xiaofeng would refuse and that would only upset Tian Xiaoyun.

When Chu Xuan wrote letters before, she hadn’t mentioned Xiaofeng’s attitude toward their mom, so Wu Bingcheng must have had his concerns.

This time, she told her mom on the phone that both she and her little brother missed her, making their feelings clear. Next time, Wu Bingcheng would probably have someone from the village office bring them both to the call.

In a few days, the elementary school would start.

Chu Feng had already caught up on grades 1–3, so he should be able to keep up in fourth grade, but it needed the principal’s approval.

There was no school in their village, so he’d have to attend the elementary school in the neighboring village.

Chu Xuan planned to ask Wang Depin to go with her to visit the principal.

She didn’t know the principal well, but Wang Depin did.

They still had two one-jin hams at home, which they could bring as gifts.

She borrowed the Mu family’s bicycle in advance.

A little after five in the afternoon, Wang Depin and Chu Xuan each rode a bicycle to Principal Gao’s house in the neighboring village.

Principal Gao warmly welcomed them inside.

After explaining their purpose, Principal Gao said that Chu Feng could come to his house the next day to take a third-grade test. As long as his average score was above 80, he could enter fourth grade.

With that settled, Chu Xuan left the two hams and got ready to leave with Wang Depin.

Principal Gao firmly refused to accept the gift, so Chu Xuan looked at Wang Depin.

Wang Depin couldn’t do anything about it either, so he said they’d just owe Principal Gao a favor and told Chu Xuan to take the hams back.

On the way home, Wang Depin couldn’t help but share his wish, “Once the village’s grilled fish factory gets going, the first thing we should do is build an elementary school. Then we’ll poach Principal Gao to be our school’s principal!”

Chu Xuan was surprised. “Is Principal Gao not happy at the neighboring village’s school?”

Wang Depin sighed, “It’s not that he’s unhappy, but someone’s always trying to take his position and get him transferred. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes—it’s hard to explain in a few words...”

Seeing he didn’t want to talk more, Chu Xuan didn’t press.

Back in the village, Chu Xuan invited Wang Depin to dinner at her house.

That afternoon, Gao Meijuan and the others were working overtime and eating at Chu Xuan’s place. Mu Chenze, who had to go to the city early in the morning, had already gone home to rest. Other than Xiaofeng, it was all women at Chu Xuan’s house, so Wang Depin declined with a smile.

Chu Xuan decided to invite Grandpa Wang’s family over for dinner another day when there weren’t so many people.

When she got home and had just parked the bicycle, Grandpa Qi’s horse cart pulled up at the door, and Feng Shuai jumped down.

“Chu Xuan, I’m buying 500 jin today.”

He carefully pulled a thick wad of cash from his pocket and handed it to Chu Xuan.

Chu Xuan took it and quickly counted—800 yuan, not a cent short.

Just then, Chu Feng walked by. “Xiaofeng, go record this in the ledger. I’ll ask Aunt Niu to help Feng Shuai load the goods.”

Chu Feng smiled, took the money, and went inside to do the bookkeeping.

Chu Xuan washed her hands thoroughly before going into the kitchen.

Before she could say anything, Widow Niu had already started loading the horse cart, not letting her help at all.

She worked quickly and efficiently.

In just a few minutes, all 500 jin of grilled fish fillets were loaded.

This time, Feng Shuai also brought news about Qin Xuehong.

Although Qin Xuehong hadn’t woken up yet, she could now swallow normally.

Chu Xuan quietly reminded Feng Shuai to be careful.

If the person behind the scenes was also watching Qin Xuehong, they’d definitely notice Feng Shuai’s intentions.

Feng Shuai didn’t take it seriously and left on the horse cart.

Chu Xuan checked the remaining stock in the kitchen—about 100 jin left, and another batch in the oven. By eight tonight, there would be over 200 jin ready. Mu Chenze would come by to pick it up and take it to the city to sell in the early morning.

She started preparing dinner.

If all went well, starting tomorrow, everyone could go back to normal working hours and wouldn’t have to work overtime like this anymore.

Chu Xuan planned to produce about 300 jin of grilled fish fillets a day.

That meant she wouldn’t need as many people.

She wasn’t sure how to bring it up.

After all, these people were hardworking and had helped her a lot.

As she was thinking about how to handle it, Qin Mahua came over.

Looking a little embarrassed, she said, “Xiaoxuan, I wanted to discuss something with you.”

Chu Xuan quickly stopped chopping vegetables and said softly, “Aunt Qin, please go ahead.”

No matter what Qin Mahua asked, Chu Xuan would do her best to help if she could.

Qin Mahua pointed at the oven. “My sister-in-law from my mother’s side heard that you won’t need as many people starting tomorrow. She wants to buy your grilled fish fillets wholesale to sell around the nearby towns or at the market. Don’t worry, she’ll only sell in the nearby towns, not in the county, so she won’t compete with your customers. At first, she’ll only buy a small amount.”

Chu Xuan agreed immediately. “No problem. No matter how much she buys, it’ll be 1.6 yuan per jin.”

Aunt Miao overheard and took the chance to share her own sisters-in-law’s idea. “Xiaoxuan, both my older and second sisters-in-law are from Yixian. It’s not by the sea there, so they think these grilled fish fillets will sell well. They want to buy wholesale from you and make a little profit.”

Chu Xuan agreed right away.

Opening up more sales channels would help the future village-run grilled fish factory.

As for the daily production, Chu Xuan decided not to increase it for now.

If there were more orders than usual, Mu Chenze could just take less to the city in the morning.

After dinner, everyone worked until after eight, then left with their wages for the day.

They paid up and pushed their bikes home.

Not long after, Mu Chenze came by with his cart.

Late at night, when everything was quiet, Chu Xuan lowered her voice and finally asked the question that had been on her mind.

“Mu Chenze, the day I was sick and delirious with a fever, was it you who carried me onto the tractor?”

She’d actually asked Chu Feng in private, but he wouldn’t say, telling her to ask Mu Chenze directly.

These past few days, everyone else had avoided the topic, as if on purpose.

Mu Chenze blushed. “No. Everyone carried you up together.”

He didn’t want to talk about that day.

He’d already told everyone not to mention it to Chu Xuan.

Under the yard light, Chu Xuan could see the shyness in his eyes. “You’re lying! Tell me, what really happened that day? No one will tell me—did I do something embarrassing? I must have made a fool of myself, or else everyone wouldn’t be avoiding the subject.”

All she remembered was hearing Mu Chenze’s voice and the sound of the tractor that day. She had no memory of anything else."