A 50-year-old man is reborn and becomes a complete slacker, leaving his scumbag children completely

"This..." Mr. Zhang was really in a dilemma. Looking at these faces that refused to back down, he began to panic. Yesterday, these people were so obsequious and easy to talk to, but today they were just as difficult to deal with and handle.

"Are you people out of your minds?! My dad said he'd pay you after he sells the fish tomorrow, what do you mean by that?"

"When you sold the fish to us, you knew we were buying on credit. Otherwise, why didn't you sell them to Hu Dahai? Wasn't it just because you were greedy and wanted to make more money?"

"What, you expect us to pay out of our own pockets to help you now? Dream on! Don't even think about it! We're giving you our lives, not our money!"

Zhang Zude was young and impetuous, and had no sense of strategy. When he saw these people being aggressive, he immediately got angry and rushed up to them and started cursing.

When it comes to slacking off and acting like a rogue, Zhang Zude is absolutely adept.

Before Zhang's father could even speak to stop him, Zhang Zude had already spoken quickly.

Now things are really messed up. Those who came to ask for their money back were already worried that they might not get it back. Now, after hearing Zhang Zude's words, they thought, "You really want to renege on your promise."

His mention of Hu Dahai in particular angered many people.

"Damn it, it would have been better if you hadn't mentioned Hu Dahai. Now that you've mentioned him, I'm furious. If it weren't for Zhang Zude causing trouble, we wouldn't have sold our fish to him. Now Hu Dahai doesn't even buy fish here anymore. He said the fish here are only 13 cents a pound!"

"That's right, it's all Zhang Zude's fault for cheating us. We've suffered huge losses. Every day I fish ten catties and I lose two mao (0.2 yuan) in profit. In ten days that's two yuan! In a year that's dozens of yuan!"

"What? Hu Dahai lowered the price? Isn't it 15 cents a pound now? I was planning to sell the fish to Hu Dahai later tonight!"

Some people already knew the news, while others didn't. Now, seeing that Hu Dahai was going to lower the price even further, and Zhang Zude couldn't sell his fish, they were forced to sell their fish to Hu Dahai at a low price. So, they all started cursing indignantly.

"Zhang Zude, you son of a bitch, come here right now! I'll beat you to death or I'll change my surname to yours!"

"Everyone, hurry up and go up there! Since they're not going to pay, let's all go up and tear their house down! Take whatever's valuable!"

"Yeah, if they won't give it to us, we'll take it ourselves. That's a test of our own abilities. Let's all work together, what are we afraid of!"

"Not only do you have to pay us back for the fish, you also have to compensate us for our losses, or we're not done with you!"

A group of people noisily pushed their way into Zhang Zudeli's house, looking as if they were going to tear it down.

Zhang's father and mother frantically tried to persuade him, while Zhang Zude shouted and cursed wildly. Zhang Yuzhen was so frightened that her legs began to tremble.

Just as things were getting chaotic here, a loud voice came from behind the crowd.

"Stop it, all of you! What's going on here?!"

The visitor was none other than the captain of the Qunyi Brigade.

When they saw that it was the brigade leader, everyone quieted down. In those days, the brigade leader still had a lot of authority, and everyone listened to him.

"What's going on!" The brigade leader was having dinner at home and was about to wash up and rest when someone rushed over to tell him that something had happened at Zhang Zude's house and a fight was about to break out.

So he rushed over, fearing that these people might actually start fighting and cause someone to die.

Those who came to ask for money were the first to chatter and briefly recount the events.

The captain quickly learned the gist of the matter. In fact, he didn't like Zhang Zude's family either, thinking they were too treacherous and cunning. But there was nothing he could do; he couldn't just watch Zhang Zude's family get beaten to death.

He stood at the front of the crowd, first scolding Zhang Zude and telling Zhang's father to lock Zhang Zude in the room and not let him come out to cause trouble. Then he said to Zhang's father, "Old Zhang, you really did something wrong. A thousand catties of fish is not much, only 200 yuan. Can't your family even come up with that little money?"

“Oh dear, Captain, you really don’t know,” Zhang’s father said angrily, stamping his foot. “I really have no choice. My son Zude doesn’t work. He found a girlfriend and wants 500 yuan for the bride price. He’s squandered all the money we have. Where is there any money left?”

"I was hoping to make some money selling fish this time, but who would have thought something like this would happen!"

The captain asked with a hint of disbelief, "You really have no money?"

"Really, no." Mr. Zhang shrugged, not seeming to be lying.

"This is going to be difficult." The captain frowned. He could tell that these people who came to ask for money wouldn't give up until they got it today.

He frowned and pondered for a long time, then said to Zhang's father, "Your family should tally up how much money you have in total."

Mr. and Mrs. Zhang quickly took out all their money, and together they had a total of 14 yuan. Nine of that was from selling 9 jin of fish that day.

"How about this, I'll talk to your in-laws and ask them to return 200 yuan from the betrothal gifts first, and then give them 220 yuan after you sell the fish. What do you think?" The captain finally came up with a solution.

Upon hearing this, Mr. Zhang was somewhat displeased: "Isn't this a bit inappropriate? The bride price has already been given out, and now we're asking for some of it back. What will people think?"

"Do you have any other good ideas?" The captain glanced at Zhang's father sideways. "Are you saving face or saving money? If you don't give the money to these people, it's uncertain whether your house will still be here tomorrow!"

Startled by the captain's words, Zhang's father immediately panicked.

“Okay, okay, I’ll go tell them right away,” Mr. Zhang said repeatedly.

“I’ll go with you. If you go alone, I doubt you’ll get your money back,” the captain sighed.

Having such a troublesome family means you'll have endless problems.

So Zhang's father and the brigade leader went to their in-laws' place first, intending to get some money back.

However, when the two of them arrived at the woman's house...

Before he even entered the house, Zhang Zude's prospective father-in-law saw Zhang's father from afar and rushed up to punch him.

Not only was the captain stunned, but even Zhang's father was dumbfounded.

"Hey, what are you doing? Talk it out!" The captain stepped forward and used his body to separate the two, preventing them from getting into a fight.

However, Zhang Zude's prospective father-in-law seemed to have gone mad and continued to pounce on Zhang's father.

He was still cursing wildly: "Your son ruined my daughter's reputation! What kind of son did you give birth to? He has no manners at all!"

"Don't let me see you again, you son of a bitch. If I ever see you again, I'll beat you both up. Damn it!"

"Pah!" After cursing, he didn't forget to spit on the ground.

"No, no, how did his son ruin your daughter's reputation? They already gave you 500 yuan as a bride price, how could it ruin your reputation?"

Even the captain of the Yi Brigade couldn't stand it anymore, feeling that this guy was making baseless accusations.

"Give a bride price?!" Zhang Zude's future father-in-law spat again, "Pah!"

“A few days ago, he came to my house and asked my daughter to break off the engagement. Damn it, he even gave our whole family a good scolding.”

"Our daughter was already a laughing stock when she married that good-for-nothing guy from your family. We accepted 500 taels of silver as a bride price to shut them up. Now, they actually come here to break off the engagement and ask us to return the bride price! You have completely ruined our daughter's reputation."

"Impossible!" Zhang's father exclaimed immediately upon hearing this. "Such a thing could not possibly happen!"

"Although my ancestor Zude is not a proper worker, he would never do such a thing!"

"Heh, then go ask your precious son yourself. Anyway, if I see you again, I'll beat you up!" Zhang Zude's future father-in-law spat again, then walked away with his hands behind his back.

The captain and Zhang's father looked at each other, somewhat bewildered.

In this situation, it's impossible to get money from the in-laws; the only option is to go back and inquire about the situation first.

On the way back, Zhang's father was still very skeptical, repeatedly saying, "Zu De would never do such a thing, Zu De would never do it!"

However, the captain's eyes held a hint of mockery as he looked at him, clearly indicating that he thought it was quite possible for Zhang Zude to do such a thing.