After leaving the pharmacy, Chen Mo saw that there was nothing else he needed to buy, so he went straight to the bank and withdrew some cash. He figured he might need money when he got home.
There were no banks in the village, so carrying cash would be more convenient. Besides, ever since he had obtained the Universe Bead, it had become incredibly convenient to carry all sorts of things with him. It would even make thieves cry themselves unconscious—they would not be able to steal anything even if they wanted to.
He originally had plenty of money on him, but he had spent some earlier, so he withdrew more and stored it inside the Universe Bead for convenience when he needed it.
Once he had handled nearly everything, he directly bought a ticket for the rural long-distance bus and headed home.
While Chen Mo was on his way home, Zhang Liwei also had someone begin investigating him. Although he had spoken nicely during the Stone Gambling, those had merely been polite words. He would never take them seriously. As an aristocratic family disciple, he had suffered such a huge loss at Chen Mo's hands. If he could not win back both face and profit, if he could not vent this resentment, then he would not be Second Young Master Zhang. Naturally, sending someone to investigate Chen Mo was only reasonable. As for how he would deal with Chen Mo once the investigation was complete, that would be decided later.
The Zhang family held considerable influence in West City. Everywhere Chen Mo went after leaving Culture Street, as well as his destination when he bought his ticket at the rural long-distance bus station, was gathered and delivered to Zhang Liwei.
After Nangong Xue returned to the company, she also had someone investigate Chen Mo. However, she only found him somewhat interesting and wanted to look into him first; she had no particular designs on him. Once she received the information, she had it collected and stored. It might prove useful someday.
Zhang Liwei learned where Chen Mo had gone, but after returning home, he received a task from the family. He could only put his revenge against Chen Mo on hold for now. However, he would not let the matter end like this. Once he finished the task, he would definitely not spare Chen Mo.
Chen Mo was currently in West City, the provincial capital of Qin Province. His hometown lay deep in the Qinling Mountains, where there was no railway access, so he could only travel home by long-distance bus. He also had to transfer twice, so the journey was bound to be troublesome.
He first took a long-distance coach to Chang County Town, then caught another bus from the county bus station to Penghua Town. There, he found a small van that took him to his front door. The entire trip took more than three hours before he finally arrived home.
By the time he reached his doorstep, the sky had already grown quite dark. It was the perfect time to take out all his luggage so he could bring out the things he had bought for his parents and everyone else.
Chen Mo's family had originally lived at the foot of the mountain. However, a few years ago, the county launched a road-building project connecting every village, so many villagers bought residential plots by the roadside and built new houses. His family had also bought a new plot and built a house then, but because they did not have much money, it was only a single-story brick-and-tile house.
After getting off the car, he stood by the roadside. Just beyond the courtyard gate was his home, and quite a few houses nearby were already brightly lit.
However, Chen Mo saw a group of people gathered outside his family's gate. From inside the courtyard came a shrill voice that was rather unpleasant to hear.
"Jianguo, it's not that I want to criticize you! With your family's circumstances, if you keep dragging this out, who knows whether you'll ever be able to repay the money you borrowed? Isn't this better? Just transfer this house and the residential plot directly to my nephew, and the debt will be cleared. Why are you being so stubborn?"
"Exactly! Lan Meizi is only doing this because she sees that your family is financially strapped and has thoughtfully considered your actual situation. Why can't you be more open-minded?"
Listening from outside the courtyard, Chen Mo did not immediately understand what was going on. Still, he could roughly guess that someone had come to collect a debt. Although it was getting dark, he could still see clearly enough. There were lights inside and outside the courtyard—those white energy-saving bulbs illuminated the place quite well.
Looking through the crowd outside, he saw his father squatting in the courtyard and smoking while his mother cried nearby. In an instant, anger surged through his chest.
"Who the hell is running her mouth? Get the fuck out!" Chen Mo shoved aside the crowd watching the spectacle and strode into the courtyard.
"Oh! Old Chen's eldest son is back. That's good! Shouldn't you think about repaying your family's debt? Don't go off to school and learn nothing useful, only to learn how to brag like a toad!" the shrill voice said again in a sarcastic tone.
His father and mother were both somewhat excited when they saw Chen Mo return. His mother hurried over and said, "Er Wa, you're back!"
Er Wa was Chen Mo's childhood nickname. Back in his hometown, people believed children should be raised humbly so they could grow up healthy and safe. Thus, the names given casually to children were usually very ordinary.
"Mom! I'm back. Go inside and sit down first. Dad and I will handle this matter today!" Seeing the gray at his mother's temples, Chen Mo felt a pang of sorrow. However, this was not the time for an emotional reunion, so he had his mother go inside while he stepped forward to deal with the situation.
Looking at her son's broad shoulders, Chen Mo's mother felt reassured. Her child had grown up and knew how to care for his mother.
Although his father was squatting in the courtyard, seeing his son also gave him peace of mind. He had worked himself to the bone for this family, all so his sons could have a promising future. As for the current situation, he was not overly worried. At worst, he could swallow his pride and borrow some money from the boys' maternal uncle to tide them over. It should not be too much of a problem.
Although Chen Mo's dad did not say anything, he had already thought the matter through clearly.
"Tell me what happened." Chen Mo looked at the shrill-voiced woman and asked. He knew this woman too. They were from the same village and even shared the same surname. Her name was Chen Xianglan. But she was no easy person to deal with. Any matter involving her never ended well. Her skill at street-corner insults was unmatched for miles around, earning her the nickname Rotten Mouth Chen.
In the village, most of the villagers thoroughly disliked this woman. However, she was also a snob. She did not provoke capable people, families with many members, village officials, or wealthy people. As for everyone else, they could forget about taking even the slightest advantage of her. Seeing Rotten Mouth Chen, Chen Mo felt thoroughly disgusted.
"Er Wa, don't look at me like that. Even if you glare at me, money owed still has to be repaid. It's only right and proper to pay back debts!" Rotten Mouth Chen was not frightened by Chen Mo's glare. She had seen that kind of look countless times; it meant nothing to her.
"Dad! How did our family end up owing her money? How much do we owe?" Chen Mo turned to ask his father. He found Rotten Mouth Chen utterly revolting and did not want to speak to her. But based on what he knew of his parents, they should never have borrowed money from her. Even if they starved to death, they would not borrow from someone like her!
"What's there to ask? I'll explain it!" Rotten Mouth Chen was quick with her mouth and began explaining before Chen Mo's father could speak.
After a barrage of chatter mixed with her wild local expressions, Rotten Mouth Chen recounted the matter, and Chen Mo understood most of it.
Because of last year's drought, the harvest from the fields had not been very good. To buy pesticides, fertilizer, and seeds for the following year, as well as pay his younger brother's tuition, Chen Mo's father had borrowed 10,000 yuan from a family in the village with whom they had a fairly good relationship. They had agreed on a repayment date and interest.
But misfortunes came without warning. At the end of the year, Chen Mo's mother had been hospitalized due to illness. That hospitalization made the family's finances even worse. Yet his parents did not contact Chen Mo or his younger brother and stubbornly bore the burden themselves. As a result, when the borrowed money came due a month ago, they could only repay the interest.
Chen Mo's dad could only write a new IOU and agree with the lender to repay the money the following year. But unexpectedly, Rotten Mouth Chen's nephew wanted to open a shop beside the road. Land was currently very difficult to obtain and approve, so he came up with another scheme. After hearing that Chen Mo's family owed money, he spent 14,000 Yuan to buy the IOU and then forced Chen Mo's dad to sell the family's residential plot to him.
Although the person who had lent Chen Mo's dad the money had a fairly good relationship with the family, faced with a profit of 2,000 Yuan, making money naturally came first. He sold the IOU without any regard for their relationship or any thought of whether it was legally feasible. Most rural people cared deeply about money and loved taking advantage of bargains.
Since the original debt was only 10,000 yuan, and the new interest brought it to 12,000 yuan, Rotten Mouth Chen's nephew wanted to add another 8,000 yuan as compensation in exchange for Chen Mo's house and residential plot.
That way, Chen Mo's family would no longer owe any money, while he would spend only 22,000 Yuan to obtain a location for his shop. It was simply a good deed that killed two birds with one stone.
This elementary school student shyly asks for some votes here. I hope all readers can cast one. I would be immensely grateful, with tears in my eyes!
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