Chapter 446: Chen Jinfa's Incident: Beaten

The old man's beating had Chen Jinfa jumping around everywhere; normally he would have already fought back, but what's the situation now?

A crowd stared at him darkly; just that gaze could tear him to pieces, so now he can only endure.

After finally waiting for Chen Jinhai to tire from beating, Chen Jinfa finally got a chance to jump to the side and say,

"Jinhai, are you sick? You come up and start hitting, what's this about me stealing your money, where did you hear that rumor? I'm a Chen family member—how could I steal your money? It must be someone sowing discord."

He now feels a bit regretful; when he bought the massager earlier, he flashed his wealth, so they suspected him.

But he guesses these people are only suspicious; they definitely have no evidence.

"Heh, you little brat, you still won't admit it, huh?" Before Chen Jinhai could speak, Chen Houda beside him started cursing.

"Uncle, I really didn't do it—what black money? I don't even know what you're talking about." Chen Jinfa put on an innocent look.

"You can see I've been running around for the Chen family—whenever there's family business, I'm always at the forefront; even when fighting with Ye Cheng, I was the first one."

"Now you guys hear a little rumor and start doubting me—this is too disheartening."

Chen Jinfa spoke with such conviction, feeling like a loyal minister wrongfully accused.

But these people before him had seen the photocopied contract; just as someone was about to produce something, Chen Houda raised his hand to stop them, then continued speaking to Chen Jinfa,

"Jinfa, since I'm your uncle, I'm asking you a few things—you ought to answer honestly."

"That's right, you're my clan uncle, my elder—but you should also uphold justice. If you're going to wrongly accuse me like this, I'll go see the venerable elder." Chen Jinfa spoke confidently, not believing these people could find the shipyard or know how he made his money.

Besides, even if they found the shipyard, they wouldn't tell these country bumpkins.

"Alright, I'm asking you—where did your 40,000 come from? It's the 40,000 you spent all at once buying ten devices in the ceremonial hall." Chen Houda stared at him and said.

Chen Jinfa thought to himself, sure enough, the money gave him away.

Fortunately, while being beaten just now, he came up with an excuse,

"Uncle, you're asking about that 40,000—I borrowed it, not from people in our village, but from my wife's family."

He knew claiming he borrowed from the village wouldn't work, since half the village was present, so he could only say it was from his wife's side.

"Bullshit! Your wife's family is poorer than you—they couldn't even come up with 400, let alone 40,000—you'd have to be ghost to borrow that much." Chen Jinli jumped out and cursed, since they knew the situation; basically, it's a small village where everyone knows everyone.

"Jinli, I don't want to hear that talk." Chen Jinfa pointed at Chen Jinli and said,

"Your relatives are poor, oh, my wife's family is poor too, but who doesn't have a rich relative somewhere? They're willing to lend me money—you're just jealous."

If they hadn't known the truth beforehand, seeing his self-assured demeanor now, they might actually have believed him.

"Stop wasting words on him, damn Chen Jinfa—look at what this is."

While he was spouting nonsense up front, someone in the back had already had enough—they weren't like a few old men hemming and hawing; they went up and flung the torn contract at Chen Jinfa's face.

"You bastard, look at this yourself—holy shit!"

That person, while speaking, got angry and, while Chen Jinfa was picking things up, kicked him hard.

Chen Jinfa was completely dazed; after being knocked to the ground by the kick, he couldn't get up.

Those two papers before him were all too familiar—they were the contracts he signed for buying and selling boats.

When he saw those two papers, a chill ran down his spine, as if he'd fallen into an ice cellar.

How could that be?

How could that be?

Why do they have these two things?

Only now did he feel fear—a helpless, all-encompassing fear.

He's not afraid of doing wrong, but now that he's been found out, he's doomed.

He glanced at the angry crowd, knowing today he was finished and this wouldn't blow over.

He didn't know which son of a bitch brought this—it's clearly meant to ruin him completely.

"Chen Jinfa, what else do you have to say?!"

"Look at what's written on this paper—40,000—you really went all out."

"Damn it, we're all losing money, and you alone made 40,000—you black-hearted scum!"

"Hit him!"

"Hit him!"

The crowd began to get worked up, cursing and cursing until they were fired up.

Seeing things were about to escalate, Chen Jinfa hastily got up from the ground, stepped back a few steps, leaned against the courtyard wall, and began to clasp his hands in plea.

"Uncles and brothers, I was wrong—I'll return the money right away, I'll return the money right away—please don't get worked up."

Now the only option is to return the money; otherwise he fears he'll be beaten to death.

He knows this crowd all too well—several are just like him, good-for-nothings; if he doesn't lower his head now, he's likely to really get beaten.

But saying he'll return the money now is a bit late; the crowd's already had their reason clouded by the shame and anger of being deceived.

"Don't be impulsive, don't be impulsive—we'll work it out, everyone just wait a moment, wait a moment." Chen Jinhai desperately tried to calm the crowd about to riot.

He is the village chief and also the clan chief; fighting isn't a good thing for him.

Given his prestige over the years, suppressing his own clan would pose no problem.

The problem is, these past few times he's done a few stupid things and hasn't brought anyone profit, so everyone's already dissatisfied with him.

Moreover, he's always been close to Chen Jinfa—who knows if he'll cover for him.

"Jinhai, cut out the good-guy act here."

Chen Houda pointed at Chen Jinhai's nose and started cursing without restraint,

"Whether today's matter involves you or not is still unclear—he got 40,000, so you couldn't have gotten nothing, right?"

Chen Jinhai's eyes widened; he could hardly imagine himself also being suspected.

"No, uncle, don't randomly blame people—he's him, I'm I; stop dragging his affairs onto me."

"Heh, he's him, you're you? I'm asking you—was it you who sent him to buy the boat? What about selling the boat? And going out to sea—on what basis does he get to steer the boat and receive such high wages?"

What Chen Houda said left Chen Jinhai suddenly realizing he couldn't defend himself.

By the way, it was Chen Jinfa himself who said he wanted to do it, and they didn't object either.

Now that things have gone wrong, the blame falls on himself.

Damn, forget it, I won't stop you either—you Jinfa, you deal with the trouble you caused yourself.