At the entrance of the Bai family’s drying yard, a crowd of villagers from various villages had gathered. They were shouting toward the gate:
“Bai family steward! Are you still taking kelp or not? We’ve been waiting half a day!”
“Yeah, give us a straight answer! We came all this way—do you want it or not?”
Each villager carried a full basket or hauled a sack of kelp, hoping to sell it at a good price. But today, the yard was eerily quiet—nothing like the bustling scene before. Even the person in charge of purchasing was nowhere to be seen.
They shouted a few more times until finally, a sullen-faced woman emerged.
She walked up to them, waved them off impatiently, and said, “Not taking any more! We’re not taking any at all from now on. Don’t bring any more here.”
“Wish you’d said so earlier—wasted our trip.” The villagers trudged off with their heavy loads of kelp, not looking back.
After sending them away, the woman kept muttering complaints under her breath:
“The kelp in the warehouse is practically rotting—who’s going to buy that? The boss must have money to burn. Who came up with this stupid idea…”
All the workers at the yard had been dismissed by the boss, and the lease on the site wasn’t being renewed. The whole venture had fallen through.
The kelp had been bought at double the price the Xie family paid, purchased from villagers near the ferry. Add to that the rental costs and labor expenses—the Bai family had poured a small fortune into this, only to see it vanish without even a ripple.
At least if you threw money into water, you’d hear a splash. Now, all that kelp they’d bought was rotting in piles in the warehouse. The dried product they’d produced was unwanted and couldn’t fetch a good price.
Forget profit—they’d lost even the principal.
The Bai boss had cut her losses decisively, declaring she’d never touch this unreliable business again. She’d left this woman behind to handle the cleanup. Sigh…
On the way back, the villagers from Qianwan Village walked along the same road, grumbling among themselves:
“Stop taking it all of a sudden—if I’d known, I’d have hauled this basket to the Xie family. They take it without hassle, don’t shortchange you on the weight, and pay generously.”
“Exactly. The Bai family paid higher, but when I brought over twenty jin, they weighed it at only fifteen or sixteen. Doing business with such shameless people is just bad luck.”
“I wonder if the Xie family will still take our kelp.”
At those words, the chatter died down immediately.
They knew they were in the wrong. They were the ones who’d abandoned the Xie family and gone to the Bai family. Now they wanted the Xie family to take their goods again. They had no confidence—they were afraid the Xie family would refuse.
He Chao, well-connected in the village, heard the news and cheerfully reported back to Xie Yushu:
“Boss, I heard from the villagers that the Bai family’s not taking any more goods. They’ve dismissed their workers—looks like the whole operation’s gone bust!”
He said this with a broad smile, genuinely delighted.
“So soon? That’s good news.” Xie Yushu’s tone was flat, as if she’d seen this outcome coming and wasn’t surprised at all. She flipped through the records of laver deliveries over the past few days without looking up.
“Yeah, it’s only been a little while and they’ve already shut down. They really didn’t have what it takes.” He Chao had nothing but contempt for the Bai family. Compared to his boss, they had no redeeming qualities—their methods were underhanded too.
Take the high-priced kelp buying, for example—they’d been trying to corner the base and put them out of business. Not good people.
Now they’d ended up like this—shooting themselves in the foot. Served them right!
A moment later, Ye Youchun came in from outside and asked Xie Yushu, “Boss, the villagers are at the station to deliver kelp. Should we take it or not?”
Without a second thought, Xie Yushu said, “Don’t take it yet—let them wait a few days.”
She had her grievances against those villagers. They’d broken their word.
They’d all agreed to deliver to her, but the moment someone offered a higher price, they’d turned around and gone elsewhere. Sure, wanting to earn more was understandable—but she just didn’t feel like forgiving them that quickly.
Without a contract, it was unreliable. In the future, she’d have to draw up contracts and set clear rules.
Both of them had work to do, so they didn’t linger—they reported in and left.
Xie Yushu closed the ledger after a few pages, rubbed her tired eyes, stood up, and stretched. She looked to be in a good mood.
The Bai family’s quick collapse wasn’t entirely without her involvement.
Back then, He Chao had noticed someone lurking suspiciously in the village and had immediately reported it to her.
He’d grown up in Qianwan Village and knew everyone there. A stranger suddenly appearing caught his attention right away.
That person seemed to be asking about Xie’s Seafood—from purchase prices to profits, they left no stone unturned.
Xie Yushu seized the opportunity and had He Chao take care of something right away.
And so, a “helpful” villager deliberately fed that person false information—exaggerating the profits of Xie’s Seafood, saying the drying method was simple, and that anyone with a site and workers could make money. It sounded so convincing it was hard not to believe.
The Bai family was short on cash, so a seemingly easy money-making venture like this naturally tempted them. And now, look where they’d ended up.
·
On the small road to Songwan Town, a carriage swayed along. The woman seated in front wore a serious expression as she spoke to the person inside.
These two were Xie Yushu and Ye Youchun, heading back to town after finishing work at Qianwan Village.
Xie Yushu leaned back in the carriage, looking lazy: “Why did you switch to a carriage? It’s expensive—I don’t need this.”
The base had made plenty of money from orders, but aside from household expenses and what she’d set aside for Su Chi to manage, Xie Yushu saved wherever she could and never spent frivolously.
Renting a carriage was so costly—she couldn’t bear to part with that money.
“The carriage was arranged by the fulang,” Ye Youchun answered honestly, guiding the carriage from the front.
She’d followed Su Chi’s instructions, finding a carriage available for rent in town to carry Xie Yushu daily from the Qingshui Lane gate to the base gate and back.
To do that, she’d spent a few extra copper coins to rent the carriage and practiced driving for a few days. Only after she’d gotten the hang of it did she dare let Xie Yushu ride.
Hearing that, Xie Yushu brightened, her expression softening. How could she refuse Su Chi’s thoughtfulness?
But she remembered that renting a carriage wasn’t cheap, so she reminded Ye Youchun: “Don’t use fulang’s money—use mine.”
“Got it.”
Halfway along the road, two figures suddenly darted out in front. Seeing the horse about to hit them, Ye Youchun yanked the reins back sharply. The startled horse reared up, narrowly avoiding a “carriage accident.”
Once the carriage steadied, Xie Yushu lifted the thick cotton curtain and poked her head out: “What happened?”
Ye Youchun was also shaken: “Someone jumped out from the front.”
Xie Yushu’s first thought was that it was a scam.
Her carriage hadn’t touched those two at all, yet they were lying flat on the ground.
What else could it be but a setup?
In the modern world, after dashcams became widespread, Xie Yushu rarely saw such crude, old-school scams anymore. Now she was intrigued, ready to get out and argue with these two, maybe have a little sparring match.
But when she recognized the two people lying on the ground, her eyes narrowed in disgust.
It seemed she hadn’t checked the almanac today—she’d run into filth as soon as she stepped out.
The two sprawled on the ground were none other than Su Ping and Cai Zhi.
They’d just come back from the Bai household, hoping to get some money from their son and ask about the Xie family. But before they could even get in, the Bai family had rudely thrown them out.
Then a servant from their son’s household had slipped out to tell them that Master Sheng had been confined to his room by the Bai family head—because he’d said the wrong thing and done the wrong thing, angering the master. He’d likely be confined for a long time.
The servant had shot them a resentful look, saying they shouldn’t come back anymore to avoid dragging Master Sheng down further, and then gone back inside.
Only then did they realize their own words had caused trouble for Sheng Ge’er. The Bai family had looked at them with such ferocious eyes that they’d fled without daring to stay.
Su Ping and Cai Zhi were terrified. The servant had said the Bai family had lost a lot of money—and it would all be blamed on their son.
Panicked that the Bai family might come after them or demand money—neither of which they could provide—they’d rushed back in a frenzy, barely looking ahead, and collided with the carriage.
Even though the carriage had been stopped in time, they’d been so frightened that both collapsed to the ground, motionless.
There weren’t many carriages in town, so they rarely encountered them.
Ox carts were one thing—they could sometimes pull a scam with those. But people who rode in carriages were either wealthy or powerful—not to be trifled with. They were about to get up and help each other when they caught the look of disgust from the two women in the carriage.
When they realized who it was, Su Ping practically glared at them through gritted teeth.
What rotten luck—running into them here. Of all the narrow paths.
The route from the ferry to Songwan Town and from Bailian Town back to Qingluo Village shared a small intersecting road, so it wasn’t strange for the two groups to cross paths.
After Su Ping pulled Cai Zhi up, he too spotted them.
Of course he remembered Ye Youchun—that woman had scared him half to death the other day. And Xie Yushu, sitting in the carriage, had caused him trouble multiple times back in the village—he loathed her even more.
As the carriage slowly passed by them, the two stood frozen on the side, not saying a word. But Xie Yushu spoke first:
“You two sure knew how to scheme—didn’t manage to hurt me, but you dragged the Bai family down with you. What a brilliant plan. Got any other tricks up your sleeves? Do tell.”
Their faces flushed with embarrassment and guilt. Su Ping feigned ignorance: “What?”
Xie Yushu’s voice turned cold: “If you’re deaf, forget it. Pretend I said nothing.”
Though she’d called them deaf, they could only swallow their rage. They were no match for these two young, strong women. Ye Youchun alone could handle both of them.
Xie Yushu continued, her tone flat: “You certainly have guts—not daring to vent your anger at your son’s wife, but coming to my father’s place to throw a tantrum.”
These two, who usually stood with their hands on their hips, arguing fiercely and never backing down, now stood before Xie Yushu as if choked by the throat, unable to utter a word.
Her cold gaze swept slowly over them, and a deep unease seeped from their hearts—as if they were being pinned down by a giant beast from the deep mountains, unable to move.
This was the first time Su Ping had faced Xie Yushu directly. The one time before had only been a brief glance at the village chief’s house. Face to face like this was a completely different experience.
The air around them suddenly turned icy. Xie Yushu cast a few disdainful glances their way, a cold smirk playing at her lips, her face devoid of any warmth. Su Ping took several steps back.
This woman was… terrifying.
Staring at her made Su Ping’s skin crawl. She unconsciously lowered her voice, forcing herself to speak: “I’m your aunt—you should show me some respect.”
“Aunt?” Xie Yushu let out a scoff as if she’d heard the most absurd joke, a cold, insincere smile curling at the corner of her mouth. Her eyes swept over them like ice: “Those who know might say you’re my fulang’s aunt. Anyone else would think you’re our mortal enemy. Is this what an aunt is supposed to be like?”
“Just looking at you makes me sick.” With that, Xie Yushu let the cotton curtain fall back into place and said to Ye Youchun, “Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
Just as the two pests thought they were finally rid of them, a searing pain shot across their faces.
As the carriage passed by, Ye Youchun flicked her wrist, and the whip in her hand landed squarely across their faces.
The two clutched their faces, howling in pain, but the carriage had already disappeared into the distance without looking back.
After returning, Xie Yushu didn’t hide it from Su Chi—she told him about running into those two troublemakers on the road and how Ye Youchun had given them a light punishment with the whip.
Su Chi had little reaction to the news. He just noticed her bowl was empty and topped it up with more rice.
His aunt and uncle getting whipped was less important than making sure his wife was well-fed. If they got hit, they deserved it—they had no one to blame but themselves. And it was just one lash—the wound wouldn’t be severe. If it kept them home recovering instead of out causing trouble, all the better.
They’d caused her trouble—Su Chi almost wished she’d given them a few more lashes.
After taking a couple of bites, he finally said slowly: “They brought it on themselves. Hopefully, they’ll leave us alone now. You did well.”
Xie Yushu was pleased: “I thought so too. Father will be happy too.”
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