PCJ – Chapter 374 Zhang Qianlong’s Acting Skills

The mountain leopard was quite cunning. It bit, but it didn’t bite hard—through the pants, it didn’t even break the skin. It merely made Li Yiyou and Li Ganquan look foolish. The Zhang family from Meizitang stood by, watching the spectacle, and Zhang Qigao, who had originally come out with a carrying pole to chase them, no longer prepared to step forward.

The two brothers, Li Ganquan and Li Yiyou, were so flustered by the mountain leopard’s chase that they accidentally fell into a rice field. Li Ganquan didn’t even know where his shiny leather shoes had gone; he had lost one of his socks as well. Li Yiyou was wearing one shoe and had finally managed to fish out the other one from the field, holding it in his hand. The two of them stumbled back home in a pitiful state.

The Zhang family from Meizitang laughed heartily, and the little kids shouted taunts at Li Ganquan and Li Yiyou.

Originally upset and crying because of the two brothers, Ma Yinxiu couldn’t help but laugh now. Her child, Zhang Huaen, who was already four years old, stood next to her, tugging at her dress. Zhang Shicai and Ma Yinxiu named their child Huaen for a reason; “Hua” means to teach, symbolizing that they must not forget the kindness of Zhang Jiaohua and that their child should learn to be grateful in the future.

Zhang Jiaohua whistled again, calling the mountain leopard back, and then walked toward Ma Yinxiu. “Yinxiu, if these two troublemakers dare to come to our village in the future, just shout. If they dare to stir trouble in Meizitang, they’re asking for trouble!”

Ma Yinxiu smiled. “Jiaohua, if you run into them, be a bit careful. I’ve heard that Li Yujun and the other brother have been causing trouble in town.”

“Yinxiu, there’s no need to be afraid. We have so many strong men in Meizitang; how could Jiaohua lose? Besides, in this whole area, there’s no one who can make Jiaohua suffer!” Zhang Qigao laughed.

Zhang Dayun said in a rough voice, “Whoever dares to touch a hair on Jiaohua’s head, I, Zhang Dayun, will fight them to the death!”

Zhang Dayun sincerely appreciated Zhang Jiaohua. He had been single for over forty years because his family was too poor to support him. Jiaohua cured his mother’s eye disease and his father’s leg, so now both of them could help Zhang Dayun with the farm work. Their family’s two to three hundred acres of tea fields had already begun harvesting tea. In the past two years, they had turned their fortunes around, and their house had been transformed into a brand-new brick and tile structure. Zhang Jiwang had even arranged a marriage for Zhang Dayun, marrying a beautiful woman who was over ten years younger than him. Now she was already showing signs of pregnancy. It wouldn’t be long before he became a father.

“Dayun, you can’t be reckless! You’re about to become a father, and life is getting better every day. You can’t mess with those troublemakers,” Zhang Jiwang quickly reminded him.

“I know. I won’t be foolish. If those two troublemakers dare to retaliate against Jiaohua, I’ll just call the whole village!” Zhang Dayun grinned.

Zhang Jiaohua wasn’t worried about Li Ganquan and his brother seeking revenge. Over the past four years, he had practiced the Meishan stance every day, and his skills had reached an impressive level. Three to five ordinary strong men couldn’t even get close to him. However, Zhang Jiaohua had never fought anyone, and he didn’t even know how capable he was, let alone the villagers. Now, when Zhang Jiaohua went to Heiyan Bridge, the steep cliffs felt as easy to traverse as flat ground.

At Li Yujun’s home, Zhang Qianlong and his wife were there, having just returned from Guangdong. A few years ago, the couple traveled back and forth between Guangdong and the mainland, selling small goods. Sometimes, they even sold souvenirs on the train, making quite a bit of money. However, in the past two years, their business had become increasingly difficult. More and more people were going to Guangdong, and prices for both electronic products and crafts had become transparent, with more competitors entering the market. Seeing that their business was unsustainable, they decided to liquidate all their stock at cost. They had indeed made quite a bit of money over the years and wanted to return to Meizitang with their heads held high. As Zhang Qianlong put it, having money means being respected; with his pockets full of cash, the villagers would have to treat him like a lord.

On this day, the two brothers-in-law went to Meizitang, and Zhang Qianlong was both excited and anxious, pacing back and forth in the courtyard.

“What good is your anxiety? Once the elder brother and second brother return, we’ll know what’s going on,” Li Yujun said.

“What do you know? We need to get back to Meizitang as soon as possible. I’m much smarter than Zhang Youping. If it weren’t for that incident, our house would definitely be one of the best in Meizi’ao. Even now, besides Zhang Youping’s family, which family can compare with us in Meizitang? As long as we resolve the previous conflicts this time, with my past relationship with Zhang Youping, I should be able to gain some benefits from him. If I could get the secret to making bamboo tube black tea from them, we would strike it rich! I’ve heard that bamboo tube black tea is all being exported, and even wealthy people in the country can’t buy it. If I learn how to make it and he sells it for export while I handle domestic sales, we’ll be set.” Zhang Qianlong’s eyes sparkled with ambition. This was the real reason he was eager to return.

Li Yujun shook her head. “It’s difficult. We really offended them back then. It’s already good if they don’t hate us. To think you can get the bamboo tube black tea-making technique from Zhang Youping, you might as well stop dreaming.”

Zhang Qianlong felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him, extinguishing his fiery hopes.

Just then, Li Ganquan and Li Yiyou returned in a disheveled state.

“Elder brother, second brother, what happened to you? Did the people from Meizi’ao do something to you?” Zhang Qianlong had sent the two brothers-in-law to Meizitang because he worried that the villagers still harbored resentment over past events. It seemed his worries were well-founded; the villagers were clearly still affected by the past.

“Qianlong, your two brothers-in-law risked their lives for you. Look at us, we’ve lost our shoes! If we hadn’t run fast, we might not have made it back at all. All the hatred the villagers have for you was vented on us,” Li Ganquan said with a mournful face.

Li Yiyou recounted what had happened that day. “Qianlong, I think you should just forget about going back to Meizitang. Look at us; we’re in this state. If you go back, they’ll surely tear you to pieces.”

Li Yujun was also very worried. “Qianlong, let it go. We’ve got some capital now. We can find a storefront in the city to do some small business, and we can get by just fine. Why go back to Meizitang and ask for trouble? If things go wrong, they might even make you pay, and we’d end up losing the hard-earned money we’ve made.”

“What do you know? As long as we can resolve this matter, what’s a little money? Money comes from sheep’s back. If I go back and spend some money, I’ll earn it back tenfold later.” Zhang Qianlong was meticulous in his calculations.

Zhang Qianlong was determined. No matter how Li Yujun and the others tried to persuade him, he insisted on taking his family back to Meizitang.

“Zhang Qianlong’s family is back in the village!” Zhang Yuanbao spotted them while playing on the main road and immediately shouted.

“Yuanbao!” Zhang Qianlong’s son, Zhang Jiujin, was now a somewhat chubby boy, shorter than Zhang Jiaohua but with a belly like a pregnant woman.

Zhang Yuanbao ignored Zhang Jiujin and quickly ran back to the village, shouting as he went.

Upon hearing Zhang Yuanbao’s shout, the villagers immediately rushed to the village entrance. By the time Zhang Qianlong’s family reached the entrance, the villagers had already blocked the road completely.

“Zhang Qianlong, how dare you come back!” Zhang Shicai stood at the front, glaring at Zhang Qianlong with his one good eye.

“Shicai, I’m sorry. I’m not a person. You helped me build a house, and when things went wrong, I shouldn’t have run away and left you behind. I’m not a person! You know? I’ve had nightmares every night these years. I always see you coming to find me.” Zhang Qianlong suddenly knelt before Zhang Shicai, slapping himself in the face.

Li Yujun also knelt beside Zhang Shicai. “Shicai, we really had no choice. Back then, all our money went into buying materials. When things went wrong, the house couldn’t be built, and all the materials went to waste. We didn’t have a penny left. At that time, we borrowed as much as we could from my family. When things went wrong, we couldn’t borrow anymore. We thought about earning some money and then paying you back bit by bit. But we’ve read so little, and in Guangdong, we were just doing manual labor for low wages. In the first year, we didn’t even earn enough for travel expenses. This year, we finally saved a bit of money. Qianlong immediately said we shouldn’t keep owing Shicai. So we brought all our savings back.”

Zhang Qianlong pulled out a plastic bag from his pocket, inside was a stack of cash, including all kinds of denominations, probably totaling one or two thousand yuan. Zhang Qianlong was indeed crafty; before coming back, he had found a bag that previously held salt and stuffed it with cash. The way he presented the money was quite calculated, making it seem like he was truly bringing back all his earnings from the past four years.

“Zhang Qianlong, at this point, you’re still putting on an act. Do you really think the villagers have no idea what you’ve been doing outside these years? Let the past be the past. I don’t want to pursue it anymore. But that doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you; from now on, we’re strangers. The well water won’t disturb the river water. I don’t want to have anything to do with someone like you!” Zhang Shicai felt disgusted by Zhang Qianlong’s hypocritical behavior.

“Wife, let’s go home. I don’t want to see this kind of person anymore!” Zhang Shicai didn’t even look at the money in Zhang Qianlong’s hand.

“Shicai, I’m sorry. Although this money can never compensate for your loss, I will do my best to repay everything.” Zhang Qianlong didn’t feel a bit embarrassed after being exposed by Zhang Shicai.