Volume 1, Chapter 7: How Much Do You Owe? I Will Repay It.

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Hearing Ye Cheng’s teasing, Xiao Hu quickly handed over the money, grinning foolishly as he stuffed it into his pocket.
“Brother, if Mom sees that I can make money now, she’ll be overjoyed.”
“Don’t say things like that. Come on, let’s go buy some things to take home.”

There was only one small shop in the village, and the selection was limited. The dock was in town, where there were more goods available.

The two of them strolled around town, bought some daily necessities, and Ye Cheng purposely bought some marinated dishes and meats to bring back, spending a total of 30 yuan.

Back in the village, Xiao Hu went home excitedly to brag about it.

Ye Cheng put the items away, placed the clams in a basin to keep them fresh, then carried the marinated meats and dishes over to his eldest brother’s house.

It was already dark, and every household had started cooking dinner.

Ye Cheng stepped inside. His sister-in-law, Jiang Yunxiang, had already prepared the meal. The family of three sat at the table, their brows furrowed, clearly unfamiliar with chopsticks.

Seeing Ye Cheng enter, Ye Guowei quickly stood up, forcing a slight smile. “Ah Cheng, you’re here! Come, sit down and have some food with us.”

Jiang Yunxiang glanced at Ye Cheng reluctantly before going to fetch bowls and chopsticks.

This young uncle usually came around when he was out of money, either to mooch a meal or to ask for cash. In short, nothing good ever came of his visits.

Even their son, Dou Dou, knew that his uncle wasn’t a good person.

Ye Cheng looked at the table: there were only three dishes—a simple shredded potato, scrambled eggs, and some greens—very plain fare.

In front of his eldest brother was just a bowl of rice, without even a cup of wine.

Ye Guowei did manual labor, which consumed a lot of energy. Many liked to have a drink after work to relax their bodies.

He remembered Ye Guowei used to drink, but today, for some reason, he hadn’t.

And judging by the gloomy expressions on the couple’s faces just now, they must be facing some difficulties.

“Sis-in-law, I’ve already eaten. You don’t need to bring out bowls and chopsticks for me,” Ye Cheng said.

At his words, Jiang Yunxiang stopped being polite and came out of the kitchen directly.

Ye Guowei glanced awkwardly at his wife, knowing she was upset but couldn’t say much—after all, this was just how their younger brother was.

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“Ah Cheng, you went to the tide flats today? How was the catch?” Ye Guowei changed the subject.

“Not bad. Brother, sis-in-law, I brought some food for you: there’s pork knuckles that Dou Dou likes, pig trotters for you, and pig’s head meat for you, brother,” Ye Cheng said, placing the marinated dishes on the table.

Ye Guowei’s mouth dropped open, disbelief on his face as he looked at Ye Cheng, then at the dishes. “That must have cost a few dozen yuan.”

Jiang Yunxiang’s face darkened as she hurriedly opened the packages to confirm—it really was a heap of marinated meat.

Dou Dou’s eyes lit up at the sight of the dishes, and he instinctively reached for the pork knuckle with his chopsticks.

“Don’t touch that,” Jiang Yunxiang scolded softly, her expression even grimmer. “Ah Cheng, it’s not easy for your brother to earn money, and we still owe people money. You’re so wasteful, sigh...”

She grumbled a bit, but finally stopped herself; she was a reserved person who didn’t easily say everything on her mind.

Ye Cheng thought to himself, no wonder she looked so displeased just now—she must have thought he used his brother’s money to buy the meat.

His family earned money but ate simple vegetables, while the younger brother spent money lavishly on meat—that would naturally cause resentment.

Ye Cheng sat down calmly and pulled out three red bills from his pocket. “Brother, sis-in-law, I really earned this from tide flat fishing today. I bought the meat with my own money, so don’t worry.”

Upon hearing it was money earned from fishing, Jiang Yunxiang’s expression softened a bit, a hint of embarrassment showing.

Ye Guowei asked curiously, “You made that much money from tide flat fishing?”

“Yes, luck was on my side today. Brother, sis-in-law, you mentioned the family still owes money?” Ye Cheng asked.

He had just searched through the original owner’s memories but found nothing—apparently, the original owner never bothered to ask where the money came from.

“Yes, when our parents passed, we borrowed some money. Now they want it back,” Ye Guowei didn’t hide the truth.

“How much do you owe? I’ll pay it back,” Ye Cheng suddenly said.

Both Ye Guowei and Jiang Yunxiang looked astonished. What was going on with this younger brother today?

He had brought food, and now he was offering to repay debts.

“Ah Cheng, you’re not up to something bad, are you? Listen, if you’re out of money, just tell me. Don’t hang around with those guys fooling around.”

Ye Cheng knew Ye Guowei was referring to Gu Feng and his gang of four or five other men from Baiyun Village, a bit older than Ye Cheng.

Ye Cheng might be lazy and a troublemaker who dabbled in petty theft, but those guys were bullies who ran the market by force. They had tried to recruit Ye Cheng, but Ye Guowei stopped him, or else Ye Cheng would have joined long ago.

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Ye Guowei could tolerate his brother being a bit of a rogue, but he couldn’t accept him going down a criminal path.

Seeing the concerned looks from his brother and sister-in-law, Ye Cheng felt a surge of emotion but was also speechless—was he really that hopeless?

“Brother, sis-in-law, I really earned this from tide flat fishing. I went with Xiao Hu. The old Lin Seafood shop at the dock sells the goods. I caught 32 jin of clams. I’m not lying.”

“Old Lin Seafood? Yes, there is such a place at the dock,” Ye Guowei nodded.

“Sis-in-law, how much do we still owe?” Ye Cheng turned to Jiang Yunxiang, knowing his eldest brother wouldn’t say.

Jiang Yunxiang glanced at Ye Guowei, then lowered her head and muttered, “More than 5,000 yuan. Uncle Zhang said he needs the money and wants it repaid within a month.”

Five thousand yuan wasn’t a small sum in this era—it was no longer the time of millionaires.

But it wasn’t trivial either. Given Ye Guowei’s monthly wage of just over a thousand yuan, it equaled nearly half a year’s earnings.

“Five thousand, huh? No problem. I’ll definitely pay it back within a month. Don’t worry, I’ll take responsibility,” Ye Cheng assured them, patting his chest.

He earned 500 yuan a day; in ten days that amounted to 5,000 yuan. Paying off 5,000 in a month was no pressure at all.

“Ah Cheng, fishing like that depends on luck. You can’t expect it to be so good every day. Brother will pay the debt. Just keep the money safe and take care of yourself,” Ye Guowei said firmly, unwilling to let his brother shoulder the debt. He handed the three red bills back to Ye Cheng.

Ye Cheng didn’t refuse; he needed some money now, too.

“Brother, don’t worry. I’ll earn back the 5,000 yuan. You guys eat and stop worrying about me.”

With that, Ye Cheng greeted Dou Dou and left.

Ye Guowei watched his brother’s retreating figure, wearing a bewildered expression, and said to his wife, “Honey, what do you think is wrong with Ah Cheng?”

“What do you expect? As long as he can make money, it’s better than you always subsidizing him.”

“You say that again. He’s my brother. If I don’t help him, who will?”

“Mom, can I eat the pork knuckle now?” Inside, Dou Dou asked in a childish voice.

“Eat it. Your uncle bought it, so you can eat it.”