Chapter 23: Is There Really Evidence?

That raspy duck voice sounded familiar—where had she heard it before?

It seemed to be Feng Chunhua’s nephew, Feng Shuai.

Chu Xuan turned around slowly, and sure enough, it was him. This guy was just asking for a beating.

In her previous life, Feng Chunhua had ordered Chu Feng to be Feng Shuai’s lackey, and Chu Feng had obediently followed. It was Feng Shuai who led Chu Feng down the path of whoring and gambling.

This year, Feng Shuai was thirty, idle and shiftless, still unmarried.

Right now, he was eyeing Chu Xuan up and down with a lecherous look.

He clicked his tongue twice, rubbed his hands together eagerly, and said, “Chu Xuan, it really is you! I heard you refused to marry Mu Chenze. Why don’t you just agree to be with me? I’ll marry you! I don’t mind that you’re chubby…”

He lunged at Chu Xuan—

But Chu Xuan wasn’t about to put up with him. She lifted her foot and kicked.

A pig-slaughtering scream pierced through the rain. Feng Shuai clutched his crotch and knelt in the mud, covered in dirt and water.

Chu Xuan was in a hurry to get to the dock to sell fish and still had to rush home to make lunch. She gave him two more kicks—she really didn’t have time to teach him a proper lesson.

Even after she walked away, she could still hear Feng Shuai’s wails. Serves him right!

Luckily, she’d run into him halfway and not at the tidal flats—otherwise, she’d have to worry about him discovering her secret tide pool.

At the dock, Chu Xuan only sold fish—thirty-five jin in total, at one and a half yuan per jin, earning her fifty-two yuan and fifty cents.

She took the rest of the whelks and clams home to purge the sand—they’d make a great dish for lunch tomorrow.

A little after eleven-thirty, Chu Xuan got home. The rain had stopped, and Gao Meijuan and her daughter, along with Chu Feng, had already finished making lunch.

The construction crew ate at record speed, didn’t rest, and went straight back to work with high spirits.

In the coming days, the tide would go out even later, and with the neap tide, Chu Xuan planned to cook lunch at home and not go to the place Mu Chenze had told her about for now.

But at night, she could try her luck on the village beach.

When Gao Meijuan and her daughter were leaving, Chu Xuan insisted on giving them half a bucket of whelks and clams.

Gao Meijuan couldn’t refuse and had to accept.

At that moment, Feng Shuai was lying at Feng Chunhua’s house.

“Auntie, you have to stand up for me! That damn Chu Xuan is trying to cut off the Feng family line! She kicked me without saying a word…”

Feng Chunhua had always doted on her nephew. Hearing this, she didn’t even bother with her feverish son and rushed out, “Shuai, wait at home. I’ll go get justice for you!”

Feng Shuai shouted after her, “I saw her carrying big fish in her basket today—she must have made a lot of money! Auntie, you have to get more compensation from her!”

Ten minutes later, she arrived at Chu Xuan’s door.

The gate was tightly shut.

Feng Chunhua pushed hard but couldn’t open it.

“Chu Xuan, you little slut! Locking your door in broad daylight—what are you hiding in there? Get out here right now!”

The gate was barred precisely to keep people like Feng Chunhua from barging in and delaying the work.

Chu Xuan mocked her through the crack, “Oh, the aunt of a pervert is here! I was just about to look for you, but you came to me instead! Perfect! Let’s have a good talk! Your precious nephew Feng Shuai tried to molest me in broad daylight! If I hadn’t been busy today, I’d have sent him straight to the security team!”

Feng Chunhua was momentarily stunned. “What? Nonsense! Don’t you dare slander my Shuai—I’ll tear your mouth apart!”

But with the door between them, all she could do was shout threats.

Chu Xuan was blunt. “If you don’t believe me, go ask Feng Shuai yourself! You know exactly what kind of person he is. Don’t come to my house again, or I might just apply to the village to get my dad’s compensation money back!”

At the mention of money, Feng Chunhua exploded. “Why should you get it back? That compensation is rightfully mine! Besides, Qiu Daguang already stole all the money! Chu Xuan, I’m your grandmother! You have to support me! From now on, give me ten yuan a month for my old age!”

“In your dreams! Feng Chunhua, I have evidence that my dad wasn’t your biological son! I haven’t brought it out yet out of respect for you raising him. If you dare make trouble at my house again, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

Chu Xuan made herself clear, but Feng Chunhua was still stubborn. “You have evidence? Then show it! If you can’t, you have to support me.”

Chu Xuan sneered, “You don’t know what’s good for you! I won’t show you the evidence—I’ll send it straight to the county. I bet within three months, you’ll be taken in for questioning.”

She was confident she’d find the evidence within three months.

Now Feng Chunhua was a little scared, but she kept cursing, pretending not to care, even as her feet unconsciously moved farther from Chu Xuan’s house.

She ran to confront Hua Daling.

“Hua Daling, did you tell that little bitch Chu Xuan something?”

Hua Daling was baffled. “I’ve been so busy at home these past two days I haven’t even stepped out the door. What could I have told her?”

Feng Chunhua looked anxious. “She said she has evidence that her dad wasn’t my biological son. If you didn’t tell her, how could she be so sure?”

Hua Daling reminded her, “Maybe she found the doctor who delivered your baby all those years ago? Don’t forget, besides my mother-in-law, the doctor who delivered your son knows about his birthmark.”

Feng Chunhua fell silent and left in a hurry.

Back home, Feng Shuai whimpered, “Auntie, did you get the compensation?”

Feng Chunhua replied offhandedly, “She wasn’t home.”

Chu Zhi, feverish and dazed, mumbled, “Mom, I feel awful. Take me to the hospital?”

Feng Chunhua was just thinking of going to the hospital to ask about something. “Alright! Let’s pack up and go to the county hospital.”

Feng Shuai looked aggrieved. “Auntie, you always spoil me most! Why aren’t you looking after me?”

Feng Chunhua forced herself to comfort him. “Shuai, your cousin is really sick—he’s the only son of the Chu family. When he’s better, I’ll help you get even. Go home now and tell your dad to bring money to the county hospital.”

Feng Shuai grumbled to himself, “Making my family pay again? It’s not like money grows on trees!”

Just a few days ago, the Fengs had spent a lot of money pulling strings to get Feng Chunhua and her son out.

Feng Chunhua didn’t have time to keep coaxing Feng Shuai and rushed out to arrange for a tractor from the village.

She couldn’t get a tractor, but managed to borrow a horse-drawn cart.

She called for help to lift Chu Zhi onto the cart.

And hurried off to the county hospital.

Feng Shuai didn’t leave right away. Clutching his injured spot, he searched for food and money, but finding nothing, he reluctantly locked up and left.

Chu Xuan took some time to visit Gao Meijuan and discussed finding someone to track down the doctor who delivered Feng Chunhua’s baby all those years ago.

Gao Meijuan agreed right away.

At eight that evening, Feng Chunhua sat by Chu Zhi’s hospital bed, watching his IV drip.

Feng Ti hurried into the ward.

Only the three of them were there, and with Chu Zhi asleep, it was a good time to talk.

Feng Ti looked worried. “Sis, why didn’t you take Zhi to the town hospital? Why come straight to the county hospital? Is something wrong?”

Feng Chunhua nodded, lowering her voice on purpose. “I just needed an excuse to come to the county. Chu Xuan says she has evidence that her dad wasn’t my biological son. I’m worried she found out something from the doctor or nurse who delivered my baby. That nurse still works at the county hospital—I just recognized her. Little brother, can you find out if that doctor is still in the county? If not, where did they go? The more details, the better.”"