Chapter 79: Stress Relief

Liu Zhaodi was just a twelve- or thirteen-year-old child, so to Feng Chunhua, she didn’t pose any real threat.

“I’m not signing any written agreement. It’s just a verbal deal between us. If you don’t want to help me, then just give me back the hundred yuan!”

Liu Zhaodi hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Alright then! We’ll do a verbal agreement, but you can’t trick me.”

“Don’t worry! I absolutely won’t trick you. Once it’s done, I’ll give you another nine hundred yuan!”

Feng Chunhua left with a smug smile on her face.

Liu Zhaodi’s hand trembled slightly as she held the money.

When she got home, she gave a few instructions to her mother, Erleng, and Sanleng, then headed out.

She didn’t notice Chu Xuan hiding behind the wall.

Chu Xuan still found it hard to believe that Liu Zhaodi had actually taken money from Feng Chunhua.

In her previous life, Liu Zhaodi always repaid kindness with kindness and grudges with grudges. Would she really betray kindness for revenge in this life?

Chu Xuan continued her brisk walk around the village for exercise.

An hour later, she returned home, drenched in sweat.

She greeted everyone in the courtyard, went back to her room for a quick wash, changed into fresh clothes, and walked into the kitchen.

Xiao Feng had already poured her a bowl of herbal medicine, just at the right temperature.

She picked it up and drank it all in one go.

Then she grabbed the enamel mug, took a sip of plain water to wash down the bitterness, just as Widow Niu came in holding a bundle of firewood she’d just chopped and tossed it onto the ground.

“Xiao Xuan, you’re finally back! I need to talk to you!”

Chu Xuan could guess what she wanted to say, so she pointed to her own bedroom. “Let’s talk inside.”

Widow Niu said boisterously, “I’m covered in wood chips and dirt—I’ll mess up your room. Let’s just talk here, I—”

Before she could finish, Chu Xuan reached out and covered her mouth. “Aunt Niu, let’s talk in my room, okay?”

At this moment, Liu Zhaodi was in the courtyard cleaning fish.

Actually, the person Chu Xuan most wanted to talk to was Liu Zhaodi.

After Chu Xuan repeatedly insisted, Widow Niu finally followed her into the bedroom, looking a bit embarrassed.

The two of them spoke in low voices for over ten minutes. After Chu Xuan repeatedly reminded her, Widow Niu never mentioned Feng Chunhua’s visit when she came out. Instead, she explained to everyone that she was short on cash and had come to borrow money from Chu Xuan.

Liu Zhaodi continued cleaning fish at her usual fast pace, showing no sign of being troubled.

Chu Xuan kept busy while waiting until ten-thirty in the morning, but Liu Zhaodi still didn’t bring up anything about Feng Chunhua.

So she stopped waiting, told her little brother she was heading out, grabbed her basket, and went to the shore to gather seafood.

She took the mountain path to her secret spot, as usual.

She reached the beach a little after eleven, just as the tide was starting to recede.

Some of the razor clam holes were already visible.

Chu Xuan sprinkled salt into each one.

The clams that emerged weren’t as big as yesterday’s, only about the size of her pinky finger.

These wouldn’t fetch a good price.

After catching a little over twenty, she stopped.

She got up and followed the receding tide.

Now and then, she spotted some tiny clams the size of a fingernail, but Chu Xuan ignored them.

Suddenly, she spotted a forty-centimeter-long sea bass struggling to swim with the retreating water.

Not caring that her shoes got soaked, Chu Xuan grabbed her hand net and ran over.

She easily caught it and put it into the wooden bucket in her basket.

She kept following the tide.

She found a three-meter-long piece of kelp, and soon after, another two-meter-long one.

Both were very fresh.

Kelp is good for radiation protection, weight loss, detoxification, and helps with calcium absorption. If she couldn’t eat it all, she could dry it for storage.

Chu Xuan hoped she’d find more.

As if the heavens heard her wish, when she looked out over the water, she saw a whole bunch of kelp.

Half an hour later, she’d filled her entire basket.

Just then, a dozen or so tide pools were exposed, so she went over to check them out.

She caught just over twenty octopuses, a dozen fist-sized sea snails, and the rest were just tiny fish and clams, which she didn’t bother with.

Just then, Mu Chenze’s voice came from behind her. “How’s your luck today?”

Chu Xuan turned to him, looking satisfied. “Pretty good! I found lots of kelp—I love eating it. Why aren’t you at home catching up on sleep?”

Mu Chenze looked energetic. “I already did. We finished selling everything by four this morning. Brother Lin happened to get a delivery job to our town, so he gave me a lift back. I got home before six, slept for over five hours, and couldn’t fall back asleep, so I came out here. Today I wore old clothes on purpose—I’m hoping to catch a few more sea ducks.”

“You sold out that fast? Did the grilled fish slices get a big customer?”

“Yep. Remember Lian Mei?”

“Of course. Don’t tell me her family bought them?”

“No, but she made the connection. Her relatives bought them—took one hundred and fifty jin in one go. Her relatives are from another city and want to try selling them there. If they sell well, they’ll call Lian Mei to help source more, and arrange long-distance delivery.”

“That’s great! By the way, did you give Lian Mei a commission?”

“I did. Gave it to her privately. Five cents per jin. I gave her seven yuan and fifty cents.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a plump sea duck landed on a nearby rock.

Mu Chenze quickly went over and caught it.

Chu Xuan gave him a thumbs up.

Mu Chenze held the duck in one hand, pulled a hemp rope from his pocket with the other, tied it up in a flash, and put it in Chu Xuan’s wooden bucket.

“Let’s gather seafood for another ten minutes, then head back.”

“Okay.”

Mu Chenze spotted a bump in the sand, dug it up, and found a cat’s eye snail. He squeezed the snail meat hard, sending water squirting everywhere—it looked oddly satisfying.

Chu Xuan found one too and copied his actions, playing with the snail.

They exchanged a smile.

Mu Chenze pointed to his pocket, looking pleased. “The money from selling the razor clams and grilled fish slices is in here. Guess how much we got for the razor clams?”

Chu Xuan held up three fingers. “Three hundred yuan?”

“Nope. Guess again. Here’s a hint: we sold them to a group of foreigners. I didn’t even raise the price—they insisted on paying that much. Said the clams were worth it.”

“Could it be six hundred yuan?”

“That’s right!”

Chu Xuan was thrilled.

She remembered clearly that in her previous life, Mu Chenze hadn’t met those foreigners at this time. Maybe her rebirth had changed a few things.

In about ten minutes, they found over thirty cat’s eye snails—enough for a stir-fry.

Soon the tide would come in, so they gathered their catch and headed back.

Once on shore, Mu Chenze searched everywhere for more sea ducks, but unfortunately didn’t find any.

Not even a sea duck egg.

Chu Xuan teased, “Maybe after their eggs went missing yesterday, the sea ducks got smarter?”

Mu Chenze was in a good mood. “That’s possible. Since we only have one duck, why don’t you take it to the dock and sell it? We’ll split the money.”

They bantered back and forth.

“Sell it to me! I’ll buy it and make a special meal for everyone.”

“You’re a great boss! Tell you what, I’ll sell it to you for two yuan.”

“Mu Chenze, don’t think I don’t know the going rate. Live ducks are four or five yuan a jin, and this one’s at least three jin…”

“I said two yuan, so two yuan it is! Besides, you helped catch it too.”

“You’re something else! Why do I feel like you always let yourself get the short end of the stick when you’re with me?”

“Taking a loss is a blessing. I’m happy to help a friend—what’s wrong with that?”

“Alright. Thanks!”

“No need to thank me. If you really want to thank me, help me with something, okay?”

“What is it?”"