Chapter 443: Threading the Eaves

Chen Qingqing knew that Chen Feng was thin-skinned. Seeing that even the tips of his ears were red, she couldn't bear to embarrass him any further, so she put on a serious face.

"Dad, since my eldest brother said so, let's go and propose marriage as soon as possible."

Chen Zhanshan nodded in agreement, "Qing girl, you are right. Then let's get ready and go to the Wu family to propose marriage tomorrow."

Just as he finished speaking, Lin, who was busy preparing dinner, walked in with a gloomy face.

"Stop talking, those people next door are here again."

Before everyone could figure out what was going on, they saw Old Man Chen and his wife and Chen Zhancai walk in one after another.

"Oh, they're all here!" Old Mrs. Chen's cheeks twitched slightly unnaturally, and she forced out an extremely unnatural smile. If she hadn't been so desperate, she wouldn't have come here to see other people's faces even if she had to eat coarse food.

Seeing this, Chen Qingqing understood. Night owls come into the house for no reason. She wanted to see what tricks they were going to play next.

Chen Zhanshan couldn't help but frowned and said in a calm tone, "What are you doing in our house? Is there something wrong?"

"I'm not looking for you, I'm looking for Zhanliang." Old Mrs. Chen had completely lost her usual arrogance and looked at Chen Zhanliang anxiously. "Second brother, I just went to your house to look for you, but you weren't there. I guessed you were here, so we came here. Do you think we can talk for a moment?"

Chen Zhanliang was confused. "What do you want from me? Is there something wrong?"

"Something's going on."

"If you have something to say, just say it directly. Why go out and talk about it?"

"This..." Mrs. Chen was a little embarrassed to speak. She glanced at the old man behind her and said, "Old man, you should speak first!"

Old man Chen didn't want to come at all, but he couldn't resist the old lady Chen's insistence.

He was filled with anger. How could someone be so shameless as to ask for money in advance? What's the difference between this and begging?

Now the old woman felt so embarrassed that she couldn't open her mouth. She wanted him to say, "Fuck your mother's head. I can't afford to lose face like this."

He kept his head down, pretending not to hear anything, and ignored what Old Lady Chen said.

Seeing this, Old Lady Chen wanted to kick him to death, "Why don't you say something!"

"If you want Zhan Cai to speak, I don't know how to start."

"Useless thing, you're really going to piss me off to death." Old Mrs. Chen glared at Old Man Chen fiercely, wanting to slap him twice. She looked at Chen Zhancai and said, "Zhancai, tell me."

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhancai rolled his eyes in anger. He was more of a hindrance than a help. He was becoming more useless as he got older. Where had his old-age ability gone?

He gritted his teeth in his heart, but still forced a smile on his face, and directly explained his purpose to Chen Zhanliang, "Second brother, my parents don't want to see you for anything serious, they just want to withdraw the two hundred coins in advance."

"What? You're asking me for money?" Chen Zhanliang was immediately furious. "You're so shameless! You can actually say something like that!"

"No, second brother, I..."

"Who is your second brother? Don't try to be so random as to claim to be related to him." Chen Zhanliang interrupted Chen Zhangai with a look of disgust before he could finish. "If you are still a human being and have any shame, get out of here and don't embarrass yourself."

Chen Zhancai suddenly felt embarrassed and said to himself, "I'm just speaking for my parents. This money is not a gift to me. Why are you so angry and glaring at me?"

"I don't owe you anything, get out of here." Chen Zhanliang didn't give him a good look.

Seeing this, Old Lady Chen wanted to point her finger at Chen Zhanliang and curse him in the street, but she knew the difficulties her family was facing. If they really had no money to buy food, they would be too hungry to get off the kang within three days.

Thinking of this, the anger in my heart immediately disappeared.

He softened his tone and looked at Chen Zhanliang with pleading eyes, "Second brother, I'm not asking you for extra money, I just want to withdraw the two hundred coins I give to your father and me every year in advance. Do you think you have enough money now? Can you give it to me?"

Chen Zhanliang glanced at them and said coldly, "I didn't even get a thatched house when the family was divided. Now I'm still working for other people in the Wu family's old house. How can I have any spare money to give to you? How dare you open your mouth like that?"

"Mom is really desperate. There is no money or food at home. You can't just watch her starve!" Old Mrs. Chen had no choice but to tell the truth.

Chen Zhancai couldn't help but say, "You have to pay this money sooner or later. Why bother with all this hassle? It's tiring, isn't it? Besides, we won't default on our debt. If all else fails, we can just write you a receipt."

"How dare you say that?" Chen Zhanliang was furious and pointed at Chen Zhancai. "If you had been more courageous and behaved, our family wouldn't have fallen to this point. You used to..."

"Okay, do you still have the energy to talk about this now?" Chen Zhancai interrupted Chen Zhanliang impatiently, "It's almost done, hurry up and give the money to my parents, and we won't bother each other anymore."

Seeing him act as if it was his due, Sun was so angry that her face turned pale. "It's clearly written in the division agreement that we will pay you when it's due. We will never let you come here to ask for your life."

Seeing that Sun was about to lose her temper, Dabao hurried over and tried to comfort her, "Mom, don't be angry. It's not worth it to get yourself hurt."

After saying that, he looked at Chen Zhancai with an indifferent tone, "Second Uncle, since you are here, shouldn't we also settle the accounts?"

"Da, Dabao, what do you mean?" Chen Zhancai's heart tightened. He knew what Dabao was referring to. If his parents really knew that he owed someone sixty taels of silver, he would die in Chao Liang. Even if he didn't die, he would probably be unable to get out of bed for the rest of his life. If that really happened, he would not be able to escape.

Thinking of this, he hurriedly leaned towards Dabao and lowered his voice, "Nephew, we have an agreement beforehand. One thing is one thing, and you must not mix it up. If the old couple knew about this, and I burped and collapsed here, it would be troublesome."

"Okay, then you have to pay me back as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, nephew. Uncle San will find a teaching job tomorrow. But can you ask your father to give next year's filial piety money to your grandparents first?"

"Okay, but let's be humble first and then be a gentleman. You have to write me a receipt." Dabao knew that the old house had reached the end of its rope, and out of humanity he had to help.

Chen Zhancai nodded repeatedly, "Okay, okay, no problem, I've already written the receipt." Then he took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Dabao, "Nephew, please take a look. Do you think this is okay?"

Dabao looked at it carefully, put it in his pocket, took out two hundred coins and handed them to Old Lady Chen, "Keep it, this is your filial piety money for next year, don't ask for it again."

"Okay, no, we will never do such a conscienceless thing." Old Mrs. Chen nodded in agreement. She looked at the two hundred coins in her hand, and her eyes suddenly lit up. With this money, she could buy food and big pancakes to eat.