Chapter 69: Not Enough Stock?

Feng Shuai looked utterly dejected, but there was a hint of sincerity in his eyes.

Chu Xuan saw that he didn’t seem to be here to cause trouble. “Go ahead, say what you have to say.”

Feng Shuai struggled to hold back his tears, choking out, “My dad’s not right in the head. You vouched for him, but he went and denied your testimony, digging his own grave. But I don’t believe he could kill anyone. And I definitely don’t believe he’d steal money from Feng Chunhua.”

Chu Xuan deliberately reminded him, “Feng Chunhua is your aunt. Don’t just call her by her name.”

“She cut ties with our family. Why should I still call her ‘aunt’? All these years, it was my dad secretly slipping her money. How could he possibly steal from her? I suspect my dad only confessed to hurting Qin Xuehong because someone threatened him.”

“Do you have any proof?”

That question stumped Feng Shuai.

He hung his head. “No. That’s why I came to ask you—do you have any evidence that can prove my dad really didn’t kill Qin Xuehong?”

Chu Xuan sighed. “I don’t have any evidence. But if your dad really is innocent, Qin Xuehong can prove it.”

Feng Shuai squatted down, clutching his head in frustration. “Qin Xuehong could prove it, but she’s still unconscious. How can she testify?”

“She hasn’t woken up yet? Have you gone to see her?”

Chu Xuan had been too busy lately and hadn’t had time to call the Qin family in the neighboring county.

Feng Shuai wiped his tears hard. “That’s right. I’ve already decided—I’ll rent a place in the neighboring county and wait for Qin Xuehong to wake up. I’m going to clear my dad’s name.”

Chu Xuan was genuinely surprised. Who would’ve thought Feng Shuai was actually a filial son?

A gambler, filial?

Chu Xuan found it hard to believe.

Whatever Feng Shuai’s reasons for wanting to clear Feng Ti’s name, Chu Xuan didn’t want to get involved.

“Go if you want, what’s it got to do with me? Don’t come to me with all this nonsense. Are you done? Move aside, I’m heading home.”

Feng Shuai stretched out his arm again, blocking Chu Xuan’s path. “I want to do business in the neighboring county, selling your grilled fish chips. Can you wholesale me a hundred jin?”

Chu Xuan had expected that sooner or later some small vendor would come to her for wholesale, but she hadn’t thought the first one would be Feng Shuai, someone she’d had a grudge with.

But now that Feng Shuai had fallen out with Feng Chunhua, Chu Xuan could use this to her advantage.

“Of course I can. But you have to pay up front. Wholesale price is 1.6 yuan per jin. You can sell them for 2.2 yuan per jin—no problem selling at that price.”

Feng Shuai pulled out a wad of bills from his pocket—ones, twos, fives, and even a ten.

“But this is all I have.”

He handed it to Chu Xuan.

Chu Xuan didn’t take it. “Just tell me how much you’ve got.”

“One hundred and seven yuan.”

“Then you can buy 60 jin for now. Count out 96 yuan for me, and come with me to pick up the goods.”

“But I wanted to buy 100 jin…”

“Didn’t you hear what I said? No credit!”

Feng Shuai could tell Chu Xuan wasn’t exactly eager to wholesale to him, but he saw the business opportunity.

“Alright! I’ll take 60 jin for now.”

He quickly counted out 96 yuan and handed it to Chu Xuan.

This time, Chu Xuan took it, counted it again to make sure it was right.

“You planning to carry 60 jin of grilled fish chips by hand? It’s not too heavy for you, but it’ll take up a lot of space. I suggest you go to Liu Zhaodi’s place and buy two big baskets with handles, and figure out a way to get a carrying pole. As for the clean white cloth to wrap the fish chips, I’ll give you two pieces. One more thing—you’ll need to sign an agreement with me: once the fish chips leave my house, any quality issues are your responsibility.”

If Feng Shuai didn’t store the fish chips properly or tried to sabotage her, and sold bad product to customers, it would ruin her reputation.

Feng Shuai muttered under his breath, “You want me to sign an agreement? Isn’t that a bit much? What if it’s your product that has issues?”

Chu Xuan shot back, “My grilled fish chips have a certified test report from the food inspection station. If there’s a quality problem, it’s definitely because you didn’t store them properly.”

“These fish chips are worth getting a test report for?” But Feng Shuai quickly realized the sense in it, and looked at Chu Xuan with newfound respect. “You really think of everything. I’ll go buy the baskets and a carrying pole from Liu Zhaodi’s, then come to your place. I’ll need you to tell me how to store the fish chips properly.”

“Hurry up! I’ve got other things to do and need to go out later.”

“Got it.”

Feng Shuai ran off to Liu Zhaodi’s house.

At the moment, Liu Zhaodi was at Chu Xuan’s place helping to clean fish, but Chu Xuan knew she kept baskets in stock at home. Erleng and Sanleng could sell them to Feng Shuai.

When Chu Xuan got home, Xiao Feng immediately told her that Mu Chenze had already come by to settle accounts.

Actually, Chu Xuan could have guessed even without her brother telling her—otherwise, Mu Chenze wouldn’t have found her at the tidal flats.

Over twenty minutes later, Feng Shuai left Chu Xuan’s house carrying two baskets of grilled fish chips.

Chu Xuan glanced at the agreement in her hand and handed it to Xiao Feng.

“Keep it safe.”

Chu Feng took it, pleasantly surprised. “I didn’t expect Feng Shuai would actually dare to sign a liability waiver.”

Chu Xuan’s expression was calm. “Looks like he really wants to make money selling fish chips.”

Could it be that, in this life, because of Feng Ti’s death, Feng Shuai’s life would change too?

She glanced at her watch—it was already past 11:30. Time to start making lunch.

Just then, Mu Chenze came running in.

“Chu Xuan, a 1,500-jin order! Boss Hou just called it in! And with Boss Yuan’s 1,000 jin, do we have enough stock at home?”

Chu Xuan put down her kitchen knife and walked into the yard. “Definitely not enough. According to the plan, after we finish processing today’s batch of skinless fish, we’ll have at most 2,300 jin of grilled fish chips. I just wholesaled 60 jin to Feng Shuai, and I promised the aunties in the county I’d bring at least 40 jin to sell this afternoon. That means we’re still short 300 jin. We need to get another 2,000 jin of skinless fish. I’ll have Aunt Niu go to the dock and see if she can get more from Li Tong. Actually, I’ll go with her.”

“Isn’t Ji Ping delivering another 2,000 jin of skinless fish this afternoon?”

“That’s already counted in. We’re still short 2,000 jin.” Chu Xuan lowered her voice, “So we won’t be able to have you and Ji Ping over for dinner tonight…”

Mu Chenze had already thought of that before coming over. “No problem! Go ahead and get busy. I need to go home and catch up on sleep anyway—I’m so tired I can barely keep my eyes open.”

After talking to Chu Xuan, he went over to Qin Mahua and reminded her not to overwork herself.

Qin Mahua was gutting fish with ease. “You’re on your own for lunch! Your sister-in-law and I are working overtime here. Xiao Xuan will handle the food.”

“Got it.”

Mu Chenze left. He didn’t need to worry about buying the fish.

Chu Xuan and Widow Niu pulled a cart straight to the dock.

When they got there, Li Tong only had 500 jin of skinless fish left.

Chu Xuan bought them all.

She also told him, “Boss Li, if you get any more good-quality skinless fish, no matter how much, save them for me. While the weather’s good these few days, I want to make as many fish chips as possible.”

Li Tong naturally agreed.

Another vendor nearby overheard and came over to Chu Xuan. “I’ve got skinless fish too. Want to take a look? I’ve got over 1,500 jin!”

That was just about what Chu Xuan needed.

She’d always worked with Li Tong and knew him well, but she didn’t know the other vendors.

She couldn’t check every single fish during inspection.

She looked at Li Tong, seeking his opinion.

Li Tong hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but stopped.

Chu Xuan sensed there was something she didn’t know.

She didn’t rush to respond, but instead pulled Li Tong aside for a private word."