Chapter 366: Collecting Debts
Chapter 366: Chapter 366: Collecting Debts
Xu Shuanghong looked thoroughly disgusted, as if she had swallowed a fly. What kind of damn logic was this?
However, with those brawny men glaring at her like tigers watching their prey, she was somewhat frightened. "Don’t spout nonsense. Didn’t I give all those gold leaves to you as a meeting gift?
"You haven’t provided any money for household expenses these past few days, which has forced me to use up the very last of my savings.
"You’re the one in the wrong here. If your father blames me later, there’s nothing I can do about it."
She thought, "What a joke. This is a bottomless pit; anyone who jumps in is a fool."
Gu Kaichen panicked at the sight of the machetes brandished by the thugs. If he didn’t hand over the Silver today, this probably wouldn’t end well.
At that moment, his gaze happened to fall on the end of the village. "Right, I can still go to my third brother!
"My brother is in the house up ahead. I’ll take you to find him."
Desperate to keep his hands, Gu Kaichen had completely lost his mind.
"Don’t bother going. They aren’t home," Xu Yulan chimed in.
"How could they not be home?!" Gu Kaichen yelled hysterically. "Right, did they go to the county town? Hurry up and go find him!"
He was his biological second brother, after all. Even if they had some conflicts before, his younger brother couldn’t just leave him to die.
"They’ve been gone for days, and we don’t even know where they went." Xu Yulan was also panicking inwardly. No matter how flawed Gu Kaichen was, he was still her husband. If he really lost his hands, how could she ever show her face again, even if they returned to the capital?
But she truly didn’t know where Gu Kaiyuan was living; his family had just left so suddenly.
"Right, let’s go to the county town," Gu Kaichen said, turning to look at Wang Dayong. "My third brother is in the county town. He won’t just ignore me."
Wang Dayong had no intention of running errands for him. Moreover, he could tell that this family didn’t even know where the man was. They expected him to help them look? Did they really think of him as their servant?
His eyes coldly swept over them. "I want to see Silver right now. If you really can’t pay, you can sign a deed of self-sale, and I’ll deduct a portion of the debt."
He had a keen eye; the two young ladies hiding in the back were quite pretty. One was even dressed as an unmarried girl. The madam at the Pavilion of Scarlet Pleasure would definitely offer a good price for them.
Xu Shuanghong’s face paled, and she shielded her two daughters behind her. "Feel free to search the house for anything of value. It should be enough to cover fifty taels of Silver."
When they first settled down, Gu Baijiang and the others had moved quite a few things back from the county town. The furniture, ceramic bowls, chopsticks, and the like could more or less be pawned for some Silver.
At this moment, Xu Yulan wished she could just hand over those two little vixens to pay off the debt, saving herself the annoyance of seeing them. "How much Silver could the things in this house possibly be worth?
"I think this boss is right. We’ll just give the two of them to you."
She pointed at Fan Mei Lin and her sister. "The two of them are pretty enough. It should be enough."
Hearing this, Xu Shuanghong instantly flew into a rage. She lunged forward and clawed directly at Xu Yulan’s face, cursing, "You black-hearted wench! I’m the mother-in-law here, and I haven’t even spoken yet. Since when is it your place to make decisions?
"The two of them are husband and wife. Whether you want to chop off his hands or drag this woman away, I have no objections."
Fueled by pure hatred, Xu Shuanghong unleashed every ounce of strength in her body. Having survived on wild vegetables for the past few days, Xu Yulan was no match for her. She was quickly pinned to the ground, lacking the strength to fight back. With her face scratched up, all she could do was wail, WAAH! WAAH!
"Stop it, all of you!" Wang Dayong snapped. He wasn’t here to watch them fight. "We search the house first."
He had initially wanted to take the women away to settle the debt, but since this old lady was being cooperative, he didn’t want to rack up bad karma unnecessarily. He decided to first see if the items inside could cover what was owed.
A few of his subordinates felt it was a pity, but since Wang Dayong had spoken, they didn’t voice any objections. They rushed into the rooms and began to ransack the place.
Xu Yulan wanted to stop them, but she lacked the strength. Fan Mei Lin and her sister were terrified of being taken away by these men, so they even pointed out where things were hidden.
Unsurprisingly, the two sets of jewelry Xu Yulan had hidden away were also dug up. Gu Baijiang had specifically bought them back then so the family could keep up appearances when necessary.
Though not particularly precious, they were still worth over twenty taels of Silver.
"That’s mine..."
Xu Shuanghong slapped her right across the face. "What do you mean, yours? That’s to pay off your husband’s debts!"
"Why don’t you bring out yours?!" Seeing her belongings being taken away, Xu Yulan immediately shouted at the top of her lungs. "They have jewelry too..."
In such a small place, as long as they had a target, veterans like Wang Dayong and his men quickly found what they were looking for.
Looking at the several sets of jewelry laid out before him, Wang Dayong felt this trip hadn’t been in vain. They cried poor, but didn’t they still have some family assets?
He immediately waved his hand, ordering his men to release Gu Kaichen. He even personally helped the man up from the ground and smoothed out his hair. "Mr. Gu, this really was a misunderstanding. We’ve collected the debt. I just took a look, and these sets of jewelry are worth at least sixty taels of Silver. We won’t take advantage of you. Here is your IOU. Come by the gambling house later, and I’ll give you ten taels of Silver in cash."
It wasn’t that he was generous enough to give back Silver that was already in his hands. Rather, he saw that Gu Kaichen hadn’t yet hit rock bottom; he could still be squeezed for more.
His eyes drifted toward the two graceful young ladies standing to the side, and the corners of his mouth curled into a smirk.
Terrified, Fan Mei Lin and her sister quickly turned their backs. Xu Shuanghong didn’t even bother beating Xu Yulan anymore. She walked over and stood protectively in front of her two daughters. "You have your Silver. Hurry up and leave."
Gu Kaichen hadn’t expected his debt to be paid off just like that. However, the thought that no one in the family had been willing to offer up their belongings earlier filled him with resentment. The beating he had taken was truly unjust.
After sending the men off with a pleasant attitude, he returned to find Xu Yulan sitting there crying. He walked up and slapped her hard. "All you know how to do is cry! Can’t you see I’m covered in injuries? Hurry up and get the medicine!"
"Where would we have medicine in this house?"
"If we don’t have medicine, don’t you know how to go buy some?"
"Where’s the Silver for it? You godforsaken..." Xu Yulan wanted to keep crying, but seeing Gu Kaichen’s raised hand, she swallowed her grievances and went into the room to look for medicine.
Things were different now. Ever since her aunt passed away, her life in this family had become increasingly difficult.
Now that her father-in-law was gone, there wasn’t even anyone around to keep Gu Kaichen in check.
She could only pray that the people in the capital would hurry up and bring them back. Once they returned, she would have her maiden family to back her up. She refused to believe Gu Kaichen would dare treat her so poorly then.
Fan Mei Lin and Fan Mei Bao followed Xu Shuanghong to the village entrance.
Fan Mei Bao immediately said sarcastically, "Is this the good life you wanted?
"The entire Gu Family has now hit rock bottom. If this happens again, my sister and I will be in real danger. We’d probably end up being sold to that filthy place."
She smiled at Fan Mei Lin. "Sister, you’re so arrogant and proud. I wonder if you could handle that."
"Alright, shut up and say a few words less." Xu Shuanghong was also feeling annoyed. This was not how she had envisioned things turning out. Her youngest daughter was holding a grudge against her, but there was nothing she could do about it.