Chapter 91 Old Eight Comes Knocking
"Cuckoo, cuckoo," Wang Ergou heard the cuckoo's call, quickly put on his shoes and got out of bed, limping to the door. This was the secret signal he and Lao Ba had agreed on; Lao Ba must have come to bring him silver.
"Meow, meow." Wang Ergou meowed twice, and Lao Ba came out from the wall, beckoning to Wang Ergou with a dark face. Wang Ergou was oblivious to the situation and didn't realize that Lao Ba was acting strangely. However, it might be because it was dark. He quickly followed, limping.
Once they reached a secluded spot, Lao Ba quickly circled behind Wang Er Gou, covered his mouth, and began punching him repeatedly in the stomach. Wang Er Gou struggled desperately in pain, not understanding why Lao Ba was beating him: "Waaah, waaah!"
After Lao Ba had taught Wang Ergou a lesson, he grabbed Wang Ergou by the neck and slammed him against the wall, gritting his teeth and angrily saying, "You son of a bitch, you actually colluded with three women to swindle my money! You want to die, don't you? I'll grant your wish today. Tell me, how do you want to die!"
Wang Ergou was completely dumbfounded: "Cough cough, what are you saying, Brother Ba? I don't understand. When did I cheat you out of money? Could it be... you didn't come here to give me money?"
Old Eight was so angry he almost laughed: "You son of a bitch, I'll give you your grandma's leg! You colluded with those three women to cheat me out of my money, and you still want me to give you money? I'll send you to the Western Paradise, you son of a bitch! Wang Ergou, I didn't expect that even after you had your leg cut off, you'd become bolder and even dare to cheat me. Humph, my money isn't so easy to spend!"
"You cheated me out of ten taels of silver, I want you to give me back ten times that amount! If you're short even a single copper coin, I'll take your lives!"
Wang Ergou finally understood. He tried to pry Lao Ba's hand open: "Brother Ba, let go of me. Let's talk this out."
Lao Ba released Wang Ergou: "Speak! If you don't give me an explanation today, this day next year will be your death anniversary!"
Wang Ergou rubbed his neck, which had been pinched so hard, and said in a low voice while panting, "Brother Ba, didn't Wu Xincao and Wang Dani send you the willow leaves?"
Old Eight snorted coldly and said angrily, "Hmph! After Wu Xincao and Wang Dani delivered the person, I gave Wu Xincao ten taels of silver. But as soon as they left, that Liu Ye ran away. When I found her, she was with Wu Xincao and Wang Dani. They even used my silver to sell a whole bunch of things. You sons of bitches, don't tell me you didn't know. You two were conspiring to cheat me. I won't let any of you get away with this!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Ergou realized he had been wronged terribly. He genuinely had no idea: "Brother Ba, you're innocent! I truly had no idea those three would conspire to deceive you. I was deceived by them too! The day before yesterday, Wu Xincao came to me saying she wanted to sell Liu Ye and asked me to introduce her to a human trafficker. I believed her! Brother Ba, don't you know how bold I am? Even if you gave me eight lives, I wouldn't dare to deceive you!"
“Wu Xincao is my cousin’s daughter. That brat has been wicked since she was little. I bet the idea to trick you was hers. Give me three days. I’ll go find her and get the money back. If she doesn’t give me the money, I’ll go to her father. My cousin is the village chief. If he doesn’t want his daughter’s shameful deeds to be known, he’ll definitely give me the money readily. Eighth Brother, go back and wait for my news. I’ll come find you as soon as I get the money.”
Old Eight had no choice but to say: "Fine, I'll give you three days. If you haven't given me any news by then, I'll chop you into eight pieces!"
Wang Ergou quickly nodded: "Yes, yes, take care, myna, just wait for my good news."
Old Eight's figure disappeared into the night. Wang Ergou slumped to the ground, utterly exhausted. "Damn bitch, how dare you scheme against me! You just wait!"
Wang Ergou grew angrier and angrier. He couldn't wait until tomorrow. He crawled off the ground and limped to Village Chief Wu's house, banging loudly on the door.
The urgent knocking woke up the entire Wu family. Wu, his face dark, put on his clothes and shoes and went to the door, shouting, "Who is it? Can't you say what you need to say tomorrow? Why do you have to come in the middle of the night!"
Wang Ergou whispered into the doorway, "Uncle, it's me, Wang Ergou. Come out for a moment, I need to talk to you."
When Village Chief Wu heard it was Wang Ergou, he got even angrier, thinking he'd been caught stealing chickens and dogs and was going to ask him for money to pay compensation: "You son of a bitch, I don't have any money to lend you, get lost!"
Upon hearing that Village Chief Wu had misunderstood, Wang Ergou quickly whispered, "Uncle, please open the door for me. I didn't steal any chickens or dogs; it's your Xincao's business."
Village Chief Wu was stunned when he heard this. What happened to Xincao? He quickly opened the door: "Wang Ergou, what nonsense are you talking about? What happened to my Xincao?"
Wang Ergou told Village Chief Wu everything from how Wuxincao found him, how she got him to contact the human traffickers, and how Lao Ba found him. Village Chief Wu almost fainted from anger after hearing it. That brat dared to provoke human traffickers! Did she not want to live, or did she not want his family to live?
Village Chief Wu reached up and touched his forehead; he was genuinely a little dizzy. "Wang Ergou, you go back first. I'll give you a message tomorrow at noon. I can't just believe your word. I need to ask Xincao. If it's true, I'll return the ten taels of silver to Lao Ba. You can go back now!"
When Wang Ergou heard that returning ten taels of silver was not an option, he realized that Lao Ba had been tricked, and so had he. He had to compensate them.
Wang Ergou curled his lip and said in a roguish tone, "Uncle, you must not have understood what I said. Lao Ba said that Xincao tricked him and he wants ten times the compensation, otherwise this matter is not over."
Upon hearing this, Village Chief Wu exclaimed, "What?! Ten times the compensation, one hundred taels of silver! Isn't Wang Ergou trying to extort me?!" He was furious and immediately pointed at Wang Ergou, saying, "Wang Ergou, don't try to extort me! Xincao took eighty taels of silver, so I'll only give her ten taels back. I won't give her a single extra copper coin. Get out of here!"
Wang Ergou wasn't easily intimidated. He snorted coldly and said, "Uncle, don't blame me for not warning you. It's fine if you offend me, Ergouzi, but if you offend Lao Ba, your whole family will suffer. I must see the money before noon tomorrow!"
"Hmph!" Wang Ergou snorted coldly and limped away into the darkness.
Village Chief Wu's chest heaved with anger. He slammed the front door shut, bolted it behind him, and then kicked open Wu Xincao's bedroom door. Wu Xincao screamed in fright and shrank back into the kang (heated brick bed) clutching her blanket, yelling, "Ah!"
Hearing the shouts coming from Wu Xincao's hut, Granny Wu ran over barefoot: "What's wrong, husband? What are you doing?"
As she spoke, Granny Wu climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed) and hugged Wu Xincao to her chest. Village Chief Wu lit the oil lamp, pointed angrily at Wu Xincao, and said, "Tell me, is what Wang Ergou said true? Did you really collude with Wang Dani and Liu Ye to swindle ten taels of silver from Lao Ba?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com