Chapter 126: Taking Xiao Feng to the Tidal Flats

Sheng Damei looked triumphant, as if her plan had succeeded.

But what she hadn’t expected was that Ji Ping had no intention of bothering Chu Xuan at all—he was just taking a stroll around the village.

It was late at night, after all. Why would a single man and woman meet up alone?

He didn’t want to give people any reason to gossip.

About ten minutes later, Mu Chenze arrived at Chu Xuan’s house, pulling a handcart behind him.

After they finished loading the grilled fish fillets onto the cart, Chu Feng sensibly ran back to his own room, leaving his sister and Brother Chenze some space to talk.

Mu Chenze took a bankbook out of his pocket.

“Could you help me keep this one safe too? My mom almost found it. This is my private stash—saving it for my future wife. You have to help me keep it safe. Whether my wife is happy in the future depends on how well you guard this for me.”

Chu Xuan took it and glanced at the amount under the courtyard light. “That much? Aunt Qin treats you so well, and you’re still hiding away this much private money?”

“I earned this with my extra time off, so it’s mine. My mom is good to me, but she’s strict with money! She says after I get married, my wife can manage the finances, but until then, she has to be in charge. If I don’t get married before thirty, does that mean I’ll have no money for years? Then what’s my motivation to work?”

“You actually make a good point. Fine, I’ll keep it for you. Come get it whenever you need it.”

“Great. I’m off then!”

Mu Chenze pulled the cart away.

There were over 240 jin of grilled fish fillets today—no worries about selling them in town.

After watching him leave, Chu Xuan locked the door and went back to her room to hide the bankbook.

Chu Feng didn’t eavesdrop or go bother Chu Xuan again.

They both slept soundly that night.

The next morning, Chu Xuan brewed her herbal medicine, changed into workout clothes, and went out to exercise.

Twenty minutes later, Chu Feng got up and started making breakfast and simmering the herbal medicine.

When Chu Xuan returned from her workout, they ate breakfast together. About half an hour later, the medicine was ready.

She let it cool a bit, then sipped it slowly.

She hadn’t weighed herself in a while. She planned to check her weight after selling today’s catch, just to see how much she’d lost.

After finishing her medicine, she went back to her room to change into clothes for the tidal flats and was just about to gather her gear when Widow Niu arrived, pulling a cart full of skinned fish.

She helped unload the goods.

Soon after, Gao Meijuan and the others arrived for work.

Chu Xuan greeted them, then took Chu Feng out to the tidal flats.

Liu Zhaodi watched the siblings leave and couldn’t help sighing, “I just don’t have the luck for tidal foraging. If there’s money to be made, I’d rather not go to the tidal flats.”

Hua Daling chimed in, “Me neither. One time I went with Xiao Xuan, she found several blackfish, and I couldn’t find a single one. Some people just have better luck. I’d rather stick to cleaning fish.”

Qin Mahua patted her leg. “I’m afraid my leg will act up, so I never dare go to the tidal flats.”

The others chatted a bit too.

It didn’t slow down their work—everyone always found something to talk about while cleaning fish.

Half an hour later, Chu Xuan and Chu Feng arrived at their secret foraging spot.

The tide had already gone out.

There were plenty of common, cheap shellfish like clams on the beach, but Chu Xuan ignored them and headed straight for a dozen or so tide pools.

Chu Feng wanted to pick some up, but seeing his sister not stopping, he quickly followed.

The bounty in the tide pools left Chu Feng gaping, momentarily forgetting to help.

There were loads of big sea snails, several large sea bass, a swarm of prawns, sea cucumbers...

Only when Chu Xuan urged him did Chu Feng snap out of it.

Half an hour later, both of their baskets and buckets were full.

Sea snails made up the bulk of the haul.

On the way back, they even caught two sea ducks.

Chu Feng carried his full basket on his back, while Chu Xuan not only carried another basket but also used a shoulder pole to carry two buckets of seafood.

They took the mountain path toward the pier.

Chu Xuan was panting from the effort, and Chu Feng felt bad for her.

“Jie, let me carry the pole for a bit.”

He reached out to grab it.

Chu Xuan immediately stopped him. “Don’t! I can handle it! You’re already doing great carrying your basket with your little frame.”

Hearing this, Chu Feng was determined to grow taller and stronger as soon as possible.

He’d definitely put on some weight and grown taller lately—he was sure he’d be over 1.75 meters in another six months.

He stopped talking, knowing that chatting now would just tire his sister out more.

Twenty minutes later, they reached the pier.

Instead of weighing the seafood first, Chu Xuan weighed herself.

175 jin—she’d lost more weight.

Compared to 200 jin in June, she’d lost 25 jin.

She was very satisfied.

Seeing her weight, Chu Feng’s eyes reddened. “Jie, you’re losing weight from working too hard! You’re pushing yourself too much!”

Chu Xuan chuckled. “What are you thinking? You think just working hard makes you lose weight? Wrong! Some people get fatter the more tired they are. Remember how much work Feng Chunhua made me do before? I only slept five or six hours a night, and I was even more tired than now. Not only did I not lose weight, I got fatter. Now this is healthy weight loss, understand?”

That made Chu Feng feel better.

“Then lose a bit more, get even healthier.”

By now, Li Tong had already checked over the seafood Chu Xuan brought.

“Xiao Xuan, I’ll give you 0.5 yuan per jin for the sea snails, 1.5 yuan per jin for the sea bass, 3 yuan per jin for the sea cucumbers... If you think the prices aren’t good enough, you can send them to the city to sell—they’d probably go for double. If you need ice, just let me know.”

Chu Xuan hesitated for a moment, about to agree to sell to Li Tong.

Min San walked over. “Hey, aren’t you and Boss Li good business partners? Boss Li, why don’t you just pay double for Boss Chu’s seafood? Why make her go all the way to the city?”

Chu Xuan saw right through Min San’s attempt to stir up trouble. “I’m happy to sell my seafood to Boss Li at a lower price. What’s it to you?”

That shut Min San right up.

Li Tong also saw through Min San’s intentions. “Min San, you’d better keep an eye on your own stall! Aren’t you worried your competitors will toss something dirty into your seafood? You’ve made plenty of enemies.”

Just then, someone approached Min San’s stall, and he hurried over.

Li Tong looked at Chu Xuan and grinned. “Really selling to me?”

“Of course. Go ahead and weigh it.”

It wasn’t enough seafood to bother Mu Chenze to take it to the city for her.

Li Tong happily weighed the catch.

148 jin of sea snails—let’s call it 150, so 75 yuan.

49 jin of sea bass—let’s call it 50, so 75 yuan.

20 jin of sea cucumber—60 yuan.

The rest added up to 15 yuan.

All together, the total was 225 yuan.

Chu Feng took the money and counted it twice.

This was more profitable than going out to sea to fish.

As for the two sea ducks, they took them home for dinner.

Li Tong joked, “Xiao Xuan, you either don’t go to the tidal flats, or you come back with a huge haul!”

Chu Xuan hadn’t gone for a while. “Guess the heavens were saving it up for me. If I go again tomorrow, there might not be as much.”

“You never know. If you’ve got luck on your side, nothing can stop you. Try your luck again tomorrow.”

“We’ll see. We’re off!”

Chu Xuan and Chu Feng left the pier with the sea ducks. On their way home, they ran into Sheng Damei.

Sheng Damei stood with her hands on her hips, having completely forgotten her previous embarrassment at Chu Xuan’s hands. “Chu Xuan, have you thought it over?”"