Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Cheng Jinxiang understood that Zhao Chunqin valued her reputation, and since she worked for the government, her reputation was also very important. If Zhao Chunqin was unwilling to return the money or the gold bracelet, she wouldn't mind making a big fuss about it.

Since the money can't be recovered, the other party shouldn't have an easy time either.

Zhao Chunqin's pupils widened, and she angrily pointed at Cheng Jinxiang, shouting, "How dare you threaten me!"

Zhao Chunqin was furious. In the Zhao family, even her parents had never spoken to her so harshly as Cheng Jinxiang, threatening to ruin her reputation if she didn't give her the gold bracelet.

Well, it's really good!

This tactic was very effective. Zhao Chunqin admitted that she chickened out. After all, this was a crucial period for her advancement, and she couldn't afford to have any stains on her reputation. She also couldn't let Cheng Jinxiang cause trouble.

Zhao Chunqin glanced at the gold bracelet she had bought with two months' salary. She couldn't bring herself to give it to Cheng Jinxiang, so she turned her gaze to Zhao Tiesheng.

Blinking her eyes, Zhao Chunqin's eyes reddened, and she said to Zhao Tiesheng in her usual coquettish manner, "Second brother, look at second sister-in-law, she wants to steal my gold bracelet, and you don't say a word for me, and it's not like I can't pay back the money."

Zhao Tiesheng turned his head away, recalling Zhao Chunqin's actions today. She had made him wait outside for so long for nothing, and in the end, she lied and refused to admit it. Zhao Tiesheng felt cold. He knew that Zhao Chunqin's words meant that she didn't want to lend money, so she made up a bunch of excuses.

He was somewhat dazed. Would Zhao Chunqin really repay the money by spring? Or would she just keep dragging it out, and eventually never repay it at all?

Suddenly, Zhao Tiesheng felt that Cheng Jinxiang's actions were correct, and that he should take something from Zhao Chunqin and teach her a lesson.

But Zhao Tiesheng couldn't be that ruthless, so he turned away and didn't want to face Zhao Chunqin.

Seeing that Zhao Tiesheng had turned his head away, Zhao Chunqin angrily scolded, "Second brother, I am your own sister! Why don't you help me and instead help this outsider! You've changed. You're not as doting on me as before."

Zhao Tiesheng couldn't take it anymore. He turned around and snapped at Zhao Chunqin, "Zhao Chunqin, watch your tone. Jinxiang is your second sister-in-law, not an outsider. I'm on Jinxiang's side in this matter. Either you give me some money today, or you bring your gold bracelet as collateral. You choose one."

Finally, Zhao Tiesheng felt that his words lacked credibility, so he added, "You were the one who made the mistake. When you came to Mom for money, you knew that this money was hard-earned by your second sister-in-law and me, and that we entrusted it to Mom for safekeeping. But you didn't consult us and took the money for yourself without asking. Taking without asking is stealing. Do you know that what you did was theft? And you even went to university. Zhao Chunqin, you have really disappointed me!"

Zhao Tiesheng's outburst was also to vent his anger that had been building up all day. He had been so frustrated. On the way here, he was confronted by Cheng Jinxiang, and at noon, his own sister refused to let him in, forcing him to wait outside for three hours. Now, he finally had a chance to vent his anger.

The words "taking without asking is stealing" struck Zhao Chunqin's heart like a hammer. She looked at Zhao Tiesheng in disbelief, never expecting that he would say such a thing.

The Zhao Tiesheng of the past, if not exceptionally kind to her, was at least an honest man. In her eyes, no matter how much her mother scolded or beat her second brother, he would remain silent and dare not talk back. He was also reluctant to scold or beat her and would often care about how she was doing. But now, he seemed to have taken the wrong medicine and even started scolding her.

Zhao Chunqin found this differential treatment unbearable and felt wronged. So what if she hadn't paid back the money? Why treat her like that? It wasn't like she couldn't afford to pay it back; she had several thousand yuan in her hands. But she couldn't bring herself to give it to her second brother's family right now. She didn't want to benefit them at her expense.

Zhao Chunqin clung tightly to the gold bracelet on her wrist, unwilling to give it to Cheng Jinxiang. Then, with red eyes, she looked at Zhao Tiesheng with a face full of grievance, hoping that Zhao Tiesheng would feel sorry for her and then let her not hand over the gold bracelet.

Zhao Chunqin couldn't help but speak up, "Second brother, I'm your own sister. Do you remember you told Mom before that you would take good care of me and at least not let me suffer? But look at you now, what are you doing? It's not that I don't want to pay you back. My salary is so high, it's not that I can't afford it. Why do you have to force me with your sister-in-law!"

"Besides, aren't you still living in the Zhao family's house? Why are you in such a hurry to move out and build a new house!"

Cheng Jinxiang looked coldly at Zhao Chunqin. She glanced at the room Zhao Chunqin lived in, a two-bedroom apartment, which was very nice, completely incomparable to the tile-roofed house she lived in at the Zhao family home.

If a new house isn't built, she'll have to continue living in that drafty, dilapidated warehouse.

If she doesn't build a new house, she'll have to live with Wang Guixiang all day, be at her mercy, and be bossed around in all sorts of ways.

If we don't build a new house, where will my daughter live in the future?

Building a new house earlier would have solved so many problems, but the Zhao family is like a bloodsucking worm, trying every means to get money from me and Tiesheng.

Zhao Chunqin not only didn't repay the money she borrowed, but also incurred medical expenses for her husband's recent illness. Of their six children, only she and Tiesheng contributed, while the others didn't. What's even more ridiculous is that the old man was clearly still healthy and hadn't been to the hospital for treatment. They couldn't get their money back. When asked what illness the old man had, they could only vaguely answer that he had gone to the hospital, got better, and the money was all gone. The couple suffered in silence, losing several thousand yuan just like that.

Cheng Jinxiang remembered all of this clearly. There wasn't a single good person in the Zhao family; they were all bloodsuckers. Ironically, it took Cheng Jinxiang most of her life to finally see the true colors of the Zhao family.

Cheng Jinxiang didn't have the ability to keep dragging things out with Zhao Chunqin. "You don't want to give me the gold bracelet, and you don't want to pay me back. Fine, then I'll ask the folks outside to judge who's right and who's wrong!"

After saying that, Cheng Jinxiang was about to open the door when Li Qingmin immediately blocked her way, saying, "You're not allowed to go!"

Li Qingmin panicked. What would happen if Cheng Jinxiang went? His reputation would be ruined, and his advancement would be in vain.

In his haste, Li Qingmin didn't even care about the pain in his back.

Cheng Jinxiang, enraged by the person blocking her way, kicked Li Qingmin in the crotch without hesitation, and said fiercely, "Get out of my way!"

With that kick, Li Qingmin seemed to hear the sound of an egg shattering. He froze on the spot, tears streaming down his face.

Li Qingmin trembled as he squatted down and covered his crotch, writhing in excruciating pain.

Without Li Qingmin's obstruction, Cheng Jinxiang easily reached the door. Seeing that Cheng Jinxiang was about to open the door and leave, Zhao Chunqin panicked and hurriedly stepped forward, shouting, "I'll give it to you, I'll give you the gold bracelet!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Zhao Chunqin burst into tears of grievance. If Cheng Jinxiang really opened the door and revealed her secret, her reputation would be ruined, and her promotion would be over. At this critical juncture for her promotion, she had to keep Cheng Jinxiang in check first.

Although she still had several thousand yuan in cash, she didn't want to give it away in cash. The gold bracelet cost her about five hundred yuan, less than a thousand yuan. If she gave it to her, she could get it back. But cash was a different story. If she gave it to her and it got spent, would she be able to get it back?

Even though it was her favorite gold bracelet, at this moment, for the sake of her future, she could only reluctantly give it to Cheng Jinxiang to appease her emotions.

Zhao Chunqin took off the gold bracelet from her wrist and handed it to Cheng Jinxiang. With red eyes, she said, "Second sister-in-law, I'll give it to you. I'll give you the gold bracelet. You know that our reputation is very important as civil servants. It's just that the money hasn't been repaid. Do you have to be so ruthless? I said that if Chunshi can repay the money, he definitely can. Why don't you believe me?"

Cheng Jinxiang took the gold bracelet and felt its heavy weight, which improved her mood. It was worth the trip.

Having accepted the gift, Cheng Jinxiang had no reason to make things difficult for the other party. She simply accepted the gold bracelet and put it on her wrist in front of Zhao Chunqin, then comforted Zhao Chunqin, since Zhao Chunqin had already given her a way out, and she couldn't go too far.

“Chunqin, look at what you’re saying. I believe you can pay back the money, but there’s no guarantee. I’m worried too. I didn’t mean to keep the gold bracelet for myself. As long as you pay back the money, I will definitely return the gold bracelet to you intact.”

Hearing this from the side, Zhao Da'e couldn't help but give her mother a thumbs up and praise her for doing a good job. Finally, she was no longer a pushover and had learned to fight back.

Having received the benefits, Cheng Jinxiang didn't want to stay with Zhao Chunqin any longer and said to Zhao Tiesheng, "Tiesheng, let's go."

After saying that, Cheng Jinxiang walked over, took Zhao Dage's hand, and opened the door. At this moment, several people eavesdropping outside were startled. Cheng Jinxiang glanced at the people outside and then focused her gaze on Li Yong at the back.

Cheng Jinxiang led Zhao Dage over and bowed to Li Yong. "Uncle Li, thank you so much for your help this afternoon. I don't have anything to give you except this pocket money."

As she spoke, Cheng Jinxiang took out ten yuan from her pocket, which was the cash she had brought with her today.

Seeing this, Li Yong shook his head and refused to accept the money. He felt helpless. "Oh, Jinxiang, what are you doing? I can't accept this money. Besides, I didn't do anything. I just invited you to sit at my house this afternoon. You can keep the money. It's not easy for you to earn money. I won't accept this money."

Li Yong knew that if a rural person could earn ten yuan a day, that would be considered very good. For Cheng Jinxiang to be able to come up with ten yuan meant that he would have to work hard all day to earn that ten yuan.

He wouldn't feel at ease keeping the money, and besides, he wasn't short of money.

When Cheng Jinxiang saw that Li Yong refused to accept the money, she had no choice but to take it back. She felt a little bad. Li Yong had treated her and her husband very well and had even given Zhao Dage expensive candy. Cheng Jinxiang felt uneasy if she didn't repay Li Yong in any way. However, she hadn't brought any gifts with her when she came; all she had on her was this cash.

However, Uncle Li did not want to accept the cash, and even when Cheng Jinxiang tried to force it on him, he refused. Seeing this, Cheng Jinxiang could only think that she would pay Uncle Li a proper visit next time she came to see Zhao Chunqin and bring him some gifts.

"Uncle Li, I'll come to see you again next time. Please be sure to accept the gift I bring then." After saying that, Cheng Jinxiang bowed to Li Yong again.

Li Yong immediately helped Cheng Jinxiang up. "Jinxiang, you don't need to be so polite. I didn't help you much. Next time you come, just visit this old man. You don't need to bring any gifts, but remember to bring the goose to see this old man."

Li Yong didn't care much for anything else, but he loved children. Seeing Zhao Da'e's lively appearance, Li Yong was very happy.

Afterwards, Cheng Jinxiang left with Zhao Da'e and Zhao Tiesheng. When they got downstairs, Zhao Tiesheng couldn't help but ask Cheng Jinxiang, "Jinxiang, didn't you go a bit too far today? You could have just asked Chunqin for money, why did you have to snatch her favorite gold bracelet?"

Zhao Tiesheng thought that Cheng Jinxiang liked the gold bracelet and wanted to take it, which was why she said she would use the gold bracelet as collateral to pay off the debt. Zhao Tiesheng was a little dissatisfied, because what use is a gold bracelet compared to money?

Seeing Zhao Tiesheng like this, Cheng Jinxiang felt a surge of anger and couldn't help but curse, "I want money too, but look at Zhao Chunqin, will she give it to me? Besides, she said she has no money. No matter how much you ask for money, what can we do if she can't come up with it? The reason I took the gold bracelet is because it's on her wrist, and she has no reason to say it's missing. Taking the bracelet off was to teach her a lesson and show her that we're not so easy to bully. And do you really think she'll pay us back in the spring?"

After listening to Cheng Jinxiang's explanation, Zhao Tiesheng lowered his head in silence.

Cheng Jinxiang's words made a lot of sense. If they didn't want the gold bracelet, they wouldn't even get their money back today. Although Zhao Chunqin said she would give it back in the spring, honestly, would she really give it back? Based on Zhao Chunqin's behavior today, Zhao Tiesheng felt that the probability of Zhao Chunqin returning the money was very low.

Cheng Jinxiang gripped Zhao Dage's hand tightly and said calmly, "Just you wait. We took Zhao Chunqin's gold bracelet today, and she might cause a scene at the Zhao family in a few days."

This was not a question, but a certainty; Cheng Jinxiang knew Zhao Chunqin's temperament all too well.

No one outside would indulge Zhao Chunqin, but in the Zhao family, Wang Guixiang and Zhao Tingxu doted on her. He had caused trouble for Zhao Chunqin today, and soon it would be Wang Guixiang's turn to cause trouble for him.

Let them come if they want; the bigger the commotion, the better. She can use this opportunity to ask Zhao Chunqin for money again.

After seeing Cheng Jinxiang and the others off, Zhao Chunqin sat on the sofa, her face flushed with anger and contorted with rage. She gritted her teeth and said, "My gold bracelet!"

Li Qingmin, supporting his back, limped to a seat near Zhao Chunqin. His back was aching terribly, his brows were furrowed, his clothes were disheveled, and his face was covered in bruises—all from being beaten by Zhao Tiesheng.

The beating was incredibly brutal, leaving Li Qingmin on the verge of tears. He was truly unlucky; how was he supposed to go to work to handle things now? Going out like this would surely invite gossip from his colleagues.