After four years of living alone after marrying far away, he went back to his parents' home and

"Pay back the money? Old lady, you've got quite the nerve!"

The leader was slumped in his chair, the bodhi beads rattling on his hands, and his smile was somewhat creepy.

"Or, why don't you ask your precious son how much money he borrowed from me last night?"

Upon hearing this, Tian Xiuhua's heart leaped into her throat, and she immediately turned to question Liu Zhigang:

"Zhigang, tell Mom honestly, how much money do you owe them?"

"Don't worry, everyone makes mistakes. Mom promises not to hit you."

Liu Zhigang huddled under the eaves, and no matter how his mother pressed him for answers, he kept his head down and remained silent.

The group of people collecting the debt seemed to have anticipated that Liu Zhigang had no money and that Tian Xiuhua couldn't make decisions for the Liu family.

Since they weren't in a hurry, they sat in the courtyard and waited leisurely.

And then there was that very perceptive younger brother who slipped into the room and managed to make a cup of hot tea for the leader.

About ten more minutes passed, and just as the group was starting to get a little impatient, Liu Defu finally rushed back!

Liu Zhifang followed behind, her face extremely pale, and she didn't even dare to look her mother in the eye.

"You busy person, you finally decided to come back?" Tian Xiuhua said sarcastically.

She looked in the direction her husband had returned from, and sure enough, she had guessed correctly. A surge of anger welled up inside her.

"Look what your son has done! During the first month of the lunar year, debt collectors are coming to our door!"

Liu Defu stood with his hands behind his back, frowning as he sized up the crowd. His voice was hoarse as he said, "You called me back in such a hurry just for this?"

"How much money do you owe them in total? Pay it back!"

"Isn't all the Liu family's money in your hands? You're your own son, so you can deal with him as you see fit! You think you can bargain with me after you bring me back?"

Upon hearing this, Tian Xiuhua was furious. "Fine, fine, so if something happens, it's all my son's fault? So he's not your own flesh and blood?"

"If you're so capable, then when you get sick in the future, you won't rely on your son to take care of you. And when you're old and can't move around anymore, you won't rely on your son to support you either!"

Liu Defu raised his hand in anger, but Tian Xiuhua stiffened her neck and closed her eyes, looking as if to say, "Go ahead and hit me, kill me if you dare."

Ultimately, Liu Defu couldn't bring himself to do it in front of so many outsiders.

"Alright, I'll let you off this time for the sake of outsiders!"

"With so many guests here, when are you going to stop causing trouble?" Liu Defu asked coldly!

"Hurry up and go in to get the money!"

"So that the villagers won't gather around and make a fool of themselves against me, Liu Defu!"

Tian Xiuhua endured it all, her eyes burning red, as if she wanted to tear Liu Defu apart on the spot.

"We'll take the money, but at least let us know how much money my son owes you, and why he owes you that amount."

The leader, who had been sitting on the sidelines watching the commotion, spat out the tea leaves in his mouth when they finally got down to business. Then, with a grin, he took out a copy of the IOU that Liu Zhigang had personally signed from his bag.

"Not much, exactly 800,000."

"This is the IOU, and there are witnesses from last night. We also recorded the whole process on video. There was no coercion whatsoever; it was purely voluntary."

When the debt collectors announced the amount owed, the Liu family was completely dumbfounded.

Even the two people on the second floor of Liu Mei's house, who were standing behind the window watching, looked at each other in bewilderment after hearing this.

"How much? How much?" Liu Mei thought she was hallucinating. "Eight hundred thousand?"

"These thugs who borrow money must be crazy for cash!"

"How could Liu Zhigang possibly borrow 800,000 yuan in just one night? Even if he gambled away every single time, he couldn't possibly lose that much money in one night!"

When Lan Yujuan heard this number, her heart skipped a beat.

Not 700,000, not 900,000. Exactly 800,000, no more, no less—what a coincidence!

Not right.

Something's not right!

The probability of this being a coincidence is too low; Lan Yujuan is more inclined to believe that someone did it intentionally.

"What are you all standing there for?"

"Didn't we agree to pay you back? Hurry up and come inside to get the money; I'll be sitting at the door waiting!"

Downstairs, Tian Xiuhua's blood rushed to her head, and her lips trembled as she struggled to ask, "Could you... have made a mistake?"

"If it's a debt of three to five thousand, we can accept it. Or at most, if it's ten or twenty thousand, we can barely scrape together."

"But 800,000... you wouldn't be trying to take advantage of the large group and extort money from us, would you?!"

"Let me tell you, the people of Xiahe Village are the most united, and we're not so easy to bully!"

While enduring the pressure, Tian Xiuhua winked at Liu Zhifang and whispered, "Go and find out where your sister-in-law has gone again. Tell her to come back immediately!"

"Just tell her there's a big problem at home, and tell her to call your older brother right away!"

Liu Zhifang nodded and quickly ran towards Liu Mei's house.

The two stood upstairs watching, their expressions quite complex.

Liu Mei asked in a low voice, "Yujuan, such a big thing has happened to your family, shouldn't you call your husband right away to let him know?"

Lan Yujuan calmly analyzed, "Even if we were to make a call, it wouldn't be my turn."

"I'll go back first and see how things go!"

After saying that, he was about to take his daughter downstairs.

Liu Mei's family protected the mother and daughter, which was a matter of neighborly affection.

But now that her sister-in-law has come knocking, if she doesn't take the child back, it will definitely cause trouble for Liu Mei's family.

Seeing that she was about to take her daughter home, Liu Mei quickly advised, "How about this, you go back first and I'll take care of Xiaoman for you?"

"There are so many people in front of your house, don't scare the children!"

Lan Yujuan glanced at her daughter in front of her, bent down, picked her up, kissed her, and said gently, "Liu Mei, thank you!"

"It's okay, you've been carrying it for me for ages, I'll just carry it myself!"

"When I held her hand and she stayed by my side, we both felt more at ease."

Seeing that she couldn't persuade her, Liu Mei stopped trying.

After all, this involves the Liu family's affairs, and Lan Yujuan, being involved, can't escape it sooner or later!

Downstairs, Liu Zhifang rushed over and was about to knock on Liu Mei's courtyard gate when, with a creak, the gate opened by itself.

Lan Yujuan, holding her daughter's hand, walked out of Liu Mei's house, her expression calm.

Liu Zhifang was already frantic. "Sister-in-law, please call my brother right away!"

"My second brother went out partying last night and lost 800,000! Now the debt collectors are practically swarming our doorstep!"

"They just threatened that if our family doesn't pay back the money today, they'll break my second brother's arm and leg... Waaah."

When the conversation turned to the most dangerous parts, Liu Zhifang couldn't help but cover her mouth and burst into silent sobs.

While crying, she secretly observed Lan Yujuan's reaction, hoping that she would quickly call her older brother and have someone stand up for the family.

But Liu Zhifang didn't expect that Lan Yujuan didn't take it to heart at all.

Lan Yujuan, holding her daughter's hand, walked slowly home, calmly saying:

"Liu Zhigang is my brother-in-law, not my son, so I won't worry about it."

"You can have whoever you want make this call."

"Besides, even if I don't call, your older brother will still go home again before the eighth day of the lunar new year, so the result will be the same anyway."

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhifang became even more anxious. "Sister-in-law, what do you mean by that?"

"Why are we making such distinctions at a time like this? Aren't you family with us?"

"Even if you're not worried about your second brother, you should at least think about Xiaoman!"

"If you don't believe me, go see for yourself! Our doorstep is already blocked by thugs demanding repayment of debts!"

"Aren't you worried that if a fight breaks out, Xiaoman might get hurt?"

Lan Yujuan stopped at the intersection and watched a police car drive towards her along the side road.

At this moment, Lan Yujuan felt incredibly at ease.

"What's the use of calling your older brother? He's too far away to help you in the present."

"If you encounter something like this, you should call the police!"