Chapter 37: Wait for Me

Taking something without asking is stealing.

Chu Xuan deliberately gave the person who took her scale a way out, calling again, “Whoever borrowed my family’s scale, please return it now!”

No one from the surrounding stalls responded.

She cursed herself for being careless.

This scale belonged to Grandpa Wang’s family.

It was an old scale, used for many years.

It could be passed down as an antique in the future.

She couldn’t just lose it like this.

Chu Xuan was sure someone had seen who took the scale. She pulled a one-yuan note from her pocket. “If anyone can give me a clue and help me find my scale, I’ll reward you with one yuan!”

The woman selling fish at the next stall hesitated, glancing across the way, but ultimately kept quiet. Her husband tugged her sleeve, signaling her not to get involved.

Chu Xuan noticed all this.

Across from her was a man selling dried shrimp, with dark skin and an honest-looking face—but who knew what he was really like inside?

Chu Xuan walked straight to his stall. “Boss, did you see my scale?”

“Nope. I’m so busy, how would I have time to watch your stall? Go ask somewhere else!” The man selling shrimp replied impatiently.

Chu Xuan’s gaze fell on the woven sack beside him. She was sure there was a scale hidden inside—she’d caught a glimpse of the scale’s hook.

Since he refused to play nice, Chu Xuan decided to go head-to-head. “Since no one is admitting to borrowing my scale, it must have been stolen! Only a thief would be afraid to admit it! I just saw the security patrol nearby—I’ll call them over to sort this out!”

At that moment, Mu Chenze happened to walk over. Hearing this, he immediately chimed in, “I’ll go get someone! You keep an eye on things here.”

He turned and ran off.

Chu Xuan stared at the shrimp seller.

The man looked guilty, his hand resting on the sack, as if he wanted to move it.

Chu Xuan deliberately called out, “Whoever moves it is the thief!”

The man immediately withdrew his hand.

Soon, Mu Chenze returned with two security officers.

“Comrades, this lady’s scale was stolen,” he explained.

Chu Xuan pointed at the shrimp seller. “I suspect he stole my scale. It’s in that sack!”

The man protested, “I didn’t steal anything! There’s no scale in my sack!”

Chu Xuan sneered, “The scale’s hook is sticking out. Still want to deny it?”

The man looked down—sure enough, the hook was visible.

“I must have remembered wrong. I brought two scales today, is that a problem? One for weighing over ten jin, one for under ten jin! The one in the sack is for heavier stuff, but I haven’t had any big customers yet, so I didn’t take it out.”

The security officer stepped forward and pulled a scale from the sack.

Chu Xuan recognized it at once as Grandpa Wang’s.

She immediately suggested, “Comrade, I can write down the distinguishing features of the scale and its weights. Please have this man do the same.”

Whoever’s description matched would be the rightful owner.

Seeing Chu Xuan’s confidence, the officers naturally trusted her more. “You two, come with us to the office.”

Chu Xuan agreed without hesitation. “Alright.”

The shrimp seller started acting shameless. “I can’t write. If you delay my business, you’ll have to compensate me! Give me thirty yuan and I’ll go with you. Otherwise, I’m not leaving!”

He refused to budge.

In the end, one of the officers ran back to the office to get paper and pen.

The shrimp seller insisted he couldn’t write, so Chu Xuan wrote down the features of the scale and weights and handed it to the officers, then had the man describe them verbally.

The man kept repeating the same vague lines: “It’s an old scale. Can weigh up to thirty jin. There are two weights, one big, one small.”

Chu Xuan, on the other hand, gave many details: scratches on the scale beam, three black dots under the weight, a hint of chili pepper smell on the hook…

In the end, the scale was returned to her.

The shrimp seller was taken away for a lecture, along with his dried shrimp.

Chu Xuan put the scale and her basket into her backpack and slung it over her shoulder.

After leaving the market, Mu Chenze realized something was off. “I remember we had two baskets when we came…”

Chu Xuan gently interrupted, “I gave one to a big customer. Did you finish your deliveries?”

“All done. I only hired the truck for the trip here, not the return. Brother Lin is staying in the city for more work. We’ll take the bus back together.”

“Okay.” Chu Xuan lowered her voice, “Could you quietly ask the lady at the next stall to meet me in the women’s restroom? She helped me just now.”

If not for her warning glance, Chu Xuan wouldn’t have caught the thief so quickly.

That counted as a tip-off—she deserved the one-yuan reward.

But it had to be given in private, to avoid the shrimp seller retaliating.

Mu Chenze was quick on the uptake. “No problem. I’ll invite her over without anyone noticing.”

Chu Xuan headed to the market office while Mu Chenze returned inside. He didn’t approach the woman directly.

Instead, he went to someone nearby selling clams. “Comrade, I really need to use the restroom. Can you take me?”

The person didn’t even look up. “I’m busy! Ask someone else!”

Mu Chenze, looking desperate, hurried to the woman’s stall and asked her husband, “Brother, could you take me to the restroom? I can’t hold it anymore.”

At the same time, he gave the couple a meaningful look, holding up one finger behind his back.

The woman’s face lit up. She nodded eagerly, “I’ll take you!”

A few minutes later, Chu Xuan met the woman in the ladies’ room and gave her one yuan.

She also learned her name was Lian Mei, age 30, and the shrimp seller was called Zhang Dong—a man known for bearing grudges.

Lian Mei warned Chu Xuan to be careful if she came to the city again, as Zhang Dong might try to get back at her.

Chu Xuan thanked her and left the restroom.

Lian Mei waited a few more minutes before leaving as well.

By then, Chu Xuan had already finalized a deal with Liu Chao.

From now on, for every customer Liu Chao introduced, she would pay him five cents per jin.

Today, the customer Yuan Yueban bought 96 jin, so Chu Xuan owed Liu Chao 4.8 yuan in commission, which she paid with five jin of grilled fish slices.

In fact, Liu Chao made out well—five jin of grilled fish slices would cost over eight yuan to buy.

Chu Xuan left Liu Chao the village office’s phone number, in case of emergencies.

Ten minutes later, Chu Xuan and Mu Chenze sat at a wonton stall, sipping soup and eating homemade egg pancakes.

Before coming to find Chu Xuan, Mu Chenze had given three egg pancakes to Brother Lin and eaten a few himself; now there were four left.

Chu Xuan and Mu Chenze each had two.

Mu Chenze paid for the wontons.

Chu Xuan wanted to treat him, but couldn’t beat him to it.

They’d made 378 yuan today. With the free samples and the big customer, it was a bit less than expected.

But at least they could go home early and rest.

They bought twenty meat buns and boarded the bus back to the county.

Yesterday’s meat buns had only been given to the Wang family.

Chu Xuan planned to give six each to Ji Ping and Mu Chenze today, two to Liu Zhaodi, one to Widow Wang, and the rest to her little brother.

After getting off in the county and waiting for the bus back to town, Chu Xuan handed twelve buns to Mu Chenze. “You and Ji Ping can share these.”

Mu Chenze didn’t take them, but smiled, “Thanks! I’ll take them. Wait here for me. Hold onto the buns for now—I’ll be right back.”

Before Chu Xuan could reply, he was already running off…"