Chapter 58: Half Sold, Half Given Away (Bonus Chapter 4)

“This is a 200 yuan deposit. Can you help me get thirty pieces? Men’s shirts might be a bit more expensive. Once the goods arrive and are sold, your Aunt Liu will pay the balance.”

Chu Xuan didn’t dare accept the money—not because she was worried about the balance, but because she didn’t have a source for the goods. She’d have to ask Mu Chenze about this.

“There’s no rush for the deposit. I need to check first. Wait for my call, okay? I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

“Alright.”

After saying goodbye, Chu Xuan walked out onto the main street. She had over 700 yuan on her, and there was still some cash at home. She didn’t need that much on hand, so she decided to deposit 500 yuan at the bank. She always carried her ID when she went out.

Twenty minutes later, Chu Xuan had her very first bankbook of this lifetime.

She folded it up ceremoniously and put it in her pants pocket.

Just as she was about to head to the bus stop to catch the bus back to town, a familiar voice rang out: “Stop thief! Catch the thief...”

It was Mu Chenze’s voice.

Chu Xuan’s heart skipped a beat. Mu Chenze always carried several thousand yuan in cash. If a thief really got away with it, the Mu family would be heartbroken, and the thief would make a killing.

Just then, a small, skinny man, running in a panic, dashed past her.

Mu Chenze shouted again, “That’s him! The thief!”

Chu Xuan quickly stuck out her foot, tripping the thief.

Mu Chenze caught up and twisted the thief’s arm behind his back. “Trying to run, huh? You dare steal my money? That’s not a small sum—you’ll be in jail for half your life for this!”

As he spoke, he pulled a thick wad of cash from the thief’s pocket—all fifty-yuan notes, probably around three thousand yuan.

Mu Chenze’s left pants pocket had been slashed open.

Chu Xuan knew he kept another wad in his right pocket, which seemed to be untouched.

Ten minutes later, the thief was handed over to the security team.

Chu Xuan and Mu Chenze each gave their statements before leaving.

“Chu Xuan, I really have you to thank today. If not for you, that thief might have gotten away. I was already out of breath chasing him.”

“It was just your luck. I just happened to stick my foot out at the right time. You really should think about how to keep your money safe from now on!”

“I should go home and talk to my mother. It’s not safe to keep so much cash at home. I’ll deposit what I have on me first. You go on ahead! I’ll thank you properly when I get back!”

“Don’t be so polite. You’ve helped me so much, and I’ve never properly thanked you! Consider me your bodyguard for today, free of charge. I’ll wait until you’re done at the bank before I leave—just in case there are more thieves around.”

“Alright.”

Mu Chenze didn’t argue with her.

The two of them headed to the bank together...

Twenty minutes later, Mu Chenze received his deposit slip and sighed, “This is the first bankbook in my name.”

Chu Xuan couldn’t help but take out her own. “Mine too.”

Except hers had one less zero.

Mu Chenze joked, “Who’d have thought we’d both get our first bankbooks on the same day? Fate, huh!”

“It really is. Let’s head back?”

“Sure.”

Leaving the bank, they walked toward the bus stop. Chu Xuan remembered what Uncle Long had asked her.

“Mu Chenze, do you have any way to get men’s Dacron shirts?”

Mu Chenze looked troubled. “That’s tough. The boss who sold us the goods yesterday could only get women’s shirts. Otherwise, I’d have treated myself to one already.”

“No worries, I was just asking. The bus is here!”

Once they got on the bus, neither of them spoke again.

After they got home, they both took naps as usual.

It was after five in the afternoon when Chu Xuan finally woke up.

Aunt Qin, who was gutting fish in the yard, saw Chu Xuan and immediately put down her knife, washed her hands, and took out a handkerchief to dry them.

“Xuan, my second son told me all about it. If it weren’t for you today, he would’ve lost all his money from selling goods. I don’t have much to thank you with, but he just bought me a new watch. I already have one that works just fine, so I’d like to give you this new one! The strap is long—it’ll fit you perfectly.”

It was a Plum Blossom brand watch, worth at least a hundred yuan.

Chu Xuan couldn’t accept it for free, but she really did want a watch. “Auntie, it was nothing, really. I just stuck my foot out to trip the thief, didn’t do much else. I can’t accept the watch for free, but I can buy it. How about 100 yuan?”

Aunt Qin remembered her son’s warning. “No way, that’s too much! Sixty yuan, if you think that’s fair, I’ll sell it to you. I got it through a friend at the factory, but there’s a little scratch on the face, so it’s a slightly defective piece. Final price! If you don’t want it, I’ll sell it to someone else. That Chu Zhi wanted to buy it for his wife.”

The other workers laughed so hard they nearly doubled over—the seller kept lowering the price, while the buyer kept trying to raise it.

In the end, Chu Xuan bought it.

No way was she letting Chu Zhi get it cheap.

Chu Xuan put on the watch—the strap fit perfectly.

Was this really the watch Mu Chenze bought for Aunt Qin? The strap seemed like an extra-long version.

Could it be that he’d planned for Aunt Qin to sell it to her at a low price? Mu Chenze knew she needed a watch.

Should she ask Mu Chenze about it?

Probably pointless—he wouldn’t admit it anyway.

Another busy day passed.

At one in the morning, after Chu Xuan got into the back seat of the delivery truck, Chu Feng came running over to remind her not to forget to pick up the herbal medicine in town.

The last batch she’d brought back was already finished.

Chu Xuan smiled and nodded, promising to remember, and watched her little brother go back inside and lock the gate before telling Brother Lin to drive.

When they arrived at the city’s farmers’ market, Chu Xuan had just rented a stall and set up when she saw a crowd gathered around the first stall, shouting.

“Give us our money back!”

“You swindler!”

“Selling junk as good stuff! All these fish are rotten...”

Zhang Dong’s wife faced the crowd without fear, hands on her hips. “I told you, no refunds! The fish was fine when you bought it—if it went bad, that’s your fault for not storing it properly. It’s got nothing to do with me. If you keep blocking my stall and ruining my business, I’ll call the security team!”

The customers shot back, “No need, we’ll call them ourselves!”

Soon, two security officers arrived.

They’d both tasted Chu Xuan’s grilled fish before, and it was delicious. The smell coming from Zhang’s stall was so fishy it almost made them gag.

The lead officer said, businesslike, “Refund these customers.”

Zhang Dong’s wife was unfazed. “No money! Even if I had it, I wouldn’t refund you! Who do you think you are? Security has no say over my grilled fish business!”

The officers left with a warning: “Then we’ll call the food safety department to handle it.”

And walked away.

Zhang Dong’s wife didn’t care. “Let them come! I’m not afraid! Go on, get lost! Didn’t you see even the security team couldn’t do anything to me?”

The disgruntled customers hung around outside the market, hoping someone would step in.

They also warned everyone coming into the market not to buy from the first grilled fish stall, but to buy from the second one—the chubby woman’s stall.

An hour passed like this. Zhang’s grilled fish didn’t sell at all, while Chu Xuan sold nearly 150 jin.

Zhang Dong’s wife started cursing at Chu Xuan. “Fatty, you’re no good! You sent those people to cause trouble and demand refunds!”

Chu Xuan sneered, “Everyone knows what you are. Their refund demands have nothing to do with me, but they have a lot to do with you!”

“You... You’re calling me names?”

“You started it.”

“Fatty, you country bumpkin! My family’s from the city—watch out or you’ll be sorry!”

“Bring it on! I’m not afraid!”

Just then, Yuan Banyue strode into the market in a suit, a small briefcase tucked under his arm.

Zhang Dong’s wife stopped him.

“Boss, don’t be fooled! That fatty and Liu Chao are working together to sell you overpriced grilled fish! I have proof! My grilled fish is only one yuan—why not buy from me instead?”

She was sowing discord right in front of Chu Xuan."