The male supporting character was actually myself.

"Harvesting corn?" The village chief pushed up his reading glasses and looked at him, asking in return, "Goushengzi, who would believe that? Your nine acres of land are still lying fallow and uncultivated."

Everyone else's corn seedlings are already knee-high, but your field is overgrown with weeds. What will you harvest in the fall besides weed seeds?

"A spineless coward?!" He Gousheng was stunned and completely dumbfounded.

For so many years, He Jiangchen had been exploiting his nephew, only caring about collecting the ready-made grain. The whole family hadn't even walked into the fields for years. Suddenly, He Jiangchen stopped helping with the planting, and he didn't even remember to sow the seeds.

"You...you..."

His face was deathly pale, and his hand, pointing at He Jiangchen, was trembling slightly.

"What's wrong with me?" Jiang Chen shrugged innocently, looked at his wife, and couldn't help but laugh. "You don't farm your land, so why are you looking at me like that? You didn't give me the land to farm."

He Gousheng almost blurted out, "You've been in charge for so many years, why aren't you in charge this year?"

However, as the words were about to come out, he remembered that He Jiangchen had recently denied any wrongdoing in front of the entire village, saying that he had never exploited or bullied him and that everyone should farm their own land. Now, if he were to change his tune, wouldn't that be...?

"Fine! You're really something!" He Gousheng finally understood what it meant to be speechless with bitterness, and his face was trembling with anger.

Seeing this, Liao Yuzhou smoothed things over, saying, "Since Uncle urgently needs it but hasn't had time to tend to the fields, let's write down that we'll return it after next year's wheat harvest."

If we lend five yuan at the bank now, the interest would be six mao (0.6 yuan) over a year. Since we're lending it to my uncle in a hurry, let's write down five mao (0.5 yuan) in interest.

Hearing the first half of her sentence, He Gousheng finally felt a little better, thinking that this girl still had some conscience and knew that he was her uncle and should be given some face. However, before he could even agree, he heard the second half of her sentence and was so angry that he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Interest?! I'm your uncle, He Jiangchen! Your own uncle lends you a few dollars for an emergency and you have to give him an IOU and pay interest?!"

"You're making it sound like I did something wrong by lending you money?" Jiang Chen looked at him with a strange expression and said earnestly, "Uncle, we have to be reasonable. If you borrowed so much money, you should have taken the initiative to write an IOU and pay interest. That's the most basic sincerity you should show as a borrower."

If you say you need it urgently, I'll lend it to you right away. You still owe me a favor!

If you don't believe me, go out and ask around. Who else can agree as readily as I have?

We need to get this straight. I don't want to lend you money and end up making an enemy.

The village chief, wearing his reading glasses, nodded in agreement. "What Jiang Chen and his wife said makes sense. But you, as an elder, how come you don't even know how to do things properly at your age?"

Are you going to lend it to me or not?

If you don't want to go find someone else, don't waste your time here.

He Gousheng: (╯°Д°)╯︵┻━┻

This is outrageous! It's infuriating!

I only lent you five dollars, and look at you like this! Damn it, you think you're so great just because you have money?!

Just you wait and see. Anyway, you don't have more than two years left to live. Everything will be mine then. Let's see who has the last laugh!

He Gousheng struggled to suppress his anger, and only after signing and pressing his fingerprint on the IOU did he slowly go home with the five yuan he had so painstakingly borrowed.

Jiang Chen and his wife said goodbye to the village chief and walked back hand in hand. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was on the street, he kissed his wife and praised her, "My wife is such a great wingman, she did a fantastic job just now!"

"Hmph~ He clearly doesn't want to pay back the money at all." Liao Yuzhou leaned her head on his arm and said coquettishly, "What if he defaults on the debt later? Besides those few acres of land, his family doesn't have anything else to compensate. Maybe he'll get a taste of the benefits today and come to borrow money from us every few days?"

If things go smoothly, they'll be going to jail tomorrow, so there won't be any chance for them to cause trouble.

Thinking this, Jiang Chen smiled slightly. "Don't worry, I'll handle it. The busy farming season is over, and the four of them have taken care of the daily weeding and watering. Since we're free anyway, how about you plan for me, the new son-in-law, to pay a visit to your parents?"

"Are you really going to come back to my family home to visit?" Liao Yuzhou's eyes sparkled with hope. "My family will definitely like you. Let's get everything settled in a couple of days and then go buy train tickets!"

"No problem, let's see if we have time tomorrow and go to the county town to buy some gifts..."

…………

The young couple returned home on a summer night, the air slightly warm. The flickering candlelight carried the faint sounds of birdsong from the bathroom, and a light, fragrant mist filled the air.

The big trees in the yard rustled in the swirling wind, their leaves clapping rapidly; finally, amidst the raging sandstorm, large raindrops pelted down, soaking the parched soil and nourishing the long-awaited earth.

The rain at night set the mood just right.

After the intense heat, the rain gradually softened and became gentle, with the slanting wind and drizzle intertwining and lingering until dawn.

Early in the morning, a glistening drop of dew fell heavily from a leaf that had been washed clean by the rain and was soaked with moisture. It fell to the ground with a soft patter, splashing up tiny water droplets.

"Squeak~" Jiang Chen, who had enjoyed a good night's sleep, opened the big iron gate and found a middle-aged man in a Taoist robe standing under the tree.

Upon hearing the commotion, Daoist Danlu turned around and saw that it was indeed the young man with great fortune. He quickly stepped forward and whispered, "Young man, last night I observed the stars and discovered that something terrible is about to happen!"

"Observing the stars at night? Didn't it rain all night last night? Where did the stars come from?" Jiang Chen was completely confused.

Danlu Daoist: (?oωo?)

Dude, you're missing the point. Shouldn't the main issue be that something terrible is about to happen?

“Star phenomena don’t necessarily have to be seen with the naked eye. I have achieved some level of cultivation and can observe celestial phenomena through my mind’s eye, unaffected by the weather.” He patiently explained, “The stars were in great disarray last night, which may indicate something bad is about to happen. I can’t predict whether it will be auspicious or inauspicious, so I had to ask you for your opinion.”

Could it be…?

Danlu Daoist lowered his voice and cautiously glanced next door, "Do you think it might be a jinx that's about to cause trouble again? Have you heard anything about their family lately?"

We need to detect and prevent this early, otherwise, any mishap could lead to a major disaster!

Hearing this, Jiang Chen frowned and came up with a plan, asking in return, "May I ask if the Taoist priest can ride a bicycle?"

"What the heck? A bicycle?" Even Daoist Danlu was dumbfounded by the question.

What does my ability to ride a bike have to do with the chaotic celestial phenomena?

So what if you can ride? So what if you can't?

“There is indeed some new information about He Yongqiang.” Jiang Chen moved two chairs from under the doorway and invited him to sit down. He then briefly recounted what had happened. “After I lent him the money last night, I felt uneasy, so I asked around.”

The confirmed information we have is that He Yongqiang and his family are going to become buyers for a human trafficking gang. They want to buy a trafficked girl and plan to chain her up and force her to get pregnant and give birth, hoping to use the child to keep her tied down.

I was just worried about not having a suitable person to go to the county town to report the crime. If you can ride a bicycle, I'll ask you to go and call the police as soon as I get the news so that we can catch all the criminals in one fell swoop.

This approach not only rescues the trafficked girl but also leads to the cracking of a major women trafficking case, and confirms He Yongqiang's illegal activities. No matter how powerful he is, he cannot escape legal punishment!

"Is that really true?!" Daoist Danlu never expected there to be so many twists and turns.

He lowered his head slightly, frowned, and thought for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "This humble Taoist priest cannot ride a bicycle."

Jiang Chen: ?(￣ー￣)

Well, it was all for nothing...

We still have to stick to the original plan, so I guess I'll just have to work a little harder!

"However, I can help spread the word." Danlu Daoist said this with certainty, but then realized his wording was inappropriate and quickly corrected himself: "I can help call the police, but I don't need a bicycle. I have achieved some success in my cultivation since childhood, and I have also learned some of the Qimen Dunjia techniques passed down by my master. Although I cannot reach the level of perfection, I am much faster than ordinary people."

Leave this to me. As soon as you have definite information, I'll immediately go to the police station and bring the officers back!

Jiang Chen's eyes lit up. "Daoist Master, do you still accept disciples? I also want to learn the art of Qimen Dunjia."

Danlu Daoist looked him up and down and shook his head. "You're no good. Once you lose your virginity, there's no hope. Besides... you should just stay with your little wife and live a good life."

Jiang Chen: ...

After a few seconds of pause, the other person covered their mouth with their hand and leaned closer, saying in a very low voice, "I have another wonderful remedy here, guaranteed to make you vigorous and stronger in battle. It's only a friend's price of six cents. Interested?"

He gave the other person a disdainful look. "You think I need that?"

"Hehehe, we might not need it now, but who knows what the future holds? It's better to be prepared. We don't have much money anyway, so we can keep it in reserve. If you want to start a business, you can make a good profit by catching the medicine and reselling it..."

…………

Daoist Danlu arrived in a hurry and didn't have time to eat. He immediately joined the young couple for breakfast without any ceremony. He then sat under the shade of a tree in the courtyard and gave Liao Yuzhou a fortune reading, saying that she should study hard and that she would have a smooth and successful future.

Hearing this, Liao Yuzhou, who was not very skeptical of fortune telling, began to have some doubts. She wondered if there was really a trend of exams when she went home to visit her family. If so, she thought that if she studied hard, she might be able to pass the exam and transfer her household registration back to the city, and then her husband could also move to the city to live with her...

It wasn't until around nine o'clock in the morning that the little white cat bounced back to report, "Master, the matchmaker took He Gousheng to the meeting! I overheard them whispering, they should be able to bring him over before noon!"

"Before noon?" Jiang Chen glanced down at his watch and calculated the time.

Danlu Daoren hurried to the county town to report the incident. At this time, the police officers, who did not yet have police cars, would most likely come by bicycle.

"Daoist Master! Hurry, hurry, there's something going on!" He came in from outside and waved for the other person to come over. The two whispered for a while before Danlu Daoist hurriedly left.

Jiang Chen, eager to see the master demonstrate his skills, waited until the Taoist's figure disappeared into the field, but still couldn't see what the so-called swift movement looked like. Disappointed, he grinned and said, "Heh, stingy bug, they won't even let you see this."

"What are you looking at?" the fluffy little dumpling asked curiously, leaning closer. "Bug is a grown man, what could he possibly be interesting to the host? No boobs, no butt..."

As soon as it finished speaking, it probably realized it had blurted it out too quickly, turned around and ran away, "I'm going to keep an eye on things, I'll come back to inform the host immediately if anything happens!"

The little white kitten hopped and skipped away, disappearing into the field. Jiang Chen checked the time and tried to make his plan as comprehensive as possible.

At the same time, He Gousheng's legs were practically swaying with excitement.

After handing over the three yuan to Matchmaker Wang without stopping last night, she indeed handled things efficiently.

Sure enough, I can bring my daughter-in-law home before noon!

As expected of the experienced matchmaker, Wang held onto the money in her hand and didn't give it to the supplier until she had inspected it and delivered it to their home, only then would it be considered a cash-on-delivery transaction.

"You've made it too thin. Why don't you just let him take it away like before?" The two brothers were clearly not satisfied.

The matchmaker rolled her eyes and pointed at He Gousheng, "Do you think he's any good at farm work? He's been a farmer for years, it's a miracle he even went on a trip with us."

Are you expecting him to pull people back?

You might as well rely on me! What if I run away? Who's responsible then?

Anyway, the money's with me, so you'll get your share. Now, I'll have to see this through to the end!

The two brothers glanced at He Gousheng, who was hunched over with bowed legs and flabby arms and legs, and said impatiently, "Fine, fine, you decide! You'll have to take care of him when we deliver him today. We're doing a lot of work delivering the goods to his door."

"No problem!" After seeing the beautiful young woman, He Gousheng was itching to go home and get married, so he rubbed his hands together with delight and promised, "There will definitely be plenty of good wine and food for lunch!"

"That's more like it." Old Stinky spat on his hand, pulled the wheelbarrow, and followed the matchmaker.

Li Shuyun, who was tied up in a sack, heard all the conversation clearly and felt a mixture of grief and indignation.

The pitiful thing was that he just wanted to go to the street to buy some school supplies, but he was suddenly knocked unconscious by a club. When he woke up from the bumpy ride, he had already been transported out of the city by oxcart and did not know where he was.

Her tears fell silently. The thought of being sold to the deep mountains and not knowing if she would ever escape to see her beloved father, mother, brother, and sister broke Li Shuyun's heart.

what can we do about it?

She tried to escape, but she couldn't break through the thick, stiff ropes binding her hands and feet. She dared not provoke the vulgar human traffickers, fearing that she would suffer the consequences.

"Heavens above, who will save me?" Li Shuyun cried out in her heart, constantly praying to God for a glimmer of hope, even if it was just a matter of the guards being less vigilant so she could find a way to escape...

The country path was rugged and bumpy, and the wheelbarrow swayed so much that she felt like her whole body was about to fall apart.

At the same time, the police officers' bicycles rattled and clattered.

"Hurry up! Hurry up!" The captain, with an upright expression, pedaled hard at the front while calling out to his team. "Let's get there as soon as possible so we can ambush the traffickers and catch them off guard! If we're late, some of them might slip through our net!"