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Chu Yuqian was rendered speechless after a call from his son. He snorted and quickened his pace.
“Let’s hurry up and find Er Ya. It’s almost noon, and your mother didn’t prepare any dry food for us today. If we don’t get anything to eat, we’ll be hungry this afternoon.”
“Alright, Father,” Chu Dashan quickly followed him.
From a distance, Lu Dagui spotted the figures of Chu Youqian and Chu Dashan. He found it strange that these two, who were not exactly good people, were not at home celebrating the festival but had come to Banpo Village instead.
These two were not the types to visit during a festival unless they had bad intentions.
“Tiedan, stay inside. I’ll be back soon,” he said to his son before running towards Lu Xinghe’s house. When he saw the gate to Lu Xinghe’s courtyard, he shouted, “Lu Xinghe, your father-in-law and brother-in-law have come to Banpo Village!”
Inside the house, Chu Yue and Lu Xinghe exchanged a glance before heading out together.
“My father and my older brother are here?”
Although she had anticipated this, it still surprised her that they would come on the festival day. Usually, people didn’t visit a married daughter to ask for things during the holidays.
She quickly took off the hairpin from her head and hid it in her sleeve. Just then, she saw Chu Youqian and Chu Dashan coming around the corner.
Lu Dagui, noticing her actions, roughly understood what was happening. When Chu Youqian and Chu Dashan got closer, he put on a rogue expression and deliberately shouted, “Lu Xinghe, your family borrowed so much money to build your house. When do you plan to pay it back? Today, I’ve come with a few families from the village to collect the debt. Everyone is struggling, and you can’t just benefit while the rest of us suffer, can you?”
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Chu Yue’s lips, and she couldn’t help but give Lu Dagui a thumbs-up in her mind.
Sure enough, to deal with troublemakers, it was best to use troublemakers themselves.
Chu Youqian and Chu Dashan, hearing Lu Dagui’s words, were taken aback. They had thought that Lu Xinghe’s house was being renovated because of good luck, but it turned out they had borrowed money.
According to Lu Dagui, they must have borrowed quite a bit from others.
But since they were already here, it was awkward to leave without eating anything, so they decided to stay for a meal.
Lu Dagui pretended to notice the two of them and greeted them, “Oh! It’s father-in-law and brother-in-law. Could it be that Lu Xinghe borrowed money from you two? I’ll tell you, if he did borrow money, it’s time to collect it. His family is in so much debt, they’ll never pay it off in this lifetime.”
Lu Dagui’s reputation for being a scoundrel was well-known, so Chu Youqian believed him without question.
“Why did he borrow so much money?”
“Isn’t it for the house?” Lu Dagui sneered with a smug expression. “If you ask me, why build a house when you don’t have money? Just make do. Thinking borrowing money is a good way out.”
Chu Youqian awkwardly smiled, “That’s true.”
Chu Yue wasn’t very interested in her father and brother’s visit.
“My father and brother are here.”
Though it was the holiday, and it was a bit unpleasant to have people come to collect debts, they didn’t pay much attention to it.
Chu Dashan had sharp eyes and quickly noticed the chickens and ducks in the yard.
“Oh, you have so many chickens here?”
Lu Dagui raised an eyebrow and sneered, “Where did they get these chickens from? With so much debt, they probably have to use their possessions to pay off the interest.”
He then raised an eyebrow and looked at Chu Youqian and Chu Dashan.
“Did you two bring any money with you? How about lending some to Lu Xinghe to help him pay the debt? Don’t worry, although Lu Xinghe is poor, he’s trustworthy. I can be the middleman for you.” He patted his chest with confidence and then extended his pinky. “Just the repayment might take a little longer.”
Chu Youqian and Chu Dashan exchanged a glance and took a couple of steps back, distancing themselves from Lu Xinghe’s family.
“Our family’s situation, everyone in the neighboring villages knows. We can’t lend any money. Don’t joke around.”
Lu Dagui sighed dramatically, “What a pity. If you can’t lend any money, your daughter and Lu Xinghe might not have a good year. They might even go hungry.”
Chu Dashan looked indifferent. “Once a daughter is married, it’s her husband’s responsibility. Whether they’re doing well or not is none of our business, right?”
Lu Dagui smiled, curling one side of his lip.
“At that time, you might not be able to just say ‘it’s not our business.’ You have no idea how high the interest on the money Lu Xinghe borrowed is.” He spoke mysteriously, raising three fingers. “Father-in-law, you’ve been around Nanping Town for a long time, you should know how those people operate.”
Lu Dagui, a notorious scoundrel, was familiar with these matters, though he had heard about it more than experienced it firsthand.
Chu Youqian, who had long been active in gambling houses, knew more about interest rates than Lu Dagui. Seeing the three fingers raised by Lu Dagui, he inwardly gasped and hurriedly pulled Chu Dashan away from the situation.
“Since my daughter has already traded the pig to Lu Xinghe, she belongs to him now, and it’s no longer our business. From now on, don’t get involved with Niutou Village. Our two families have no relationship anymore.”
Watching the Chu father and son leave, Lu Dagui sighed. These two were really heartless. Not only did they sell their daughter so easily, but when things got difficult, they distanced themselves.
Originally, he thought Chu Yue would be upset by what her father and brother said, but when he looked at her, she just gave him a thumbs-up.
“Big Brother Dagui, you’re amazing! You managed to scare my father and brother so easily!”
Lu Dagui scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed.
Lu Dagui scratched his head, “I just couldn’t stand those two and came to notify you. I didn’t expect your father would say such nonsense. You won’t hold it against me, will you?”
Chu Yue quickly shook her head. “No, I’m used to it. I should be the one thanking you, Big Brother Dagui. Please wait for a moment.”
She ran into the kitchen, grabbed a small bowl, filled it with a handful of red dates and peanuts, and then came out, handing the bowl to Lu Dagui.
“Big Brother Dagui, take these back and give them to Tiedan to eat.”
Lu Dagui felt embarrassed to accept but also wanted to take these things back to supplement his son’s health. He hesitated, unsure whether to take them or not, his face full of awkwardness.
Without further ado, Chu Yue forced the bowl into his hands.
“Big Brother Dagui, just take it. You can bring the bowl back to me later.”
“Ah, no need for the bowl.”
Lu Dagui quickly poured the red dates and peanuts into his pocket, returned the bowl to Chu Yue, thanked her, and turned to leave.
As he looked at the dates and peanuts in his pocket, he suddenly felt that helping others was far more satisfying than doing scoundrel work.