You said you would tell fortunes, so you can catch ghosts and exterminate zombies easily?

Lin Yan squatted on the ground, munching on a zongzi (sticky rice dumpling).

Liu Chunhua sensed something was wrong and turned her head to take a closer look.

"Is this child troubled by something?"

July glanced at it too: "It looks like it."

"This kid is so young, and he's already running away from home to make a living. Sigh..."

"In July, I'll stew an egg in the pot again, to nourish Xiao Yan later."

"By the way, should we prepare some tonics these days?"

July had no idea about this and shook her head blankly.

Liu Chunhua put the rice dumplings down, wiped her hands, and walked out of the kitchen.

"Ah Chen, isn't it time to start taking some tonics?"

Su Chen picked up little A-Yun, thought for a moment, and nodded: "It seems that we usually stew ginseng and eat it around this time of year."

"That's because we don't have money. Look at your Uncle Shiliang's family, they're always stewing earthworms. They're so rustic, but they're very nourishing."

Su Chen: "...Mom, if you stew dragon, it will be even more nourishing."

Liu Chunhua's eyes lit up.

"You really want to?"

Even Little White couldn't resist flying out of Su Chen's sleeve and circling twice in front of Liu Chunhua.

Liu Chunhua quickly clarified, "Long Xiaoxian, that's not what I meant."

"Even if you gave me eight hundred lives, I wouldn't dare to eat you."

Little White was satisfied and then flew back.

Liu Chunhua wiped her forehead lightly and rolled her eyes at Su Chen: "How can you be so unreliable?"

"I say earth dragon, you say dragon, are they the same thing?"

"Mom, actually our family is doing well now, there's no need for supplements."

"So, are you going to cook another delicious meal for the holidays?" Liu Chunhua glanced at her sideways. "Can it be the same?"

"I don't care. Although the Earth Dragon is hard to catch, you'll definitely be fine."

Su Chen: "..."

“Catch more, ten or eight is not too many, your eldest brother, your fourth brother, your sisters’ families, your aunts, grandmothers, uncles…”

Liu Chunhua counted on her fingers.

Ten isn't enough!

She chuckled dryly, "Ah Chen, can you catch that many earth dragons?"

"If not, can we not arrest him?"

Liu Chunhua replied firmly: "No."

“That’s settled then,” Su Chen sighed. “I’ll go check the upper reaches of the Qingjiang River tonight; the water quality might be better there.”

"Okay, don't stay up too late. I'll call your Uncle Shiliang and ask him how to stew it."

Liu Chunhua was halfway through her phone call when Old Man Su returned.

A strange old man followed behind.

"Ah Chen, come here."

Su Chen went over and smiled at the old man.

"This is Old Meng, he wants to have his fortune told by you."

Old Meng quickly reached out and grabbed Su Chen's right hand, giving it a firm squeeze.

"Master Su, you must help me."

Su Chen nodded, gesturing for him to sit down.

He then asked, "What do you want to calculate?"

Old Meng glanced at Old Man Su, who said disdainfully, "You tell me yourself."

"Oh, okay," Old Meng chuckled dryly, "It was about ten or twenty years ago, I can't remember the exact year. Back then, I hadn't moved to the city yet, I lived by the sea, and I had to go out to sea almost every day. Once, during a typhoon, my boat capsized..."

Liu Chunhua, who was on the phone, couldn't help but turn to look at Lao Meng.

“I was very lucky. Someone rescued me and even helped me get to the town’s health center.”

At this point, Lao Meng gave an awkward laugh.

“My family was really poor back then. I searched for my savior for a while but to no avail. Actually, I was a little relieved, thinking that it would save me some money.”

"Now that life is better, I often think about this, and I don't sleep well at night. It feels like there's a thorn in my heart."

"I just want to figure out who saved me, so I can go and kowtow to express my gratitude, remove this thorn, and feel a little more at ease."

Su Chen nodded: "Did you bring your birth date and time?"

"I brought it, I brought it. Brother Su promised to bring me, so I went home to get it."

He handed the red paper to Su Chen.

Little Ayun leaned out to grab it, but Su Chen weighed the little guy in his hand, took the red paper, glanced at it, and started calculating.

Seeing this, Lao Meng kept rubbing his knees with his old hands.

Old Man Su handed him a handful of peanuts. Old Meng thanked him softly, but didn't eat any. He just stared at Su Chen.

As soon as he stopped calculating, he immediately placed the peanuts on the coffee table and eagerly asked, "Well, Master Su? Who is he?"

Su Chen sighed.

Old Meng's heart tightened upon hearing this.

"Won't……"

Su Chen put Xiao Ayun down, then took out paper and pen and started drawing.

Old Meng cautiously peeked out.

As the facial features of the others came into view, he was stunned.

"This is... Hu Laosi?"

Su Chen didn't say anything, but silently increased his speed.

"It's him, it's actually him..."

Old Meng frowned: "How could he possibly save me? He'd probably rather I were dead..."

Old Man Su: "You two have a grudge?"

"Well, before, going out to sea was all dependent on the weather, which was too unpredictable. So I put some fish traps in the river next to it. Everything was fine up there, so I was able to catch some small shrimp and crabs."

"Later, I met Hu Laosi by the river and chatted with him for a bit. After that, when I put away the fish traps, there was nothing left. I suspect he secretly took them away..."

Old Meng was puzzled: "When I had the accident, we hadn't spoken for a long time, so why would he save me?"

Old Man Su: "It's one thing to remain silent, but after all, it's a matter of life and death."

Old Meng nodded slowly: "That's true."

Then it dawned on her: "That explains it. We had a falling out, yet he still saved me. He probably ran away because he was afraid I'd be too ashamed when I woke up. Later, when I was looking for my benefactor..."

He slapped his thigh hard: "That old guy, he's not hiding and laughing to himself, is he?"

"Okay, okay, I was just saying that when I saw him, he was always laughing like a lunatic. Turns out he was laughing at me."

Su Chen sighed, "Is it possible that he's just trying to be nice to you?"

"impossible!"

"That Hu Laosi has a terrible temper and is incredibly stubborn. How could he possibly want to make up with me?"

Su Chen remained silent.

Old Meng sat there for a long time, seemingly lost in thought, and then suddenly sighed.

He took out 20 yuan from his pocket and handed it to Su Chen: "Thank you, Master Su. I'll be going now."

"I'll give it to you."

Old Su accompanied Old Meng to the big iron gate. Just before they parted, Old Meng asked, "Brother Su, do you think I should go and thank him?"

This is a complicated matter.

"Are you afraid that if you go to express your gratitude, you'll be kicked out and lose face?"

"How could that be?" Old Meng frowned. "Hu Laosi wouldn't be so unreasonable... would he?"

Taking a deep breath, Old Meng waved his hand: "I'm going home first, to get a good night's sleep..."

After hanging up the phone, Liu Chunhua asked Su Chen about Lao Meng and Hu Lao Si's situation.

Su Chen teased Little A-Yun, replying, "Neither of them has a mouth~"

"That's true. I don't think someone who can rescue people at sea would be the type to steal fish traps."

Su Chen looked at Liu Chunhua carefully, and the latter was stunned: "Did he really steal it?"

"I initially considered stealing it because my family was struggling financially, but I regretted it later and returned it."

"I guess there was some kind of twist of fate involved, and Uncle Meng didn't know about this."

"I see. One thinks he stole it, and the other thinks the other knew he stole it. Even though he returned it, he still feels resentful and doesn't want to talk to him." Liu Chunhua sighed and shook her head: "What a mess!"

As she was speaking, she caught a glimpse of Lin Yan coming out of the kitchen. Just as she was about to ask how the zongzi were, Lin Yan dashed out.

Liu Chunhua blinked blankly, then, realizing what was happening, she shouted, "Xiao Yan, where are you going? It's time to eat!"

The boy's childish voice drifted from afar: "Grandma, I suddenly remembered something, I'll be back later~"