Back to the 1980s: Transmigrated as the Bigshot's Pampered Wife-Chapter 67: Back to Zero Again

But he had run into a tough nut to crack. Looking at the girl’s fierce expression, Gao Xiangming was certain she would bury him in these woods if he didn’t tell the truth. That was why he’d been completely honest.

He didn’t dare mention his black market dealings, though, afraid Gu Jiaojiao would drag him to the police.

Gu Jiaojiao could see he wasn’t lying. "Your family used to be very wealthy, so it’s understandable you’d recognize these items."

"But... trying to claim my family’s property for yourself? That’s just wrong."

"Besides, my dad is obviously helpless. How could you have the heart to bully him?"

"Have you never heard that a gentleman makes his fortune through honest means? Even bandits know to rob the rich to help the poor!"

"Robbing the rich to help the poor... that’s what heroes do, not bandits," Gao Xiangming weakly retorted.

"Then what do you call what you’re doing, bullying the weak? People like you are cursed by the heavens, you get it?"

"Then aren’t you bullying me?"

"You’re not weak. So what if I bully you?"

Gao Xiangming: "..."

"If there was a pill for regret, I’d buy one no matter the cost. Please, ma’am, have mercy and let me go."

Gao Xiangming said this flippantly, but inwardly he was terrified of the ruthless girl in front of him.

"So you’re saying you’re very rich? Willing to pay any price for a pill for regret?"

Gao Xiangming: "..."

"’No matter the cost’ is just a figure of speech. I really am sorry, but I don’t have any money to be buying pills for regret!"

He was the most notorious tightwad in all of Feng’en County.

He wouldn’t part with a single penny if he could help it.

Gu Jiaojiao folded her arms and watched Gao Xiangming with an unhurried air.

Gao Xiangming got the message. He wasn’t getting out of this without coughing up some cash.

"Ma’am, as the saying goes, don’t air your dirty laundry in public. I’ve told you everything about my family."

"Dignity is something you keep for yourself. If you don’t say anything, nobody knows. But if you can’t keep your mouth shut, you become a laughingstock."

"Every family has skeletons in their closet. It’s enough to know your own. Some things are best handled internally."

"You digest it, you reflect on it, and some things... you should take them to your grave rather than tell an outsider..."

Gao Xiangming was trying to play the victim, but he was dealing with Gu Jiaojiao. He blabbered on and on...

...only to receive Gu Jiaojiao’s analysis: "You’ve accumulated so many grievances and so much resentment in your mundane life."

"But with no outlet, the moment you find a willing ear, you just pour out all your woes."

"I was just doing a good deed, accidentally becoming your sounding board. You should be thanking me."

"In this life, the people we care about most are our families—parents, spouses, children. They are both our armor and our Achilles’ heel."

"If you do well, people will be jealous. If you do poorly, they’ll revel in your misfortune."

"So you must remember: don’t air your dirty laundry in public. Some things are better taken to the grave than shared with others."

Gao Xiangming: "..."

’What kind of person is this?!’

’I’m trying to get your sympathy with my sob story! Not only do you have none, but you’re lecturing me instead!’

Defeated, Gao Xiangming had no choice but to make a sincere offer. "There’s... something buried under the big tree in front of my house. If you’re interested, ma’am..."

"Alright. You can go home. We’ll come to your house this afternoon. As for those items, I’ll buy them from you at black market prices."

"You know about the black market, ma’am?" Gao Xiangming’s eyes lit up. ’A kindred spirit!’

’No wonder she’s such a badass!’

"I do. I’m the kingpin of the Qing City black market," Gu Jiaojiao said, without a hint of exaggeration.

While she wasn’t exactly the kingpin herself, Song Zijie was.

And since Song Zijie was currently her patient and she was his savior, by extension, that made her the kingpin.

"I’m the top dog in the Feng’en County black market! Lots of big cities get their goods through me..."

Mr. Gu: "..."

’Just a moment ago, this man looked like he wanted to kill me, and now he’s bowing and scraping before my daughter. How pathetic!’

"Jiaojiao, we should head back for lunch."

"You should go. My dad’s calling me back for lunch. We’ll come find you this afternoon."

"Alright, alright. May I have your name, ma’am?"

"Maybe later."

Seeing that the girl had no intention of telling him, Gao Xiangming could only scurry away.

"Dad, let’s go."

"What about the things I just dug up?"

"They’re under the wild greens in the basket. Let’s go." Gu Jiaojiao shouldered the hoe and hooked the basket onto her arm.

Mr. Gu simply marveled at how fast his daughter’s hands were. Without a second thought, he shouldered his own hoe and followed.

"Jiaojiao, the basket is heavy. Let me carry it."

"I can manage. Just walk a little faster, Dad."

When the father and daughter returned to the farm, Su Shuochi was waiting for them at the main gate, seated in his wheelchair.

"Father-in-law, Jiaojiao, you must be tired."

"It was fine. There wasn’t much, we just spent a lot of time on it because we were afraid of damaging what we were digging up."

Gu Jiaojiao placed the basket and the hoe on Su Shuochi’s lap, dusted the dirt off her hands, and started pushing his wheelchair.

Su Shuochi also reached out and took the hoe from Mr. Gu’s hands. Mr. Gu was very pleased with his son-in-law’s thoughtful gesture.

Halfway there, Geng Ruixian came ambling over. "Cheng Zhou, did you find any wild greens?"

"We got a whole basketful," replied Mr. Gu. "Jiaojiao did all the digging. I just tagged along."

The farm manager had already prepared lunch. A pig and a chicken had been slaughtered for the occasion, so the meal was especially lavish.

Neither Su Shuochi nor Song Zijie ate much; the cooking here wasn’t up to their standards.

Gu Jiaojiao, however, enjoyed it. To her, this all-natural pork and free-range chicken was delicious as long as it was cooked through.

Mr. Gu and Geng Ruixian also ate with great gusto. They had been malnourished for years.

To them, any meat—even if it were raw—would have tasted delicious, let alone a meal someone had taken the care to cook for them.

So, Su Shuochi dotingly placed food on his wife’s plate and fanned her from time to time.

Song Zijie, in turn, served Mr. Gu and Geng Ruixian. He didn’t want to eat, but he didn’t want to just sit there doing nothing either.

Gu Jiaojiao was focused on eating and didn’t have time to talk. Su Shuochi spoke to her as he continued to add food to her plate.

"Jiaojiao, I picked out a few small donkeys. Should we have them slaughtered and take the meat, or...?"

"Buy three of them live. Have the manager send them to Gao Xiangming in Dashan Village, on the other side of the mountain behind the farm."

"He’s an acquaintance of my father’s. We’ll drive over to his place later to sort things out."

"Okay. You guys take your time eating, Jiaojiao. I’ll go tell the manager."

"Take some money. Once you’ve agreed on a price, just pay him directly." Gu Jiaojiao pulled a little over two hundred yuan from her backpack and handed it to Su Shuochi.

’This was part of the money they’d earned from selling rice and flour over the last two weeks. They had over a thousand yuan in total, which was meant for buying antiques from Gao Xiangming’s house later.’

’Sigh! The funds were going to be wiped out again!’

’Oh, money!’

’Such a love-hate relationship, and you can’t even live without it!’

The head of farm management personally arranged for the donkeys to be delivered. In the end, he only charged a token one hundred yuan for a total of five little donkeys.

"These donkeys are to help with the hero’s leg treatment. This is our way of honoring him and making a small contribution to the country. We would have been happy to not charge at all."

"But the hero insisted on paying, so we had to accept it. Besides, we have a lot of mouths to feed here on the farm."