Chapter 71: Working Together

Feng Chunhua shot Chu Zhi a fierce glare. “Are you stupid or something? You’ve got money to spend, and you’re still asking where it came from?”

The more she said this, the more curious Chu Zhi became.

He stepped forward and clung to Feng Chunhua’s arm, swaying back and forth. “Mom, just tell me, please? I’m dying to know, it’s itching at me.”

But Feng Chunhua wasn’t having any of it. “You remember this! My money wasn’t stolen, and it wasn’t robbed either. Just spend it in peace. Once the new house we bought is fixed up a bit, we’ll move in. As for this house in the village, we’ll renovate it and keep it for you as a wedding house.”

Chu Zhi’s eyes darted slyly. “Mom, I want to live in town. After I get married, let’s all live in town together, okay?”

After all, as long as he stuck with his mom, he’d have food to eat and money to spend!

Feng Chunhua looked at him with utter disdain. “No way. I don’t like Pan Xiaoli—you insisted on marrying her. I’m only moving to town because I don’t want to see her. You’re useless at everything, so just stay in the village, go out to sea and work when the weather’s good, and stay home when it’s not. Isn’t that fine?”

“But what if I run out of money?”

“I’ll give you a hundred yuan a month—isn’t that enough?”

That was as much as two or three workers’ monthly salary. Chu Zhi quickly said, “It’s enough, it’s enough. Mom, I want to invite Xiaoli to stay over tonight.”

“Invite her? Do you know what time it is? It’s pitch dark outside, you’re not going anywhere! If I hadn’t woken you up to use the bathroom last time, she would’ve found out you can’t hold your pee at night! Just behave yourself. After you’re married, you two can live together.”

By then, once the deed was done and the marriage certificate was in hand, even if Pan Xiaoli found out, she’d just have to accept it.

Chu Zhi didn’t dare disobey Feng Chunhua, so he had to give up.

Feng Chunhua continued, “I heard Chu Xuan opened a grilled fish jerky workshop?”

“That’s right. She goes to the docks every day to buy skinless fish. Business seems pretty good.”

“Really? I’ll make time to check it out tomorrow.”

“What for? Mom, please don’t mess with Chu Xuan again. I’m not even married yet. Whatever grudges you have, can you wait until after my wedding? Otherwise, she really will spread those embarrassing stories about me.”

“Fine, I’ll wait.”

For the sake of her son’s marriage, Feng Chunhua decided to put up with it a while longer.

Meanwhile, Chu Xuan had already collected 1,500 jin of skinless fish, which Widow Niu hauled back on a cart.

Gao Meijuan and the others worked overtime through the night to process the fish.

Mu Chenze contacted Lin Yong, reminding him to clean out his truck thoroughly and come to Chu Xuan’s house at 4 a.m. to pick up the grilled fish jerky.

Lin Yong was reliable—he scrubbed the truck bed spotless, with not a hint of odor.

Everyone helped load the packaged fish jerky onto the truck.

After sending off Mu Chenze and Lin Yong, Chu Xuan paid everyone their wages and gave them the next day off.

At noon the next day, Wang Depin came home for lunch and found out his wife and daughter-in-law had been working at Chu Xuan’s place until 3:30 a.m.

He’d slept so soundly he hadn’t even heard them come home.

When he heard how much they’d sold, his eyes widened in shock.

2,500 jin! The net profit should be over 2,000 yuan.

That was as much as several workers’ annual salary.

At the village committee meeting, there’d been disagreement about building a grilled fish jerky factory. This afternoon, he was going to bring it up again—just to make everyone jealous!

Around 4 p.m., Mu Chenze came by with cash to settle accounts.

Actually, he’d come by around 10 a.m., but the door was locked. Not wanting to disturb Chu Xuan and her brother’s rest, he went home to catch up on sleep himself.

When he woke up, he washed his face and rushed over, not even bothering to eat.

The three of them talked in Chu Feng’s bedroom.

Mu Chenze first took out a small stack of bills. “This is the money from selling the king clams—200 yuan in total. Count it.”

Chu Xuan and her brother both looked at him with admiration.

Chu Feng took the money and counted it.

Once he finished and confirmed the amount, Mu Chenze took out a much thicker stack. “This is the payment for the grilled fish jerky—4,000 yuan in total.”

They hadn’t settled up for truck fees and profit shares over the past few days.

Chu Xuan planned to do it all today, including the profit share from foraging at sea.

But before she could calculate the profit, Mu Chenze said, “Just give me 1,400 yuan for all the profit shares and truck fees. Not a cent more!”

Chu Xuan knew perfectly well that just the profit share and truck fees for the fish jerky came to nearly 1,400 yuan. Mu Chenze clearly wasn’t planning to take any share from the foraging profits.

“No way! Mu Chenze, you can’t let yourself lose out like this.”

“Chu Xuan, I feel like I’m already getting a great deal. I’m getting all this profit for nothing. Anyway, I’m sticking to our agreement—50/50 split for what we agreed on. As for the rest, we didn’t sign anything, so I don’t have to take a share.”

“Well, I don’t agree! I’ll settle it all properly and pay you your share.”

“If you really want to give it to me, then save it for me. When I get married, give me a big red envelope. Besides, I’ll definitely take my share in the future—just not this time. Don’t overthink it. If you still don’t agree, I’ll have to find someone else to partner with for foraging.”

At this point, Chu Feng finally realized that his sister’s foraging partner was Mu Chenze.

He couldn’t help but praise, “Brother Chenze, you’re really our family’s lucky star.”

Mu Chenze flicked Chu Feng’s forehead lightly. “Your sister is the real lucky star for my family. Without her, my family would’ve lost 2,000 yuan and missed out on earning 3,700 yuan. Actually, I forgot to give your sister her share of the profit from that day. The profit was 1,700 yuan, so her half would be 850.”

Chu Xuan quickly waved her hands. “I don’t want it! If you dare give it to me, I won’t consider you a friend!”

Mu Chenze smiled. “Alright, I won’t give it to you. But you’re not allowed to give me any extra money either!”

Chu Xuan had no choice but to agree.

Chu Feng muttered, “You two are bringing each other luck.”

Chu Xuan and Mu Chenze exchanged a glance, both thinking that made sense.

But they quickly looked away.

Chu Xuan said heartily, “From now on, let’s be a pair of friends who bring each other luck.”

Mu Chenze immediately agreed, “I’m in!”

Chu Feng wanted to say he didn’t agree—he wanted his sister to marry Mu Chenze.

But he didn’t dare say it.

“Mu Chenze, invite your family over for dinner tonight. Grandpa Wang’s family, Widow Niu’s family, Liu Zhaodi’s family, Hua Daling and her husband, and Ji Ping—let Xiao Feng invite them all. Let’s celebrate together.”

Mu Chenze was surprised. “That’s over twenty people! Can you really cook that much food?”

Chu Xuan pointed toward the kitchen. “Everything’s prepped and ready, just waiting to be cooked.”

Chu Feng grinned with satisfaction and added, “My sister went out at 10:30 this morning to buy groceries, pork belly, pork bones, a pig’s head, fruit, nuts, and wine. She even bought roast chicken and duck… all kinds of things. She carried it all back on a shoulder pole.”

“I’m going to take a look.”

Mu Chenze ran into the kitchen.

Two roast chickens, two roast ducks, a big pot of fragrant pork bones and pig’s head meat, and over a dozen vegetable dishes…

He definitely had to bring his family over—otherwise, all of Chu Xuan’s hard work would go to waste!

By 6 p.m., Chu Xuan’s courtyard was full. They’d borrowed two big tables from the village committee, seating men at one and women at the other.

Hua Daling and her husband arrived last.

After seating her husband, Hua Daling hurried into the kitchen to whisper to Chu Xuan.

“Feng Chunhua somehow got her hands on a big sum of money. Not only did she give Pan Xiaoli 2,000 yuan as a bride price, she also spent 3,000 yuan on a house in town. The key thing is, she’s still got at least 5,000 yuan left. I heard it with my own ears—there’s no mistake.”

Suddenly, Chu Xuan thought of a way to find out where Feng Chunhua’s money really came from…"