PCJ – Chapter 375 Mind Games

Zhang Qianlong saw Zhang Shicai about to leave and quickly chased after him, insisting on shoving a plastic bag filled with money into Zhang Shicai’s hands.

“Zhang Qianlong, if back then you hadn’t run away without a care for my life, even if you couldn’t produce a single penny, I wouldn’t blame you. After all these years, you’re still putting on this fake act here. Is it really that entertaining? Let me tell you, what goes around comes around! I just want to see how someone as heartless as you will end up! Now get out of my way. Oh, and I forgot to tell you, I also worked in Guangdong for a year. I’ve known what you two have been up to for a long time. Do you know why I didn’t come looking for you?” Zhang Shicai looked coldly at Zhang Qianlong.

“Why?” Zhang Qianlong asked, stunned.

“Because just looking at your faces makes me feel disgusted!” After saying this, Zhang Shicai turned and walked away, leaving Zhang Qianlong looking bewildered.

Suddenly, Zhang Qianlong felt his hands empty; the bag of money was snatched away. Looking up, he saw Zhang Jiaohua grinning as he held the bag of money.

“Oh my! You help the family build a house, lose an eye in the process, and your family has been hiding for so many years. How much are you planning to pay for that eye? Ten, twenty, thirty… Oh, a total of one thousand five hundred thirty-two yuan and seventy-six cents. Is your family’s eye really so cheap? Just over a thousand for one eye? How about I give you a thousand to buy one of your eyes?” Zhang Jiaohua threw the bills one by one onto the ground.

“Who’s child are you? Did your parents not teach you any manners?” Zhang Qianlong didn’t recognize Zhang Jiaohua at first.

“He’s Jiaohua! Dad, he’s Jiaohua!” Zhang Jiujin’s eyes were sharp.

“Jiaohua, the child of Zhang Youping. Wow, it’s been years since I last saw you. You’ve grown so tall!” Hearing Jiujin say it was Jiaohua, the angry expression on Zhang Qianlong’s face suddenly turned to a smile.

“Don’t act so friendly. Right now, I’m asking you, can I exchange over a thousand for one of your eyes?” Zhang Jiaohua didn’t have a friendly expression toward Zhang Qianlong.

“Adults’ matters should not concern children. You kids don’t understand certain things,” Zhang Qianlong frowned.

“Zhang Qianlong, you’re an animal! You still have the face to come back!” Zhang Qigao was itching to rush over and hit someone but was held back by Xie Chun’e.

“Shicai didn’t make a move, so why should you take the lead? A person like him will eventually get what he deserves. Why should we get into trouble because of someone like him? Life is good now, and I don’t want to end up bringing you meals in jail,” Xie Chun’e worried that Zhang Qigao might accidentally hurt Zhang Qianlong and stir up unnecessary trouble. Most importantly, Zhang Shicai had said nothing in this situation, so Zhang Qigao naturally didn’t know how to act.

The villagers were all fired up but couldn’t express it. If Zhang Shicai had shouted and scolded, they naturally wouldn’t have stood by and watched. But now, since the couple had directly left, it made it difficult for the villagers to take action. Zhang Qianlong was also a villager and someone familiar, so how could they act against him?

“Hey, I asked you a question, and you haven’t answered! Can I exchange the same amount of money for one of your eyes?” Zhang Jiaohua asked.

“Jiaohua, no matter how you look at it, I’m a peer of your father, Zhang Youping. You should call me ‘uncle,’ you understand? It’s impolite for kids to joke with adults. Others will say Zhang Youping’s child has no upbringing. Come, uncle has some candy for you; you and Jiujin go play over there,” Zhang Qianlong pulled out a handful of wrapped candies from his bag, preparing to give them to Zhang Jiaohua.

“Who wants your candy?” Zhang Jiaohua turned and walked away.

“Hmph!” The mute also shot a glare at Zhang Qianlong and quickly followed Zhang Jiaohua away.

“Uncle Dechun, come smoke. Uncle Jiwang, Uncle Manyin, everyone come smoke,” Zhang Qianlong took out cigarettes from his bag to distribute to the villagers, but they all showed disgusted expressions and walked away one after another.

“What are these people’s expressions? They don’t want my candy or my cigarettes; I’m saving money,” Zhang Qianlong couldn’t help but mutter.

When Zhang Qianlong and his wife brought Zhang Jiujin back to their old house, they were completely stunned. The house was already very dilapidated, and over the past few years of no one living there, the roof tiles had been used by the village kids to practice throwing stones. Additionally, cats had run around on the roof, and the tiles had rotted beyond recognition, leaking rain for so many years that the beams had decayed. The heavy snow disaster from that year had broken quite a few beams. As soon as Zhang Qianlong opened the door, tiles fell from the roof like snow.

“Your parents are both dead, and the house is leaking like this; don’t they know to call someone to fix the tiles?” Li Yujun complained.

“If you’re so capable, go to the village and call someone to try! Not to mention Meizi Pond, even in the entire Meizi Ditch, no matter how much you pay, others won’t come to fix your tiles. They’ll say it’s heaven punishing you two; if they come to fix your tiles, it’s equivalent to blocking your disaster,” Zhang Qianlong’s mother, Cheng Yuexiang, appeared from somewhere.

“But you can’t just watch the house decay like this! How can anyone live here?” Li Yujun said with great annoyance.

“How would we know you would come back? You’ve been gone for so many years, and we haven’t seen a single letter from you. I thought I didn’t have this child,” Zhang Qianlong’s father, Zhang Niugen, was still smoking from a homemade paper-wrapped tobacco. This stuff was very choking; when lit, it burned like grass and ash. After two puffs, Zhang Niugen was coughing heavily.

“Don’t smoke that anymore; here, take this pack of cigarettes to smoke.” Zhang Qianlong took out a pack of cigarettes he had just opened and threw it to Zhang Niugen.

“Ai, it’s unlivable here. Let’s go to our side and make do for a while.” Zhang Niugen didn’t even take Zhang Qianlong’s cigarettes and turned to leave.

Not long after Zhang Qianlong got married, due to the incompatibility between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, they separated the household. Zhang Qianlong and his wife occupied the main house, while Zhang Niugen and his wife had no place to go, so they built a low house next to the cattle pen with mud bricks. They had hoped that once Zhang Qianlong built a new house, they could move back into the old house. Who would have thought that something went wrong during the new house construction?

Li Yujun was not having it. “If you want to go, you go. I’m not going to live in the cattle pen!”

“Better not go. Others raise children to support their old age; I raise a child to have me live in the cattle pen. At this rate, there may not even be a cattle pen to live in,” Cheng Yuexiang was very displeased with this daughter-in-law and felt that Zhang Qianlong had become this way completely because of her influence.

“It’s not that you don’t have that blessing! If the cannon hadn’t misfired back then, you could have lived in the old house, couldn’t you? We’ve been gone for so many years; didn’t you know to live in the old house? If you had lived in the old house, how could it have decayed like that?” Li Yujun directly quarreled with her mother-in-law.

Zhang Niugen was already angry, and he exploded at the two women, “Both of you, shut up!”

Even honest people can be quite terrifying when they get angry; finally, it quieted down.

Zhang Niugen and his wife’s mud brick house was built next to the cattle pen and was very low, only a single room about ten square meters. They had built a bed with bricks and wooden boards, and beside it, they had encircled a fire pit with bricks, with no stove at all. They directly set up an iron rack in the middle to cook. In such circumstances, they couldn’t care much about hygiene. The house, including the bed, was blackened.

Zhang Qianlong felt a bit sour looking at it, but it was only for a moment. Li Yujun stood at the door, unwilling to go in.

“Zhang Qianlong, if you want to live here, I won’t stop you, but Jiujin and I are going back to Shayang Village. You said you made such a fuss over something that isn’t even certain; is it necessary? We can find a storefront in the provincial capital to do some business and live comfortably. Do we really need to come back and lower ourselves?” Li Yujun was very dissatisfied with Zhang Qianlong’s plans.

“Long hair, short sight! Your outlook is only fit for being a little vegetable vendor at the market. We grew up in Meizi Pond; Zhang Youping is now a big boss while I’ve become a lost dog. Do you know the reason for this?” Zhang Qianlong asked.

“What reason?” Li Yujun asked curiously.

“Zhang Youping can do whatever; his wife wouldn’t even let out a fart. If I want to do something, I hear you nagging endlessly! Back when we were in Guangdong, I wanted to find a storefront to expand our business, but you said opening a storefront was too risky and being a vendor was low-risk with no pressure. As a result, I listened to you, and that good opportunity was missed. Meanwhile, others who went to Guangdong to sell things became big bosses while we’re still vendors,” Zhang Qianlong blamed everything on his wife.

“Good, so everything is blamed on me. If it weren’t for me, you’d still be doing odd jobs at the construction site,” Li Yujun said unhappily.

The couple argued for a long time, and Zhang Niugen and his wife finally picked up on a little clue.

“Are you two back here mainly not to compensate Shicai, right?” Cheng Yuexiang asked.

“Of course…” As soon as Li Yujun opened her mouth, she was interrupted by Zhang Qianlong, “Of course we came back to compensate Shicai. Also, we plan to build the house. You’re both so old; how can you keep living in the cattle pen?”

Zhang Niugen glanced at Zhang Qianlong, “A father knows his son best. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. I advise you to keep those thoughts to yourself. Since Shicai doesn’t want your compensation and doesn’t plan to do anything to you, just come back and live your life. Whether you build a house or do other business, that’s fine! But don’t harbor any ill intentions, or you will regret it.”

“Dad, what nonsense are you thinking? I just want to come back and build a house; why are you thinking so much?” Zhang Qianlong pretended to be a bit wronged.

“Building a house! Hmph, are you going to build it yourself?” Zhang Niugen shook his head helplessly.

“Of course I’ll hire someone to build it! As long as there’s money, what can’t be done?” Li Yujun scoffed.