Zhiming Luo didn’t dare to speak up, but Luo Dashan, who was holding Luo Zhiyong, tensed up and looked at Luo Zhiming and asked, "Trouble? What exactly happened here?"
Luo Zhiming stood in the corner, silent.
"You won’t talk, eh? Then I’ll say it for you." Luo Zhiyong recounted every detail of Luo Zhiming’s time in the provincial city, "Luo Zhiming only spent a little over a month in the provincial city. First, he argued with a boss on the construction site because he wasn’t working properly and lost someone’s bricks. All the boss did was scold him a few times, and he almost got into a fight."
"After that, I got him a job at the lumber mill, and he ended up getting involved with a woman who had divorced. Now, she’s pregnant and is asking him for money for an abortion. He doesn’t have the money, so he wrote an IOU, and he even gave her my military unit’s address, suggesting that she should go there every month to ask me for money, US$ 50 a month, until the debt was paid off."
"Luo Zhiming, are you even human? We sent you to the provincial city to work, but not only did you fail to earn any money, you even dragged your older brother into this mess." After hearing everything, Zhou Yunmei was furious, and she hit Luo Zhiming on the head several times while scolding vehemently, "If you really mess up your big brother’s work in the military, do you want your dad and me to live off the wind for the rest of our lives?"
Seeing that Zhou Yunmei completely missed the point, Luo Zhiyong interrupted her, "Mom, stop talking about those irrelevant things."
Then, he pointed at Luo Zhiming again and asked, "Luo Zhiming, tell me, what do you plan to do about this?"
Luo Zhiming swallowed nervously, muttering in a low voice, "Big brother, I just don’t have any money. Even if I die, I can’t cough up that much."
Luo Zhiyong replied with a laugh borne of extreme anger, "So, you think it’s easy for me to come up with US$ 500?"
"US$ 500?" Zhou Yunmei reacted to the mention of money and went ballistic, grabbing a rolling pin from the stove and hitting Luo Zhiming hard, "I’ll beat the life out of you, you waster! US$ 500 could build a house in our countryside, and you’ve just gone and spent it on someone else!"
While dodging the blows from Zhou Yunmei’s rolling pin, Luo Zhiming said, "Mom, no, I didn’t give it to someone else. Where would I get that much money to spend on others? I didn’t want to spend it, so I just came back."
Zhou Yunmei felt that there was some sense in what Luo Zhiming said, stopped hitting him, and pondered before speaking to Luo Zhiyong, "That’s right, Zhiyong. If the woman can’t find him later, just deny taking the money, right? Shouldn’t be a problem, right?"
"Mom, you’re clever, but she’s no fool. If it were that simple, do you think she would let it go so easily?" Luo Zhiyong looked at Zhou Yunmei helplessly, "She said before that if Zhiming doesn’t pay up, she’ll report it to the Police Station. Do you think the Police Station won’t be able to find Zhiming?"
"It’s so far away, if he doesn’t go to the provincial city, that should be the end of it, right?" Zhou Yunmei naively thought that if Luo Zhiming just stayed away from the provincial city, no one could find him.
"Don’t talk about the provincial city; even if it’s Beijing, as long as you break the law, they can find you." Luo Zhiyong repeated the main reason for his return, "Moreover, as I said, Luo Zhiming didn’t just leave the matter, he pushed it all off onto me, wanting me to help him pay off the debt."
"Think about it. That woman will definitely go to the military compound every month to ask me for money. If she can’t get it, you think she won’t make a scene in the military? Then it will be just like you said, Mom, I definitely won’t be able to stay in the military, and will end up in a whole load of trouble."
"This..." Realizing the severity of the matter, Zhou Yunmei became so anxious she could barely stand, mumbling, "What are we going to do now? We can’t come up with US$ 500."
Luo Zhiyong steadied her and pointed at Luo Zhiming, "This mess was caused by Luo Zhiming. He needs to solve it himself. Tomorrow he’ll return to the provincial city with me. Then I’ll find that woman, and we’ll speak clearly about this money issue. In any case, I won’t deal with it. It’s up to him to do whatever he sees fit."
"That’s right, let Zhiming handle this himself. If she can’t handle it, let the Police Station take care of it. She’s just a total mess." Luo Dashan also got angry for once, throwing his hands and returning to his room.
"I’ve made things clear, I’ll go back to my room first." To prevent Luo Zhiming from running off somewhere else, Luo Zhiyong coldly said to him,
"Luo Zhiming, don’t even think about running away. I’m telling you, if you run away again, I won’t be searching everywhere for you. I’ll just go straight back to the provincial city. If that woman really finds her way to my army unit, I’ll just have someone report it to the Police Station. Whether you end up in prison or have to pay, it has nothing to do with me. I’ll act like I don’t have a brother like you."
After Luo Zhiyong finished speaking, he went back into his own room.
On this end, seeing Luo Zhiyong leave, Luo Zhiming softly turned to Zhou Yunmei and said, "Mom, what should we do about this situation?"
Zhou Yunmei, already anxious, started crying. In frustration, she punched Luo Zhiming and cried out, "You troublemaker, you still have the face to ask me what to do? Just do as your elder brother said and solve it yourself—I can’t come up with that money."
Luo Zhiming didn’t retaliate and let Zhou Yunmei hit him.
After Zhou Yunmei calmed down, Luo Zhiming peeked outside to check the yard, saw that Luo Zhiyong had gone back to his room, and then quietly said to Zhou Yunmei, "Mom, if you can’t come up with the money, does big brother have it?"
"Have you lost your mind? How much does big brother make in a month? He sends some money back every month, and his wife is still there lazing around doing nothing. How could he save up so much?" Zhou Yunmei never knew about Fang Pingying’s shop; she thought Fang Ping had just found Luo Honglan something to do.
Luo Zhiming pursed his lips and whispered, "Mom, you got it wrong. My sister-in-law isn’t just sitting around; she opened a shop. Isn’t that why she sent a telegram asking for Honglan to go help her with work?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yunmei’s eyes lit up, and she looked at Luo Zhiming, asking, "She opened a shop? What kind of shop?"
Luo Zhiming replied, "Just like when she was at home, selling pastries and such. I heard from Xiu’er that their business is really good. They only sell in the morning and can make US$ 100 to US$ 200 a day. Even after deducting the cost for materials, earning a thousand or so a month is definitely not a problem."
In reality, Luo Zhiming knew that Fang Pingying was working for someone else, probably not earning that much, but he deliberately said it was Fang Pingying’s own shop. His objective was to make Zhou Yunmei help him press Luo Zhiyong and his wife for money.
Now the situation seemed different. Zhou Yunmei felt that the problem could be easily solved, a slight smirk appearing on her lips.
Then, she asked Luo Zhiming in a low voice, "Such a big matter, why didn’t you mention it when you came back yesterday?"
Luo Zhiming scratched his head and grinned naughtily, "When I came back yesterday, I was worried about this situation. Who could have thought of all these details?"
Zhou Yunmei glanced at Luo Zhiming and muttered, "If that’s the case, then your elder brother and his wife should be the ones to pay. They can’t hold onto all that money and be unwilling to shell out for you guys." (To be continued. If you work, you are welcome to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)