Chapter 56: Important News (Bonus Update 2)

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Hua Daling loved nothing more than acting mysterious while gossiping about other people’s secrets.

“That’s right. Xiaoxuan, you have no idea! Ever since Feng Chunhua was released, she’s cut ties with her family. She claims Feng Ti stole her money and says she’ll never acknowledge Feng Ti’s family again. As if I don’t know how much money she actually has! In reality, it’s just over two thousand yuan. Before her money was stolen, I overheard her counting it.”

Chu Xuan suddenly became a bit worried for Hua Daling’s safety. “You haven’t told anyone else about this, have you?”

Hua Daling was completely oblivious to any danger. “No, I haven’t had time to visit other neighbors and spread the news yet. There’s been a lot going on at home—my husband hurt his leg, so I have to take care of him.”

Chu Xuan lowered her voice and said seriously, “Don’t ever mention that you overheard Feng Chunhua counting her money.”

Hua Daling was confused. “Why not? What could she do to me if I did?”

Chu Xuan couldn’t reveal her own suspicions, so she gave a veiled warning instead. “Even if you tell people, they might not believe you. Besides, Feng Chunhua isn’t someone to mess with. If you offend her openly, she’ll definitely try to get back at you. She’s done plenty of nasty things before—she’s ruthless. Poisoning someone isn’t out of the question.”

“No way!” Hua Daling was a little scared.

Chu Xuan fanned the flames. “Why not? I saw her poison a dog and two cats with my own eyes. The dog barked at her a few times, and the cats stole some of her fish. If she can do that to animals, what do you think she’d do to a person who crosses her?”

“She might get away with poisoning cats and dogs, but if she poisoned a person, she’d have to pay with her life.”

“She did it so cleanly with the animals that their owners couldn’t find any evidence.”

Hua Daling shivered. “Having a neighbor like that is just bad luck for eight generations. I’ll listen to you—I won’t tell a soul. If I find out any more of her secrets, I’ll only tell you.”

Chu Xuan deliberately replied, “No need to tell me. Just keep it to yourself.”

But Hua Daling was a die-hard gossip. “You’ll just have to listen to me ramble! You know what I’m like—if I have a secret and can’t tell anyone, it’ll suffocate me. That secret about your dad? My mother-in-law told me on her deathbed, and I couldn’t help but run to ask Feng Chunhua about it that very day. If I hadn’t told her, I probably would’ve died from holding it in.”

Chu Xuan knew exactly what kind of person she was—she’d been waiting for her to say that.

“Alright, I’ll listen, but it stops with me, okay?”

“Okay! Oh, let me finish telling you—if I don’t, I’ll feel uncomfortable.”

“Go ahead. Keep your voice down.”

Hua Daling leaned in and whispered in Chu Xuan’s ear.

Chu Xuan was stunned by what she heard.

After seeing Hua Daling out, Chu Xuan first mentioned to Gao Meijuan that her little brother wanted to learn abacus from Accountant Wen.

Gao Meijuan promised to take care of it and shooed Chu Xuan off to drink her herbal medicine and catch up on sleep.

Chu Xuan settled accounts with her little brother, took out some pork belly and peanuts, and told him to cook them for everyone before heading back to her room to rest.

She lay on the kang, exhausted but unable to fall asleep.

She’d learned quite a bit from Hua Daling today.

Besides the money Feng Ti left her before he died, Feng Chunhua also had money from selling a gold bar—over three thousand yuan.

As for where the gold bar came from, Feng Chunhua told her family she’d found it.

When Feng Chunhua heard Pan Xiaoli wanted a two-thousand-yuan bride price, she cursed about it for ages—Hua Daling overheard every word—but in the end, she still agreed to pay.

Chu Xuan suspected the gold bar was given to Feng Chunhua by her biological son. But in her previous life, she’d never heard of Feng Chunhua having a biological son.

None of the men Feng Chunhua associated with were the same age as Chu Xuan’s biological father.

Could she be looking in the wrong direction?

Or maybe the problem was with Feng Chunhua herself?

She’d have to find time to call Qin Xuehong’s family in the neighboring county and ask about her situation...

With that thought, Chu Xuan finally drifted off to sleep.

At 11:30 a.m., Qin Mahua returned home.

She asked her eldest daughter-in-law and learned that Mu Chenze was resting in his room.

Qin Mahua couldn’t wait to try on her new Dacron shirt.

She tiptoed into Mu Chenze’s bedroom, spotted the white shirt on his desk, and carefully picked it up.

Just as she was about to leave, she caught a familiar scent of grilled fish snacks.

Following the smell, she opened a drawer and found a bag of grilled fish snacks—three flavors.

She tasted one. The flavor was unmistakable—it was from Chu Xuan’s family.

She decided to ask her son about it once he woke up...

Around 3 p.m., Mu Chenze woke up and noticed the new shirt was missing from his desk and someone had rummaged through his drawer.

He guessed his mother had found the fish snacks.

The snacks were a gift from Chu Xuan—he’d planned to keep them all to himself, but now that was impossible.

He simply grabbed the fish snacks and his earnings for the day and went to his mother’s room.

“Mom, I really like Chu Xuan’s grilled fish snacks. I wanted to buy some from her, but she just gave me a bunch and refused to take any money. I’ll just charge her one less day’s fare to make up for it. I was worried wild cats would get them if I left them in the kitchen, so I hid them in my drawer. Now I’m handing them over. And here’s my earnings for today. Oh, and about that Dacron shirt…”

“I heard from Chu Xuan that you bought it for me, so I couldn’t wait to try it on. It fits perfectly.”

“That’s good.”

As they spoke, Qin Mahua took the cash and fish snacks from her son.

She put the snacks in her special cupboard for treats, planning to bring them out at mealtime.

She started counting the money.

Mu Chenze glanced at the cupboard. He wasn’t a stingy person, but for some reason, he wanted to keep everything Chu Xuan gave him just for himself.

Afraid his mother would misunderstand if he said so, he kept quiet.

When Qin Mahua finished counting the money, Mu Chenze was still there.

“Xiaoze, why are you still here? There’s food left for you in the kitchen—go eat. Honestly, you’re old enough, but I still have to remind you to eat.”

Mu Chenze pointed at the cupboard, putting on a casual air. “Can I take some fish snacks to eat with my meal?”

“Of course! I should’ve set some aside earlier before putting them away.” Qin Mahua opened the cupboard as she nagged, “Go ahead and take some. These are definitely tastier than the ones I make.”

Mu Chenze took about a pound, and when he tried to take more, Qin Mahua stopped him. “You can’t just eat these—you need vegetables too, or you’ll get sick from an unbalanced diet.”

“Got it.”

Mu Chenze bit into a fish snack and headed to the kitchen...

At that moment, Chu Xuan had just woken up and was eating in the kitchen.

Her little brother had saved her some food: pork belly stewed with cabbage and vermicelli, salted peanuts, and white rice.

It tasted great.

A little after 6 p.m., Ji Ping came by to deliver fish.

This time, it was 1,800 jin.

To save time, Chu Xuan called in two more helpers: Fu Qing and Hua Daling.

Though they were new, the two of them could process 100 jin of skinned fish each per hour.

By 9 p.m., all the fish were done.

As usual, wages for fish processing were paid out the same day.

Even though Hua Daling earned the least, she still got three yuan and was so excited she nearly cried.

“Xiaoxuan, can I come again tomorrow?”

She was so afraid this would be her one and only chance."