Chapter 17: Something’s Not Right

Chu Xuan saw that Chu Dashan was really about to hang himself at the door, so she called toward the kitchen, “Xiao Feng, hurry and go call a few villagers over to watch the fun. If this Chu Grandpa ends up breaking our front door, they can be witnesses.”

At this moment, Chu Feng had just finished his chores and dashed out of the kitchen. “Okay, I’m on it!”

He was indeed a little afraid of Chu Dashan, but with his sister there, he could boldly walk right past him.

The moment Chu Dashan saw Chu Feng, he couldn’t help but notice the boy looked fatter and fairer. It had only been a few days since the family split, and he’d changed so much already?

Looks like Chu Xuan has quite a bit of money on hand.

Want compensation from my eldest son? No way!

“Xiao Feng, don’t you know to greet your grandpa?”

His tone was full of authority.

Chu Feng didn’t look at him, but instead glanced at Chu Xuan.

Chu Xuan smiled faintly. “Xiao Feng, you need to be polite. Hurry up and greet Chu Grandpa!”

Chu Feng played along perfectly. “Hello, Chu Grandpa!”

That one line almost made Chu Dashan choke.

He clutched his ribs, barely holding back the pain.

“Xiao Feng, you used to be the most obedient to your grandparents. Now your sister’s taught you to be so wild! Do you even remember your surname is Chu?”

Chu Feng made a face at him, said nothing, and ran off to call people…

No one else was passing by at the moment. Chu Dashan’s eyes darted around, then he sat down on the ground, slowly lay back, and even kicked off both cloth shoes.

He put on a pitiful act, as if he’d been beaten down.

Chu Xuan saw through it immediately—Chu Dashan was trying to play the scoundrel.

If it’s about extorting people, she could do that too.

She stepped forward, picked up Chu Dashan’s cloth shoes, and stamped a few footprints on herself, especially over her heart.

Once she was done, she tossed the shoes back by Chu Dashan’s feet.

Imitating Chu Dashan, she lay down on the ground outside the gate.

“Chu Grandpa, isn’t this just a contest to see who’s more miserable? You don’t have any footprints on you—people will only believe me!”

Chu Dashan scrambled up, his hands trembling. “Chu Xuan, you little troublemaker! I’ll beat you to death!”

He grabbed the shoes off the ground and swung them at Chu Xuan.

Chu Xuan dodged with difficulty.

Just then, the villagers who’d come to watch the commotion arrived and saw the scene.

Seeing is believing—they all thought Chu Dashan was beating Chu Xuan.

They rushed forward to stop him.

“Look at what you’ve done to Chu Xuan!”

“Can this girl even get up again?”

“Poor thing! She was beaten before the family split, and now she’s still being beaten. How is she supposed to live in peace?”

Chu Dashan knew he couldn’t explain his way out of this, so he just gave up.

“If Chu Xuan doesn’t agree to go to the security team to get her grandma and second uncle back today, I’ll hang myself right here at the front gate!”

He threw the rope over the doorframe.

It caught on the first try.

He tied a knot and yanked hard on the rope, but before he could put it around his neck, the doorframe snapped and the front gate collapsed inward.

Chu Feng ran to Chu Xuan’s side, his eyes full of concern. “Sis, what happened? Did Chu Dashan hit you?”

Chu Xuan replied weakly, “Yeah! He kicked me in the chest several times… Don’t worry about me, just call the security team and tell them someone came and broke our front gate. I don’t want compensation, I just want them to arrest him!”

Chu Dashan was dumbfounded. “I didn’t…”

But it was useless to say anything now—so many eyes had seen it.

If he didn’t split his eldest son’s compensation money with Chu Xuan, not only would he fail to get his wife and second son out, he’d end up in jail himself.

Only now did he realize Chu Xuan was no longer that chubby, naive girl from before.

If he wasn’t careful, he’d fall right into her trap.

Chu Dashan was full of regret.

But as for paying compensation? No way!

He stubbornly declared, “Chu Xuan, if you want to get money out of me, you’ll have to wait for your next life! I’d rather get arrested! Jail’s fine by me—they feed you there!”

When Wang Depin heard about the incident, he rushed over. Seeing the shattered gate and the footprints on Chu Xuan, he didn’t hesitate to call the security team.

In the end, Chu Dashan was taken away.

Even after being arrested, Chu Dashan still refused to pay compensation, vowing that even if he rotted in jail, he wouldn’t give a single cent.

When Chu Xuan heard this, she sneered. If Chu Dashan’s money didn’t go to her, it would only end up in the hands of thieves—like Qiu Daguang and his wife.

Now that Chu Dashan’s house was empty, knowing Qiu Daguang and his wife’s nature, they’d definitely sneak over to search for loot.

Let evil people deal with each other.

Let them torment each other!

The next morning at seven, while heading out to the tidal flats, Chu Xuan saw Qiu Daguang and his wife excitedly discussing a trip to the county department store—she guessed they’d gotten their hands on something.

After collecting two buckets of clams, Chu Xuan brought them home, planning not to sell them.

The construction crew would be coming tomorrow to build the house, and she’d need to provide lunch—stir-fried clams would be a great dish.

She borrowed fifty yuan from her little brother, let him know, and went to town to shop.

A little after three in the afternoon, Chu Xuan returned to the village with her purchases and heard that Chu Dashan’s house had been robbed.

It was discovered by Feng Chunhua’s brother, Feng Ti.

The security team was investigating and had already traced it to Qiu Daguang and his wife.

Chu Xuan didn’t bother to go watch the excitement.

Low tide would be at seven tonight, and she planned to go to the shore again, so she needed to rest at home.

A little after six, Chu Xuan woke up to find that Chu Feng had thoughtfully made dinner.

Stir-fried clams, tomato and egg stir-fry, steamed rice, and millet porridge.

After dinner, Chu Xuan grabbed her flashlight and tools and headed out.

When she reached the beach, there were already a dozen or so people collecting clams.

Chu Xuan didn’t join them, but headed toward the rocky area.

She’d found good stuff there several times before.

Once there, she found three octopuses, each about a kilo, between the rocks.

She was quite pleased.

But her happiness was short-lived. After more than an hour, her bucket still only held those three octopuses.

Just as she was debating whether to go back to the beach for clams, a familiar male voice called out.

“Chu Xuan, out foraging again? How’s your luck today?”

It was Mu Chenze.

His flashlight shone into her bucket.

Chu Xuan replied a little dejectedly, “Not great, as you can see—just three octopuses.”

Mu Chenze shone his flashlight at a patch of sand that had just been exposed. “Huh? I think I saw something jumping over there just now.”

Chu Xuan had seen it too and perked up. “Maybe it’s a fish. Aren’t you going to check it out?”

“Nope. I’m just out for a walk after dinner, not interested in foraging.”

With that, Mu Chenze walked away.

Chu Xuan carefully made her way over the rocks to where she thought there might be fish.

She shone her flashlight around, but didn’t see any fish—instead, she found dozens of prawns.

Long, slightly flattened, spindle-shaped, and plump for this season.

She hadn’t eaten them in ages—just boiling them in water would be delicious.

With no one else around, she gathered all the prawns into her bucket in less than fifteen minutes.

Seeing the tide coming in, Chu Xuan happily carried her bucket home.

Meanwhile, Qin Mahua was muttering in the kitchen, “Huh? I remember Xiao Ze brought back a full bucket of fish and shrimp. Why isn’t it full now? Did a cat steal some? I’ll have to cover it next time!”

Walking home, Mu Chenze couldn’t help but sneeze. Who’s talking about me? Could it be Chu Xuan?

Judging by how she looked, she seemed unharmed from her run-in with Chu Dashan.

When Chu Xuan got home and looked at the prawns in her bucket, she suddenly recalled the ribbonfish from before and felt that something wasn’t quite right…"