Chapter 5: At Fault

Chu Feng nodded vigorously, not only showing no blame toward Chu Xuan, but even looking delighted. “I’ll definitely keep it a secret. Splitting off is great! From now on, we won’t have to get beaten anymore. How did you manage to get Brother Long to help?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

Chu Xuan placed her hand on his face.

“Hiss…” Chu Feng winced in pain.

He’d been beaten by Feng Chunhua so often that they always kept anti-swelling ointment on hand.

Chu Xuan went into the house, found a bottle of medicine in her luggage, and handed it to Chu Feng. “Put some on, it’ll heal faster. I’m heading to the county now. You handle the fish—chop it into three portions: one for dinner tonight, one to send to Grandpa Village Chief’s house, and the last one, with the fish head, marinate it. Oh, and make sure the piece for Grandpa Village Chief’s house is the mackerel tail.”

She was killing two birds with one stone—building connections and making sure her little brother ate well.

Chu Feng took the medicine bottle and promised eagerly, “Don’t worry, Sis, I’ll get it done! And I’ll make sure to clean up the old house’s kitchen and the two rooms we can live in.”

Chu Xuan paused, coughed twice to cover her embarrassment, and said, “Could you clean up the outhouse too, while you’re at it?”

She expected her little brother to refuse, but to her surprise, he agreed right away. “No problem! Oh, Sis, should we pickle the octopus we caught, or eat it tonight?”

“You decide.”

Chu Xuan patted his shoulder approvingly, went inside to change into clean clothes, stuffed her mask and gold ingot into her pants pocket, put on a straw hat, and headed out quickly.

She’d only gone about ten meters when a few villagers, who’d come to watch the excitement, walked over from a distance.

Among them was Aunt Hua, who greeted her warmly, “Chu Xuan, I heard you and your brother found a king mackerel? Can we take a look?”

Chu Xuan gestured politely. “Go ahead, my brother’s in the yard dealing with the fish. I have to head out for something.”

After a bit of small talk, Aunt Hua and her group happily made their way to the old Chu house…

Chu Xuan went straight to find Village Chief Wang Depin.

The village had been building an office these days, with the tractor making runs to the county for bricks and such, two shifts a day.

“Grandpa Wang, I’d like to catch a ride to the county on the village tractor. Is that okay?”

She didn’t mention that her brother would be coming by later to deliver fresh mackerel.

Because she knew, even if she didn’t bring it up, Grandpa Wang would agree.

In her previous life, Grandpa Wang would often remind her to discipline Chu Feng herself, not to leave it all to Feng Chunhua.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t listened.

This time, she had to take care of her little brother properly.

The village chief agreed without hesitation. “Of course. If you ever need anything, just come find me.”

As for contacting Tian Xiaoyun, he planned to wait until he’d actually reached her before mentioning it to Chu Xuan.

Half an hour later, Chu Xuan climbed onto the tractor heading to the county. By coincidence, the driver was Mu Chenze.

If she missed this tractor, she’d have to wait until six the next morning.

Too much could happen overnight, and besides, nighttime was better for private gold transactions.

Mu Chenze could not only drive boats, but also tractors. When he wasn’t out at sea, he’d help the village by driving the tractor for some extra cash.

While unloading bricks, Mu Chenze had heard that Chu Xuan and her brother had found a king mackerel while combing the shore.

He’d also heard about them splitting off from the family because of debts.

On a whim, he’d quietly gone to the old Chu house, thinking he could help them take the king mackerel to the county to sell for a good price, so their lives would be a bit easier.

But unexpectedly, he overheard words like “gold ingot” and “going to the county to find a private buyer.”

To avoid being discovered by the siblings, he left quietly.

Originally, someone else was supposed to drive the tractor to the county this time.

But Mu Chenze had volunteered to go instead, saying he had urgent business in the county and promising to split the earnings. Anyone would have agreed to that.

Now, Chu Xuan was sitting in the trailer behind him. The tractor was noisy, not suitable for conversation.

So Mu Chenze kept quiet.

By the time they reached the county center, it was completely dark.

When the tractor came to a stop, Mu Chenze finally turned to Chu Xuan.

“I’ll wait for you here in an hour.”

His voice was as pleasant as always, gentle as a bubbling spring, showing not a trace of anger over having his first kiss stolen and then being rejected for marriage.

Chu Xuan thanked him gratefully. “Thank you!”

She carefully climbed down.

She’d have liked to jump, but unfortunately, she was too heavy—jumping down would likely twist her ankle or hurt her knees.

Mu Chenze patiently waited until she was steady before driving off.

Chu Xuan chose the least crowded alleys to walk through. She remembered the address of the private gold buyer.

She’d been there in her previous life, following Chu Zhi.

Ten minutes later, wearing her mask, Chu Xuan stood in front of a secluded courtyard and knocked.

Soon, someone came and opened the peephole in the door.

This way, they could talk through the door without seeing each other—just business, no friendship.

Chu Xuan deliberately lowered her voice and disguised it as a man’s.

“Here to sell gold.”

A quiet voice replied from inside, “Pass it through.”

Chu Xuan wasn’t worried about getting cheated; after all, they’d successfully done business in her previous life.

Selling the gold ingot went smoothly—she got over a hundred yuan more than last time.

She received 2,350 yuan.

At first, Chu Xuan was puzzled why she got more, but soon realized: last time, Chu Zhi had handed over the gold ingot, and probably took the chance to shave off a small piece for himself.

Chu Xuan wound through several alleys, making sure no one was following her, then took off her mask and headed to the meeting spot with Mu Chenze, thinking about how to explain the money for building a house to Grandpa Village Chief when she got back.

After all, the old man would ask where the money came from.

Gold trading was legal in this era, but Chu Xuan didn’t want to invite trouble, so she couldn’t tell the truth.

She’d heard in her previous life that someone who sold gold dug up from a mountain cave got arrested because of the source.

Better safe than sorry.

Suddenly, she thought of her birth mother, Tian Xiaoyun.

Tian Xiaoyun had come back to visit her and her brother before, but at the time, the two of them had been thoroughly brainwashed by Feng Chunhua and refused to see her, so she’d left in tears.

Thinking back now, maybe her mother had her reasons for leaving them back then.

Later, her mother had sent her money a few times, but she’d used it all to support the old Chu family.

In her previous life, her mother’s first remittance was around this time.

Maybe she could use her mother’s remittance as a reason for having the money.

Feeling much more at ease, Chu Xuan arrived at the meeting spot. Not seeing Mu Chenze or the tractor, she waited patiently.

The department store and supply co-op were already closed, so she’d have to wait until tomorrow to buy daily necessities.

Luckily, it wasn’t long before Mu Chenze arrived with the tractor.

After stopping, Mu Chenze’s lips curled slightly—this chubby girl looked pretty happy, so the gold ingot must have been sold.

Chu Xuan tried to climb into the trailer, but it was much harder than before, since it was now filled with red bricks.

She had to climb all the way to the top.

Mu Chenze sighed. “Chu Xuan, are you sure you still want to sit in the trailer? Aren’t you afraid you’ll crush the bricks?”

Chu Xuan’s first reaction was that Mu Chenze was complaining she was too fat and didn’t want to give her a ride back.

“Mu Chenze, what do you mean by that?”

If he dared refuse her a ride, she really wouldn’t do anything to him—after all, she owed him a lot in her previous life, and this time, she’d even stolen his first kiss.

No matter how you looked at it, she was the one at fault."