BHBF Chapter 103.2

Boss, He’s Becoming a Father (Arc 6) Chapter 103.2: My Son is an Unparalleled Good Man (8)

Liu Guizhi was taken aback, then forced a smile and said, “She sees Da Chun’s salary more often than I do.”

Shao Dachun immediately said, “Don’t talk nonsense.”

Shao Yu ignored his son’s words, wrote the amount of money clearly on the IOU, keeping even the change, and read it aloud again.

When Zhao Xuehong heard that the IOU stated she owed money to Liu Guizhi, she became agitated and said, “Isn’t my creditor Brother Dachun?”

“Your brother Da Chun’s creditor is your sister-in-law Gui Zhi,” Shao Yu said, following her address.

Zhao Xuehong looked to Shao Dachun for help, but Shao Dachun, having just been lectured by Shao Yu, did not dare to object.

Liu Guizhi, on the other hand, didn’t care whether she could get the money back or not. She took an IOU, which was some consolation for her.

“I…I can’t write,” Zhao Xuehong said.

“Then draw a circle and press your red handprint on it.” As Shao Yu spoke, he even pulled out a box of ink pads from somewhere, leaving Zhao Xuehong with no excuse to refuse.

Old Wang then said, “Third son’s wife, it’s only right to pay back debts. Hurry up and put your handprint on it.”

Zhao Xuehong cursed inwardly, but with everyone watching, she could only reluctantly press her fingerprint.

Shao Yu handed the IOU to Liu Guizhi, but Liu Guizhi refused to take it, saying, “Father, you keep it. I’m afraid someone will steal it if I keep it.”

Shao Dachun immediately said, “Are you talking about me? Is that how you see me?”

Having seen her husband scolded by his father-in-law so many times, Liu Guizhi no longer catered to him like before. She said without any mercy, “I had saved up a basket of eggs that I was planning to sell, and you gave them to her.”

“I made new clothes and shoes for Niu Niu, but you gave them to the neighbor’s child.”

“I finally managed to save up five yuan, and you’ve gotten it for free.”

With each additional item mentioned, Shao Dachun’s mood worsened. He had given all these things away, and he only remembered the gratitude others showed him, but not Liu Guizhi’s subsequent complaints and tears.

Shao Yu didn’t hold back either, saying, “How could I have raised a thief? Gui Zhi, think carefully about what you’ve lost. We’ll settle it properly tonight, and Da Chun will write you an IOU too.”

When Old Wang heard about “new clothes and new shoes,” he remembered what his little granddaughter was wearing, which he said was given to him by Shao Dachun. His wife used to talk about it with pride, saying that Shao Dachun had plenty of good things, and if they didn’t want them, other people would take them.

Old Wang was surprised to find that what Shao Dachun brought was actually made by Liu Guizhi for her daughter. He immediately blushed and said, “Guizhi, my little girl has worn your Niu Niu’s new clothes and shoes. If you don’t mind, I’ll have my wife make a set for you tomorrow.”

Shao Dachun immediately refused on her behalf.

Shao Yu didn’t stop him, but said to Liu Guizhi, “Make a note of this, Shao Dachun owes you two sets of children’s clothes and shoes.”

Old Man Wang immediately said, “Da Chun, don’t stop me. What’s owed must be repaid.”

Shao Dachun, however, didn’t care. He still thought of them as family and couldn’t make such a big deal out of it.

But Old Man Wang felt that Shao Yu’s words were mocking him. In order to save face, Old Man Wang insisted on returning the things, which left Shao Dachun with no choice but to accept.

Meanwhile, Zhao Xuehong, who was standing to the side, had also seen through the situation of the Shao family. Shao Dachun was as easy to fool as ever, but now the one in charge had become the difficult Shao Yu.

Even though she still hoped to get something out of Shao Dachun, it was clearly impossible to do so tonight, so she said, “It’s late, I’ll go back now.”

After saying that, she wanted to leave, planning to find Old Man Wang and plead poverty when she got out. She felt that after making a scene all night, the probability of getting food from Old Man Wang was greater than from Shao Yu.

When Old Wang saw that she was about to leave, he breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that he finally didn’t have to get involved in this mess anymore.

But Shao Yu said, “Don’t rush to leave, we haven’t finished calculating yet.”

Old Wang felt a surge of irritation. He didn’t want to stay here, but Zhao Xuehong was their daughter-in-law, and he couldn’t just ignore her.

Zhao Xuehong, however, had an instinctive premonition that something was wrong.

Sure enough, Shao Yu asked casually, “Going to the hospital once made you sell the last two bags of grain at home, and my son took fifty yuan and fifty-seven cents. What kind of illness is this?”

Zhao Xuehong’s heart skipped a beat; she hadn’t expected Shao Yu to ask such detailed questions.

Not only Shao Yu was curious, but even Old Man Wang was curious. So much money had been spent, it looked like a serious illness, but why hadn’t Zhao Xuehong sought help from the clan?

“It’s acute gastroenteritis,” Zhao Xuehong said.

“How much does it cost to see a doctor?” Shao Yu asked again.

Zhao Xuehong really wanted to lie, but it was easy to calculate how much it would cost for a child with acute gastroenteritis.

“Twenty yuan,” Zhao Xuehong said.

Old Wang was the first to frown and said, “How could treating gastroenteritis cost so much money? Were you scammed?”

He was stunned after saying that. After all, the treatment only cost twenty yuan, but Zhao Xuehong’s grain sales, plus the money she got from Shao Dachun, amounted to almost sixty yuan.

Even someone as carefree as Shao Dachun realized something was wrong at this point.

Everyone looked at Zhao Xuehong.

Old Wang couldn’t help but ask, “Da Chun alone spent so much money, why are you still selling grain? If you save that much money, your whole family could eat for two months.”

Zhao Xuehong looked a little embarrassed, but still said, “Xiaobao is my only son. He has just recovered from a serious illness, so shouldn’t we give him some nourishment?”

Shao Dachun forgot his earlier doubts and nodded vigorously, agreeing, “The child is so young, he should take more supplements to nourish his body.”

Shao Yu said, “Oh, you’re starting to look more and more like a couple. You spend all your salary on your wife and kids. It’s only natural.”

Upon hearing this, Old Wang looked at the two of them with a very unfamiliar expression.

If there really is something between the two, it would be a huge disgrace for both the Wang and Shao families.

Shao Dachun pulled Shao Yu aside and said, “Father, please don’t say things that could cause misunderstandings.”

“Then why do you do more things that could cause misunderstandings?” Shao Yu replied.

Shao Dachun was in the wrong again, but if it came down to choosing between his personal reputation and helping others, he would still choose the latter without hesitation.

Shao Yu added, “I don’t know what kind of child he is. Everyone at home is starving, but he still has the mind to nourish himself.”

Zhao Xuehong couldn’t explain it for a moment, and could only say, “I thought that if the child takes good care of his body, he will get better faster.”

Shao Yu then asked, “What did you feed him that cost so much money?”

Zhao Xuehong rolled her eyes and said, “I bought him a few chickens.”

“How do you feed them? One a day?” Shao Yu asked.

Zhao Xuehong shook her head and said, “We eat one every two days.”

Shao Yu asked, “How many days did you stay in the hospital?”

“Two days.” Zhao Xuehong remembered this very clearly.

Shao Yu said, “Even if you bought him chickens while he was in the hospital, that’s only for seven days. If you bought one chicken every two days, you could have bought four chickens at most. You’re really ruthless to the child.”

A question mark slowly floated above everyone’s heads, not understanding why Shao Yu said that.

Shao Yu explained, “Acute gastroenteritis is a problem with the stomach and intestines. The child hasn’t fully recovered yet, and you’re feeding him such greasy and nourishing food. You’re just hoping the child will have to go back to the hospital.”

Zhao Xuehong’s face stiffened. This was something she had made up, so it was full of holes. She could only weakly say, “I don’t know anything. I just thought the child’s stomach was bad because he hadn’t eaten anything good. If I really harmed Xiaobao, then I would be a sinner.”

Shao Dachun quickly comforted her, “This isn’t your fault, ignorance is no excuse…”

“Tsk tsk, they really look like a couple.” Shao Yu repeated once.

Liu Guizhi clenched her fists as she watched this scene.

Shao Dachun knew he couldn’t shut Shao Yu up, so he could only shut himself up and stay far away from Zhao Xuehong.

With no one to comfort her, Zhao Xuehong’s performance became quite awkward, and she could only slowly stop her tears.

Shao Yu acted as if he hadn’t seen her crying and asked again, “Where did you buy the four chickens?”

Zhao Xuehong hadn’t bought any chickens at all, so she could only make up a story: “Aunt Jin from the next village.”

Zhao Xuehong had thought it through clearly. If she said someone from her own village, it would be easy to expose her, but if she said someone from another village, and deliberately said someone from a more distant place, it would be very difficult for Shao Yu to go and verify it.

Shao Yu just smiled and said, “Why are you going to buy chickens from other villages instead of your own? Old Wang, I remember you raised a lot of chickens. Didn’t you say that no one would buy them and that you had to send them to the city to find buyers?”

“You usually take good care of this niece-in-law, so why doesn’t she think of you at a time like this, and instead runs off to patronize someone else’s business?”

Hearing Shao Yu’s words, Old Man Wang’s face turned ugly. Everyone in the village knew that his family raised a lot of chickens, and Zhao Xuehong often visited his home, so it was impossible for her not to know.

But Shao Yu continued to add fuel to the fire: “Aunt Jin from the next village does raise a lot of chickens, but it’s not easy to go to the next village. It takes two hours round trip. Why would someone go all the way to buy chickens? Just how good are her chickens?”

Although Old Man Wang didn’t go through fire and water for Zhao Xuehong like Shao Dachun did, as an elder of the Wang family, he saw that Zhao Xuehong was pitiful after losing her husband and usually took care of her family.

The old woman often gave Zhao Xuehong’s son clothes that her grandson could no longer wear. Despite her advanced age, she still worked tirelessly to take chickens to the city to sell.

Zhao Xuehong knew all this perfectly well, but she still insisted on going the long way around. Old Wang immediately became furious and couldn’t help but say, “Third brother’s family are all relatives. Even if my family really sells chickens, we won’t charge you extra money. You don’t need to be so careful.”

“Uncle, I didn’t mean that. You misunderstood. I just heard that Aunt Jin’s chickens are good. I forgot that your family also sells chickens…” Zhao Xuehong said weakly.

Shao Yu, however, continued to fan the flames: “Aunt Jin sold diseased chickens last year, and she was cursed to death for it.”