Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Chapter 65 Revenge
He was certain that Chen Wenjun would come to him to make up in a couple of days. They had had many conflicts in the past, and Chen Wenjun was always the one to apologize. Even if Chen Wenjun didn't come to him, he had a way to make Chen Wenjun compromise!

Seeing Zheng Aqiang leave, Lin Yi immediately started cursing, "What a bastard! He comes to our door asking for money the moment he sees us, Wenjun, how can you be brothers with someone like that?"

He now suspects that Chen Wenjun may have a problem judging people.

Chen Wenjun's face was tense. He went into the cabin and then carefully explained to Lin Yi, "His name is Zheng Aqiang. We grew up together. He wasn't like this before. He gradually learned bad things from others. He was lazy, liked to take shortcuts, and later became addicted to gambling."

Ever since he started gambling, I haven't spent much time with him anymore. Because I needed to support Ping An, he borrowed money from me a few times, but I refused to lend him any more. That bastard is ruthless; when he saw I wasn't willing to lend him money, he robbed me. That day in the alley, it wasn't Liu Yongguo who knocked me unconscious, it was him.

Lin Yi looked shocked. "How did you know?"

If that's the case, then they've wronged Liu Yongguo! They even asked the Liu family for fifty yuan!

Chen Wenjun offered a vague explanation, saying, "I only found out later when I suspected something was wrong and secretly investigated."

Lin Yi could accept this explanation and didn't press further. He just angrily cursed, "That's really shameless! He beat you up, stole your money, and now he's smirking and asking to borrow money. Let me tell you, be careful when you encounter this kind of scoundrel! Who knows what other tricks he might pull!"

Seeing that Chen Wenjun was no longer on good terms with Zheng Aqiang, Chen Ping'an smiled and mustered up his courage to complain, "Dad, every time you argue with that bad guy, he secretly comes to me and threatens me. He says I should persuade you to make up with him, or he will beat me to death and throw me into the water when you're not home."

I don't like that bad guy; he forced me to say those things!

Thinking of his past experiences, Chen Ping'an trembled all over.

This was the first time Chen Wenjun and his wife had heard about this in their two lifetimes, and their expressions immediately changed.

Lin Yi pulled Chen Ping'an into his arms with heartache, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. From now on, Grandpa will be with you. That bad guy will definitely not be able to threaten you again!"

Seeing Chen Wenjun's angry face, Lin Qin quickly patted his shoulder and said seriously, "It seems that Zheng Aqiang is even more shameless than we thought. We must teach him a lesson!"

Threatening even children shows a complete lack of moral boundaries.

Lin Yi hurriedly said, "Hide anything valuable we have on board right away. I just saw him staring at the cabin; he clearly has ill intentions!"

Lin Qin nodded. "We'll stay in Nanyu tonight. We've hidden all our belongings up in the mountains. Once the gate is closed, we'll be safe."

Lin Yi was relieved.

For the next two days, Lin Qin went to the construction site to cook in the morning as usual, while Chen Wenjun went out to sell fish early in the morning. When the couple returned at noon, they still had to do their own things.

Zheng Aqiang waited for two days, but Chen Wenjun did not back down. At this point, he didn't even have a penny left. He wanted to use the same trick again and threaten Chen Ping'an to make Chen Wenjun give in. However, he found that Chen Ping'an was following Lin Yi closely and never left his side.

It made him furious.

After staking out the spot for several days without finding an opportunity, he resolutely chose to steal!
Around 7 or 8 a.m., Lin Yi would take his two children to the river to collect snails. He estimated that they would be away from the fishing boat for more than an hour, which would be the perfect time to start.

He timed it perfectly and used the tools he had prepared beforehand to pry open the lock on the cabin door, which took him less than five minutes.

The three members of the family, who were busy working with their heads down, didn't notice anything.

Zheng Aqiang's lips curled into a smug, wicked smile. He closed the cabin door and went straight to the aft cabin.

All the fishing boats have the same layout, so Zheng Aqiang felt right at home once he got in. He knew the way well, and after avoiding obstacles, he quickly arrived at his destination.

There's only so much stuff in the back cabin; the valuables are definitely kept in the locked alleyway. Just one.

Zheng Aqiang quickly pried open the lock and excitedly searched inside, but found nothing of value. Undeterred, he planned to search other areas when he heard a noise coming from the deck.

He was startled and cautiously peeked out the window. Finding that Lin Yi and the two children couldn't see him, he carefully climbed out of the window, went around to the stern of the five-awning boat, jumped into the shallow water, and quickly waded away.

Lin Yi and his two companions boarded the boat only to find that the lock had been pried open. They immediately panicked. The three of them, grandfather, grandson, and granddaughter, each grabbed a stick, mustered their courage, opened the cabin door, and looked inside carefully. There was no one there!
The three men gritted their teeth and walked toward the rear cabin, waving sticks haphazardly as they went, until they discovered that the lock on the box in the rear cabin had been pried open, but there was no sign of the thief. He was so angry that he jumped up and down on the spot.

Chen Wenjun and his wife just got back.

Liu Yaya ran into Lin Qin's arms in fear, crying, "Mommy, our house has been robbed!"

Lin Qin's expression changed.

Based on the two children's account, the two men roughly guessed who did it.

Chen Wenjun was so angry that his teeth itched. With both old and new grudges combined, he was unwilling to tolerate it any longer. "I'll go get some things. For the next period of time, you will all stay in Nanyu. Don't make a fuss. Don't stay on the fishing boats for now."

Zheng Aqiang is a man who will not give up until he achieves his goal. He will definitely come back again if he fails this time. He will make a good arrangement on the fishing boat and give Zheng Aqiang a lesson he will never forget!

While Lin Yi was angry, he was also worried that Zheng Aqiang would come again. If they really faced each other, he probably wouldn't be able to beat him, so he did as Chen Wenjun said.

For the next few days, the couple kept a close watch on him, and Zheng Aqiang seemed to have disappeared, never showing his face again.

Chen Wenjun also sped up, and it took him about ten days to set up the traps on the fishing boat.

Once the trap is set, the cabin can no longer be opened.

The two simply used the fishing boat as a means of transportation.

Another half month passed, and Zheng Aqiang felt that the storm had passed. Since he was short of money, he set his sights on Chen Wenjun again.

This time, I arrived around 7 a.m. as usual.

Seeing the fishing boat moored by the stream with the cabin door locked and Lin Yi and the two children not nearby, Zheng Aqiang was overjoyed. He boarded the five-awning boat with practiced ease, and just as he pried open the lock and crawled inside, a shrill scream came from the cabin.

Zheng Aqiang, clutching a bloody, mangled eye, stumbled off the fishing boat, bleeding all the way.

When Chen Wenjun and Lin Qin returned, they saw the congealed bloodstains on the deck and looked at each other in dismay.

Chen Wenjun stopped Lin Qin, "You wait outside, I'll go in and take a look."

He set the trap; only he could avoid it.
Lin Qin waited anxiously outside for a while, and when she saw Chen Wenjun come out safely, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "How did it go?"

Chen Wenjun didn't react much. "The first trap was triggered, but the others weren't touched. It looks like we fell as soon as we went in. I just don't know how badly we're injured."

The traps he set up were somewhat like fishing; the fish would fall into the net and trigger some small hidden weapons. If no one went in or discovered them in advance, they could be avoided.

Experienced fishermen can tell that people like Zheng Aqiang, who just coast along, are very likely to fall for the scam.

(End of this chapter)