Chapter 111: The Farmer and the Viper

This story is purely fictional.

He had to get home quickly to see what had happened. Pressing the accelerator to the floor, he managed to make the journey, which usually took half an hour, in less than ten minutes.

The building was an old walk-up without an elevator. Climbing eight flights of stairs was an exhausting task for someone as sedentary as him. Zhao Ming, breathless from running, fumbled for his keys to open the door.

The moment he stepped inside, his worst fears were not realized. The house was not filled with flowing blood, but with the nauseating stench of alcohol and vomit.

He walked into the bedroom. Du Juan was slumped at the foot of the bed, her chin resting on the bedspread. Beneath her head, the floor was covered in yellow vomit, and her face, the sheets, and a precious coat bought for their wedding were all hideously stained by the suffocating mess.

Seeing that Du Juan had simply drunk too much and vomited, Zhao Ming’s heart finally settled. In his view, as long as she hadn't committed suicide, it was a relief.

He checked her breathing by placing his hand near her nose; fortunately, it seemed normal.

He found a basin, filled it with hot water, and cleaned her face and the bed. Finally, he tucked her into the clean sheets, covering her with the quilt with the utmost care.

Zhao Ming then scrubbed the vomit off the floor.

The expensive coat, bought for Du Juan’s birthday when he transferred from the military, remained hopelessly stained after cleaning. It seemed ruined, so Zhao Ming tossed it onto the balcony outside.

By midnight, Du Juan began to suffer from severe abdominal pain. With no other choice, Chi Zhaoming rushed her to the hospital emergency room.

After a series of examinations, it was determined that the pain in her lower back was caused by a slight hemorrhage in her kidney, the result of an external impact.

After three days of treatment, the pain was effectively controlled. Once blood tests and a CT scan showed no significant organic damage, Chi Zhaoming finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At daybreak, he brought Du Juan back home.

Chi Zhaoming had taken a few days off, leaving his work in the hands of his assistant, nicknamed "Pigtail."

The station director, noticing Chi’s absence, came to Pigtail’s office. "What’s wrong with Director Chi? He hasn't been in for days. Call him and ask if he needs any help. Tell him that the leadership attaches great importance to the weekend broadcast; unless it’s something truly urgent, tell him he needs to be on duty."

"Understood, Director. I’ll call him right now," Pigtail replied.

Pigtail dialed, but Chi’s phone went unanswered.

***

Seeing the missed call from Pigtail, Chi Zhaoming quickly called him back. "Is there something you need?"

"The station director was just here asking if you needed any help. Also, there’s a major Dahe football match broadcast this weekend, and he mentioned that important leaders will be attending, so he expects you to be on site."

"Alright, I understand. I’ll be there once I’ve settled things at home. Thank you for the director's concern," Chi said before hanging up.

At Aunt Fan’s house, Nian Weiyi said, "Fan Wei was supposed to come back, but the club players had some issues today, so I sneaked out under a pretext. I have to rush back to the club shortly." Coach Nian looked at Aunt Fan with a beaming smile.

"If you're so pressed for time, why didn't you just let me come to you? Why go through the trouble of coming back and forth? It’s not safe on the road," Aunt Fan said, showing concern for the man before her.

"I just wanted to see you. Ever since I’ve been with you, I feel like life has a glimmer of hope again. Sometimes, even during training, I can't help but think of you, imagining the wonderful moments we share. Come, my dear, a moment of spring night is worth a thousand pieces of gold." With that, Coach Nian picked up Aunt Fan and carried her to the bed.

The room lights were extinguished, plunging the space into darkness, yet there was no sound, only the faint light filtering in from outside the window.

Zhang Chi stood outside. The money problem was finally resolved.

After the lights went out, everything went quiet. Zhang Chi thought to himself, "No excitement at all. Boring!" He shook his head, tiptoed downstairs, closed the front door, and vanished toward the other end of the village.

As soon as he reached home, Zhang Chi received a call from Fan Wei at the club. "Go find my aunt right now. When you take the money, don’t say it's for you. Tell her it’s being sent to a friend at school for surgery expenses. Don’t say anything else, or it might cause complications."

"Alright, I understand. I knew you’d help me. My dear star player, you really are my savior," Zhang Chi said, bubbling with excitement.

"Don't get too happy. The important thing is that you must stop participating in that horrific underground gambling. It won’t do your future any good. You need to conduct yourself well. As for the money, don't worry about paying it back for now; I’ll be playing soon. At the very least, I’ll be a substitute, and my financial situation will improve then. Just control yourself; thirty thousand isn't a huge deal for me. Understand?" Fan Wei said earnestly.

Zhang Chi promised Fan Wei he would stop betting, but in his heart, he still pinned his hopes on Fan Wei's inside information, dreaming of one day making a massive fortune and living the life of a rich man.

Zhang Chi returned to Aunt Fan’s house and knocked.

Aunt Fan came downstairs, her face flushed. She handed the money to Zhang Chi and cautioned, "Be careful with this money. Don't lose it."

"I know, Aunt, I'll be careful." Zhang Chi took the thirty thousand in cash and went home to sleep until dawn.

On Monday morning, Zhang Chi took the borrowed cash to his teacher Wang Yifa’s office door.

The thirty thousand in cash was packed in a military-style satchel, which he wore inside his regular school backpack. Externally, it looked like he was just bringing his school bag to his homeroom teacher's office. Other teachers, knowing Zhang Chi was Wang Yifa’s Chinese class representative, greeted him as they saw him standing by the door.

He waited for a long time without seeing his teacher, growing anxious. He was worried because his betting website had been blocked for a week, and he wanted his teacher to reactivate it immediately. As for what Fan Wei had told him, it had long since been pushed to the back of his mind.

After a long while, Zhang Chi saw his teacher walking toward the office, looking utterly dejected.

Seeing the teacher’s morose expression, as if he were mourning a death, Zhang Chi stepped forward. "Teacher, what’s wrong with you? That long face is truly unsightly!"

"Isn't it because of you? I waited all night for your call yesterday. I thought you hadn't managed to get the money, and in my anxiety, I ended up losing nearly seventy or eighty thousand in bets overnight." The teacher stared at the bag Zhang Chi was carrying, checking to see if he had brought the repayment.

"Why blame me for your losses? When I was losing, I didn’t blame you. It’s not fair to shift the responsibility onto me, is it?" Zhang Chi said with surprise.

"Last Friday, didn't you say it was because I led you into this trap? If that’s not blaming me, who is it? We agreed clearly that you’d let me know the moment you got the money, but I never heard from you. You didn't have a phone, but you could have found a way to contact me! Because of you, I lost so much it was catastrophic. Those guys are coming at noon; I don't think I can handle this today. I just want to find a hole to crawl into," the teacher lamented about his "Black Sunday."

"I don't care. Once I give you the money, the debt issue is gone. Since I don't owe you anything anymore, just unlock my betting site. I need to win back my losses," Zhang Chi whispered, fearing someone passing by might hear.

"Fine, fine, fine. I’ll have them unlock it for you," the teacher said helplessly.

"Great. There’s a Dahe football match tonight. We’ll take your laptop to the site and bet live while watching the game. How exciting would that be, Teacher? I’ll come get you tonight," Zhang Chi said.

By noon, the debt collectors from the Duhao Company arrived at Wang Yifa’s office. A group of men in black, no different from street thugs, drew countless eyes the moment they entered the school gates.

The leader of the group seemed smug, clearly enjoying the attention.

The group marched straight to Wang Yifa’s office. Without knocking, the leader shoved the door open; it slammed against the wall with a dull thud.

The noise startled Wang Yifa. When he turned around, the men had already surrounded him. The leader sat on his desk, tapping his pipe against the wood.

"Please, don't do this. Let’s talk properly. This looks bad. The principal already warned me after the last time you were here. He told me to have less to do with irrelevant people. If a group of you walks through the school like this, surely the principal will see you? He patrols the campus several times a day!" Wang Yifa stammered in fear.

"Hey, what kind of tone is that? Your principal told you not to associate with irrelevant people, but are we irrelevant? We are your creditors! Creditors, you idiot!" the leader retorted aggressively.

(To be continued)