Chapter 11: Sea Cucumber

On this day in her previous life, Chu Feng had gone to sea with the boat and had not stolen any seafood from the Liu family; this time, however, he had.

Chu Xuan had to handle this matter properly; she absolutely could not let the Liu family hold a grudge.

"Zhaodi, this blackfish is an apology to your family. It didn't cost anything; I just picked it up from the seaside. I am truly sorry about what happened today! I will make sure to discipline Chu Feng in the future. If he dares to steal again, I will personally take him to the security team to be dealt with."

After speaking, she walked straight through the Liu family's courtyard gate and placed the fish into an empty wooden bucket inside. Chu Feng followed behind her, carrying the bucket and pouring the seafood into an empty basin nearby.

Liu Zhaodi's words of refusal did not leave her mouth. She felt that the current Chu Xuan was different from before, so she decided to accept the blackfish and let today's matter end there.

She watched as the Chu siblings departed.

Once outside, Chu Xuan let out a long sigh of relief. The grudge from today should have been resolved.

Chu Feng eagerly took the iron bucket from her hand, a flattering smile on his face. "Sister, there's still a blackfish and some clams in here. Should I go to the pier to sell them for money, or should we keep them to eat ourselves?"

Seeing how thick-skinned her younger brother was, Chu Xuan replied bluntly, "Go home and write a self-reflection essay. Write it until I am satisfied!"

The smile froze on Chu Feng's face. He could barely recognize characters; how was he supposed to write an essay?

"Sister, give me a break! Don't make me write an essay. Just beat me again when we get home! You know I haven't been in school for many days."

"You must write the essay. If you can't write characters, use Pinyin!"

Chu Xuan's tone left no room for argument.

Chu Feng did not dare to bargain any further.

After returning home, Chu Feng placed the iron bucket in the kitchen and then went back to the bedroom to think about his essay.

Standing in the courtyard, Chu Xuan looked toward her brother's bedroom, wondering what kind of trouble he would stir up in the coming days.

A moment later, Auntie Hua knocked on the door, carrying a basket and looking cheerful. "Xiao Xuan, I've come to exchange for the blackfish."

Chu Xuan teased, "Is there some happy news, Auntie Hua? You looked so pained on the beach just now, so why are you so happy to exchange the fish now?"

Auntie Hua didn't hide it. "Because during the argument today, Feng Chunhua admitted defeat."

Feng Chunhua was famous for never letting anyone get the better of her; it was very difficult to make her admit defeat.

"Auntie Hua, how did you win the argument against her?"

As soon as the question was asked, Auntie Hua's gaze became somewhat unnatural. "I can't talk about that. Just pour out the dried scallops first."

Chu Xuan took the bamboo basket, walked into the kitchen, and poured the dried scallops into her own basket, checking them along the way; the quality was good.

She put the blackfish into Auntie Hua's basket and walked out of the kitchen.

She handed it to Auntie Hua and asked, "Do you know some secret about Feng Chunhua?"

It was just a casual question, but Auntie Hua waved her hands hurriedly. "No, no, there's no secret. I have to rush to my mother's house, I'm leaving!"

She grabbed the basket and bolted.

This reaction made Chu Xuan even more certain that she knew something.

No rush; she would slowly coax the information out of her later.

Chu Xuan sniffed herself; she smelled of fish, so she immediately boiled water to prepare for a bath.

The newly purchased large wooden basin came in handy.

Since space in the house was limited, she closed the kitchen door and bathed inside the kitchen.

After bathing, she washed her clothes on hand. While hanging them up, she realized she hadn't put up a clothesline.

She went into the bedroom, found some old clothes, tore them into strips, tied them together, and strung a clothesline across the courtyard.

After hanging the clothes, she spread out a new bamboo mat, wiped it with a clean rag, then picked up another new mat and walked into her brother's room.

Her brother was scratching his head in deep thought; the paper only had the Pinyin for "self-reflection" and the character for "book."

She tossed the mat onto the *kang* bed and shoved the rag into his hand. "Lay out the mat yourself. Once it's wiped clean, wash the rag. Also, if you don't finish the essay tonight, you aren't allowed to sleep!"

Chu Feng sighed and nodded, accepting his fate.

Chu Xuan added, "The tide will recede around six tomorrow morning. I'm going tide-pooling early, so you are responsible for making breakfast at home."

Chu Feng really wanted to go tide-pooling with her, but since he had just committed a mistake and hadn't finished his essay, he didn't dare say more than a nod of agreement.

Feeling a bit tired, Chu Xuan went back to her bedroom to rest.

The next day, shortly after 5:30 AM, Chu Xuan woke up.

She felt the pocket close to her body; the four hundred-plus yuan were still there.

She couldn't be careless; the courtyard walls were low, meaning any adult could climb over, and the bedroom doors and windows were not sturdy...

After a quick wash, she changed into old clothes and woke her brother to watch the house before heading out with her tide-pooling tools.

By the time she reached the beach, the tide was receding.

There were many clams.

Of course, there were also many other people tide-pooling.

Whoever was faster got the catch.

Because Chu Xuan was heavy, she couldn't sustain bending over for long.

She somewhat regretted not calling her brother to join her, but considering they had just bought many things and needed someone to guard the house, she let it go.

She decided to stop picking clams and instead followed the receding tide, thinking she might find better goods.

After searching for a while, she actually found something good.

She picked up a sea cucumber about fifteen centimeters long.

Ten minutes later, she saw three more, about ten centimeters each.

She picked them up one by one and put them in her bucket.

Half an hour later, she reached a rocky area where an octopus was curled up.

It looked to weigh at least ten pounds.

Chu Xuan swiftly grabbed it and put it in the bucket, covering the sea cucumbers.

She lifted a few more stones and successively found two more octopuses weighing five or six pounds each.

The tide was still receding, and she couldn't bear to leave yet.

Half an hour later, she picked up three more sea cucumbers, about fifteen centimeters long, and hid them under the octopus.

Sea cucumbers were valuable; she wanted to get rich quietly.

This time, she did not continue walking forward.

Otherwise, when the tide rose, she wouldn't be able to run away in time.

On her way back, she picked up some clams along the way, which exhausted her quite a bit.

She really needed to properly nourish and exercise this body.

The old TCM doctor from the county hospital who had helped her regulate her health had gone back to his hometown to visit relatives and hadn't returned yet; she would have to wait a few more days.

Chu Xuan carried the iron bucket toward the pier, where many people sold seafood, though there were only two or three buyers.

At the pier, Li Tong, a seafood vendor, immediately spotted the large octopuses and sea cucumbers in Chu Xuan's bucket.

He whispered a price, "I'll take all of this seafood. A flat price of one hundred and sixty yuan."

Chu Xuan softly interrupted, "I'm keeping the clams to eat myself. The quality of these sea cucumbers and octopuses is quite good. There are many seafood sellers at the pier lately, but none of them have sea cucumbers. Since it's a flat price, make it two hundred yuan! I'll sell you the good stuff in the future."

Li Tong hesitated for a moment, then smiled and pulled out the money. "Alright! Then you must sell the good stuff to me in the future!"

If it weren't for a relative specifically asking him to collect sea cucumbers over the next two days to entertain VIP guests, he wouldn't have paid so readily.

He counted out twenty ten-yuan bills and handed them to Chu Xuan.

Chu Xuan recounted them to ensure they were correct before handing over the goods.

Twenty minutes later, she arrived at her front door and pushed it, only to find it bolted from the inside.

She knocked.

"Xiao Feng, open the door."

The response she received was a muffled whimpering.

Chu Xuan climbed over the wall into the house.

She saw Chu Feng with both hands tied to the bedroom window, a rag stuffed in his mouth...

(End of Chapter)