Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

The loud crash of the collapsing gate woke the two children.

Seeing this, Su Wanqing quickly stepped forward, hugged the two children to her left and right, and gently comforted them, "Yuanyuan, Shitou, be good, don't cry, Mommy's here, it's alright, it's alright."

After a while of comforting, the two children gradually calmed down, but they were still sobbing and choking, clearly quite frightened.

Zhao Lei, who was standing nearby, saw this and felt heartbroken.

It's bad enough that Lai Mazi cheated him, but he also bullied his wife and children like this in the middle of the night!

If this is how things are now that he's back, how much bullying did these orphans and widows suffer when he wasn't home?

Zhao Lei grew angrier the more he thought about it, and said in a deep voice, "Wanqing, take good care of the child, I'll handle this."

"Brother Sanshi, don't be impulsive!"

Su Wanqing was worried about her husband and wanted to go with him, but the two children were still clinging to her and sobbing softly, so she could only stay and comfort them first.

On the other side, Zhao Lei turned around, took out a kerosene lamp from the corner of the earthen wall, lit it with a match, and went into the courtyard.

Three figures stood in the courtyard. In the dim light, Zhao Lei immediately recognized the leader as Lai Mazi, and the other two as his cronies.

In the memories of the original body, these three were notorious scoundrels in the entire production brigade, spending their days slacking off, being lazy and greedy.

Across from him, Lai Mazi, also holding a kerosene lamp, looked at Zhao Lei and said sarcastically, "Hey, isn't this our Brother Lei? Haven't seen you for half a year, huh? You've made it big out there?"

Suppressing his anger, Zhao Lei asked in a low voice, "Lai Mazi, while I was away, you guys bullied my wife and children quite a bit, didn't you?"

Lai Mazi chuckled: "Haha, Brother Lei, you're being too polite! We're all brothers, and it's only right to stand up for your friend's wife. That's the code of the martial world."

You go out to make big money, how can you manage without a man to take care of the family?

"Thanks to your brothers for taking good care of you, these beautiful wives of yours are able to live in peace, aren't they?"

The two men next to him immediately chimed in, "That's right! You have no idea how many men in the village have their eyes on your wife and her husband!"

Every few days, a bunch of idlers loiter outside the courtyard! If it weren't for us guys keeping an eye on you, Lei-ge, you'd be wearing countless hats by now!

Upon hearing this, Zhao Lei's anger surged: "Stop talking nonsense! I know exactly what you're up to! It's too late now, we'll talk about it tomorrow!"

Lai Mazi stepped forward, a wicked grin on his face: "Zhao Lei, you really think we're giving you face? The thousand yuan you owe us, you have to pay it back today!"

Zhao Lei frowned: "What? A thousand yuan? I only owed five hundred!"

"Five hundred? That was a figure from six months ago! More than half a year has passed, doesn't that accrue interest?"

A thousand dollars might be insignificant in later generations, but this is 1978!

The village is currently still a production brigade, mainly operating on a work point system.

Even a strong, able-bodied man like Zhao Lei, after working himself to the bone all day, would only earn ten work points, which amounted to just a few cents.

Even if you work hard for a whole month, earning around ten yuan is considered a very good income.

Lai Mazi demanded a thousand yuan right off the bat, a huge sum that no one could possibly repay!

The predecessor was forced to abandon his family and run away because of this debt of five hundred yuan.

Zhao Lei glanced at the other man: "Lai Mazi, you dare to ask for such an exorbitant amount, a thousand yuan? In our entire production brigade, who can come up with that much money at once?"

"I don't care! Paying back debts is a matter of course! If you don't pay, I have plenty of ways to make you cough it up!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the two men beside Lai Mazi immediately stepped forward and surrounded Zhao Lei.

Seeing this, Zhao Lei simply shrugged, looking indifferent: "I'm not the kind of person who defaults on debts, but I can't come up with a thousand yuan... Back when I owed five hundred yuan, I abandoned my wife and children and hid for more than half a year. Do you think I'd be afraid of your threats?"

However, Zhao Lei's nonchalant attitude instantly silenced Lai Mazi and his two companions.

Everyone knew that, let alone Zhao Lei, even Zhao Lei's father-in-law, who was the production team leader, couldn't come up with a huge sum of a thousand yuan.

Besides, Zhao Lei is truly capable of abandoning his wife and children and running away again; intimidation will have no effect on him...

Taking advantage of the moment when the three hesitated while looking at each other, Zhao Lei spoke up: "Lai Mazi, I propose we each compromise. I acknowledge the debt, but I'll only pay back one hundred yuan!"

"What? One hundred dollars? That's not even a fraction of the interest!"

"I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush," Zhao Lei immediately interrupted.

"One hundred dollars isn't a small amount of money..."

"If you insist on forcing me to return the thousand, then I can't do anything about it... At worst, we'll have a big fight, I'll keep running away, and you won't get a single penny... What do you say? You decide!"

Lai Mazi clicked his tongue and immediately pulled his two accomplices aside to discuss in hushed tones.

The three weighed the pros and cons and found they really had no way to deal with Zhao Lei.

A person who doesn't even care about his family, wife, and children is impossible to control.

He is practically invincible!

The three of them finally decided to get Zhao Lei to return 100 yuan first, regardless of the consequences, and then slowly ask him for the rest of the money.

After discussing the matter, Lai Mazi looked at Zhao Lei and said, "Sanshi, consider it a favor from us brothers! Out of consideration for our childhood friendship, I'll give you ten days to raise the money!"

"If you can't come up with 100 yuan in ten days, we won't be so polite! Think it over!"

Zhao Lei feigned reluctance: "Fine, ten days it is... but during these ten days, you are not allowed to harass my family again, otherwise you won't get a single penny!!"

Lai Mazi nodded quickly: "Okay... I'll trust you one last time. I'll come to collect the money on time in ten days!"

Suddenly, Zhao Lei noticed several dim lights rapidly approaching his yard in the distance.

At the same time, a familiar yet sharp female voice came from afar:

"That damned Lai Mazi! How dare he touch my man!"

Zhao Lei instantly recognized her as his first ex-wife, Qin Yuchan!

Before long, six figures rushed into the courtyard.

Leading the group was Zhao Lei's ex-wife, Qin Yuchan, followed by her brother-in-law and several of her cousins.

The last beautiful figure to enter sent a jolt through Zhao Lei's heart once again!

River Moon...

Zhao Lei suddenly felt a headache coming on; all three of his ex-wives had gathered, and he was somewhat at a loss.

On the other side, Qin Yuchan, with her neat short hair and tall, graceful figure, was holding a kerosene lamp, her large chest heaving, panting as she looked at Zhao Lei:

"Sanshi, are you alright? If Xinyue hadn't rushed to my parents' house to tell me, I wouldn't have known you were back! Did they bully you?"

After saying that, Qin Yuchan turned and glared angrily at Lai Mazi and his two companions: "Don't think that the Zhao family is easy to bully! My brothers from my maternal family are all here today. You dare to lay a finger on my man!"

Lai Mazi and his two companions glanced at the several burly men opposite them and subconsciously swallowed hard...