Chapter 62: Advice

Chu Xuan reminded him, “Don’t you have Hou Mingliang’s contact info? Didn’t he say he wanted to buy some abalone and things like that?”

Mu Chenze looked a bit helpless. “I tried to contact him, but no one answered the phone. We’d arranged to talk the day after tomorrow.”

“Maybe he’s still asleep and didn’t hear the phone ring.”

“I doubt it. I called three times and no one picked up. Most likely, he’s not at home.”

“Could he be at the hospital? His mom hasn’t been discharged yet.”

“That’s right! Why didn’t I think of that?” Mu Chenze turned to Lin Yong. “Brother Lin, let’s head to Peng City First Hospital.”

“Alright.”

Lin Yong did as he was told.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived near the hospital.

Lin Yong found a quiet spot to park.

Mu Chenze and Chu Xuan got out and split up to ask around about Hou Mingliang’s mother’s ward, agreeing to meet back at the truck in twenty minutes.

They didn’t know the old lady’s name, but they did know she’d been admitted for heart disease.

About ten minutes later, Mu Chenze managed to find out by relying on his good looks. Not wanting to show up empty-handed, he went back to the truck, asked Lin Yong to pass a few words to Chu Xuan, then grabbed a bucket of abalone and headed to Hou Mingliang’s mother’s ward.

A few minutes later, Chu Xuan returned to the truck but hadn’t been able to find out anything—the medical staff wouldn’t tell her.

It was only after talking to Lin Yong that she learned Mu Chenze had already gotten the information.

She couldn’t help but admire Mu Chenze’s people skills.

Chu Xuan waited patiently in the truck.

About twenty minutes later, Mu Chenze came back with Hou Mingliang.

They opened the truck and Hou Mingliang checked the goods.

Each bucket had ice, and most of the abalone were still alive. Plus, they were big—Hou Mingliang was very satisfied.

Mu Chenze quoted the price: 3,000 yuan.

In the past, he wouldn’t have sold for less than 3,500, but today was different.

Hou Mingliang agreed on the spot, but asked for delivery. He went back to the hospital to let the staff know, then drove his own car to lead the way.

An hour later, they arrived at the delivery location.

It was on the outskirts of Peng City, near the airport—a small processing plant that handled abalone, sea cucumbers, and the like.

After unloading, Hou Mingliang called the accountant over to settle up on the spot.

He also told Mu Chenze that if he had more good abalone in the future, he could just deliver it directly. He’d let the manager know.

Previously, he’d only given his home phone and address. This time, he also wrote down the factory’s phone number and address for Mu Chenze.

Mu Chenze hadn’t expected that a chance encounter would land him a long-term customer.

Lin Yong had another job to do—he’d scheduled a pickup elsewhere and was short on time, so he dropped Mu Chenze and Chu Xuan at the nearest bus stop.

The two of them took the bus to the city station, then caught another ride back to the county.

By the time they got back, it was already 12:30 p.m.

Mu Chenze couldn’t help but sigh, “Chu Xuan, that was a close call today. We should celebrate! Come on, let me treat you to lunch at the county’s best restaurant!”

Chu Xuan was indeed hungry. “Sure!”

At the restaurant, Mu Chenze remembered that Chu Xuan couldn’t eat seafood because of her herbal medicine, so he ordered sweet and sour ribs, braised pork, stir-fried cauliflower, scrambled eggs with cucumber, dumpling soup, and rice.

All dishes Chu Xuan could eat.

The only regret was that Chu Xuan couldn’t drink alcohol at the moment. Mu Chenze felt it was no fun to drink alone, so he didn’t order any.

Mu Chenze’s appetite was inversely proportional to his weight—he ate even more than Chu Xuan.

They finished every dish, not even leaving any soup behind.

After the meal, Mu Chenze paid the bill.

When they left the restaurant, Chu Xuan said she needed to see a doctor at the county hospital to get her prescription refilled, and Mu Chenze insisted on going with her.

She couldn’t talk him out of it, so she agreed.

At the hospital, the old Chinese medicine doctor had just started his shift.

Chu Xuan got the first appointment of the afternoon.

Mu Chenze didn’t go into the consultation room, but waited outside, where he could still hear what the doctor was saying.

“Chu Xuan, your pulse is a bit strange. Did you take your herbal medicine on time?”

Chu Xuan answered honestly, “Yes, I took it as prescribed. I also followed your advice and didn’t eat seafood or anything spicy.”

“Your pulse now shows liver qi stagnation turning into fire, and qi and blood stasis. That means the last batch of medicine didn’t have the desired effect. I see you have dark circles under your eyes—have you been staying up late? Also, do you have numbness in your left leg?”

“That’s right. I’ve been going out at night to sell grilled fish jerky, and sleeping during the day. My left leg does feel numb. Doctor, you’re amazing!”

“It’s not me, it’s your pulse that tells me. Listen to my advice: you must get at least seven hours of sleep at night, plus half an hour to an hour’s nap during the day. Otherwise, no matter how much medicine you take, I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to help you recover.”

“But my business is just getting started…”

Before she could finish, the old doctor cut her off. “Don’t forget you’re obese, and your heart is affected too. You have to choose—make money or save your life. If you keep staying up late, you might as well not take my medicine. Otherwise, if something happens, people will say my medicine killed you, and I’ll get a bad reputation.”

In her previous life, Chu Xuan had been extremely lazy and never stayed up late, so she’d never heard the old doctor say anything like this.

But in this life, the doctor’s advice made Chu Xuan realize she needed to rethink her plans.

She had to put her health first, but she couldn’t just give up the grilled fish jerky business.

She’d have to think it over carefully.

But she didn’t say that out loud. Instead, she put on a very earnest face. “Thank you for your advice, Doctor! Starting today, I absolutely won’t stay up late anymore. Please write me a new prescription.”

With her promise, the old doctor began writing the prescription.

Half an hour later, Chu Xuan came out carrying a bag of herbal medicine and found Mu Chenze. “Let’s go home.”

Mu Chenze looked a bit conflicted. “How about I help you sell grilled fish jerky at night from now on? You can just pay me.”

Chu Xuan was touched. “You heard everything?”

“Yeah. Your body is different from other people’s. Obesity is an illness—it needs to be treated properly. I’m healthy, so if I stay up late, I can just catch up on sleep.”

Other people might be able to handle staying up late, but Chu Xuan couldn’t. For her, it was literally shortening her life.

Mu Chenze genuinely didn’t want to see Chu Xuan die young.

Chu Xuan thought back to her previous life. For eight years, except during heavy rain or typhoons, Mu Chenze had stayed up late every night, and every year he’d see the old doctor for a checkup. But the doctor had never said anything as serious as he did today.

“Mu Chenze, talk it over with your family first. If they agree, then we can work together on the grilled fish jerky business. Also, I need to tell you in advance that I plan to hand the workshop over to the village in the future and just take dividends. That means our partnership could end at any time. If you and your family are still okay with it after considering all this, we’ll split the profits fifty-fifty.”

Mu Chenze smiled calmly. “Dividends sound pretty tempting! Alright, I’ll talk to my family first. Let’s head home.”

Chu Xuan nodded. She was exhausted.

She slept the whole way back on the bus.

Luckily, she didn’t snore.

Just as she was about to start snoring, they arrived at their stop and Mu Chenze woke her up.

She quickly came to her senses.

After getting off the bus, Mu Chenze didn’t go his own way.

Chu Xuan teased him, “Didn’t you used to avoid suspicion and go your own way once we got back to town? What’s up with you today?”"