Chapter 473 - 397: Having to Bow
"Huh?" Zhao Guofeng was in disbelief. ’Zhang Zhanshan and his wife have some nerve,’ he thought. ’Their son is all tied up, and they aren’t even home.’
Just before he left, Zhao Guofeng asked Zhao Youcai one more thing, "Youcai, are you dead set on five hundred? What if Zhang Zhanshan can’t come up with it? Can you go any lower?"
"Don’t you worry," Zhao Youcai said with a shake of his head and a smile. "He can definitely come up with it."
"Give me a break," Zhao Guofeng said with a frown. "I heard he spent one thousand yuan just on your two little bear cubs. How much does he even make in a month?"
Zhao Guofeng had a point. Zhang Zhanshan was just a wage earner, and with two sons, two dogs, and two bears to support, his daily expenses were not small.
Zhao Youcai sneered. "Guofeng, have you forgotten what Zhang Zhanshan and that old bastard of a father of his have done?"
At these words, Zhao Guofeng’s expression changed. Then he heard Zhao Youcai continue, "Do you know what kind of money he used to buy my bear cubs last time?"
Zhao Guofeng asked subconsciously, "What kind of money?"
Zhao Youcai answered, "The big white-bordered ones!"
As he spoke, he held up his left hand, separating his thumb and index finger to show a certain thickness. "A stack this thick!"
"Ah..." Zhao Guofeng nodded as if in sudden understanding.
The "big white-bordered ones" were the ten-yuan denomination from the second series of RMB, which were no longer in circulation. The ten-yuan bills people used daily now were basically all the common banknotes.
Since his rebirth, the only "big white-bordered ones" Zhao Jun had ever seen were the one hundred bills Zhang Laibao had used to buy the little bear cubs.
And Zhao Jun had saved those one hundred "big white-bordered" bills, planning to keep them for several decades so his grandson could trade them for a BMW, a Mercedes, a Maserati, a Ferrari...
There were a few families in the entire village who could produce one thousand yuan. But as for a family that could produce one hundred "big white-bordered" bills all at once, there were probably none.
But Zhang Zhanshan could. What did that prove? It proved that his family had already been very wealthy for many years.
Zhao Guofeng realized this as well, and so he fell silent.
Just then, Zhao Youcai said to him, "Guofeng, do you remember? The year my Zhao Chun was born, how did the Zheng and Tan families just... disappear? Zhang Zhanshan’s father, that old son of a bitch, he drinks people’s blood."
"I get it," Zhao Guofeng said, then turned and left.
"Take care now!"
Zhao Youcai shouted after him, then turned back, his gaze finally landing on Wang Dalong.
"Dalong," Zhao Youcai said amiably to Wang Dalong. "It’s a good thing you were here today. We’ve really put you through the wringer all night."
"Not at all, Uncle." Wang Dalong humbly deflected the praise and replied with a smile, "I’m young. It was no problem."
"You still have to take care of yourself," Zhao Youcai said, reaching out to brush a blade of grass from the sleeve on Wang Dalong’s shoulder. "You haven’t slept all night. Go on home and get some sleep."
It was already three-thirty, and the sky was getting light.
Reminded by Zhao Youcai, Wang Dalong did feel a bit tired. He bid farewell to everyone, shouldered his gun, and left.
At that moment, Zhao Youcai jutted his chin at Li Dayong, who then followed him into the courtyard of Zhao Jun’s family home.
Only when the two of them entered the courtyard did Zhao Jun realize what was happening and hurry to follow.
Zhang Laibao was still tied up like a pig for slaughter. His arched back was on the ground, and his bound limbs were propped against the wall. It was impossible to imagine how uncomfortable he was.
After the three of them entered the courtyard, none of them so much as glanced at him, heading straight into Zhao Jun’s house.
As soon as they opened the door, they saw Wang Meilan and Wang Qiang chopping vegetables in the outer room.
It was past three in the morning, and the sky was about to lighten. Since it wasn’t raining today, the villagers who were helping would soon be heading to the construction site to work. The Zhao and Li families had to prepare breakfast for them.
The two families cooked breakfast and lunch together. The Li Family made the staple foods, and the Zhao Family made the side dishes. Today’s breakfast was steamed cornmeal cakes with a radish and potato soup, so Wang Meilan was there chopping a large red radish while Wang Qiang cut potatoes into strips.
"Qiangzi!" Zhao Youcai said as soon as he came in. "Your brother-in-law isn’t trying to kick you out, but you haven’t slept all night. You should go home and get some rest."
"That’s right!" Wang Meilan, who had been chatting with Wang Qiang just a moment ago, now remembered her brother hadn’t slept at all. She couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy. "Stop chopping. Your brother-in-law can help me in a bit. You should hurry home and sleep."
"Alright then!" Wang Qiang was almost forty. Though he was in good shape, staying up this late had tired him out. Hearing both Zhao Youcai and Wang Meilan say so, he put down his kitchen knife, said his goodbyes, and left.
Zhao Jun saw Wang Qiang to the door. As he was leaving, Wang Qiang said to him, "Jun, you just focus on work. I’ll head over to the new house this afternoon to keep an eye on things for you."
"Uncle, there’s no rush. You should get a good rest." Zhao Jun was very moved to hear this, but he still tried to persuade him, "Isn’t Brother Zhang there? It’s fine if he’s there."
"Hey!" Wang Qiang pointed a finger at Zhao Jun. "You know what? That fella, Big Pants, he’s really good to you."
Zhao Jun chuckled. Over the past few days, while his family had been building their house, Zhang Yuanmin and Yang Yufeng had both contributed a great deal of effort, working as hard as if they were building a house for themselves.
After seeing Wang Qiang off, Zhao Jun turned back to the courtyard just in time to see Li Dayong climbing over the wall to leave. Zhao Jun paid him no mind and went straight into the house. He hadn’t slept all night either, and he still had to go to work today. He had to take this chance to catch up on some sleep.
Zhao Jun was out the moment his head hit the pillow, falling fast asleep.
In stark contrast, however, was Village Chief Zhao Guofeng.
Back home, Zhao Guofeng took off his clothes and got onto the kang bed, but he couldn’t fall asleep no matter how he tried. The grudges and conflicts between the Zhao, Li, and Zhang families from over the years played back in his mind, the final image settling on Zhang Laibao, tied up and lying on his back with his limbs in the air.