Chapter 50: Eel

Mu Chenze could tell what Chu Xuan was thinking, but he deliberately said, “I’m tired too. You can go by yourself!”

“Alright then!” Chu Xuan never forced others. She took a flashlight from her basket, slung the basket onto her back, and said, “I’m off.”

Mu Chenze sat in the main room, not even glancing at her or saying a word. He just waved his hand casually to show he’d heard.

At first, Ji Ping thought Chenze would go with Chu Xuan, but to his surprise, Chenze neither went to the shore nor saw her out.

Is he trying to avoid suspicion?

Guess I’d better not joke about Chenze and Chu Xuan anymore.

Ji Ping got up to see Chu Xuan out. “Be careful.”

Chu Xuan didn’t mind at all that Mu Chenze didn’t come out to see her off. She smiled at Ji Ping, “Go back inside!”

Only after Chu Xuan had left did Mu Chenze get up. “Pingzi, I’m heading home to rest. I have to go to the city at dawn.”

“Alright.”

Ji Ping didn’t think much of it. As he saw Chenze out, he locked the door behind him.

Mu Chenze quickened his pace to catch up with Chu Xuan.

Five minutes later, he spotted her.

Luckily, no one else was around. “Chu Xuan, wait up.”

Chu Xuan heard the familiar voice, stopped, and turned to look at him. “Changed your mind?”

Mu Chenze smiled. “That’s right. I’ll go with you along the mountain path to the other side for the tide.”

Chu Xuan was so happy she didn’t even ask why he’d changed his mind.

“That’s great! Let’s go!”

Even though it was getting dark, Mu Chenze could see how delighted Chu Xuan was.

“You get this happy just going to the other side of the mountain for the tide?”

Chu Xuan answered honestly, “Of course I’m happy! Who wouldn’t be? I can make money, and there’s bound to be good stuff over there! I wish I could go every night, but I have to stick to our agreement—when I’m alone, I can only go during the day…”

At this point, she felt like she was losing dozens of yuan every day.

Mu Chenze sighed. “People have limited energy. You’re running around like a spinning top every day. Don’t always think about going to the shore. You need to rest when you should.”

“No way. I told you, this is my main job. I feel like I’ve got good luck with the tides this year. The more I go, the better. The sooner I save up, the sooner I can rebuild those last two mud-brick rooms. I even want to apply for another plot in the village to set up a grilled fish workshop…”

Chu Xuan talked about her future plans as she walked along the mountain path.

Mu Chenze admired her, but didn’t say so. “With your health, can you handle this much work? You should focus on keeping your current income steady and taking care of your health before thinking about anything else. If you need money, I can lend you some.”

Chu Xuan smiled and quickly waved her hand. “I know you mean well, but I won’t borrow your money. Owing people doesn’t feel good. I’d rather earn it myself.”

At the mention of debt, Mu Chenze suddenly thought of the one-eyed man coming to collect from Chu Xuan. “Did you really break that jade ornament at the one-eyed guy’s house?”

He felt something was off about the whole thing.

Chu Xuan didn’t want to lie to him. “That was just a trick for Feng Chunhua’s family. You have to keep it a secret for me. Only you, me, and Xiao Feng know.”

Her honesty made Mu Chenze very happy—she was treating him like one of her own. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep it secret.”

He didn’t bring up lending her money again.

Because he could tell Chu Xuan would never borrow from him.

They kept chatting as they walked along the mountain path.

“Mu Chenze, you didn’t tell Ji Ping about our tide spot, did you?”

“No.”

“He’s your best friend. Are you really going to keep it from him?”

“He has a fishing boat. He doesn’t need to make a living from the shore.”

In other words, Ji Ping didn’t need the spot as much as Chu Xuan did.

“Thank you for looking out for me.”

“Are you being polite again? If you keep this up, I won’t go tide-hunting with you!”

“Don’t be like that.” Chu Xuan suddenly stepped on a rock and stumbled, but luckily Mu Chenze caught her, or she would have taken a nasty fall.

Mu Chenze looked at her with mock annoyance. “Stop talking and watch your step! With your weight, if I have to catch you again, I’ll throw my back out!”

Chu Xuan cursed him inwardly for being soft-hearted but sharp-tongued…

Half an hour later, they reached their secret tide spot.

It was completely dark by now, and the tide had receded a lot.

They ignored the clams and such on the beach and headed straight for the dozen or so tide pools.

In no time, they’d caught two sea bass weighing five or six jin each, over twenty large sea snails, and more than a dozen octopuses.

Just as Chu Xuan was happily heading to the next pool to catch more fish, Mu Chenze stopped her.

“Careful! There’s an eel!”

Chu Xuan shone her flashlight and looked carefully.

The fish was about half a meter long, slender, with small eyes and a protruding snout. Its back was dark gray, its sides grayish-white, the front of its body cylindrical and the rear flattened. There was a vertical row of teeth on its upper jaw.

This type of fish is fierce, nocturnal, greedy, and lively. Not only does it have medicinal value, but it’s also highly nutritious—known as “gold in the water.”

Most importantly, it sells for good money!

Chu Xuan wasn’t afraid. She’d brought a dip net and long tongs.

“Mu Chenze, I’m a tough girl. An eel like this is nothing to me. You’re in the way! Move aside, let me handle it!”

The “disdained” Mu Chenze muttered, “A dog bites Lu Dongbin—can’t recognize a good person.”

But even as he said that, he kept his eyes on the eel.

If you get bitten by one of these, it’s way worse than a dog bite.

Once, when he was out fishing, he’d almost been bitten by a sea eel. Luckily, he’d been wearing thick clothes and gloves.

Chu Xuan deftly caught the eel with her dip net.

The eel thrashed wildly, looking like it wanted to take a bite out of her.

Chu Xuan ignored its attitude, took out a wooden bucket from her basket, and dumped it in.

Then she moved on to the next pool.

Mu Chenze followed with the long tongs.

This pool was over half a meter deep, and they found more eels.

Not just one—six of them.

What a rare find!

Chu Xuan didn’t have time to chat, just grabbed her net and started scooping.

She got them all in one go.

As she was happily putting them in the bucket, one eel suddenly broke through the net.

It lunged at Chu Xuan with its mouth open…

Mu Chenze reacted quickly, pinching the eel with his tongs and tossing it into the bucket. Then he snatched the net from Chu Xuan—if he’d been a second slower, the other eels would have escaped too.

“Chu Xuan, can you use your brain? All you think about is catching eels for money—don’t you care about your life?”

Chu Xuan was a little shaken too. “Good thing you’re here.”

After all the eels were in the bucket, Mu Chenze checked the net—it needed repairs.

Chu Xuan didn’t have any repair tools with her.

“That’s it for tonight. Let’s go back.”

Chu Xuan didn’t want to leave. “There’s still an hour before the tide comes in! Without the net, I can use the tongs. If I find a sea bass, I can grab it with my hands.”

“Yeah, right! What if it’s too dark to see, and there are eels next to the sea bass? You reach for the bass, and the eels bite you…”

Chu Xuan cut him off, “Ugh, don’t jinx it!”

“I’m just being realistic!”

“Your instincts are spot on!” Chu Xuan shone her flashlight into another pool and sure enough, there was a sea bass and three eels. “Mu Chenze, give me the tongs! I’ll get rid of the eels first, then they can’t bite me, right?”

Mu Chenze seriously doubted her skills. “You think you can handle it?”"