Chapter 98: The Ribbonfish King

September 15, 2023

Author: Zi Tao

At this moment, Mu Chenze had also heard about Li Qin.

He never expected that what Sheng Damei said was true. He thought she’d made it up just to trick Ji Ping into coming to her house and ask for money.

Out of respect for Ji Ping, Mu Chenze decided to go over and lend a hand—after all, preparing for a funeral takes manpower.

On his way there, he happened to run into Chu Xuan.

Seeing Chu Xuan carrying a basket on her back, he guessed she was heading out to the shore to forage. “The wind’s going to pick up soon. Go early and come back early. I’ve got something to do, so I can’t join you.”

“Okay. Are you heading to Sheng Damei’s house?”

Given Mu Chenze’s relationship with Ji Ping, there was no way he’d just stand by while Ji Ping got involved in someone else’s business.

The village’s funeral team wasn’t fixed—whoever was available would help out.

Ji Ping and Mu Chenze would definitely be part of Li Qin’s funeral team.

Mu Chenze didn’t hide it. “I’m going over to help. I saw Li Qin picking wild vegetables at the foot of the mountain this morning. Who would’ve thought she’d be gone in less than half a day?”

Chu Xuan suddenly asked, “I heard people in the village say it was an accident. Was it really an accident?”

“Who knows. I’m off!”

Mu Chenze headed toward Sheng Damei’s house.

Chu Xuan took the mountain path to her secret spot by the sea.

When she arrived, she was stunned by what she saw.

The sea wind was strong.

The whole beach was covered with small clams, with a few starfish and little crabs here and there—there was barely any place to step.

These things didn’t fetch a good price around here.

She used her foot to sweep the clams aside, clearing a path to the tide pools.

When she got there, she was a bit disappointed.

There was nothing big—just small clams in all the tide pools.

Was she really going to haul back a whole basket of clams today?

Heavy and not worth much.

But there was nothing better today.

She’d just pick a basketful and bring them home for her little brother.

As for the leftovers, if the weather was good, she could dry them in the sun. But she knew a typhoon and rainy days were coming, so she’d have to use the oven to dry them for storage.

Resigned, she squatted down with her small shovel and dumped the clams into her basket, not caring if there was sand or mud—she just shoveled them all in.

That way, it went faster.

After filling over half the basket, Chu Xuan slung it onto her back and went to a spot with clean seawater to soak the clams.

The basket had holes, so a quick soak and rinse would wash off the sand and mud.

Just then, a wave crashed in. Chu Xuan lost her balance and fell onto the sand, getting soaked.

“Not only is my luck bad today, but I have to get drenched too?”

She quickly got up, ready to head home.

Another big wave came.

This time, Chu Xuan was prepared and managed to stay on her feet.

It was freezing!

Something felt different today. She didn’t linger and hurried back.

She’d only taken a few steps when yet another big wave crashed in, carrying something black that whistled right over her head.

With a loud splash, a huge fish—about three meters long—landed not far away.

Chu Xuan wiped the seawater from her face and looked carefully. It was a giant ribbonfish, at least a hundred jin—definitely a king among ribbonfish.

Even as another wave crashed in, it couldn’t dampen Chu Xuan’s good mood.

Today was worth it.

She didn’t have the strength to carry both, so she dumped out more than half the clams and dragged the ribbonfish king toward the shore.

She really wanted to stay a bit longer to see if the wind and waves would bring in more big catches, but considering the weather, she decided to leave.

The waves were fierce now—if she wasn’t careful, she could get swept away and lose her life.

Once ashore, she stuffed the ribbonfish into her basket.

She took the mountain path to the pier.

Her clothes were stuck to her body, which would get people talking.

As she neared the pier, she held the basket in front of her to cover up.

When she reached the pier, she went straight to Li Tong’s stall.

The moment Li Tong saw the ribbonfish king, his eyes lit up. “Chu Xuan, you’re the luckiest forager I’ve ever seen!”

He helped her unload the ribbonfish king, leaving the basket on her back, and continued, “Tell me, how did you catch it?”

Chu Xuan grinned. “I’d picked over half a basket of clams and was about to rinse them in the sea when the waves kept crashing in. As I was scrambling to escape, the ribbonfish king was thrown onto the beach by the waves…”

Li Tong was even more envious of Chu Xuan’s luck.

People at the pier gathered to see the ribbonfish king.

It weighed 129 jin and 7 liang—let’s call it 130 jin—at 3 yuan per jin.

Chu Xuan took 390 yuan, didn’t linger, and left the pier.

Her pockets were still wet, so she held the money in her hand.

There were ten-yuan and five-yuan bills—a thick wad.

When she got home, the first thing she did was hand the money to her little brother and tell him about selling the ribbonfish king.

Her brother didn’t rush to count the money. Instead, he helped her carry hot water into the bedroom.

Before she got home, he’d already boiled the water and cleaned the washbasin.

His thoughtfulness made Chu Xuan instantly forget any unpleasantness between them.

People should look forward—families will always have arguments, but once they’re over, they’re over.

But when her brother got the money, he didn’t cheer like usual. Did he have something on his mind?

Half an hour later, Chu Xuan finished her bath, changed into clean clothes, and was about to pour out the water when her brother came over to help.

After pouring out the water, Chu Xuan wanted to wash her clothes.

Her brother grabbed them. “Sis, let me do it.”

Chu Xuan looked him up and down. “Why are you being even more considerate than usual today? And you’re not smiling much. What’s up?”

“Because I feel guilty. I wanted to say sorry to you! I didn’t properly apologize this morning. I didn’t think things through, but I’ll change from now on.”

Chu Feng hung his head, not daring to look at Chu Xuan.

“So that’s what it was!” Chu Xuan let out a long sigh. “Actually, it’s not all your fault. I didn’t tell you about Mom’s situation in time. I forgive you. And I should apologize too—I shouldn’t have tried to hide it from you.”

Chu Feng looked up, his eyes brimming with tears. “Sis, I don’t blame you. I know you meant well.”

The siblings cleared the air, all barriers gone, and things went back to how they used to be.

“Sis, let’s have dumplings for dinner?”

“Sure. What filling do you want?”

“Lotus root and pork?”

“Okay. I’ll wash the clothes, you go knead the dough.”

“Alright!”

Chu Feng happily went to the kitchen to knead dough.

After Chu Xuan finished washing the clothes, it started to rain and the wind picked up.

She strung up a clothesline in the kitchen—over the next ten days, she’d have to dry clothes by the fire.

After hanging up the clothes, she got the dumpling filling ready.

An hour later, night fell. They finished wrapping the dumplings and waited for the water to boil.

There was a knock at the door.

Chu Feng grabbed an umbrella and went to open it.

“Brother Chenze, come in!”

Mu Chenze was wearing a raincoat, but his pants and shoes were soaked. He went into the kitchen to warm up by the fire.

Chu Xuan guessed Mu Chenze had something important to say. “Xiao Feng, go to the bedroom and count out 160 yuan as the foraging bonus, and make a note of it.”

She sent her brother away so she could talk privately.

Chu Feng didn’t suspect anything. “Okay, I’ll go now.”

Mu Chenze looked pleasantly surprised. “Did you get a good catch today?”

“It wasn’t something I picked up—the wind and waves brought it in. A ribbonfish king, 130 jin!”

“How much per jin?”

Chu Feng had already gone back to his room, so Chu Xuan changed the subject. “You came to see me at this hour—did you find something out about Li Qin’s death?”"