Chapter 64: Continuing the Tidal Harvest

Qin Mahua refused to let go, but her grip softened.

Mu Chenze muttered under his breath, “Chu Xuan has helped our family so much. Why won’t you all agree?”

Qin Mahua freed one hand and smacked him on the back.

“It’s exactly because she’s done so much for our family that we can’t let you take a share of the profits—let alone a fifty-fifty split! You’ve got some nerve asking for that!”

The others chimed in, “Exactly!”

Only then did Mu Chenze realize: it wasn’t that everyone objected to him helping Chu Xuan sell grilled fish fillets, but they didn’t agree to splitting the profits.

He patiently explained, “It’s not that I insisted on a share, it’s that Chu Xuan insisted on giving me one. She said if I didn’t agree, she absolutely wouldn’t cooperate. She also said that in the future, the grilled fish fillet workshop would be handed over to the village, with Village Chief Wang leading everyone to prosperity, and at that time, she’d just take her share. The old doctor said she has obesity and can’t keep staying up late, or it could be fatal…”

After he rambled on, the family finally agreed to the profit-sharing.

Mu Chenze let out a long sigh of relief.

With that settled, Qin Mahua slapped her forehead. “I almost forgot! Xiao Ze, your dad and big brother left some eels in a bucket in the kitchen for you. Don’t forget to take them when you go out tonight—you said you wanted to give them away, right?”

Mu Chenze felt a bit embarrassed. “Mom, let’s not talk about the eels anymore.”

Qin Mahua probed, “You weren’t planning to give them to that swindler Boss Yao, were you?”

“That’s right. I’m taking the bucket of eels to the dock to sell, and I’ll stop by Chu Xuan’s house on the way.”

Starting tonight, he would help Chu Xuan sell grilled fish fillets on his trips to the city.

About ten minutes later, Mu Chenze pulled his cart to Chu Xuan’s house.

Chu Feng was already asleep, and Chu Xuan was standing alone in the yard.

After he explained his purpose, Chu Xuan took the initiative to shake his hand.

“Looking forward to working together!”

At this moment, Chu Xuan felt relieved—she could finally get a good night’s sleep, and during the day, she’d have time to go to the county to sell grilled fish fillets without missing out on earning money.

Mu Chenze, on the other hand, felt a bit complicated.

It was the first time a girl had ever shaken his hand.

At that moment, he recalled how Chu Xuan had stolen his first kiss.

His face flushed red, all the way to his ears.

There was a light in the yard, but it was a bit dim. Chu Xuan didn’t notice, and after letting go of his hand, she took out a draft of their cooperation agreement.

It wasn’t that she was afraid Mu Chenze would take advantage of her—on the contrary, it was to prevent him from losing out.

The agreement clearly stated a fifty-fifty split of net profits; if he refused, the cooperation would end.

After signing, she told him about Liu Chao reserving a stall and commission, and that Boss Yuan had ordered 1,000 jin of grilled fish fillets to be delivered in three days.

The Mu family had a cart, so from now on, every night before ten, they’d come pick up the fish fillets to sell in the city the next morning.

Tonight, Mu Chenze would take away the 300 jin that had already been packed.

A rough calculation showed that the net profit per jin was between 0.6 and 1 yuan, depending on the quantity and price.

Chu Xuan walked Mu Chenze to the gate, and suddenly blurted out, “You were the one who talked Aunt Qin into selling me that ladies’ watch at a low price, weren’t you?”

Of course, Mu Chenze wouldn’t admit it. “No. Besides, that watch is a defective piece—sixty yuan is already a good price.”

“I knew you wouldn’t admit it. From now on, don’t try to secretly help me out. You should save your money! Buy a house in the city one day, so your kids can get a better education.”

“Got it. Now hurry up and close the gate!”

With that, Mu Chenze pulled his cart away.

He didn’t look back.

If there had been an outsider there, they would have seen a big, chubby girl standing at the gate, watching him leave with full concentration.

That night, Chu Xuan didn’t have any trouble sleeping just because she’d napped during the day.

She slept soundly until dawn.

A little after six, Chu Xuan got up, washed, soaked her herbal medicine, and made breakfast. Chu Feng was the first to open the gate, then came in to help in the kitchen.

After breakfast, she started boiling her herbal medicine.

Not long after, Widow Niu arrived, pulling a cart full of skinned fish.

As soon as she finished unloading, Gao Meijuan, Qin Mahua, and the others came in. There was no time for small talk—everyone got to work.

Actually, Qin Mahua wanted to thank Chu Xuan in person, but with so many people around, she held back.

Some things, it’s enough that they know in their hearts.

A little after eight, Chu Xuan drank her herbal medicine. Seeing there were enough hands at home, she grabbed her tools for the tidal flats, greeted everyone, and headed out.

Today’s schedule was tight: gather seafood and sell it, rush to the county at noon to sell grilled fish fillets and pick out gifts, get back before dark to take Xiao Feng to Accountant Wen’s house with gifts, then go to Grandpa Wang’s house at night to deliver gifts and discuss business.

Chu Xuan took the mountain path to the tidal flats.

The tide was already going out, but the water in the tide pools hadn’t fully receded.

With nothing else to do, she wandered along the damp sand.

She found lots of razor clam holes, took out her small shovel, and dug one up—turns out, it was a razor clam as thick as her thumb.

With this size and quality, she could sell them individually for about a yuan each.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t brought any salt today; otherwise, it would have made things much easier.

She’d dig up as many as she could.

She focused on digging up razor clams.

After half an hour, she was panting from exhaustion, but had dug up ten thumb-thick razor clams.

These were valuable!

Tomorrow, she’d definitely bring salt—just sprinkle it over the holes, and the clams would come out on their own.

She stood up, slung her basket over her back, and headed toward the tide pools.

When she got there, she found some good stuff.

Ten minutes later, she had a blackfish weighing over ten jin and two sea bass around seven or eight jin each in her bucket.

On a giant rock wall, she found three sea cucumbers about twenty centimeters long, and more than ten abalones.

She was happily collecting when she suddenly heard the sound of a fish flapping on the sand not far away.

Could it be a big catch?

She looked up—and saw a whale, about ten meters long, stranded on the beach.

She slung her basket back on and ran over. The whale’s whole body was a pale blue, with light speckled patterns on its back, white spots on its chest, and two blowholes on top of its head. It looked like a blue whale.

This was a gentle species—otherwise, Chu Xuan wouldn’t have dared to help it.

Chu Xuan gently patted the blue whale’s back. “It’s fate that we’ve met. Be good, and I’ll drag you back to the sea.”

The blue whale seemed to understand, nuzzling the sand with its head.

Chu Xuan had a long rope in her basket, originally for emergencies while gathering seafood—she never expected the first time she’d use it would be to tie up a whale.

Before tying it, Chu Xuan hesitated, worried the whale would think she meant it harm, so she spoke to it gently.

“Blue whale friend, I need to tie you up so I can drag you back to the sea. Don’t be scared, okay? Work with me!”

She was really afraid it might flick its tail and hit her.

Chu Xuan was big, sure, but compared to this guy, it was like a sapling next to a giant tree.

She was the fragile sapling.

She soothed the blue whale for a while before daring to tie it up.

The rope was long for Chu Xuan, but for the whale, it was barely enough.

Once she’d tied it, Chu Xuan tried to pull the rope and drag the whale toward the sea. She only managed a few steps before her hands hurt from the strain—if she kept this up, her palms would be rubbed raw.

She couldn’t rely on brute force.

Chu Xuan racked her brain, trying to think of a way to save her strength…"