I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 1071 Women’s Heart

In an era when the average wage was only a few dozen yuan, 1,200 yuan was definitely a considerable sum.

When the constable heard that Zhang Chen had lost more than a thousand yuan, plus Wang Fang's more than eight hundred yuan, as well as those gold and silver jewelry, he felt his head was spinning.

"Officer, you absolutely must get my money back! That's my savings for getting married!" Zhang Chen shouted anxiously, his performance perfectly capturing the character's urgency.

The constable looked at Zhang Chen, then at Wang Fang who was crying and cursing, and suddenly felt a headache coming on.

Based on his past experience, he knew that in such cases, one should start by investigating acquaintances. Zhang Chen and Wang Fang did not get along, so Zhang Chen should be the most suspicious person. However, Wang Fang said that Zhang Chen was not at home. He was in a state of confusion and did not know how to start investigating.

He could only appease the aggrieved party and investigate Zhang Chen's whereabouts that day. Zhang Chen accurately recounted his experience, and then the head constable sent a junior constable to investigate. Soon, news came that Zhang Chen had not lied. He was at a loss for what to do and decided to first investigate the Zhang family and then investigate the newly released criminals in the prison to see if he could find any clues or find out any information.

The theft case ended without any resolution. Without the assistance of high-tech equipment such as surveillance cameras, it would be extremely difficult for the police to investigate.

When Zhang Fang returned and heard the news that the money was missing, he felt like the sky had fallen. He didn't blame Wang Fang, but just squatted in the corner and smoked one cigarette after another.

Zhang Chen ignored the emotions of the others and sat quietly in the room, flipping through history books. He felt no pleasure from revenge and appeared quite calm.

That night, the Zhang family was shrouded in gloom. Even Zhang Xiao, who was usually so energetic, fell silent. No one cooked at home, and no one had any appetite. Only Zhang Chen cooked a small meal, and the aroma of roasted meat filled the courtyard, drawing the attention of Zhang Fang, Wang Fang, and the others, but they had no interest in coming over to ask what was going on.

Wang Fang's money was all stolen, but the Zhang family had to go on with their lives. The next day, everything seemed to have returned to normal. Zhang Fang walked towards the steel plant with a low back. His not-so-broad back supported the whole family, of course, the whole family did not include Zhang Chen.

"I still admire this cheap old man quite a bit. With such a big incident at home, Wang Fang was home guarding the house and someone still stole her money, yet he didn't throw a tantrum and beat his wife. That's really in line with his personality. For him, the most important thing is for the family to be harmonious and reunited." Zhang Chen sat in the house watching Zhang Fang's departing figure, took out a large stack of bills from his sleeve, counted them, and found that it amounted to a total of 1,800 yuan. Adding the gold jewelry, it could probably be sold for 3,000 yuan. He made a fortune.

He walked out of the courtyard with a satisfied smile, went to a small restaurant, ate a basket of steamed buns, and drank a large bowl of porridge. After that, he spent the rest of the day wandering around the streets, bought three catties of braised meat and a pot of fine wine, wrapped them in paper, and returned home. He then hid in his room and ate them quietly.

The five ghosts hidden in his sleeves constantly refined the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, receiving the blessings and nourishment of Zhang Chen, and their cultivation level was also silently increasing.

Zhang Chen hid in the house for three days. On the third day, Shi Yunan appeared at the door, carrying a box of pastries. She said, "It's your birthday today. I've already booked a banquet to celebrate with you."

"Shen Jianghe isn't here, is he?" Zhang Chen asked, looking at Shi Yunan who had walked in.

Upon hearing this, Shi Yunan rolled her eyes helplessly: "Zhang Chen, why are you still so petty? I've come all this way to celebrate your birthday, you should understand my feelings."

Zhang Chen didn't say much, but picked up the pastry to eat it, but Shi Yanan stopped him: "Wait, those pastries aren't for you. You're not short of money now. If you want to eat pastries, go buy them yourself."

"Did you buy this for Shen Jianghe?" Zhang Chen looked at Shi Yunan.

“You know he lives alone, doesn’t like to cook, and often goes hungry. I’m buying him some pastries so he won’t go hungry.” Shi Yunan said, handing a number plate to Zhang Chen: “This is the private room I booked. Remember to be on time tonight. I’m going to deliver the pastries.”

After finishing her sentence, Shi Yunan turned and left in a hurry, leaving Zhang Chen watching her retreating figure with disappointment in his eyes: "Original owner, you're not far from giving up."

Zhang Chen glanced at the sign, which clearly showed the location of the restaurant and the number of the private room.

“It’s just a small restaurant nearby. I told you not to have too high expectations for it.” Zhang Chen put away the number plate and continued to read his history book. When it got dark and he felt it was about time, he put down the book and went out of the house. He went to the small restaurant and entered the reserved private room. He saw Shi Yunan sitting in the private room talking to someone, and next to her was Shen Jianghe.

Zhang Chen's gaze turned cold upon seeing Shen Jianghe, and he looked at Shi Yunan with suspicion. Shi Yunan explained, "My family found out about my money today. Thanks to Jianghe for getting me out of trouble and taking on the debt, otherwise I would have been skinned alive. Jianghe said he would pay off my debts when he earns money in the future, and only then did my parents stop! Jianghe hasn't eaten yet because of this, so I brought him along for a bite to eat."

Zhang Chen was speechless upon hearing this, his eyes fixed on Shi Yuhuan. Shi Yuhuan called the waiter to start serving the dishes. Seeing this, Zhang Chen thought to himself, 'Since I'm already here, I might as well eat,' and sat down to wait for the food. Shi Yuhuan ordered six dishes and a soup, all meat dishes. Zhang Chen ate with gusto, his mouth greasy. Shi Yuhuan and Shen Jianghe, sitting beside him, discussed work, seemingly forgetting about Zhang Chen, as if he had become a supporting character and Shen Jianghe was the main character.

After Zhang Chen had almost finished eating all the food and wine on the table, he stood up and said, "I'm full, I'm going home now. You guys continue chatting."

"Wait!" Shi Yunan called out to Zhang Chen as he was about to leave.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen looked at Shi Yanan, wondering if this woman had prepared a gift for him. He then saw Shi Yanan stammering, "Zhang Chen, could you please pay for this meal? I really don't have any money on me."

Zhang Chen was speechless for a while after hearing this. He looked at Shi Yanan and finally said nothing. He silently walked out of the private room and paid the bill. Only then did Shi Yanan chase after him from the private room, take out a cloth doll from her bosom and hand it to Zhang Chen: "This is a birthday present that I sewed for you by hand."

Looking at the crudely made big-headed dog, Zhang Chen was speechless, but he still accepted it without showing any emotion. Just as he was about to speak, Shen Jianghe suddenly poked his head out of the window of the private room, gave Zhang Chen a mocking smile, and made a throat-slitting gesture to show off. Zhang Chen's pupils shrank involuntarily. The next moment, the Five Ghosts flew out from his sleeve and entered the private room: "Shi Yunan, I have something to say to you."

"What do you want to say? If it's still about marriage, then there's no need to talk about it." Shi Yanan said, "Everything is still unstable for me right now, and I don't want to get married yet."

"What I mean is, why don't we just stop here?" Zhang Chen looked at Shi Yu.

"Today is my birthday. I already told you not to bring Shen Jianghe, but you insisted on bringing him. You don't care about me at all..."

Before Zhang Chen could say anything more, Shen Jianghe's exclamation came from inside the tavern: "Shi Yunan... Shi Yunan..."

Inside the private room, Shen Jianghe was taunting Zhang Chen when suddenly a chandelier fell and hit Shen Jianghe on the head. Two shards of glass pierced his eyes, causing him to bleed profusely and writhe in pain on the floor.

Shi Yunan looked at Zhang Chen's expressionless face, wanting to say something, but hearing the screams around her, she could only glare at Zhang Chen and scold him, "Zhang Chen, stop being unreasonable! If you keep being unreasonable, I'm going to get angry!"

After saying that, he turned and was about to run into the tavern. Looking at Shi Yunan's back, Zhang Chen shouted, "Shi Yunan, if you dare to enter the tavern, we're done for each other from today onwards."

"Then let's cut ties completely!" After saying that, Shi Yunan walked into the tavern without hesitation. She didn't take Zhang Chen's threats to heart at all. She had seen with her own eyes how much Zhang Chen loved her over the years. Zhang Chen would never leave her. Right now, he was just being jealous and throwing a little tantrum. She just needed to coax him later.

Watching Shi Yunan's disappearing figure, Zhang Chen's lips curled into a mocking smile before he turned and vanished into the darkness.

Is Zhang Chen an easy target?

Shen Jianghe is far from being able to provoke Zhang Chen.

Exclamations erupted from inside the tavern. A mocking glint appeared in Zhang Chen's eyes as he toyed with the rag doll, casually kicking it to the corner of the wall.

"How melodramatic!"

As Zhang Chen walked back, he reached his own courtyard and saw his father, stepmother, and younger brother sitting there, creating a particularly somber atmosphere.

"Something else has happened?" Zhang Chen thought to himself, not intending to pay attention to the other party, and was about to walk into his house when he heard Wang Fang suddenly nudge Zhang Fang. Zhang Fang could only speak helplessly, his voice low and tired: "Zhang Chen, don't rush into the house, I have something to tell you."

Zhang Chen stopped in his tracks, turned his head to look at the family of three without saying a word. Compared to the three people sitting together, he felt like a superfluous person.

Meeting Zhang Chen's gaze, Zhang Fang stammered, unable to speak. Wang Fang coughed loudly and kicked Zhang Fang, who had no choice but to say with a helpless expression, "I have something I want to discuss with you. You see, your marriage with Shi Yu Nan is basically settled, but your younger brother is not married yet. A few days ago, your brother went on a blind date, and the woman's first requirement was to have his own house. Do you think you could move into Shi Yu Nan's dormitory for a while so that your brother can finalize the marriage?"

(End of this chapter)