CHAPTER 67: CHAPTER 67: PROVING INNOCENCE

Chen Wenjun proactively gave her three yuan, "I know Ah Qiang is out of line. If you really had no other choice, you wouldn’t come to me. It’s just that I used the money this morning to buy a lot of materials, so I only have this little pocket money left."

Zhou Meili clutched the money, tears streaming down her face as she forced a smile and mustered up the courage to speak, "I came over today and found no one at your house. There are bloodstains on the fishing boat, and I was worried something might have happened to you."

"Ah! It’s nothing! It’s just that there was a thief on the boat. It happened once before and turned my home upside down. After that, we set some traps inside. A thief came again yesterday, but the damn thief didn’t get anything. Those bloodstains must be from the thief. Once it rains in a few days, it’ll wash away," Chen Wenjun said casually.

Zhou Meili’s mind, however, exploded with shock.

She didn’t even remember how she got home. It was late at night, and Zheng Aqiang was still nowhere to be seen. Her heart was filled with desolate resentment, with no place to release it, so she could only weep secretly. The more she cried, the sadder she became, escalating from initial sobbing to loud, inconsolable wailing.

The commotion was so great that the surrounding fishing boats could hear it, yet no one came out to take a look.

When Zheng Aqiang returned home with a gloomy face two days later, he found Zhou Meili gone and cursed in anger, asking the nearby Dang people.

Everyone just shook their heads in response.

Zheng Aqiang assumed Zhou Meili had returned to her parents’ home and didn’t pay much mind, all his thoughts occupied by the money he lost, fueling his rage further. In a fit, he kicked over the small table.

After making a scene, he felt hungry, but couldn’t find anything to eat at home. He then thought of Chen Wenjun, his eyes instantly turning vicious, "That bastard dared to trick me! I’ll see how I deal with you!"

He remembered seeing a little girl at Chen Wenjun’s house that day, presumably a healthy child who could fetch a lot of money. But first, he needed to eat, and then he’d go back to snatch the little brat.

Having made up his mind, Zheng Aqiang gave an evil smile and left home again.

Late at night, the entire town was silent, with only streetlights on either side of the road. He skillfully sneaked into a nearby village, just about to make his move when he was discovered.

"Who’s there? Somebody, catch the thief!"

This shout scared Zheng Aqiang so much he fled in panic, using all his strength to escape the village. Just after he successfully got away, an itch spurred him to take another risk.

Over at Chen Wenjun’s, it took almost five days to finish the concrete slab on the second floor.

Once the concrete slab was poured, it would take another three days before they could continue building brick walls.

Lin Yi looked at the house in front of him, his face breaking into a wrinkled smile, "Great! This house can finally be lived in. No more staying in a plastic shed every day!"

The plastic shed could keep out the wind and rain, but it wasn’t a proper roof. A typhoon could be deadly.

Now that the first floor was done, they could live as they pleased without worrying about wind and rain.

Chen Wenjun was excited too, paying the workers and giving each of them a bag of fish and snails.

He had just seen them off by the side of Nanxi.

A group of people approached Chen Wenjun’s fishing boat, holding sticks and looking aggressive.

Without a word, they rushed forward to surround Chen Wenjun.

"What do you all want?" Chen Wenjun asked in a panic as he looked at them. He was sure he’d never provoked these hooligans. Were they targeting him for selling fish?

Just as Chen Wenjun was mulling over the situation, one of Gao Lei’s underlings, without saying a word, hit him with a stick and cursed, "Paying off debts is only right! Don’t try to play dumb with us!"

In pain, Chen Wenjun’s eyes widened with rage, "I never borrowed money from you guys. Why should I pay you?"

Gao Lei flashed a wicked smile and crouched down, "Zheng Aqiang said you owe him a thousand yuan, and he owes us five hundred. Since he can’t pay, we’re collecting the debt on his behalf! Be quick about it and pay up, or else my brothers won’t be gentle, and it won’t be fun then!"

Chen Wenjun’s veins bulged in anger as he shouted with all his might, "I don’t owe him money; he owes me!"

Gao Lei’s expression darkened as he pulled a piece of paper from an underling’s hand, "Look closely, this is your IOU."

Chen Wenjun sat up and leaned in to take a careful look, feeling as if a lump of anger was stuck in his chest, neither up nor down, "You’ve been tricked by him. I can’t read, and I can barely write my own name. I just started recognizing my name recently, so this is not my handwriting. I can’t acknowledge it."

"Not your handwriting?" Gao Lei’s eyes widened in anger, still not fully convinced by Chen Wenjun.

He stood up, kicked an underling beside him, "Go get me paper and pen!"

Gao Lei was on the verge of losing control. His underlings were intimidated, not daring to make a sound.

The paper and pen came slowly, and the underling got kicked again, wearing a pained expression, "Boss, I tried my best. There’s no convenience store nearby, and if I hadn’t snatched a kid’s backpack, I couldn’t have found anything."

Gao Lei: "..."

"Who told you to snatch from a kid? You idiot!" Gao Lei cursed, slapping the underling a few times.

The underling didn’t dare to fight back even after being hit.

Once the paper and pen were placed in front of Chen Wenjun, Gao Lei put away the IOU, looking down coldly, "Write your name!"

Chen Wenjun shivered but picked up the pen and wrote his full name, stroke by stroke.

The group of hooligans crowded around, comparing the handwriting on the paper with the signature on the IOU.

When Chen Wenjun finished writing, Gao Lei’s face had turned completely dark.

An underling nervously said, "B-b-boss, the handwriting really isn’t alike! We’ve been tricked by Zheng Aqiang."

Gao Lei valued his image greatly, and in fury, he jumped and shouted to the sky, "Zheng Aqiang, you’re dead meat!"

The group fiercely disembarked, and Chen Wenjun, breathing heavily in relief, saw they were about to leave, quickly ran after them, and called out, "Wait..."

Gao Lei’s group stopped, frowning in confusion at Chen Wenjun, "What do you want?"

Chen Wenjun swallowed nervously and boldly said, "Are you going to settle the score with Zheng Aqiang? Can you take me with you? I want to ask him why he’s harming me like this!"

Gao Lei considered this for a moment and agreed.

He also wanted to find out whether the IOU was real or if Zheng Aqiang had scammed him...

Meanwhile, Zheng Aqiang was anxiously waiting for news from Gao Lei, thinking that Chen Wenjun was timid, and since Gao Lei had a bad temper, once Gao Lei took action and threatened him, even if Chen Wenjun didn’t have the full amount, he’d bring out some money.

He wasn’t worried about Chen Wenjun calling the police afterward, figuring that he was a lone wolf, at worst he’d be jailed for a few years where there’d be food and shelter, better to survive the current crisis first.

As he was soothing himself, Gao Lei returned.

Zheng Aqiang suddenly stood up, about to speak, but saw Chen Wenjun with him, causing his legs to go weak, and he fell to his knees.