Chapter 16: Falling for That Kind of Trick

Mu Chenze sobered up instantly.

He couldn't let his mother decide this.

The reason he hadn't gone out to sea with the boat today wasn't for a blind date.

He reopened the courtyard gate.

"Sister-in-law, go back first. I'll go inside to say something to Pingzi before I leave."

Seeing that he didn't seem to be lying, Fu Qing headed home first.

Mu Chenze walked into the bedroom, brought in an enamel mug filled with warm water, and patted Pingzi on the shoulder. "Pingzi, wake up. Drink some water first."

He knew Pingzi; a little water would clear his head.

Dazed, Pingzi took a few sips, and his intoxication receded slightly. "Chenze, my tolerance isn't as good as yours."

Mu Chenze placed the enamel mug on the heated brick table. "I have to go home for a bit. Come out and bolt the iron gate."

Pingzi's courtyard walls were high and topped with glass shards; once the iron bolt was in place, it would largely prevent thieves from visiting.

Chou Daguang often loitered around here and was definitely eyeing Pingzi's house, just waiting for an opportunity.

Ten minutes later, Mu Chenze returned home wearing wet clothes and shoes, his face smeared with mud, looking like a drunkard.

Coincidentally, his blind date, Zhang Tao, along with the Zhang family and Matchmaker Wang, were preparing to leave. Qin Mahua and Fu Qing came out to see them off.

Zhang Tao frowned with a look of disdain and whispered to her mother, "I don't like him."

Hearing this, Mother Zhang couldn't be bothered to be polite to Qin Mahua any longer. "It certainly isn't easy raising a son like that! Let's go!"

Matchmaker Wang looked helpless; today's match was a failure.

After seeing the guests off, only Mu Chenze, Qin Mahua, and Fu Qing remained in the house.

Mu Qinlao and Mu Chenfu had not yet returned from their trip at sea.

Fu Qing thought her mother-in-law would scold Mu Chenze and was calculating how to plead his case.

Suddenly, she noticed that the clothes Chenze was wearing didn't seem to be the same ones from before.

To her surprise, Qin Mahua didn't scold him at all. Instead, her face was filled with worry. "Xiao Ze, did you fall into the sea or something? Hurry and go change. I'll go boil some bathwater..."

Half an hour later, having bathed and changed into clean clothes, Mu Chenze was reclining on the bed.

Qin Mahua pushed the door open, carrying a bowl of egg tea with honey. "Xiao Ze, drink some egg tea to sober up."

Mu Chenze took it, drank it in one gulp, and began to negotiate with a smile. "Mom, the reason I didn't go out to sea at dawn wasn't for a blind date, it was because I had business to attend to. Don't arrange any more blind dates for me in the future, okay?"

Qin Mahua took the empty bowl from her son. "Tell me first, what business did you have today? You've been distracted these past few days..."

"How am I distracted? I was thinking about how to make money. Look, I earned over three hundred yuan today. Here!"

Mu Chenze pulled a wad of cash from under his pillow and stuffed it into Qin Mahua's hand, continuing, "I'm only 22. I want to make as much money as I can while I'm young. I won't be considering marriage for the next few years, okay? Mom, you'd better understand and support me!"

Qin Mahua was beaming at her son's sweet words. "Fine! If you had said earlier that you were thinking about making money, I wouldn't have thought you were looking for a wife. Now tell me, how did you earn this three hundred-plus yuan?"

Mu Chenze gave a mysterious smile. "Actually, I went out early this morning. I collected several hundred pounds of hairtail at the pier, prepared ice in advance, and hired a vehicle to take them to the city to sell. After deducting the transport costs and such, I made a net profit of over three hundred. I came back at 5:30 AM, but I was afraid of waking you, so I put the money under my pillow and went back to the pier to see if there was any more good stock."

"My son is truly amazing! To earn over three hundred in a single day... you must be exhausted. But your mother needs to ask a few more questions before she can rest easy."

"Ask away."

"Did you eat breakfast and lunch? Why were you drinking? And why were you soaking wet?"

"I ate both. I drank because I was happy about the money. I was soaking wet because I didn't want to go on a blind date, so I intentionally soaked my clothes and dirtied my face to make the date lose interest."

"Then how did you know there would be hairtail to collect today?"

Hairtail was caught in deep-sea fishing; one couldn't just find it at the pier.

Mu Chenze looked relaxed. "I was calculating the dates. The deep-sea fishing boats were due to dock around dawn today. That's why I went."

In truth, their own boat could go further, but the family was attached to home and unwilling to drift at sea for days, preferring to work in coastal waters every day.

Now, Qin Mahua was completely relieved. "Xiao Ze, go rest well. I'll go do the laundry. I won't arrange any more blind dates. I'll just wait for you to bring a daughter-in-law home to me."

"Mom, you're the best mother in the world!"

Mu Chenze knew his mother was a sucker for such words.

Sure enough, Qin Mahua became even happier.

Having not rested all night, Mu Chenze was indeed tired and soon drifted into a dream.

Qin Mahua took the money to show Fu Qing, and she also explained the situation to her, stating that she wouldn't arrange any more blind dates for him in the coming years.

Both women were the type who wouldn't talk about making money outside the family, so Mu Chenze's profit from selling hairtail remained a secret.

At that moment, Chu Xuan had just finished lunch and was walking in the courtyard to aid digestion, thinking to herself that the large hairtail was truly delicious!

In her past life, no one had found the hairtail today, but in this life, she had. Had things changed because of her rebirth?

If Heaven was looking out for her, would there be more surprises in the future?

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Chu Xuan went to unbolt it.

She saw Chu Dashan standing outside.

Chu Dashan was sixty years old this year, with graying hair, tall and thin, carrying the air of an elder.

"Xiao Xuan, go to the town's security team and tell them not to report your grandmother and your second uncle. We are all one family; how can we truly sever ties? Because of this, I didn't go out to sea today. I lost quite a bit of money!"

He said it lightly, but Chu Xuan cursed him inwardly for playing dumb.

"What kind of talk is that? Severing ties is severing ties! Are you planning to help me pay back the three thousand yuan debt?"

Chu Dashan didn't feel embarrassed at all, thinking Chu Xuan was still as easy to manipulate as before. "Didn't your mother send money? Why didn't you use it to pay the debt? Why are you building a new house? How about this! Save the money for the new house to pay the debt, and you and Xiaofeng can move back. We'll mend the family ties."

The expression on Chu Xuan's face grew colder. "The money for the new house isn't enough to cover the debt. How about you take out two thousand yuan to pay it for me?"

Chu Dashan waved his hands repeatedly. "The family doesn't have that much money. You pay the debt yourselves. Anyway, whenever the debt is paid, we'll mend the ties. Now, go tell the security team not to report your grandmother and him..."

Chu Xuan sneered. "It's possible to make me not report Feng Chunhua and Chu Zhi. Give me a portion of my father's compensation. I won't ask for much, just five hundred yuan. You must give me an answer quickly; otherwise, once the security team officially charges them, it won't matter even if I say I won't report them."

Chu Dashan kicked the door in anger. "Five hundred yuan? You're asking for my life! If you don't go, I'll hang myself at your front gate!"

Chu Xuan glanced at her family's rickety gate. "Suit yourself! But I'm declaring in advance: if you break my gate, you owe me one hundred yuan in compensation!"

Chu Dashan's hands shook with rage, but that didn't stop him from pulling a hemp rope out of his pocket...

(End of Chapter)