Chapter Twenty-Three: Settling Accounts

  Hei Zi and Zhu Xiao Fei came out of Liang Zi's house and went to find Yin Le. Yin Le wasn't at home, it seemed that this kid really made an effort to collect debts.

  After dinner, Hei Zi and Zhu Xiao Fei returned to the farmhouse in the village. Da Gui was waiting for them inside the house. As soon as he saw Hei Zi and Zhu Xiao Fei return, he hastily asked: "Hei Ge, how was it? Did you buy it?"

  Heizi said to Da Kui: "It's already been discussed, just waiting for payment, but I don't know if they will come or not."

  Da Gui said: "Hei Ge, don't be in a hurry, or else I'll go out and ask for the bill too?"

  "Alright, you go too. I'll be here waiting for you tonight, no matter if you succeed or not. We still have things to take care of."

  Da Gui responded with a sound and went out. Hei Zi and Zhu Xiao Fei had nothing to do for the whole afternoon, as they were too busy during this period of time. It was rare to have such a leisurely afternoon, so the two of them brewed tea, sat around the small kang table on the earthen kang, and started chatting idly.

  It was almost time for lunch when the gate of the courtyard creaked open, and from the sound of footsteps, it could be heard that the person who came in was very anxious.

  As soon as the door was pushed open, I heard Wu Mei's voice coming from the main room: "Hei Zi, Zhu Xiao Fei, are you there?"

  Hearing the sound, two people with a black line on their heads thought, "Why has this lady come again?"

  The fifth sister didn't hear anyone respond, and when she entered the house, she saw two people sitting on the kang drinking tea. She became unhappy at once, put her hands on her waist and said: "What's going on with you two? Brothers, cough to acknowledge."

  Xiao Fei put down his teacup and said: "Fifth sister, how did you come? Is there something?"

  "It's nothing, can't you just come and see us?" Fifth Sister said with a very unhappy expression on her small red face.

  "Ah, it's all right, just sit on the kang and warm up, it's very cold outside." Heizi said politely, moving his buttocks towards the inside of the kang and making a gesture to invite him to take a seat.

  Today, Wu Mei wore a red windbreaker jacket, with a pair of tight-fitting jeans on the bottom and a pair of half-high boots on her feet. Today's outfit finally has some feminine charm to it.

  The fifth sister sat on the edge of the kang and asked: "Will there be a gathering tonight?"

  The two of them shook their heads like a rattle drum, and Heizi said: "It's not open, there aren't even any people, all the villagers who like to have fun have gone to that guy San Ye's house to play."

  The fifth sister seemed to understand the situation and said thoughtfully: "Well, in that case, forget it."

  Looking at Wu Mei's appearance, the two of them secretly rejoiced in their hearts. They didn't want me and Wu Mei to play around, both of them clearly knew that gambling is not a good thing, it can ruin a person. Er Jie was quite good to the two of us, seeing Wu Mei fall into the ditch and not lending a helping hand was a bit too much.

  "Wu Mei, gambling can ruin a person. You're just a girl, why play with this? Why not play something else?" Zhu Xiao Fei saw Wu Mei not saying a word and began to advise her.

  Wu Mei looked at Zhuo Xiao Fei and smiled, but didn't say anything. Wu Mei was actually very pretty, it's just that her personality was like a boy's, and she dressed more like one too, to the point where Zhuo Xiao Fei and Hei Zi both treated her as their own little brother. Today, Wu Mei's outfit completely feminized her, and only then did the two of them notice how pretty Wu Mei was.

  Xiao Fei's heart skipped a beat, he didn't expect to have feelings for such a girl. He thought to himself, if his honest and simple-minded father saw him bringing home a daughter-in-law like this, he would surely die from anger.

  Zhū Xiǎofēi's expression changed as he stared at his face, and Wǔ Mèi saw Zhū Xiǎofēi staring at her thoughtfully, her eyes widened and said: "Zhū Xiǎofēi, what are you thinking about? Why are you looking at me with ill intentions?"

  Xiao Fei's face turned red after hearing Wu Mei's words.

  Hei Zi was thinking about Yue Xiaoqing at the same time as Zhuo Xiaofei, he suddenly remembered Yue Xiaoqing, Hei Zi found it strange that he would think of Yue Xiaoqing, in his eyes, Yue Xiaoqing was like a good brother or sister to him, he had never thought of her in any other way, could it be that Wu Mei's personality was similar to Yue Xiaoqing's?

  Just as Xiao Fei was feeling very embarrassed, Yin Le came in with two younger brothers and saw Wu Mei laughing, saying: "Wu Mei is here, are you going to invite your brothers to drink?"

  "Please go ahead, anyway I've won money these past few days," said Wu Mei with a carefree attitude.

  Yin Le was just joking, but unexpectedly the fifth sister agreed to invite them for a drink. Yin Le looked at Hei Zi, he knew that if Hei Zi didn't nod, no one could go.

  Hei Zi smiled and nodded: "Okay, Wu Mei invites guests to go, of course, but Da Kui has not returned yet, let's wait for him to come back before we leave."

  Hei Zi finished speaking and looked at Yin Le, asking: "Le Er, how much should we give back?"

  Yin Le pulled out a stack of money and threw it on the kang, saying: "That's okay, those three guys owe me money, a total of 17,000."

  Hei Zi picked up the money and glanced at Wu Mei, didn't even count it before handing it over to Zhu Xiao Fei saying: "You hold onto it first, we'll talk about it tonight."

  Xiao Fei knew that Heizi had some things he didn't want Wu Mei to know about. He put away the money, nodded and said: "I understand."

  After a while, Da Gui came back, and when he walked in, his face was full of smiles, it seemed that collecting the account went very smoothly.

  Da Gui handed a stack of money to Hei Zi and said, "Hei Ge, the money has to come back in part. If that bastard says he doesn't have any money, we won't let him know how tough it is, or else he won't take out his money."

  Da Gui went out and directly found the gambler who owed the most money. This kid owed several people money, but none of them could get it back. Yin Le understood him and knew that it was difficult to get money from him, so he only followed Hei Zi's instructions and went to find those three people who hadn't been to the casino recently. The remaining two didn't go looking for them.

  Dai Gui didn't care about that, he specifically targeted those who owed a lot of money. This kid owed over 6,000 and because the debt had been outstanding for some time, the interest had doubled to 15,000. Dai Gui found him and explained the situation. The kid then acted shamelessly with Dai Gui, telling him that since he didn't have any money, he could do whatever he wanted.

  Dà Kuí is a person who only understands the language of money, he thinks that if you have money, you must give it to him, and there's no way around it. When Dà Kuí entered his house, this little brat was drinking wine, and as soon as Dà Kuí saw him, he was convinced that he had money, so he began the arduous process of asking for it.

  When the little guy agreed to give Daku money, Daku had already hung him in front of his wife and children for over an hour. Daku told him that if he didn't give him money, he would hang up his wife and children too.

  The young man knew Da Gui's temper, and under duress, he had his wife withdraw all the money from their home bank account, a total of 11,000 yuan. Finally, before leaving, Da Gui set him a deadline, requiring him to repay the debt within two days, or else he would come to harass his wife and children every day.

  Several people listening to Da Gui's account of asking for money burst out laughing, and after the laughter, Yin Le said: "Da Gui, you still have a way."

  A few people came to the town's second sister's restaurant for dinner, when it was time to pay the bill, Zhu Xiao Fei was stopped by Wu Mei from taking out his money. She said that since she had promised to treat her brothers, she would have to foot the bill herself. However, the money she took out was thrown back at her by Er Jie, who said that today's meal was on her and Wu Mei should just be grateful for not causing any trouble.