I couldn't take it anymore; when I went home for Chinese New Year, the family genealogy book ha

"Ah! Murder! Jiang Chen is hitting someone!"

When Li Guilan saw that her grandson's wrist was being gripped by Jiang Chen and he was screaming in pain, her protective instincts surged to the top of her head!

She sprang up from the ground with a thud, and like a mad hen, lunged at Jiang Chen with her claws outstretched.

"You heartless bastard! You think you're so great just because you have a few stinking bucks? You even bully a child!"

"Let go of my grandson! If you break his arm, I'll die right here in your doorstep!"

"Dad, Mom!"

Upon seeing this, Jiang Jianjun and Wang Xiuying were terrified and rushed forward from either side, tightly embracing the unruly Li Guilan.

"Gui Lan! Calm down! Let's talk this out!"

"Chen'er, let go! Don't really hurt the child!" Wang Xiuying was sweating profusely and her voice was trembling.

If something really happens at home on New Year's Eve, will we even be able to celebrate the New Year?

Jiang Chen's face was as cold as ice.

He ignored Li Guilan's wailing and stared at Xiao Bao, who was still struggling, and said, word by word, "I'll ask you one more time, will you let go of this hand yourself, or will I help you let go?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable chill.

Xiao Bao was terrified by his gaze, his cries caught in his throat, and he stared blankly at Jiang Chen, forgetting to struggle for a moment.

Jiang Chen then released his grip.

A clear red mark was left on Xiao Bao's wrist.

"Oh, my dear grandson!"

Li Guilan broke free from Jiang Jianjun and his wife, hugged her grandson tightly, and seeing the red marks around his eyes, tears and snot immediately streamed down her face.

"What a terrible thing! This is outrageous!"

"Just because they have money doesn't mean they can bully us orphans and widows! They're taking advantage of their power!"

Holding her grandson, she sat down on the ground and began slapping her thighs, using every mourning phrase she had ever learned in her life.

Jiang Chen watched her skillful tantrum, but instead of getting angry, he smiled.

"Aunt, please don't cry."

Jiang Chen slowly walked back to the coffee table, carefully put the Gundam model that had almost been smashed back in its place, and then glanced at the Iron Man on the TV cabinet.

"Now that this has happened, there needs to be an explanation."

Upon hearing this, Li Guilan stopped crying, raised her tear-streaked face, and said fiercely, "An explanation? I haven't even asked you for an explanation yet!"

"You hit my grandson, this isn't over! You have to pay compensation! Medical expenses! Compensation for emotional distress!"

"OK."

Jiang Chen nodded, his smile widening.

"Since we're going to settle accounts, let's do it properly."

He took out his phone and opened the shopping app again.

"As you just saw, the price of this Iron Man figure is 5,880."

As he spoke, he pointed the camera at the packaging box of the Gundam model on the coffee table.

A "beep" sound.

The product page popped up.

"This Gundam model called 'Disintegration Machine Sazabi' is a bit cheaper, at 3,600 yuan."

Jiang Chen turned his phone screen towards Li Guilan, and also towards his bewildered parents and his fourth uncle's family.

"The two together amount to nine thousand four hundred and eighty dollars."

Jiang Chen put away his phone, looked at Li Guilan sitting on the ground, and said slowly, "Your grandson just tried to damage my personal property worth 9,480 yuan. Although he failed, it caused me and my family great mental distress."

"Aunt, you are an elder, so I won't ask you for any compensation for emotional distress."

"How about this, you give me back the money for these two items, and we'll call it even."

"Nine thousand four hundred and eighty yuan, will you be paying in cash or by bank transfer?"

Jiang Chen's words silenced the entire room.

Li Guilan seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. She was stunned for a moment, and then burst into a sharp laugh.

"Hahaha! Are you desperate for money?"

"You're asking me for over nine thousand for these two pieces of broken plastic? Why don't you just rob me!"

"I'm telling you, I don't have a single penny! You hit my grandson, you still have to pay me back!"

She was certain that Jiang Chen was just bluffing her, trying to find a way to back down.

"Yeah?"

Jiang Chen's smile remained unchanged.

In front of everyone, he pressed three numbers.

110.

Then, I pressed the call button and immediately turned on speakerphone.

"Beep...beep..."

The ringing tone of the phone call being connected sounded particularly clear in the quiet main room.

Li Guilan's laughter came to an abrupt halt.

The expression on her face froze instantly.

"Hello, this is the 110 command center." A clear, serious voice came from the other end of the phone.

Li Guilan's heart skipped a beat!

She...he really called the police?!

"Hello, officer."

Jiang Chen's tone was calm and polite.

"I'm sorry to bother you on New Year's Eve. Here's the thing, I'm at home in Jiangjia Village, and a property dispute has come up."

"A relative of mine came to visit with his child. The child tried to snatch and damage my personal belongings, which were worth about 9,500 yuan. Now this relative not only refuses to compensate me, but is also making a scene here, seriously affecting my family's Chinese New Year celebration."

The police officer on the other end of the phone was clearly very skilled, immediately asking, "Okay, sir, please provide your exact address, and we'll arrange for the nearest police station to dispatch officers right away!"

The address is Jiangjia Village...

"No! Don't say it!"

When Li Guilan heard the words "police dispatch," she was terrified!

As a rural woman, what she feared most in her life was dealing with people in uniforms.

What's more, her son is a village official. If the police come knocking on her door and say that her grandson stole something and that she threw a tantrum, how will her son face people in the village after that?

"I...I..."

Li Guilan lunged forward like a duck being choked, trying to snatch Jiang Chen's phone.

Jiang Chen simply sidestepped, and she missed her target.

"Officer, I'm sorry, it might be a misunderstanding."

Jiang Chen spoke casually into the phone, "Let's try to resolve this ourselves first. If we can't, then we'll trouble you."

After saying that, he hung up the phone decisively.

The entire main room fell into a deathly silence in an instant.

Only the festive music from the Spring Festival Gala on TV continued to play tirelessly, creating a comical yet eerie contrast with the atmosphere before them.

Li Guilan stood frozen in place, her face turning pale and then flushed, her forehead covered in cold sweat.

She looked at Jiang Chen, and for the first time, fear appeared in her eyes.

This nephew is different from before.

He doesn't play by the rules of the village at all, like "taking advantage of one's age" or "persistently pestering others"!

He flipped the table!

"Cousin-in-law".

Jiang Chen put his phone back in his pocket, pulled up a chair, sat down, and crossed his legs.

"Now, can we have a proper talk?"

Li Guilan's lips trembled, and she couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

The baby in her arms seemed to sense that something was wrong, and the crying subsided, leaving only sobs.

Wang Xiuying and Jiang Jianjun were dumbfounded by their son's actions and didn't dare to utter a sound.

For the first time, they discovered that money and reason could be used in this way.

"Since we're talking, I'll show you some sincerity."

Jiang Chen held up five fingers and waved them in front of Li Guilan.

"Since it's New Year's Eve and we're all relatives, I'll give you a discount."

He pointed to the perfectly intact Iron Man figurine on the TV cabinet.

"Five thousand."

"You've paid for that figurine. As for the Gundam on the coffee table, consider it a gift for your grandson."

Jiang Chen paused, then a playful smile appeared on his lips.

"However, I'll give it to him only after he breaks it."

This statement is utterly humiliating!

Li Guilan's face instantly turned a deep liver color!

Five thousand?! Why don't you just rob someone?!

She screamed instinctively, her mercenary instincts taking over again.

"I don't have that much money!"

"No?"

Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow and made a move to take out his phone again.

"Shall I call again and ask?"

"Or, let's go to the village committee now and invite Uncle Shunde over. Let him judge in front of the whole village whether his child should compensate for the nearly ten thousand yuan worth of someone else's property?"

"Uncle Shunde is the most fair, I think he will definitely give us a satisfactory answer."

"Don't!"

When the village head Jiang Shunde is mentioned, Li Guilan completely loses her temper.

Who is Jiang Shunde? He's the absolute authority in the village!

If this matter gets back to him, he will definitely side with Jiang Chen, the "big spender".

In that case, you'll be the one who loses face.

Li Guilan sat on the ground, her expression constantly changing as she rapidly calculated in her mind.

Five thousand yuan? That would be the death of her!

But if we don't give it to them, this matter might really get out of control.

"What? Haven't decided yet?"

Jiang Chen's voice rang in her ears like a death knell.

Li Guilan gritted her teeth, as if she had made a major decision.

She got up from the ground, dusted herself off, and glared fiercely at Jiang Chen.

Then, to everyone's astonishment, she began to unbutton the buttons of her bulky floral cotton-padded jacket.

She reached into the innermost pocket, rummaged around for a while, and pulled out a small cloth bag wrapped in layers of handkerchiefs.

Unfold the handkerchief, and inside is a neatly folded stack of banknotes, some red, some green, and even a few blue.

This is all her possessions! It's her retirement money, saved up penny by penny!

Her hands were shaking like someone with Parkinson's disease.

One.

Two.

……

Every time she pulled out a red bill, the flesh on her face would twitch in pain.

That expression was more painful than having her flesh cut with a knife.

She counted fifty bills, then took out a few crumpled coins from another pocket, making up five thousand yuan.

"for you!"

Li Guilan slammed the wad of money onto the coffee table like it was trash.

The money slammed onto the table with a dull thud and scattered.

Jiang Chen didn't even glance at the pile of money; he simply picked up his teacup and gently blew on the steam rising from it.

"Aunt, are you sure you've counted correctly? Don't make a mistake, it's the New Year, don't ruin the harmony."

"you!"

Li Guilan was so angry she almost spat out blood!

She knew that she had completely failed today!

She grabbed the still-dazed Xiao Bao and rushed out the door without looking back.

"Let's go!"

As she reached the front door, she turned back, her venomous eyes fixed on Jiang Chen.

"You just wait!"

"Just because you're rich doesn't mean you can be so great! You'll get your comeuppance sooner or later!"

"What goes around comes around!"

After saying that, she slammed the door shut with a "bang" and disappeared into the night.

Inside the room, Wang Xiuying and Jiang Jianjun stared at the pile of scattered banknotes on the coffee table, speechless for a long time.

They never imagined in their lives that they could earn money like this.

Jiang Ling, the younger sister, looked at her brother with eyes full of admiration.

Only Jiang Chen slowly took a sip of tea, a subtle smile playing on his lips.

retribution?

Ok.

I'll wait and see who gets their comeuppance first.