Chapter 239: Reborn in the Nineties: The Tyrant Flower Chapter 240 — Bringing Humiliation Upon Themselves

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Protagonist:

Chai Mi

Chai Xiu ate comparatively little; she ate a few dumplings and then ran off to the West Room to coax the child (to sleep).

The remaining few people chatted and laughed while eating; during a break in the meal, the conversation turned to that well. Liu San remarked: "The location chosen for that well is good. At just over four meters down, we already saw the sand layer. There appears to be water in the sand layer, and it doesn't look like a small amount. We'll need to install the windlass this afternoon."

The key point is that this morning's digging was merely physical labor, but this afternoon it's not only physical labor — there's also a tiny bit of technique involved.

The implication being that they should find another person to go crank the windlass.

Otherwise, with just Liu San and Chai Youqing, it's clearly not enough. This kind of awkward, strenuous work is damn miserable to do.

"I'll go crank the windlass this afternoon; I can handle that thing. Anyway, I've got nothing going on this afternoon," Chai Mi said.

No alcohol was drunk at noon, since they still had to work in the afternoon.

After eating lunch, the group rested a bit. Apart from Song Qiushui going back for a nap, the rest of them got moving quite early.

The household did have a windlass. Even back when they dug pressurized wells, they used a windlass.

Actually, digging a pressurized well is obviously more exhausting. The well bottom is wider, and you also have to build up stones underground. So a framed well like the one Chai Mi is drilling now is instead faster and saves more money and effort.

Working for their own family, nobody spared effort. Chai Youqing and Liu San's digging speed was decent. Busy until evening, they dug another two meters.

Moreover, the well water is good. Tomorrow they'll need to rent a water pump; otherwise this water still can't be pumped out.

And they'll also have to figure out a way to get electrical wiring...

So tomorrow's tasks are quite numerous too, but at this digging speed, it'll be finished in another two or three days.

Back home, after arranging for everyone to eat dinner, Chai Mi rested for a while, then went to wash up.

Exhausted from a day's work, she fell asleep in one stretch until dawn.

Chai Mi had just woken, put on her clothes, and was preparing to wash up a bit when she discovered Wang Huirong leading Chai Dajun standing right at the door.

Chai Mi frowned in displeasure: "What are these two here for? Come to act out a tear-jerker? I'm seriously fed up. The people in this old house are truly shameless enough."

Chai Mi naturally knew what Wang Huirong and Chai Dajun had come for — nothing but borrowing money...

The hard-borrowing kind.

Chai Mi kept her head down, brushing her teeth, pretending she hadn't seen them.

But Wang Huirong directly started shouting: "Chai Mi, open the door for me..."

Chai Mi gave a cold laugh, finished brushing her teeth, and went straight back inside.

On the other side, Chai Youqing had also woken. Seeing Wang Huirong and Chai Dajun at the door, he was somewhat stunned, then thought it'd still be better to go open the door.

Chai Mi shot him a glare: "No, that half-door — can't those two open it themselves? If they want to come in, they come in. Why put on a pitiful act? Besides, I've made it perfectly clear I won't lend them money. Them coming anyway is really something."

As she spoke, Chai Mi stepped out the door again and called out: "Grandmother, let me tell you: no money to lend. Do whatever you want."

Wang Huirong's old face reddened: "I haven't even opened my mouth yet and she's already retorted back at me?"

The night before last, Chai Zhongxiao came over, but Chai Mi, by a twist of fate, used the excuse that Chai Zhongxiao wanted to cheat someone and directly infuriated him into leaving.

After returning home, the two of them plotted a countermeasure: have Chai Dajun come borrow money.

As the saying goes: he's still a child after all...

Mhm, a seventeen-or-eighteen-year-old child.

"Chai Mi, look at how awful your words sound. If outsiders hear, they'll say our family's fallen out." Wang Huirong, seeing no one opened the door, opened it herself and came in, dragging Chai Dajun along. Her facial expression was extraordinarily rich: "Chai Mi, look at your Third Uncle — he's like that, can't get up. Your Third Aunt is squatting by the fence. The medical expenses have no solution. This... Dajun is young. How can we let him lose his father at such a young age..."

Chai Dajun also put on a pitiful look and said: "Eldest Sister, just lend me some money to get my dad treated..."

Chai Mi rubbed her forehead: "Damn it, when has our Old Chai Family ever been harmonious? When have we ever had that 'family harmony brings prosperity' like other families? Besides, these people have already cheated the village out of ten thousand yuan, and they still want to cheat their own kin. Truly shameless."

"Didn't the village give you ten thousand yuan? What, not enough? Is my Third Uncle's head going to be cracked open or what? How big is the injury? Three to five thousand covers it all. What's the deal with you two? Still borrowing money? Borrow for what?" Chai Mi said impatiently.

"The village money went to the hospital... Your Third Uncle's hospitalized, your grandpa went to accompany him. That also costs money for food, clothing, and daily needs, doesn't it? The hospital doesn't provide meals either..." Wang Huirong argued sophistically.

Chai Mi was angered into laughter: "Right, right, right. Ignoring this kind of person is correct. They simply treat shamelessness as an advantage. Going to the hospital to accompany a patient, and they need to borrow money for that too..."

Chai Mi simply stopped dealing with these two: "No money to lend. Today I'm still busy drilling the well... Oh right, no free meals either. Stay wherever you want, just stay there."

Chai Mi finished speaking and went back inside, too lazy to deal with Wang Huirong and Chai Dajun.

Mainly because Wang Huirong is at such an advanced age yet still occupies the status of Grandmother. Chai Mi can't hit her, can't scold her. If handled badly, this thing might even lie down on the ground and cheat people — the kind you can't even dodge.

"Oldest, look at your brother like this... You're not without money. Just give some. You say, this matter..." Wang Huirong grabbed Chai Youqing's hand and started crying poverty: "You're the head of this family. Now the family's like this, you can't just stand by and do nothing..."

Chai Mi, in the West Room, poured herself some hot water, warmed the water in the washbasin, and began washing her face.

Su Wan had also gotten up. Hearing the conversation outside, she too looked at a loss, so she asked in a low voice: "Chai Mi, these two aren't leaving... What do we do?"

Lending money — impossible to lend money.

But this matter is also very hard to handle.

Su Wan was dissatisfied in her heart, but also helpless. She also knew Liu Zhanggui had already given money on behalf of the village. Wang Huirong coming to borrow again is purely a trap.

"Don't pay her any mind. The more you mind her, the more she pushes her luck." Chai Mi said impatiently after washing up.

Meanwhile, Chai Youqing also rarely wasn't so spineless this once: "Ma, the village already took out ten thousand yuan. What more do you want? You dragging the kid along, crying and making a scene — what are you after? Old Third's injury isn't that heavy. It's just a fracture. No aftereffects either. And our Old Chai Family can't even scrape together a hundred or eighty yuan? Really..."

"Really can't take it out..." Wang Huirong sighed.

Wang Huirong had not a single cent in hand, poor to the bottom.

"Then I can't take it out either. I don't have any."

"Uncle, my dad's not doing well... Just lend me a bit..."

"Then go find your ma. Your ma's got money. You all have money to build a new house. Our family hasn't even built a house yet. Your ma's squatting by the fence, not facing a death penalty. If the family has money, take it out. Don't run here borrowing... Mainly I don't have a single cent either. If you want to borrow money, go find Chai Mi."

Chai Youqing also somewhat couldn't handle it.

"Cut it out. Not lending." Chai Mi directly refused: "You two lying on the ground crying today won't work either. Anything else? If nothing else, I'm going to work. Drilling the well you don't know to help with, but borrowing money you've got energy for? Just not lending. You two say whatever you want outside, I don't care."

Chai Mi wore a dead-pig-not-afraid-of-boiling-water expression: "Don't give me all that nonsense. When my mom was hospitalized, my dad came home to borrow money — what did you do? How many days has it been? Forgotten that cleanly? Wang Huirong, if I were you, I truly wouldn't have the face to come here."

Wang Huirong was too embarrassed to answer…

After saying her piece, Chai Mi couldn't even be bothered to eat breakfast and walked straight out the door.

Once outside, Chai Mi strolled leisurely to her maternal aunt's home.

"Aunt, up yet? Make me something to eat…" Chai Mi shouted she was hungry the moment she entered.

Chai Mi used to eat at her maternal aunt's house often, and in terms of frequency, she did so far more than Chai Xiu.

One could say that before Chai Mi was six or seven, she basically lived at her maternal aunt's, freeloading meals. Back then the family was desperately impoverished; Chai Youqing and Su Wan were either busy plowing fields or busy with other work, and there wasn't enough to eat. Everyone had to go out to work to earn work-points, which at year-end were converted into grain tickets used to exchange for grain. To get more grain, Chai Youqing and Su Wan worked actively, though most of those grain tickets were ultimately split evenly by Chai Zhongxiao and his wife…

Under those circumstances, Chai Mi could only stay at her maternal aunt's.

Her maternal aunt's situation was rather complex; although they lived in the countryside, because Chai Mi's maternal uncle actually had a job, her maternal aunt didn't need to do labor work, and the household had enough grain to eat.

Chai Mi ate mostly at her maternal aunt's as a child, so it was only natural that she felt a special closeness and reliance toward her maternal aunt from the bottom of her heart.

"What's up? How come you're showing up before even eating…" Su Jin muttered, but because her health wasn't good, she hadn't managed to get off the kang before Chai Mi had already entered the room.

"Ugh… don't mention it. That undying Wang Huirong showed up again. Oh my heavens, I'm annoyed out of my mind day after day. Those things at the old house really aren't human. Wang Huirong and Chai Zhongxiao used Chai You De's hospitalization and impending death as a pretext, came several times to borrow money; if I didn't lend they wouldn't leave. Truly annoying to death." Chai Mi said rather helplessly.

She really was annoyed.

Especially, especially that kind of annoyed.

Wang Huirong and Chai Zhongxiao were engaging in outright moral kidnapping; the problem is this kind of thing basically can't be dealt with.

From Wang Huirong and Chai Zhongxiao's angle, they'd love nothing more than for Chai Mi to beat them up, then extort her.

Normally Chai Mi would have more room to maneuver, but now those few at the old house are already so poor they can't survive; touch them and you get covered in their filth.

"They just deserve a beating." Su Jin muttered: "Those two undying geezers, how come no one beats them to death? Too shameless."

Hearing the noise, sister-in-law Zhang Hailan was also awake by now, though still bleary-eyed: "Chai Mi, have your cousin go beat them up, they'll behave."

"No need. Times have changed; those two are hoping you'll hit them — touch them and they'll extort you. They've basically become utterly shameless now, just thinking of extorting people by force. People, living to this state, are about done for. Grandpa used to care about face, now that's gone too. With Chai You De hospitalized and Che Lianyun in prison, those few at the old house are basically finished. Them dealing with Sun Yuguang makes it even worse. Sun Yuguang wants to extort them, they want to extort Sun Yuguang. In the end, not a single cent to show for it, they just suffer for nothing." Chai Mi said: "Let's not talk about this. I'm just annoyed, couldn't be bothered to look at them, so I came out."

"Alright. Then I'll bake you a few flatbreads?" Zhang Hailan asked with a smile: "I still have a few eggs, I'll stir-fry some scrambled eggs for you, make do with a bite."

"No need. You go wash your face first. You worked all day yesterday, this look…" Chai Mi smiled at Zhang Hailan.

Zhang Hailan had just gotten up, hair uncombed, face unwashed, looking weathered.

Maybe she was exhausted from helping Chai Mi yesterday; Zhang Hailan came back and fell asleep, still had dirt on her face…

Key point: her face and arms seem to have peeled from sunburn.

(Peeling means slight flaking; sun exposure causes the skin's surface to peel, turning red.)

"What? Look at you, now you're looking down on me too. Sister-in-law's cooking is dirty…"

"Go wash your face quick, put on some snow cream. You're not suited for labor anyway — grew this big frame for nothing. Just one day's work and your arms and face are all red. Sister-in-law, I'm telling you, with you like this I don't even dare let you work today…"

Chai Mi wasn't joking; Zhang Hailan really was in this state, so going to work again would be more or less bad.

Maternal aunt Su Jin's family didn't have much land — just two or three mu. Normally no one worked it. Spring planting ended the battle. As for subsequent thinning, fertilizing, weeding — basically none of it happened.

Zhang Hailan normally was, cough cough, somewhat lazy. Otherwise whenever Su Jin grumbled that Zhang Hailan was no good, Chai Mi generally didn't rebut much, because most of the time maternal aunt was right.

It was precisely because Zhang Hailan didn't work much that yesterday she did a bit and collapsed.

She indeed looked very sturdy, physique seemed good, but actually she was a bit weak.

"Sigh, let me tell you, today I'll put on a scarf and then I won't get tanned."

"Go wash your face, or are you waiting for me to bake flatbreads or my maternal aunt to bake them?" Chai Mi said with a smile: "I feel we should hire two people to dig a well. This thing, none of us few are too professional, can't handle it. Now it doesn't seem too expensive either — thirty yuan a meter. We dig seven or eight more meters and it'll be enough, won't cost much. Sister-in-law, do you know any well-diggers?"

"You've asked the wrong person. I truly don't know. You ask me this, how would I know… I don't know those laborers. I only heard the neighboring village has a few who specialize in digging wells…"

"Then forget it. I'll go home and ask my dad." Chai Mi felt Father Chai Youqing should know such people; after all Chai Youqing sometimes went out for a few days of odd jobs, and odd-jobbers are basically jacks-of-all-trades — they do everything.

Of course, whether they know how or not, if it earns money, they take it.