I Am A Husband Curser, And You Are A Wife Curser. - Chapter 41

Chapter 41: The Passerby

“Then what should we do? Quick, think of something!”

“Uncle, you’ve already infuriated the other party. Aside from paying compensation, I truly can’t think of anything else.”

“About the money matter…”

“I can’t help with money. I haven’t even saved up enough for my child’s future expenses yet.”

“Don’t worry about the child; children are born with their own rations—it doesn’t cost much. Your aunt’s situation is the most important thing right now. When will your parents be back?”

“I don’t know. But if you’re truly short on cash, you know the pawnshop where my big brother works, right? Doesn’t Shanshan still have some jewelry? You can take it there to see what it’s worth.”

Chef Tong was too embarrassed to say that the few pieces of jewelry Shanshan had left were actually gold-plated silver—mere trinkets to fool people. The valuable, solid pieces had long since been sold off.

Logically, the Tong family shouldn’t have been this broke. Unfortunately, they couldn’t withstand Tong Shenghu being too “ambitious.” One day he wanted to start a small business, and the next he wanted to partner with others to flip goods. Occasionally, he actually made some money. But as soon as he earned a profit, Shenghu would inflate with pride.

Chef Tong and his wife also believed their son was a business genius and gave him their full support. Recently, under a friend’s recommendation, Shenghu became obsessed with “stone gambling” (betting on raw jade). When the money from his parents wasn’t enough, he started stealing things from his sister’s house to sell. Even when caught, he remained emboldened, persuading his sister to view it as her “investment” in his ventures.

Tong Shanshan had caused many scenes over this, but back then, the Tongs believed the tea merchant cherished Shanshan so much that these items would soon be replaced, so the matter was never pushed. However, stone gambling is scarier than regular gambling. It started with small stones; sometimes he lost, sometimes he won, maintaining a basic balance. Later, Shenghu played bigger and bigger, and the losses grew. Real gold and silver turned into a pile of waste rocks in the courtyard.

Shenghu had little capital of his own; the bulk of the losses belonged to Shanshan. So now that they were being asked for compensation, the Tong family truly had almost nothing left.

“Tongchuan, Uncle begs you! Please save your aunt and sister, I beg of you!” As he spoke, Chef Tong actually sank to his knees before Yang Tongchuan.

An elder kneeling to a junior—this instantly excited the onlookers nearby. Whispers began to circulate, all of them criticizing the Yang family.

Yang Tongchuan wasn’t about to indulge him. With a loud thud, he knelt down right in front of Chef Tong.

“My dear Uncle! Since my mother was small, she has doted on Little Auntie. She wouldn’t eat or wear anything good just to raise her younger sister like her own daughter. Over the years, the things my mother has used to subsidize Auntie would have been enough to buy several acres of prime land in the countryside! My father fights with my mother every day over this; our family’s life is so hard!”

Yang Tongchuan wailed with tears and snot, his howling even louder than Chef Tong’s.

Tong Shenghu, standing to the side, was startled by Tongchuan’s actions. He hadn’t expected a grown man like Yang Tongchuan to be so “useless.” Isn’t it just borrowing a bit of money? Is it worth making such a fool of yourself? What a loser, he thought.

“Uncle, if you think the pawnshop isn’t right, I also know a private moneylender. The interest isn’t high; I can introduce you.”

“No, no! Money from a lender has to be paid back!”

Pah! So you actually know that borrowed money has to be returned.

Yang Tongchuan decided he had performed enough. He stood up and pulled Chef Tong up with him. Before his uncle could react, he started dragging him toward the street.

“If that won’t do, Uncle, why don’t you go back to the restaurant and borrow from your boss? You’re the pillar of that kitchen; the boss will surely give you that much face.”

“No, that won’t work…”

“That won’t work either? Then I’ll send you to the tea merchant’s house right now so you can talk to them yourself.”

At the thought of how badly Shenghu was beaten by that family last time, Chef Tong refused to go no matter what.

“Oh, even that won’t do. Uncle, do you actually want to save my aunt, your wife, and your own daughter or not?”

As soon as Yang Tongchuan said this, the onlookers burst into laughter. No matter how thick-skinned the Tong father and son were, they couldn’t take it anymore. They could only leave in a sorry state.

Yang Tongchuan thought: As if I can’t handle you two unlucky bastards.

He turned around and saw the front door of his house cracked open. Behind the door, a pair of round, rolling eyes was watching him.

Crap. Did Xiang Xi just see him making a fool of himself?

Actually, Xiang Xi had been hiding behind the door eavesdropping. When he heard the thud of Yang Tongchuan kneeling, his heart had twitched. He peeked out to check the situation. He had never seen Yang Tongchuan act like a rogue before and was quite startled.

Yang Tongchuan pushed the door open and went inside, shutting out the gossip from the street.

“Did I scare you?”

“A little. I’ve never seen you like that.”

“I’m not just good for fighting. Uncle and the others are elders, after all. If I laid a hand on them, we’d be the ones in the wrong. So, I had to be even more shameless than they were.”

With the Tongs gone, Tongchuan and Xiang Xi settled back into their quiet life. Yanzi was sent out to buy roast duck. Since there were few people home, he and Xiang Xi could each have a whole duck leg.

It was a beautiful day, and Xiang Xi wanted to bring the quilts out to air them in the sun. Fearing he might strain himself, Tongchuan took over the chore. Just as the quilts were laid out, there was another knock at the door.

“Who is it?” Tongchuan shouted irritably, thinking it was the Tongs again.

“Master, do you need firewood delivered?” The voice was clearly startled by Tongchuan’s tone.

Living in the east of the city, the Yang family usually bought firewood. There were a few regular farmers who would come by every so often to ask if they needed a supply. A bundle of wood was about 15 wen—a bit of extra income for farmers during the slack season.

“Wait a moment.” With all the recent mess at home, Tongchuan had forgotten about the wood delivery. “Come in. Put it in the usual spot in the backyard. Xiang Xi, go inside and get fifteen wen.”

“Okay.” Xiang Xi took the money from the cash box. Usually, Mother Yang paid for these things from the communal account, but since she wasn’t home, Xiang Xi didn’t mind.

Once the farmer had stacked the wood, Xiang Xi handed him the money.

“Thank you, Master.” The man lowered his head, took the money, and left without lingering.

Xiang Xi recognized the man. He used to work as a porter at the docks and had often come to Xiang Qiang’s stall to ask for a drink of hot water.

“What are you looking at? He’s gone.” Tongchuan felt a strange irritation seeing Xiang Xi staring after the man.

“He used to ask me for hot water at the docks.”

“An old acquaintance?”

“Hardly. I don’t even know his name. He didn’t recognize me either. Just a familiar face.”

“Stop looking then. He’s nobody important. Go back inside and lie down.” Tongchuan bolted the door shut again.

For lunch, Xiang Xi wanted to make winter melon soup to go with the roast duck to cut through the grease. Tongchuan wouldn’t let him do it himself and arranged for Yanzi to cook instead.