After dealing with all these, Chen Xiaoru still had more than four hundred taels of silver left.
When he got home, Chen's mother had already prepared dinner.
"Mom, I'm back. Is dinner ready?" Chen Xiaoru shouted happily as she entered her yard.
Mother Chen heard the sound and came out from the kitchen. She wiped her hands with a smile and said, "Okay, we'll be eating soon. Please wait in the front hall for a while."
Chen Xiaoru obediently came to the front hall and sat down waiting for dinner to be served.
Chen's mother and Zhou Si brought the food and the family sat together.
"My daughter, you spent a lot of money today, didn't you?" Chen's mother asked carefully, fearing that she would upset her daughter.
"It didn't cost much. It's okay, Mom. Our family is not short of money. What are you afraid of?" Chen Xiaoru said indifferently.
Mother Chen looked at Chen Xiaoru, wanting to say something but stopping herself. Finally, she couldn't help but speak: "Xiaoru, your father... is at the gambling house..."
Chen Xiaoru paused for a moment while picking up the food, then raised her head with a clear gaze. "Mom, are you talking about Dad owing money to the gambling house?"
Mother Chen nodded, her eyes reddening a little: "Your father... is so confused! He owes so much, how can he pay it back..."
Chen Xiaoru put down her chopsticks, gently held her mother's hand, and comforted her softly: "Mom, don't worry, I have already taken care of this matter."
"Is it handled?" Chen's mother and Zhou Si were stunned and looked at her in confusion.
"It's been taken care of, so don't worry about it. I'll take care of Dad from now on." Chen Xiaoru said lightly while tucking into the rice in the bowl.
She took out another ten taels of silver and stuffed it into Chen's mother's hand: "Mom, you keep it for the family expenses, don't give it to Dad, you know."
Mother Chen held the silver and carefully put it in her arms. Only then did she feel at ease and continue eating.
After lunch, Chen Xiaoru picked up her hatchet and headed up the mountain, still clinging to a glimmer of hope, hoping to get lucky and dig up some ginseng or something.
Unfortunately, after searching all the way, I didn’t find any ginseng, let alone any decent medicinal herbs. In the end, I could only return home dejected.
As night fell, Chen Laizi staggered back home. As soon as he entered the house, he saw the food on the table and his eyes lit up. Before, it took him a long time to eat meat, but now he had been eating meat for two days in a row!
"Oh, which rich man has come back? Look at the time, he must be enjoying himself in some paradise?" Chen Xiaoru sat at the table, turning the teacup in her hand, glancing at Chen Laizi who had just entered the room, and her words were full of sarcasm.
When Chen Laizi heard this, he felt weak on his feet. He shrank his neck and smiled awkwardly: "My daughter, what are you talking about? There is no such thing as a rich man. Your father... I owe a lot of debts." As he spoke, he glanced at Chen Xiaoru's face, fearing that this ancestor would be unhappy and give him another meal of "stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork".
"How much do you owe? Don't you have an idea?" Chen Xiaoru put down her teacup, her eyes piercing Chen Laizi like a knife. "Six hundred taels! A whole six hundred taels! Chen Laizi, you're such a jerk! How dare you borrow money from that fat guy Wang Mazi? His interest is compounded faster than a donkey rolling around! What are you going to give me to pay it back?"
Chen Xiaoru grew increasingly angry as she spoke. She had spent the entire afternoon trying to figure out why Wang Mazi, that money-hungry fellow, could be so "generous" to lend Chen Laizi so much money. There had to be something fishy going on! If she didn't find out today, she might never get another chance.
"My...my daughter, how...how do you know that I owe so much money?" Chen Laizi's voice was as small as a mosquito's hum. What he feared most now was Chen Xiaoru. This girl would hit you without mercy. If she really started fighting, she would not care whether you were her biological father or not, she would beat you up!
"How should I know?" Chen Xiaoru sneered, "When I went to the gambling house today to 'do good deeds' and help you pay off your debt, Wang Mazi told me in person! What, you still want to hide it from me?" She stared at Chen Laizi with a sharp gaze, not missing any change in his facial expression.
Chen Laizi felt uneasy being stared at, sweat starting to form on his forehead. He stammered and tried to explain, but he didn't know where to begin. He couldn't just say he was tricked into owing so much money without knowing why, could he? Wouldn't Chen Xiaoru skin him alive then?
Chen Xiaoru looked at Chen Laizi's cowardly expression, and the fire in her heart suddenly flared up. She slammed her hand on the table, causing the dishes and chopsticks to jump and a few drops of tea to spill. "Tell me! What's going on with this money? If you dare to tell a lie, I'll let you taste the Chen family's traditional rolling pin fried shredded pork!"
Chen Laizi shuddered with fear and nearly fell to his knees. His eyes darted around, beads of sweat dripped down his forehead like beads from a broken string, and he stammered and began to make up lies: "Girl...you...you listen to me, this matter...it...it's not what you think!"
Chen Xiaoru sneered, folding her arms over her chest, and looked at him calmly: "Oh? Not what I thought? What then? Could it be that fat guy Wang Mazi forced it on you? He likes money so much, is he really willing to do charity? Otherwise, explain to me what you mean by 'not what I thought'?"
Chen Laizi was bewildered by Chen Xiaoru's barrage of questions. He opened his mouth but found he had no way of explaining himself. He was used to throwing tantrums around the village, but when he was in front of Chen Xiaoru, he was as timid as a quail.
"I...I..." Chen Laizi kept saying "I" for a long time but couldn't figure out what was going on. He was so anxious that he scratched his head and wished he could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.
Chen Xiaoru had no patience for wasting time with him. She slammed the table and shouted, "Chen Laizi! If you don't tell the truth, I'll tie you up and bring you before Wang Mazi, and have him personally have a 'good talk' with you about the whole story of this money."
Upon hearing this, Chen Laizi completely collapsed. He fell to his knees, hugged Chen Xiaoru's thighs and began to howl: "My dear! My dear, I was wrong! I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything! Please don't give me to Wang Mazi! He will skin me alive!"
Chen Xiaoru kicked him away in disgust: "Don't try that! Hurry up and tell me! Don't delay my meal!"
Chen Laizi rolled and crawled to his feet, and began to confess with tears and snot.
It turned out that Chen Laizi had been very lucky a few days ago and won a lot of money in the gambling house.
This made him become complacent and he felt like he was possessed by the God of Gamblers and was invincible.
As a result, he was soon targeted. The gang deliberately set up a trap, letting him win a small amount of money first, and then set up a trap when he completely let his guard down.
Chen Laizi was so frustrated by his losses and provoked by that group of people that he borrowed money from Wang Mazi's loan sharking lender without thinking.
"...and then...I lost more and more, and in the end...I owed so much..." After Chen Laizi finished speaking, he collapsed to the ground like a puddle of mud.
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