Chapter 152: Discipline

October 18, 2023

Author: Zi Tao

It seemed that Feng Chunhua didn’t have much money left. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have pushed Chu Zhi to go out to sea, and she certainly wouldn’t have quarreled with Chu Dashan over money.

People like Feng Chunhua, once they’re short on cash, will definitely find ways to get more.

With some careful observation, maybe I can find some clues.

“Aunt Hua, could you keep an eye on Feng Chunhua’s family for me?”

Hua Daling agreed right away. “No problem!”

“By the way, Aunt Hua, has your daughter-in-law come back yet?”

“No.” At the mention of this, Hua Daling sighed. “Not only is my daughter-in-law still gone, my son isn’t home either. I kept him at home and lectured him every day, but yesterday he snuck out. He must have gone to look for his wife. Once I finish work, I’ll go find him!”

Chu Xuan could tell that Aunt Hua couldn’t handle Ge Dan on her own—she’d need someone to help straighten him out.

“Aunt Hua, don’t worry about it. I’ll go find him and bring him back. I’ve got a bicycle, so it’s easy.”

Before Aunt Hua could reply, Chu Xuan was already out the door on her bike.

She happened to need to go into town to discuss something with Uncle Long, so she could look for Ge Dan on the way—two birds with one stone.

It wasn’t that she was meddling, but she wanted to help Aunt Hua get rid of her worries so she could focus on keeping an eye on Feng Chunhua.

About twenty minutes later, she arrived at Uncle Long’s shop and locked her bike to a tree outside.

Uncle Long wasn’t there—only Xiao Huan was minding the shop.

“Brother Xiao, where’s Uncle Long?”

Xiao Huan didn’t hide anything. “Someone tried to steal jade from Uncle Long’s shop. Uncle Long caught him and is teaching the thief a lesson in the backyard!”

Chu Xuan was a bit curious about how Uncle Long would deal with a thief. “Can I go take a look?”

“Of course. Go ahead, I’ll watch the shop.”

“Thanks.”

Chu Xuan stood by the doorway connecting the shop to the backyard and saw a man hanging upside down from a tree, his back to her.

Uncle Long was sitting in a lounge chair in the yard, eyes closed but sounding fierce. “Hurry up! You’ve only done 11 sit-ups down to your ankles, you still owe me 89. If you don’t finish all 100, I’m not letting you go.”

“Uncle Long, have mercy! I was wrong, really! Just turn me over to the security team!”

He’d rather be punished by the security team than suffer here.

From the voice, Chu Xuan recognized Ge Dan.

Well, that saved her the trouble of looking for him.

She couldn’t believe he’d dare steal from Uncle Long—was he looking to die?

Uncle Long definitely wouldn’t turn him over to the security team. He’d use his own methods to teach him a lesson.

Chu Xuan didn’t want Ge Dan to know about her relationship with Uncle Long for now, so she slipped back into the shop.

She turned to Xiao Huan.

“Brother Xiao, could you call Uncle Long over for me?”

Xiao Huan was puzzled. “Didn’t you want to see how Uncle Long punishes thieves? Wait, do you know that thief?”

“I do.”

“All right, I’ll go get him.”

Soon, Xiao Huan called Uncle Long over.

Uncle Long came in with a kindly smile, a far cry from his earlier fierceness. “Xiao Xuan, you’re here? Have a seat! Xiao Huan, go make Xiao Xuan a cup of honey water.”

“Sure thing.”

Xiao Huan hurried off to make honey water.

Just yesterday, he’d tried to ask Uncle Long for some honey, but Uncle Long refused, saying it was rare wild locust honey from the mountains—not something money could buy—and he was saving it for himself.

Thanks to Chu Xuan, he’d get to sneak a cup today.

Chu Xuan sat down across from Uncle Long. “Uncle Long, the thief you caught is Ge Dan, Hua Daling’s son. Right now, Hua Daling is working at my house and helping me keep an eye on Feng Chunhua. Could I ask you, as a favor…”

Before she could finish, Uncle Long interrupted, “No problem! I’ll have Xiao Huan let him down right away.”

He started to get up to call Xiao Huan.

Chu Xuan stopped him. “That’s not what I meant. No need to let him down. Uncle Long, I’d like to ask you to really teach Ge Dan a lesson. Don’t let him get involved in stealing or gambling. His parents can’t control him, but I think you can.”

Uncle Long had originally planned to hang Ge Dan up for three hours and then let him go—after all, nothing was actually stolen, so a little scare would do.

He hadn’t expected Chu Xuan to ask him to set Ge Dan straight.

“Xiao Xuan, that’s no problem for me. Go tell his parents that from now on, Ge Dan will be working for me. He won’t be home for the next three months.”

“Thank you so much!”

“What’s there to thank me for? Disciplining a troubled youth is right up my alley. Was there something else you wanted to talk to me about?”

“There is. Feng Chunhua’s out of money, so she’ll definitely try something. I need your people to keep an eye on her.”

“No problem, leave it to me. By the way, there’s still no news on the man in the sketch. It’ll be a few more days…”

They chatted for a while longer before Chu Xuan took her leave.

She bought some daily necessities and biked back to the village.

Once home, she told Hua Daling that Ge Dan would be working for Uncle Long for three months and wouldn’t be coming home—she didn’t mention the theft.

Hua Daling was quite happy, since she knew that anyone who worked for Uncle Long ended up doing well.

She just assumed Chu Xuan had gone to Uncle Long’s to pay off a debt, and didn’t think much about their relationship.

Around eleven o’clock, Chu Xuan headed out with her gear for collecting seafood and her basket.

Inside the basket, she’d packed a long rope, clothes, shoes, a tarp, and other supplies as usual.

After half an hour, she reached her secret spot on the shore.

There were still plenty of big swimming crabs on the beach today.

She’d picked up over seventy when Mu Chenze’s voice sounded behind her. “I forgot to give you the payment for yesterday’s delivery, so I brought it today.”

He sounded cheerful.

Chu Xuan turned to look at him and saw a smile in his eyes. “Business was good today?”

“That’s right. There have been a lot of swimming crabs and mantis shrimp lately, so I’m planning to make two trips to the city every day. Oh, and I’ve bought the yarn—you’ll get it this afternoon when I bring the payment.”

“No rush on the payment. But I don’t think you should make two trips to the city every day. There’s always more money to earn, but your health comes first.”

“I’m young, I can handle it. I can go five or six days without a break.”

“No way. You’re driving yourself now—driving tired is dangerous.”

Chu Xuan remembered that in her previous life, he hadn’t worked this hard.

This time around, he seemed especially strapped for cash.

Mu Chenze didn’t seem to care. “I know my limits, don’t worry! The tide’s coming in—let’s get these crabs up to the shore first.”

Chu Xuan did as he said.

Collecting seafood was important, but learning to swim was even more so.

Half an hour later, with a rope tied around her waist, Chu Xuan was clumsily swimming under Mu Chenze’s guidance.

He praised her from time to time, always keeping half a meter between them to avoid accidental contact.

An hour later, just as Chu Xuan was about to swim back to shore, something snagged her ankle.

“Mu Chenze, come help me check my ankle—something’s tangled around it, and it’s heavy.”

Mu Chenze swam over quickly to check. “It’s a fishing net. I’ll get it off you.”

He worked quickly.

In no time, he had it untangled.

But he kept hold of the net.

He continued, “The tide must have brought this net in. I’ll drag it to shore—maybe there’s something good inside.”

Chu Xuan reached out to help—many hands make light work.

But Mu Chenze stopped her. “You can’t get any leverage in the water. Better go ashore and help pull from there.”

“Okay.”

Chu Xuan swam hard for the shore.

Mu Chenze swam that way too, feeling the net was heavy and hoping there’d be something good inside…"