Chapter 71: Chapter 71 Where is the Money? (2)_1 Chapter 71: Chapter 71 Where is the Money? (2)_1 “How… how much can there be left, with all the expenses needed around here inside and out!” Liao Zhaoji mumbled vaguely.
“Last year, I gave you two hundred yuan, and this year it’s already been a hundred, right? Plus the money from selling meat last time, how could there be so little left?” Ruan Jiandang asked suspiciously as soon as he noticed her evasiveness.
“What do you mean by that?” Liao Zhaoji, already feeling guilty, immediately exploded upon hearing this, glaring at Ruan Jiandang, “Ruan Jiandang, do you have no conscience! I bore and raised your children for you, and this is how you repay me, by suspecting me of stealing your money? Say it! What exactly do you mean by that!”
“Why are you so angry? I didn’t say anything else, just asked you to count it out,” Ruan Jiandang said, looking at her incredulously.
“Then let me tell you, there’s nothing good to count! Definitely not two hundred, not even sure about one hundred!” Liao Zhaoji snorted coldly.
“So where’s the money?” Ruan Jiandang glared, perplexed that there was seemingly no money despite no major purchases or expenditures.
“There are plenty of places it was used; how could I possibly keep track of every single one.”
Liao Zhaoji, seeing Ruan Jiandang silent and unresponsive, suddenly felt uneasy. She stood up, intending to leave, but Ruan Jiandang grabbed her, his gaze sharp, “Bring me the money, I’ll count it myself.”
“Count, count what!” Liao Zhaoji panicked, tried to shake off his hand but couldn’t.
Seeing her , Ruan Jiandang didn’t bother to argue. He turned and went straight to the inner room, knowing exactly where Liao Zhaoji usually kept the money.
As he strode into the room and headed for the money jar, Liao Zhaoji fell into complete disarray, hurriedly ran after him, and frantically shouted, “Father, father! Let me do the counting, I’ll do it.”
“No need!” If Ruan Jiandang hadn’t realized that Liao Zhaoji was up to something by now, he would have been a fool.
He shrugged her off, pulled a tin can from a crack in the wall, and Liao Zhaoji nearly lunged at him, grabbing his hand and looking at him with pleading eyes.
Ruan Jiandang shrugged her off again.
When he opened the money can, he poured all the money onto the table.
There wasn’t a single hundred-yuan note, not even any fifties. There were only two loose five-yuan notes and about a dozen one-yuan notes. He counted with a somber face, his expression dark as the bottom of a pot, “Twenty-seven yuan and forty cents?”
“Where’s the rest of the money?”
“This… I can explain, I can explain!” Liao Zhaoji looked at him anxiously, her eyes slightly red, “Before the New Year, we actually had saved up two hundred, really. It’s just that a while ago when I went back… my mother said they found a match for Laifu, and the other party didn’t want any significant gifts, just a Flying Pigeon brand bicycle would do.”
“You know the situation at my family’s home. My mother borrowed some money from me, but don’t worry, as soon as my brother has money, he will definitely pay it back, he will for sure.”
“What about the money from the meat we just sold a few days ago? If I remember correctly, you kept none of it for yourself, all of it was sold, must have been at least forty yuan, right?”
“That… that…” Liao Zhaoji licked her lips, looking even more guilty, unable to meet Ruan Jiandang’s gaze as she looked away and explained in a low voice, “That… didn’t sell… My mother suggested, since Laifu might be getting married soon, it would be better to smoke the meat into cured meat in advance instead of troubling ourselves to buy meat later on…”
“So you’ve given all the money to your family, and the meat went there too, right?” Ruan Jiandang could hardly believe it.