Mr. Ji turned around and looked at Mrs. Ji in surprise, only to find that his wife was also completely bewildered.
"Collecting debts? What debts?"
Ji Xia shrugged, pressed her parents down to the dining table set up in the yard, and then said nonchalantly, "Isn't Lin Haodong going to marry Liu Zhiqing?"
“He borrowed a lot of money from me this past year. Since he’s going to marry someone else, he should pay back the debt. I don’t want to have anything to do with him in the future.”
"Really? You've let go?"
Secretary Ji was also worried that his daughter would cause him trouble, so he tried to smooth things over and keep her marriage from changing!
Hearing that she had collected the debt and severed ties, he was both surprised and delighted, and burst into laughter.
Ji Xia smiled and served chicken soup to her parents, brother, and sister-in-law: "What can I do if I don't let go? He's already involved with other women in a messy and unclean way. I can't afford a man like that. I want someone clean."
"Okay, Zhijun will accompany her later. Make sure to get this matter of your sister settled."
Secretary Ji breathed a sigh of relief. Ji's mother lovingly placed a chicken wing on her plate: "It's good that it's gone. Eat well. I've noticed you've lost weight recently."
"Did my younger sister cook tonight? Her cooking skills have improved a lot. The soup is delicious and the chicken is also very tasty."
With their worries gone, the family of five enjoyed their dinner especially.
The pheasant soup was incredibly delicious; even with just a slice of ginger, it was so flavorful it made your mouth water. The spinach in the soup absorbed all the oil, making it exceptionally sweet.
The boneless scallion oil chicken had firm, chewy meat that was incredibly fragrant, and the group of us ate it with gusto, our mouths dripping with oil.
After a while, Ji's mother asked Ji Xia, "Which chicken did you kill? It wasn't the little hen, was it? That little hen was meant for your sister-in-law during her postpartum period."
"This is a pheasant that Chen Jing hunted. He brought it to me, and I couldn't refuse, so I had to accept it."
As Ji Xia spoke, she said to her father, "Next time Second Brother comes back, have him hunt two pheasants to return to him, so we don't owe anyone a favor."
When Secretary Ji heard that Chen Jing had brought it, he subconsciously glanced at his daughter's expression and couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle.
Well, whatever that kid's intentions, he was certain that his daughter had no ulterior motives whatsoever.
Whether he had no thoughts or not, for more than a year, seeing his daughter fawning over Lin's mother as soon as she came home made Ji's father feel very uncomfortable.
Since the engagement has been called off, let's wait another year or two. There's no rush to let another guy have it.
After dinner, Ji Zhijun wiped his mouth and said to Ji Xia, "Let's go. Before it gets dark, I'll go with you to the Lin family's house. But how much money did you borrow from him?"
"Adding it all up, it's about 250, but after returning the bride price, there's probably still around 200 left."
"What? Two hundred? Does that kid have the money to pay me back?"
It wasn't that Ji Zhijun was looking down on him, but Lin Haodong and his mother couldn't even afford to eat their fill of the harvest every year, let alone get two hundred yuan.
When Secretary Ji heard that Lin Haodong had borrowed more than two hundred yuan in a year and used it all to pay for the bride price, he looked at him with some disgust.
He had long seen that the guy was unreliable. He had no income of his own and had borrowed more than two hundred yuan, including the bride price.
Not only that, he was also having affairs behind his daughter's back. Fortunately, the two took this opportunity to break off their engagement.
Secretary Ji gave his son a wink, signaling him to handle the matter quickly.
Ji Xia carried the remaining four feet of cotton cloth and the plum blossom watch from the betrothal gifts in a bag and left the Ji family courtyard with Ji Zhijun.
As the sun sets, wisps of smoke still rise from the chimneys of a few country cottages, surrounded by rolling hills and winding paths, creating a tranquil pastoral scene.
A few mischievous children ran and cheered on the ridges of the fields, and occasionally an adult would call out from afar. The harmonious and peaceful rural life made the August sunset particularly charming.
Not far from the courtyard, Ji Xia and Ji Zhijun encountered Chen Jing playing with his two nephews and nieces on the hillside by the roadside.
Chen Jing's deep gaze swept over her, and he greeted Ji Zhijun with a loud laugh: "Brother, where are you going?"
Ji Zhijun pointed at Ji Xia: "Accompany your little sister to collect some debts."
He deliberately lowered his voice as he spoke, disdainfully mentioning that Lin Haodong owed more than two hundred yuan in debt.
Upon hearing that Ji Xia wanted to collect the debt, Chen Jing's eyes lit up: "Why didn't you call me, brother? Wait for me for two minutes."
He patted Ji Zhijun on the shoulder as he spoke, then turned and strode away.
Ji Xia glared at Ji Zhijun with displeasure. Why did he have to drag others into this mess?
After passing through most of the village and heading towards the educated youth's courtyard at the end of the village, Ji Zhijun finally realized: "Little sister, the Lin family's house isn't in this direction."
“What’s the use of looking for him? If you ask him to pay back the money, you won’t even get two yuan back, let alone two hundred. Brother, don’t ask anymore, just come with me.”
Even if Lin Haodong is a true gentleman and willing to repay the money, with his mother, that shameless old green tea bitch, around, he can forget about getting even two cents back.
Upon hearing this, Ji Zhijun was surprised: "Who are you planning to collect the debt from?"
“Liu Zhiqing, Liu Pianran, she is now Lin Haodong’s woman, and they will soon get married. What’s wrong with me asking her to pay off Lin Haodong’s debts?”
Ji Zhijun looked somewhat taken aback: "It's not like she owes the debt, isn't this just disgusting?"
"Yeah, just to disgust her, to show her what kind of man she's seducing is."
Ji Xia's eyes were filled with deep disgust. Since Liu Pianran had seduced Lin Haodong, the disgusting things she had done to her in her past life were now beginning to happen again.
Since that's the case, what's wrong with her causing some trouble beforehand, making things difficult for the two of them, and exposing what they've done to the public so that others can see their true colors?
The educated youth lived in courtyards at the foot of the mountain, far from the villagers. There were originally fifteen or sixteen educated youth, both men and women, divided into two courtyards.
However, since the resumption of the college entrance examination at the end of last year, several educated youth from relatively well-off families have returned to the city through their own channels.
The few educated youth who remained in the educated youth compound were those who failed the college entrance examination and whose families could not help them return to the city.
Liu Pianran was one of them. She was the third of four sisters in her family. Her father and mother didn't love her. She knew from a young age that she couldn't rely on her family and could only find her own way out.
Two years in the countryside and two consecutive college entrance exams wore down her will. Just when she was in despair, Lin Haodong was admitted to university and responded to her flirtatious advances.
Yesterday, she and Lin Haodong were caught red-handed by the militia for having an affair. Liu Pianran immediately said that the two were in love and had already gotten engaged. Lin Haodong acquiesced in order to avoid jail time.
The part that worried her the most was that the militia captain notified Secretary Ji of the Nanshan Brigade, because she knew that Secretary Ji was the father of Lin Haodong's fiancée.
While Liu Pianran was filled with anxiety, Secretary Ji, though his face was ashen, did not expose their lies or help them confirm their engagement.
Now, the only thing Liu Pianran wants to do is force Lin Haodong to take her to get a marriage certificate.
In the evening, several educated youth sat silently eating their dinner around a worn-out square table when they suddenly heard footsteps outside the courtyard. Someone called out, "Educated Youth Liu, is Educated Youth Liu here?"
A group of educated youth turned around and saw Ji Zhijun and Ji Xia, a brother and sister, standing outside the courtyard gate carrying a canvas bag.
A huge weight was lifted from Liu Pianran's heart; the moment of truth had finally arrived.
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