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Chapter 272: Chapter 272: Come over, come over and I’ll beat you to death
Old Mrs. Jia, "..."
Her son was born to be her nemesis. When he was up to no good, he would infuriate her to near death. Now that he’s on the right path, he still manages to anger her to death.
Rather than being angered to death by him, she might as well beat him to death first.
Old Mrs. Jia looked around and picked up a broom to strike.
Jia Liang leaped far away in a split second, "Mom, can’t you just talk? Why do you always have to resort to hitting?"
He wasn’t afraid of a slap to the face, but a whack with a broomstick was a dark shadow from his childhood. It really hurt when hit with one.
Old Mrs. Jia raised the broomstick and pointed it at him, "Come here, come over so I can beat you to death."
Jia Liang stepped back again, "I’m not coming. If you kill me now, I’m sure to meet dad down there, and he’s definitely going to give me another beating."
"So, if I don’t beat you to death, you want me to just give you a beating?"
"Mom, I’m already 30 years old, you can’t just hit or scold me whenever you want. How am I supposed to get a wife?"
It must be said that Jia Liang knew how to handle his mother; mentioning finding a wife would make Old Mrs. Jia lower her battle flag.
A moment later, Old Mrs. Jia sighed, "Go on, tell me what happened now. You say it’s to let me enjoy life, but I’m not so blessed. Did you go out and owe someone money again?"
Jia Liang also fell silent.
His dad died early, and it wasn’t easy for his mom to raise him alone. In the years he wasn’t behaving, his mother had worried a lot for him.
They say a man matures after 30. Jia Liang didn’t know if he was mature, but only after dealing with Lin Chuxia did he realize how scummy his past actions were, causing his mother so much worry.
Yet even then, he had never thought about selling the house.
Now, he earnestly wanted to make up for the guilt he felt towards his mother, to give her a comfortable life, but he had to sell the house.
Seeing that he wasn’t speaking, Old Mrs. Jia knew that he really was in trouble.
"Is it for those so-called friends of yours again? Liangzi, Liangzi, I thought you had learned your lesson now that you have a proper job, but I didn’t expect you to..."
Seeing Old Mrs. Jia so anxious she was on the brink of tears, Jia Liang hurriedly said, "It’s not the same as before," but it wasn’t true that it had nothing to do with those friends.
Wasn’t Tian Jinzhu one of those old friends?
Jia Liang knelt down with a thud, and with difficulty spoke up, "Mom, it’s indeed my fault this time. I really had no other choice. I just want to make up for my mistakes. Mom, don’t worry, I will definitely work hard in the future, earn more money, and buy you a bigger house."
Old Mrs. Jia had only this one son, and the two of them depended on each other. Even though Jia Liang had done many scummy things in the past, she had never really resented her son.
Only blaming her own bad fortune, that Jia Liang lost his father’s guidance at a young age and that she was helpless, which led her child to take the wrong path.
Now, seeing her son kneeling before her begging, her heart was breaking.
She quickly pulled her son to his feet, "How much money do you owe? Your mother has saved all the wages you earned before, just wait, I’ll go get it for you."
"Mom," Jia Liang held Old Mrs. Jia back, "Don’t get it, it’s not enough."
If it had been enough, even if it was a few hundred short, he would have tried to find a way.
Old Mrs. Jia also fell silent looking at her son.
After a while, she spoke, "Liangzi, tell me, how exactly did you get into debt? Even if selling the house means I’ll get a scolding from your dad down there, at least let me be an informed ghost."
......
After explaining everything to his mom, Jia Liang went to the kitchen to deal with the dough. The house needed to be sold, but meals still had to be eaten.
He had just finished kneading the dough when a commotion was heard outside.
Hou Xiaobao entered with a bag of stuff from outside, cheerfully calling out to the old lady.
"Why are you here?"
Jia Liang asked while wiping his hands.
Hou Xiaobao first went inside to give the stuff to Old Mrs. Jia, and then cracked several jokes to make her happy.
He had been taken care of by the old lady a lot when he lived at the Jia Family’s place.
After finishing the conversation with the old lady, he then pulled Jia Liang aside.
"I heard the Public Security Bureau took Tian Jinzhu away? They didn’t implicate you guys, did they?"
Jia Liang was alert, "Who told you that?"
Hou Xiaobao let out a laugh, "Do I need to deliberately hear it from someone? It’s all over the streets. I also heard that Mr. Lin and Factory Director Su even made a visit. That Tian Jinzhu really did a lot of harm. I was saying, we brothers used to call him to work with Mr. Lin back in the day, but he didn’t want to for anything. Look at him now, figuring it out, but a dog can’t change its appetite for shit."
Hou Xiaobao kept talking non-stop while Jia Liang did not engage in his topic.
The dough was almost ready, he grabbed the rolling pin to roll out the noodles.
Hou Xiaobao was never shy at Jia Family’s, after all, he had lived there for several years before.
He immediately went to wash the tomatoes and prepare the tomato sauce.
The two of them casually conversed in the kitchen, mostly with Hou Xiaobao trying to draw information out of Jia Liang.
After all, Su Wensong had told him about Tian Jinzhu’s issues. He couldn’t outright say he already knew, nor did he want to hide things if his friend was in trouble.
It wasn’t until he heard Jia Liang mention selling the house that Hou Xiaobao had the realization.
After Jia Liang washed his hands of the underworld, although he still dealt with those people, it was just a nod when they met, a matter of money for services, nothing more than a simple monetary transaction.
And that amount of money wasn’t something ordinary people could come up with.
"Would the old lady agree?"
"I’ve talked to her. She did not agree at first, but when she learned it was because of the debt to Mr. Lin’s project funds, she agreed. She told me no matter what, we can’t owe Mr. Lin money."
After Jia Liang explained the situation to Old Mrs. Jia, other than berating Tian Jinzhu, she instructed Jia Liang not to let Mr. Lin down.
Hou Xiaobao nodded again.
Jia Liang suddenly asked, "How much money do you have on you?"
"Ah?" Hou Xiaobao looked up.
"I heard you were looking at houses recently, thinking of buying one?" 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝔠𝔬𝖒
If he really intended to buy a house, might as well sell him this home.
Selling to someone he knew, his mother could still come back and visit from time to time, which would be a comfort to her. It was better than selling to a stranger, cutting off all ties forever.
Hou Xiaobao sheepishly scratched his head, "Where would I have that much money for a house? I just feel like we’re not getting any younger, people my age already have kids. Now I have a decent job, the pay isn’t bad, if there’s a good match, finding someone to do laundry, cook, and care for me. Since I’m thinking of settling down, shouldn’t I first have a place to call home?"
He couldn’t go back to his own family home, nor did he care to endlessly argue with his brother and sister-in-law over those two rooms. Staying in a dormitory wasn’t an option either.
Luckily, he could rent a place at the moment, planning to save enough to buy a couple of rooms in a couple of years.
Hou Xiaobao was still planning his bright future in his mind when a big hand stretched out in front of him.
"If you’re not buying a house, then lend me the money first. I’m a little short after selling the house."
Hou Xiaobao: "..."
