PHRC 🍁 Chapter 14: Gambling Debts

After dinner that evening, Ye Yun finished cleaning the kitchen and took Ye Chen back to the storage shed outside the courtyard. Chen Guihua wouldn't let the two brothers stay in the main house at night, claiming they interfered with her family's time together, and that letting them live here was already a great kindness.

In reality, she just found the brothers an eyesore and drove them back to the storage shed.

The storage shed was quite crude, small and drafty, with hard wooden planks for a bed. To make his younger brother sleep more comfortably, Ye Yun had found dry straw to spread a layer over the planks. But it didn't keep out the cold. In winter, Ye Yun had to take out all their clothes and layer them over themselves, otherwise they couldn't sleep through the night.

"Brother, tomorrow is your birthday," Ye Chen said softly, looking up at Ye Yun, who was now more than a head taller than him. Then he pulled a grasshopper from his pocket and held it out to Ye Yun with both hands.

Only when his brother mentioned it did Ye Yun remember. That's right: he had been rescued and brought back in the seventh month, so his parents had made that day his birthday.

Since his parents died, he had never celebrated his birthday again. Every year on this day, his younger brother would weave a grasshopper from straw as a birthday gift for him, and Ming ge'er would wrap up his remaining few copper coins in a red envelope to give him. Ming ge'er knew what Ye Yun wanted most was money.

Ye Yun accepted it, stroked his brother's head, and smiled. "Thank you for remembering, Little Chen."

At this moment, he thought of Rong Zheng, who had gone into the mountains two days ago. If Rong Zheng knew it was my birthday, would he also say "happy birthday" to me?

These past two days, he had been missing Rong Zheng more and more.

As the brothers talked, faint sounds of argument drifted from the main hall.

"You good-for-nothing! Owing so much money to the gambling den!" Uncle Ye slammed his palm on the table, his voice barely suppressed as he cursed.

This time, Chen Guihua couldn't bring herself to speak up for her precious son. "My Yao'er! Weren't you working as a porter in town? How did you end up at a gambling den? This... this is eighty taels! How are we supposed to pay this back?"

Ye Bao watched from the side, utterly shocked. This was eighty taels, owed to a gambling den, no less. Once word got out, how could she ever hope to make a good match?

That wastrel Ye Yao... why didn't he just die outside? Ye Bao grew angrier the more she thought about it, already cursing Ye Yao in her heart. But she didn't dare say it out loud. Her parents doted on Ye Yao; if she dared to curse him, she'd surely get a slap across the face.

Uncle Ye kicked Ye Yao to the ground, cursing under his breath but keeping his voice low to avoid the family scandal spreading. Chen Guihua sighed repeatedly, also complaining that Ye Yao was disappointing.

Ye Yao knelt on the ground, crying and begging: "Father, Mother, you have to help me pay this back! The gambling den people said if I don't pay, they'll chop off my hand! How am I supposed to provide for you in your old age then? Besides, they threatened to come find our house. You don't want to lose face in front of the whole village, do you?"

At this, Uncle Ye kicked him again. Chen Guihua hurriedly stepped between them to stop him; she only had one son, after all, and she needed him to provide for her in old age.

Eighty taels was a huge sum for an ordinary farming family. The family's total savings only amounted to fifty taels, and that included the thirty taels they had seized from Ye Yun's family four years ago, most of which they had already spent.

To pay it back, they would have to borrow from others, and they'd probably have to tighten their belts for a long time afterward. Chen Guihua's heart ached at the thought of spending so much money at once, so she beat Ye Yao hard while complaining nonstop.

But no matter how much they argued, Uncle Ye only had one son. He also didn't want this disgraceful matter to become known throughout the village. If the debt collectors came and made a scene, they'd never be able to hold their heads up again.

He slapped Chen Guihua across the face, looking impatient. "You spoiled this son rotten! You still have the nerve to talk? Get the money out!"

"We don't have that much money! Even if we use everything, we're still thirty taels short. Should we borrow from relatives?" Chen Guihua sighed repeatedly. "We'll have to eat less meat from now on. Ye Bao's dowry will have to be put on hold too..." She rambled on.

When Ye Bao heard that paying this gambling debt would even wipe out her dowry, she grew anxious. She was already seventeen and had started meeting potential matches last year, but she had been lazy and didn't want to serve in someone else's household, so she hadn't been in a hurry. Now, hearing this affected her own interests, her heart burned with urgency.

But she knew her parents were furious and and from the way they were acting. They clearly intended to empty the family savings to pay off that wastrel Ye Yao's debts. She could only seethe with resentment in her heart, not daring to throw a tantrum; getting beaten along with him would be a losing proposition.

"Who would lend our family that much money? Shut up!" Uncle Ye was extremely annoyed and didn't want to listen to Chen Guihua's rambling anymore. He stepped forward and kicked Ye Yao again, saying viciously, "Once this debt is paid, you stay in the village and farm. Don't even think about going back to town to fool around. If you dare run off, I'll break your legs!"

Chen Guihua: "I'll go borrow some from my mother's family."

Uncle Ye: "How much can your mother's family lend? I heard a while back that your eldest nephew even had to sell his ge'er just to scrape together a bride price. Borrowing from people in the village, we might scrape together ten taels at most; that still leaves us twenty short. If all else fails, we'll have to sell land. Sell two mu to make up the difference."

At the mention of selling land, Chen Guihua grew anxious again. "We can't sell our family's land! We country folk depend on the land to eat. If we sell it, what will we live on? Sell the land your dead younger brother left behind! Don't they have ten mu?"

"But that land is meant for Ye Chen. If we sell it, we might have to go through Ye Chen, and the village chief will ask questions." Uncle Ye had actually wanted to sell Ye Chen's family's land all along; how could he possibly sell his own?

However, even selling land registered under Ye Chen's name made his heart ache. These lands were currently under his name, and he was the one farming them.

"Those two brothers eat and live here for free. How dare they disagree?" Chen Guihua, now that she wouldn't have to sell her own land, began spouting nonsense, conveniently forgetting the thirty taels she had seized from Ye Yun's family back then.

Uncle Ye glanced at Chen Guihua, his meaning clear: Then I'll leave it to you to handle. This man was especially cunning. He always let Chen Guihua take the heat for things that would give them a bad reputation, while he stood by and watched. He had always been like that, watching Ye Yun and Ye Chen get beaten, uttering a few meaningless words but never actually stopping it.

At this moment, Ye Bao's voice spoke up: "Father, Mother, I have a way to make up that twenty taels." Hearing her father mention "selling his ge'er," her cunning eyes lit up with an idea. She waited until her parents had calmed down a bit before speaking.

Chen Guihua's eyes brightened at this. "What way?"

"Ye Yun is seventeen this year. It's time to arrange a marriage for him. You are his closest uncle and aunt; you can naturally help him find a match, and the bride price from the man's side would of course go to you. Marrying off a daughter or ge'er these days brings about fifteen taels." She paused, then cleverly added, "If you marry him off to an old widower, the bride price could be negotiated even higher."

Uncle Ye thought this sounded like a good idea. Any method that didn't require selling land seemed good to him, though he was accustomed to putting on a show. "Yun ge'er might not agree."

In reality, in his view, arranged marriages were decided by parents and elders. As his only uncle, he asked this question specifically so that Chen Guihua, that fierce shrew, would step forward to do this dirty deed.

As expected, Chen Guihua was always the first to charge into battle: "It's not up to him to agree or disagree! We've raised those two brothers for over four years. Does he think he can just keep sponging off us forever?"

This woman deliberately ignored the fact that her family had seized a full thirty taels from Ye Yun and occupied his ten mu of land. All the heavy, exhausting work in the house was done by Ye Yun. Even Ye Chen had learned to cook, clean inside and out, and follow Ye Yun to work in the fields.

In the end, Chen Guihua made the final decision: "I'll handle Yun ge'er's matter. He'll marry whether he wants to or not."

Uncle Ye had wanted Chen Guihua to play the villain all along, so naturally he had nothing to say. Ye Bao, feeling that the family's finances would ease up a bit and her dowry would be restored soon enough so she wouldn't end up an old maid, expressed her satisfaction.

As for Ye Yao, he didn't care either way. He just wanted to pay off his gambling debts quickly. He had been chased by the gambling den people in town and had no choice but to come home and hide.

Ye Yun's storage shed was located in the courtyard near the entrance, so he couldn't hear clearly what was happening in the main house, only the sounds of shouting. It was definitely Ye Yao coming home to ask for money again, something he was all too used to.

He didn't care about that family's affairs. His savings now amounted to a little over five taels. In another year, it would reach ten taels. Next year he would take his brother and leave this place, and he would make them return the ten mu of land. As for the money they had taken back then, he supposed he could forget about that.

Thinking about leaving next year and having a fresh start made him happy. Filled with hope, he gradually drifted off to sleep.

He had no idea that his uncle's family planned to marry him off to an old widower, intending to personally push him into a pit of fire.