Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 385 It's settled then.

Hei Zi's mother sighed heavily, stared blankly out the window for a while, took a breath and said to Huang Laowu, "No, there's still three thousand yuan at home. Auntie will take it to you. Auntie will figure out how to get the remaining five thousand at the end of the year, okay?" She raised her hand and wiped her eyes.

Old Huang's face twitched, and he said, "Auntie, we really didn't come here for money. We have a business partnership, and we make money. It's about 20,000 yuan a month, which we split among the three of us."

Hei Zi's mother paused for a moment, looked up at Huang Laowu, then at Lao Hou, and asked, "Young Hou, is what Laowu said true?"

Old Hou nodded and said, "It's true. Hei Zi has taken more than 20,000 yuan in the past few months, and then he borrowed 8,000 yuan from us. We just felt something was wrong. He might be gambling. That's why I came to tell you and your uncle. This can't go on. Aunt, what do you think? Is this going to end? Should we lend him money or not? A few thousand yuan a month isn't enough for him to squander."

Hei Zi's mother relaxed a lot, raised her hand to rub her face and said, "You two should just say what's on your mind, don't act all coy like that."

Huang Laowu said, "Auntie, I think there's only one way to handle this: cut off Heizi's money. We were originally planning to tell him directly if he were home today, and return the money he invested. Who would dare to partner with him now? But since he's not home, we don't need to return the money. What do you say, Lao Hou? Same as before, the three of us split the case into two parts, and the money will be delivered directly to you, Auntie."

Old Hou nodded and said, "Okay, I think this is better. But, Auntie, you have to keep this a secret. You should secretly save this money, and it's best not to tell even my uncle. If Hei Zi asks, just say we returned the money, 15,000 yuan, and after deducting the 8,000 yuan he borrowed, we gave you 7,000 yuan. Is that okay, Auntie?"

Hei Zi's mother asked, "That billiards game is quite lucrative, isn't it? Can you really earn six or seven thousand a month?"

Huang Laowu said, "We make money, but there's no fixed amount. It's normal for us to make more this month and less next month. There's no set rule. We have all the accounts, including how much we make each day, how much we earn each month, how much we spend, and how much we pay in taxes. You can go and check them later. The accounts are kept by the big boss, so they can't be faked."

Hei Zi's mother laughed and slapped Huang Laowu on the head, saying, "You little rascal, still talking to me about these things? Which of you didn't I watch grow up naked? As for that money, you don't need to send it to me every month. Just keep it with you. It'll be a problem sooner or later if you take it back. Just keep it for me for now, and we'll talk about it when we need the money or when Hei Zi has changed his ways. I'll tell Hei Zi that Ai returned it, seven thousand, right? That's all."

Old Hou said, "Alright, it's settled then. To be honest, Auntie, Lao Wu and I have been thinking about this for several days, and we just don't feel it's a good idea. If we back out, it won't work out. But if we don't back out, will Hei Zi ever be satisfied? Wouldn't that be harming him?"

Hei Zi's mother said, "Yes, you're right, you two are good children. If things continue like this, this family is pretty much doomed. If he causes trouble for you two, beat him up, beat him to death, you hear me?"

Huang Laowu laughed, stood up and said, "Alright, now that's settled, we can rest assured. We'll head back now; we still have to watch the shop."

Hei Zi's mother said, "Okay, you two go back now, work hard, and save up some money."

Huang Laowu and Lao Hou agreed and went out the door to walk back. After walking quite a distance, Lao Hou punched a few times and said, "Damn it, what kind of mess is this? They made such a scene out of nothing. If he dares to ask me, I'll definitely beat him up."

Huang Laowu put his arm around Lao Hou's shoulder and said, "Alright, isn't this good? The matter is resolved and we don't owe him anything. Hey, can you find a way to raise some more money? Let's take on a few more cases."

Old Hou asked, "Did you talk to Xiaowei? What did he say?"

Huang Laowu said, "This is a huge sum of money for us, but they didn't even look at it. Xiaowei said that we should contribute as much as we can, and Director Liu over there will contribute the rest. He then told us to save up the money, and when we have saved enough, he will give us his share. They simply didn't care about the little money they could earn from billiards."

Old Hou said, "You're really planning to save up to take over his share?"

Huang Laowu said, "If they don't want to do it, we'll just take it on once we've raised enough money, what's wrong with that?"

Old Hou shook his head and said, "I don't think we should take it. Xiao Wei is a reliable person; we won't lose out by working with him. If we take him, we'll ruin our relationship, and that would be a real loss. Do you think I'm right?"

Huang Laowu thought for a moment and said, "Then let's continue this partnership?"

Old Hou said, "There are plenty of opportunities to make money in other people's eyes. Once we've saved up enough money, we can just stick around doing whatever he does. Xiao Wei isn't a loner. As long as we get along well, he won't hog any good opportunities."

Huang Laowu nodded and said, "Okay, I'll do as you say. So, how are we going to do it this time? Only two of us?"

Old Hou said, "Let's try to put together four cards. I think if we both work hard, we can manage. Then we can give one to Hei Zi and split the remaining five between us."

Huang Laowu shook his head and said, "No, let's just leave it as it is. The three of us will split those two, and the two of us will split these four. Otherwise, it will cause trouble if it goes on for too long, and we'll end up pleasing neither side."

Old Hou thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you. Oh dear, money, once it gets involved, it's all trouble."

Huang Laowu sighed and sang: "Money, you are a knife that kills without drawing blood. Who manufactured banknotes, allowing you to act tyrannically in the world? Some people sell their children for you, some people go to jail for you..." The voices of the two hoarse voices drifted further and further away in the night with the gentle breeze.

Xiaowei is checking Xiaobing's homework right now, while Xiaobing is standing to the side, holding a pig's trotter and gnawing on it, his face and hands covered in oil.

Closing the workbook, Xiaowei said, "You did alright today, you got everything right, but your handwriting is too ugly. You'd better practice tomorrow, understand?" He tapped Xiaobing on the head with the workbook, and Xiaobing nodded while chewing on his meat tendon.

Xiaowei's mother sat on the edge of the bed mending Xiaobing's clothes. She opened the pocket and said, "Xiaowei, your older brother wrote to say that he's transferred to the volunteer army. He's dating someone now, and he might stay there and not come back."

Xiaowei placed Xiaobing's homework on Xiaobing's schoolbag and said, "What did my brother say? Do you believe him?"

Xiaowei's mother said, "The letter is with your dad. It says things are going well now. He's been transferred to the volunteer army and stayed there. The leader introduced him to someone, someone with great conditions. Her dad is some kind of cadre in the township, and she's their only daughter."

Xiao Wei asked, "Do you want to go take a look?"

(End of this chapter)