C1

Chapter 1 - Debts

The sun had just set and the temperature was pleasant. People walked on the streets, and most of them came out together to take a walk and enjoy the beautiful night sky of Linxi City.

"Ai!" Zhang Yitian heaved a heavy sigh. Right now, he simply didn't have the mood to enjoy the beautiful sunset.

Looking at the lifeless vegetables that were left out in the sun, he sighed. It seemed that he could only eat these vegetables by himself.

Two years ago, Zhang Yitian's parents had gotten into a car accident, and his father's attempt to rescue him was ineffective. Although his mother managed to survive, she was also unable to work and was unable to continue working.

He was still in his second year of high school, so he could only give up his studies and bear this burden.

However, he was not a true farmer, and the vegetables he grew were not as good as those farmers. Therefore, even if he left early and returned late every day, he would still not be able to earn much.

Zhang Yitian's family lived in the Shanghe Village, about eight kilometers away from the Linxi City, at the junction between rural and urban areas. Most of the village's young people went to Linxi City to work, or even further away from the village.

Treading on his own broken three wheels for an hour, Zhang Yitian finally walked back to the Shanghe Village in exhaustion. It was already nine in the evening when he arrived at the village.

He rushed home immediately. His mother was probably starving, but when he arrived home, he found that she wasn't home.

Zhang Yitian panicked a little. His mother had been sick in bed for a long time, and she had been waiting for him to come back every night to cook.

He hurriedly ran over to his neighbor, Old Zhang's house and asked, "Aunt Fatty, did you see my mother?"

Aunt Pang was only 1.5 meters tall, but she weighed 150 pounds. She had a good temper, and when the villagers joked about calling her Aunt Pang, she actually felt that she was rather friendly. That was what everyone called her over time.

"I think I saw your mother looking for your uncle." Aunt Pang was lying on the sofa watching TV and laughing.

"Thank you!" After Zhang Yitian finished speaking, he walked out of the fat aunt's house with large strides.

"Stay for some food, we just happen to have some left." The fat aunt was concerned.

"No, I've already eaten." Zhang Yitian smiled and closed the door to his aunt's house. The moment he closed the door, Zhang Yitian's expression immediately became extremely ugly.

Ever since his father had passed away, his eldest uncle had wanted to cut off all relations between the two families. He didn't even want to pay back the money he owed previously.

In this half a year, no matter how difficult it had been for his family, his uncle hadn't given him any help. His mother must have gone to collect some debts, but with his family's style, there was no way they could do anything good.

Without caring about how tired he was, Zhang Yitian immediately ran over to his uncle's house. Sure enough, he saw that her mother Li Xiaoling was sitting inside his house during the night.

"Brother, look at the situation in my house. It's going to be a mess soon."

Just as he stepped into Eldest Uncle Zhang Zhongwen's courtyard, he heard his mother Li Xiaoling say in grief.

Her mother had always been a prideful person. Furthermore, when her father was still alive, Zhang Yitian's family was once the wealthiest family in the village.

Looking at his mother's silhouette, Zhang Yitian felt as if his heart was bleeding.

"Sister-in-law, our family also has four people who want to feed us, but we really can't afford it." The eldest uncle expressionlessly said as he picked up a large piece of pork from his rice bowl and put it into his mouth.

"But doesn't your family still eat pork?" As her mother looked at the pork in Zhang Zhongwen's bowl, she couldn't help but think that if only her family could cook some pork to nourish her body. It had already been two months since she last ate the pork.

"Sister-in-law, you're wrong about that. Even if you don't have money, you can't starve to death, right?" He ate the pork in big mouthfuls, and the fat dripped from his mouth.

"But our Qianqian really doesn't have any tuition fees. The three thousand yuan you owe us has already been two years. You should pay it back now!" the mother begged.

"Money?" Eldest Uncle Zhang Zhongwen immediately stopped eating.

"I do owe my brother 3000 yuan, but that's my brother's money. What does it have to do with you, a woman's family?" He sneered and said lightly.

Anger appeared on Zhang Yitian's face. Not mentioning that he was his biological uncle, even if he was his neighbor, he would not act this way. Furthermore, his family was in such a bad situation. People in the village would pay back the money they owed before. Only his uncle would drag it on for so long. Now, he was actually going back on his word!

"Even if it has nothing to do with a woman like me, it should have something to do with the two children." The mother said in a low voice.

"Which of those two children looks like my brother? Who knows which bastard they are?" Zhang Zhongwen said in disdain.

"You …" For a woman, this was already the biggest insult she could receive.

Beast! Zhang Yitian looked at his uncle Zhang Zhongwen and tightly clenched his fist. He hadn't even noticed the hole in his fingernails when he had asked, "What right does such a person have to call himself his uncle?"

He was thoroughly angered. No one had ever dared to insult his mother like this. Ever since his father passed away, although the family had lived in poverty, at least they had lived with dignity.

Taking advantage of the twilight, he slowly walked to the corner of the wall, picked up a stool that was placed outside the courtyard, walked behind his uncle Zhang Zhongwen, and smashed it down onto Zhang Zhongwen's back!