Chapter 26: Gathering Shellfish with Him

She told herself to face whatever problems came her way with calm and courage.

“Grandma Gao, let’s hear the bad news first! Wait a moment, I’ll call Xiao Feng over too. He’s the little man of the house—there are some things he should know.”

At that moment, Chu Feng was already glancing in his sister’s direction, sensing that Grandma Gao had something important to discuss with her.

He was dying to know what it was.

When he saw his sister waving him over, he ran over eagerly and stood by her side.

Wang Shasha also wanted to listen in, but a look from Gao Meijuan stopped her. With nothing else to do, she went to the kitchen to study the two new ovens.

Only after her own daughter had tactfully left did Gao Meijuan turn to the Chu siblings.

She lowered her voice. “The bad news is, Feng Chunhua got off scot-free. She’ll be home tomorrow.”

Both Chu Xuan and Chu Feng stared in disbelief.

Chu Xuan was the first to speak. “Feng Ti reported Feng Chunhua. How could she possibly get away with everything?”

Gao Meijuan looked helpless. “Feng Ti changed his statement and took all the blame. He even admitted to stabbing Qin Xuehong.”

Chu Xuan felt something was off, but couldn’t quite put her finger on it, so she stayed silent.

Chu Feng stamped his foot in frustration. “It wasn’t Feng Ti! Why would he confess? My sister even testified for him, letting bygones be bygones…”

Gao Meijuan went on to explain.

Only then did the siblings understand what had happened.

At first, Feng Ti accused Feng Chunhua.

Feng Chunhua was arrested and interrogated, but she refused to confess, insisting that everything back then was Feng Ti’s doing. She claimed she only found out later that her eldest son wasn’t her biological child, but by then she was attached to him. As for what happened to her own son, or whose child Chu Xuan’s father really was, Feng Ti wouldn’t say. He even beat her several times, threatening to break her legs if she told anyone.

Hua Daling’s statement was that she only knew Feng Chunhua’s eldest son wasn’t her biological child, and nothing else.

Hong Ping said she didn’t know the eldest son wasn’t Feng Chunhua’s, nor could she remember any features of the baby Feng Chunhua gave birth to.

Later, Feng Ti suddenly changed his statement.

He admitted that years ago, he stole someone else’s child for his sister to raise because he had accidentally dropped and killed her biological son. He didn’t want her to be heartbroken, so he did it.

As for whose child it was, he claimed he never paid attention—just that he stole the baby from Lai County Hospital.

He said he killed Qin Xuehong to silence her because she recognized him when she returned to Lai County for a reunion with former colleagues. She confronted him privately, called him a child trafficker, and tried to blackmail him for 2,000 yuan. He couldn’t pay, so he took a souvenir scalpel from her house and stabbed her.

When Qin Xuehong fell, she hit the back of her head on an inkstone…

Not only that, Feng Ti accurately stated the date and time of Qin Xuehong’s reunion in Lai County.

As for the discrepancy between when Chu Xuan saw Feng Ti and the time of the crime, Feng Ti explained that he had noticed Chu Xuan long before and deliberately let her see him following her, so she could be his alibi.

He also mentioned that he had burned Qin Xuehong’s diary in the coal stove in the kitchen…

After hearing all this, even without Gao Meijuan saying what the good news was, the siblings could guess.

The good news was that Feng Chunhua wasn’t their real grandmother, and their father’s compensation money would be recovered by the authorities and given to them instead.

At that moment, Chu Xuan wanted nothing more than to ask Feng Ti face-to-face: Why?

Why change his statement?

Why take all the blame?

Gao Meijuan saw what was on Chu Xuan’s mind and added, “Feng Ti committed suicide last night. Your Grandpa Wang and I wanted you two to enjoy the housewarming party, so we waited until now to tell you.”

With that, she called her daughter and left, giving the siblings space to process the news.

Chu Feng squatted on the ground, clutching his head. “Sis, we don’t even know our own ancestors’ surname!”

Chu Xuan felt awful too. “Xiao Feng, I’m going to the village office to call Mom.”

She was the best person to break the news to Tian Xiaoyun.

“I’ll go with you! Sis, from now on, we’ll face everything together!”

After this ordeal, Chu Feng seemed to have matured a little.

“Alright.”

They locked the courtyard gate and set off for the village office.

When they arrived, Wang Depin didn’t hesitate to let them use the phone.

Unfortunately, no one answered.

They tried several times, but still no answer.

In the end, Chu Xuan got Tian Xiaoyun’s mailing address from Wang Depin and decided to write a letter instead.

The next day, July 10th—the first day of the sixth lunar month—at four in the afternoon, Chu Xuan set out to gather shellfish, carrying a basket on her back and a carrying pole in her hand.

Inside the basket were two wooden buckets and some tools for gathering shellfish.

Chu Feng wanted to go with her, but Chu Xuan made him stay home and study.

He needed to review his first to third grade textbooks, or he wouldn’t be able to keep up in fourth grade when school started in September.

Chu Xuan took the mountain path as usual. She’d originally agreed with Mu Chenze to settle accounts every day ending in 0 or 5, and this time she’d taken the initiative to suggest it.

But Mu Chenze knew she hadn’t gone out to gather shellfish much lately, so he said there was no need to settle such a small amount, and they could do it together after today’s catch.

A little after 4:30, Chu Xuan arrived at her secret spot.

The tide was going out, but the tidal pools weren’t exposed yet.

There were already quite a few clams and snails on the exposed sand.

Chu Xuan took off her basket and squatted down to start collecting shellfish.

She hadn’t been at it long when a familiar voice sounded behind her.

“Congratulations!”

It was Mu Chenze.

Chu Xuan stood up, looked at him, and smiled slightly. “I suppose I should be congratulated. The news that Feng Chunhua isn’t my real grandmother must have spread all over the village by now.”

Mu Chenze was wearing knee-high rubber boots, his clothes a bit dirty and reeking of fish, but that didn’t detract from his handsome face or his pleasant voice.

Chu Xuan quickly looked away, afraid that if she stared too long, she’d regret turning down his marriage proposal.

Mu Chenze pointed at his clothes, completely unembarrassed and looking relaxed. “I just finished selling some seafood and didn’t have time to change. I figured you’d be out gathering shellfish today and might need help. You haven’t been out in days—maybe you’ll get a big haul.”

“From your lips to God’s ears!”

The tidal pools still weren’t exposed, so Chu Xuan planned to squat down and keep collecting clams.

But Mu Chenze stopped her. “What’s the point of picking those? Take a break, let’s chat for a bit.”

Chu Xuan was about to say, “What’s there to talk about?” when Mu Chenze spoke again.

“Chu Xuan, I talked to a Chinese medicine doctor. Your obesity is a medical condition—you need proper treatment, or it could affect your lifespan. I’m counting on you to keep gathering shellfish and sharing the profits with me. Let me take you to see the doctor tomorrow, okay?”

In her previous life, he’d also been the one to suggest taking her to a Chinese medicine doctor. Back then, she was his wife, so it was only natural.

But in this life, they were just friends.

Chu Xuan refused without hesitation. “No need for you to take me. I can go myself. Actually, I already asked about an old doctor before, but he was away visiting family. He’s back now, but I’ve been busy with the new house and haven’t had time. I’ll definitely go tomorrow morning. I need to take care of my health—I want to be healthy!”

Mu Chenze had prepared a whole speech to persuade her, but it was all unnecessary.

“Hey! I thought you’d be resistant. If I’d known you were already planning to take care of yourself, I wouldn’t have wasted so much time thinking up ways to convince you.”

Chu Xuan was amused, her eyes crinkling into slits as she laughed.

After she finished laughing, she spoke seriously. “Mu Chenze, you’re a good friend. Thank you!”

Mu Chenze waved his hand with a smile. “No need to thank me! The tide pools are about to be exposed—let’s go check them out.”

“Alright.”"