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

Chapter 67 Prove your innocence
Chen Wenjun gave her three yuan, saying, "I know A-Qiang is unreasonable. You wouldn't have come to me if you were really desperate. I just spent the money this morning on a bunch of materials, and this is all the spare cash I have."

Zhou Meili clutched the money, tears streaming down her face. She forced a smile and mustered her courage to speak, "I came over today and found no one at your house, and there was blood on the fishing boat. I was worried something had happened to you."

"Hey! It's nothing! There were thieves on the boat. It happened once before, they ransacked my house. We put some traps in there afterward. We were robbed again yesterday, but the damn thieves didn't get away with it. These bloodstains must be from the thieves. We'll just wipe them off when it rains in a few days and everything will be fine."

Chen Wenjun spoke casually, but Zhou Meili's mind went blank.

She didn't even know how she got home. It was late at night, and there was still no sign of Zheng Aqiang. The resentment and desolation in her heart had nowhere to go, so she could only secretly shed tears. The more she cried, the more heartbroken she became, from the initial sobbing to the final wailing.

The commotion was so loud that all the fishing boats around heard it, but no one came out to take a look.

Zheng Aqiang was gone for two days. When he returned home with a gloomy face, he found that Zhou Meili was not there. He was so angry that he cursed and asked the Tanka people next door.

Everyone shook their heads in response.

Zheng Aqiang assumed Zhou Meili had gone back to her parents' home and didn't pay much attention. His mind was preoccupied with losing money, and he became increasingly angry. He kicked the small table over.

After the commotion, he was hungry and couldn't find anything to eat after searching the house. Then he thought of Chen Wenjun, and his eyes instantly turned fierce. "You bastard, how dare you plot against me! I'll see how I kill you!"

He remembered seeing a little girl at Chen Wenjun's house that day. She seemed to be a healthy child and could fetch a good price. But he needed to eat something first and then snatch that brat later.

Having made up his mind, Zheng Aqiang smiled wickedly and left home again.

It was late at night, and the city was quiet except for the streetlights on both sides of the road. He knew the way well and sneaked into a nearby village. Just as he was about to make his move, he was discovered.

"Who goes there? Help! Thief!"

This shout startled Zheng Aqiang, who fled the village with all his might. He had just escaped when he got itchy again and wanted to try his luck once more.

It took Chen Wenjun about five days to finish installing the cement slab on the second floor.

Once the cement slab is knocked down, it will take about three more days before the brick wall can be continued.

Lin Yi looked at the house in front of him and smiled, his face crinkling with wrinkles. "Great! This house is finally habitable. We won't have to live in a plastic shed every day anymore!"

Although plastic sheds can provide shelter from wind and rain, they are not proper roofs, and could be fatal in the event of a typhoon.

Now that the first floor is finished, they can live however they want without worrying about wind or rain.

Chen Wenjun was also excited. After paying the wages, he gave each of Zhang Yongquan and the others a bag of fish and snails.

I just dropped them off at the Nanxi River.

A group of people carrying sticks approached Chen Wenjun's fishing boat menacingly.

Without saying a word, they rushed up and surrounded Chen Wenjun.

"What are you doing?" Chen Wenjun looked at the people in front of him in a panic, making sure that he had not provoked these thugs at all. Could it be that they were targeting him because he was selling fish?
Just as Chen Wenjun was completely baffled, Gao Lei's henchman struck Chen Wenjun with a stick without saying a word, angrily shouting, "Paying back debts is a matter of course, don't pretend you're stupid!"

Chen Wenjun winced in pain, his eyes blazing with fury. "I didn't borrow any money from you, why should I pay you back?"

Gao Lei grinned wickedly and squatted down. "Zheng Aqiang said you owe him a thousand yuan, and he owes us five hundred yuan. Now he can't pay, so we'll collect this debt for him! Hurry up and pay up, or you'll suffer less. Otherwise, my brothers won't hold back, and it won't be fun!" Chen Wenjun was so angry that his veins bulged, and he roared with all his might, "I don't owe him money, he owes me money!"

Gao Lei's face darkened, and he took a slip of paper from his henchman. "Look carefully, this is your IOU!"

Chen Wenjun sat up, leaned closer to take a closer look, and felt a tightness in his chest, unable to breathe. "You've been tricked. I'm illiterate, I can't even write my own name properly, and I only recently started recognizing my own name. This isn't my handwriting, I can't recognize it."

"Not your handwriting?" Gao Lei's eyes widened in anger, but he didn't immediately believe Chen Wenjun.

He stood up and kicked the henchman next to him, "Get down here and get me some paper and a pen!"

At this moment, Gao Lei was on the verge of going berserk, and his underlings were all trembling with fear, not daring to even breathe.

The paper and pen arrived a little late, and the younger brother got kicked in the butt again, looking aggrieved. "Big brother, I've tried my best. There isn't even a convenience store around here. If you hadn't stolen the child's schoolbag, I wouldn't have been able to find paper and pen either."

Gao Lei: "."

"Who told you to snatch the child? You bastard!" Gao Lei cursed and swore, and then launched into several more fierce attacks.

The younger brother didn't dare to fight back even when he was beaten.

Once the paper and pen were placed in front of Chen Wenjun, Gao Lei put away the IOU, looked down at him, and said coldly, "Write it! Write your name!"

Chen Wenjun shuddered slightly, but still picked up the pen and wrote his name stroke by stroke.

A group of thugs gathered around, watching Chen Wenjun write and comparing the signature on the IOU.

By the time Chen Wenjun finished writing, Gao Lei's face had turned completely dark.

The younger brother said timidly, "Big brother, this handwriting really doesn't look like it! You've been fooled by Zheng Aqiang."

Gao Lei, who valued his reputation above all else, was so angry that he jumped up and down, roaring to the sky, "Zheng Aqiang, you're dead!"

A group of people stormed off the ship. Chen Wenjun, panting heavily after surviving the ordeal, saw them almost gone and ran off the ship to catch up, calling out, "Wait a minute!"

Gao Lei and his group stopped, frowning and looking at Chen Wenjun strangely. "What are you doing?"

Chen Wenjun swallowed hard, then mustered his courage and said, "Are you going to settle scores with Zheng Aqiang? Can you take me with you? I want to ask him why he did this to me!"

After a moment's thought, Gao Lei agreed.

He also wanted to know if the IOU was genuine, or if Zheng Aqiang was just trying to fool him.
Meanwhile, Zheng Aqiang was also anxiously waiting for Gao Lei's news. In his opinion, Chen Wenjun was timid and cowardly, and Gao Lei had a bad temper. As long as Gao Lei made a move and threatened him a few times, Chen Wenjun would take out some money to pay back even if he didn't have that much money.

He wasn't afraid when Chen Wenjun called the police afterward. He was a bachelor, and at worst he'd be arrested and locked up for a few years. He'd have food and drink and wouldn't die. He'd just get through this ordeal first.

Just as he was trying to comfort himself, Gao Lei returned.

Zheng Aqiang suddenly stood up, but before he could speak, he noticed that Chen Wenjun had also arrived. His legs went weak, and he knelt down.

(End of this chapter)