At the fork in the road in Zhangshan Village, Tian Jing got out of the car and told Li Zhengguo to hurry to work, as it was improper for a leader to be late.
The market in Zhangshan Village was mostly dispersed, with tourists browsing in small groups.
A black car was parked in front of the Tian family's house.
Not knowing who had come to the Tian family, Tian Jing simply called out from the doorway, "Tian Ligui, come out for a moment."
In the low, dim main hall of the Tian family, everyone was fawning over a man.
Yesterday, Tian Daxie and Tian Xiaoxue had suddenly returned with a man, and the Tian family had been so overjoyed they were blind.
They couldn't see the man's age, nor the heavy makeup on Daxie and Xiaoxue, only the man's thick gold chain and mobile phone.
Tian Ligui was only a paternal cousin, and still part of the extended family but not a separate household. Even with all his effort, he hadn't received so much as a pleasant glance from this man or from Tian Daxie and Tian Xiaoxue.
Today, the three who had gone out and stayed overnight returned again. Tian Ligui, shamelessly, was once again trying to curry favor with the man, when he heard someone calling him.
He replied irritably, "Who is it?"
Who knew that Tian Daxie and Tian Xiaoxue were faster than him? The two cousins, squeezing past him who had already reached the doorway of the main hall, rushed into the yard and towards the gate:
"Cousin Jing."
"Cousin Jing."
Tian Ligui froze. Tian Jing was here? She was looking for him?
By the time he walked into the yard, he saw Tian Jing waving away Tian Daxie and Tian Xiaoxue with disdain:
"Get aside, you're suffocating me."
Tian Daxie and Tian Xiaoxue awkwardly moved aside, allowing their paternal uncle to approach.
Tian Jing looked at Tian Ligui, who now resembled an old man, without any emotional fluctuation:
"Tian Ligui, you owe the town seventy thousand yuan and it's time to repay it. I'm here on behalf of the town to collect the debt."
Tian Ligui was both angry and ashamed. Wasn't he trying his best right now?
He had heard that the man owned several factories in the south. If he could curry favor with this boss, maybe he would casually reward him with a hundred or eighty thousand.
Who knew that Tian Jing would come to collect the debt at this critical moment:
"I have no money, only my life."
"Oh, quite spirited," Tian Jing sneered coldly. "Your life is worthless."
Facing this former pitiable figure he once looked up to, Tian Ligui felt a mix of emotions and couldn't even muster the anger.
"Daxie, Xiaoxue, who is this?"
A voice, which almost seemed to bite its tongue, broke the awkward atmosphere.
The boss had come out. Tian Daxie and Tian Xiaoxue blushed furiously.
Others might not understand, but Cousin Jing would surely see through it.
Tian Jing saw only a middle-aged fat man emerge from the Tian family's main hall, and her brow couldn't help but furrow.
Her gaze then fell on Tian Daxie and Tian Xiaoxue. Could this kind of downfall be considered more sophisticated than them being "sold" by the Tian family?
Tian Daxie, suppressing the shame she felt, said to the middle-aged fat man:
"Boss, this is my and Xiaoxue's paternal aunt."
The middle-aged fat man walked a few steps towards the door and extended his hand to Tian Jing: "Aunt Jing, hello."
Tian Jing took a step back, ignoring the middle-aged fat man's flabby hand, and said to Tian Daxie:
"One wrong step leads to a cascade of mistakes. Strike while the iron is hot, and retreat while you still have something. Otherwise, you'll lose everything."
Ignoring the expressions on Tian Daxie and Tian Xiaoxue's faces, Tian Jing said to Tian Ligui, who was standing in the middle of the yard:
"I'm very busy. If you don't go to town to repay the money tomorrow morning, your wish to hold your grandson might be delayed by a few more years."
With that, Tian Jing turned and left.
Only after Tian Jing's retreating figure disappeared did the middle-aged fat man walk back into the Tian family yard: "You, can any of you tell me about that woman?"
"I will, I will," Tian Ligui quickly squeezed up to the middle-aged fat man.
"Uncle Gui."
"Uncle Gui."
Tian Daxie and Tian Xiaoxue loudly stopped Tian Ligui.
Tian Ligui ignored them: "Boss, if you give me a hundred thousand yuan, I'll tell you whatever you want to know."
"Good," the middle-aged fat man agreed readily. "Let alone a hundred thousand, even two hundred thousand is not a problem, as long as you tell me all her details."
Tian Ligui immediately beamed: "Good, good, good, let's go inside and talk."
Tian Daxie and Tian Xiaoxue together held him back from behind: "Uncle Gui, are you trying to die?"
Seeing the middle-aged fat man enter the main hall, Tian Ligui whispered to his two nieces:
"Do you think your boss is more powerful, or is Tian Jing more powerful?"
Tian Daxie said, "Of course Cousin Jing is more powerful."
"So what's the problem?" Tian Ligui forcefully shook his arms, trying to shake off their hands:
"If some rich fool wants to spend money to provoke Tian Jing, what's wrong with me making a little money on the side?"
"If they give me a hundred thousand, I can repay the debt and still have money left over. If they give me two hundred thousand, I'll even have enough to build a house."
Tian Daxie and Tian Xiaoxue held onto his arms, refusing to let go: "If you betray Cousin Jing, she will definitely deal with you."
"And if the boss loses, he will also deal with you."
Tian Ligui paused slightly, then grinned: "Let go of me. I know what I'm doing."
"Daxie, Xiaoxue, aren't you coming in?" the middle-aged fat man urged from the main hall.
Tian Ligui seized the opportunity to shake off his nieces' grip and ran into the main hall:
"Boss, give me two hundred thousand, and I'll tell you everything you want to know, completely."
"Good," the middle-aged fat man took out a bank card from his briefcase.
"This card has exactly 200,000 on it. I want to know all the information about that woman from earlier, and I also want to know why Daxie and Xiaoxue both fear her and respect her."
Tian Ligui snatched the bank card from the middle-aged fat man's hand:
"She's an adopted daughter of our family, her parents were educated youths sent to the countryside..."
"...her husband is the town mayor of this town, he was promoted by the county magistrate. The scenic spots in Kushan Mountain were also fully supported by the county magistrate, and they built them up together."
"I heard she has assets in the capital, and I heard she's some kind of captain."
"However, she is the head of a nursery for a national poverty alleviation base. This I am sure of, because that nursery is located in Kushan Mountain."
"Her daughter-in-law is the granddaughter of an old leader in the capital, and her father-in-law is the military commander of North Province."
"Her three sons went to some army unit to serve, and I heard they sign up for life without discharge."
"Oh, yes, her nursery has forty disabled retired soldiers. I heard they were arranged by the Ministry of Public Security in the capital, and they were sent here ten years ago."
"That's all I can remember. If you want to know anything else, you can ask. If I don't know, I'll go and find out for you."
"That's all. That's all."
The middle-aged fat man, disregarding the sweat constantly beading on his forehead, took out a bank card from his briefcase, stood up, and handed it to Tian Daxie:
"Daxie, here is five hundred thousand. You and Xiaoxue each get two hundred and fifty thousand. Take this money and live a good life, don't go out anymore."
"I'm leaving now. From now on, don't contact me again. Please don't reveal my factory's location. Thank you."
Saying this, the middle-aged fat man bowed to Tian Daxie and Tian Xiaoxue and rushed out of the Tian family's house, starting his car.
Watching the car, which seemed to be driven as if drunk, sway and veer out of the village, Tian Ligui patted the bank card in his hand and asked his two nieces:
"How about it? Didn't I say I knew what I was doing? This kind of boss is most afraid of provoking the powerful and wealthy, and even more afraid of provoking important figures in the capital."
Tian Daxie sighed, "Uncle Gui, we should still go and tell Cousin Jing."
"If she gets angry, even if you repay the money, Brother Maojin and Brother Maoyin might also be in trouble."
"Go, let's go now." Tian Ligui also worried that his two sons might be inexplicably given extra prison sentences:
"Let's go to town to repay the money first. You two will together pay back twenty thousand for me. You can thank me for this money."