Chapter 9: The Big Shot Deep in Debt

“Me and Doudou.”

Lu Chen answered mercilessly, his gaze as if saying: “You free-loader, you actually have the nerve to ask for an egg?”

Jiang Hanyan grit her teeth, silently warning herself not to get angry; it wasn't worth damaging her health.

“I’ll cook!”

Jiang Hanyan forcefully pushed the stingy man aside, preparing to become self-reliant and well-fed.

Lu Chen was quite reluctant. He knew this spendthrift woman would definitely cook an extra egg. One egg cost twenty cents, and he couldn't bear the loss.

“My noodles are delicious!”

Jiang Hanyan had a sufficient reason; this stingy man's cooking was clearly not very good.

Lu Chen fell silent for three seconds, then moved aside, only to see Jiang Hanyan's hand grab the largest egg from the basket. She even said righteously, “Making a good meal takes a lot of physical effort, so eating one egg isn't excessive, is it?”

After staring at each other for three seconds, Lu Chen decisively moved out of the kitchen, out of sight, out of mind.

Jiang Hanyan smiled triumphantly. She put oil in the pot and fried three eggs. She took the largest and best one, then poured in half a pot of water. Once it boiled, she added green vegetables and vermicelli, followed by some seasonings. She put a bit of lard in each of the three large bowls to enhance the aroma.

Once the vermicelli boiled, it was ready to be served. She sprinkled some chopped green onions on top. The white, tender vermicelli, the emerald green vegetables, and the golden poached eggs—with rings of oil floating on the surface of the soup and a garnish of green onions—made the color, aroma, and taste perfect.

It was a pity there was no bone broth; otherwise, it would have been even more perfect.

“Time to eat.”

Jiang Hanyan called out to the outside. Lu Chen entered, and the air was filled with fragrance. He took a deep breath, and his resentment over that single egg vanished; this woman's cooking was indeed quite good.

“There’s more in the pot. Serve yourself when you're done,” Jiang Hanyan said.

“Mm.”

Lu Chen nodded slightly and carried two bowls out.

The three of them sat down to eat the noodles, slurping away in silence. After finishing the hot, spicy noodle soup, sweat beaded on their noses, leaving them feeling particularly refreshed.

As usual, Lu Chen took the initiative to go to the kitchen to wash the dishes. This point satisfied Jiang Hanyan greatly. The Lu family didn't have dish soap; they used alkali to wash dishes, which was very harsh on the hands. She would rather cook than wash dishes.

The sun was very nice today, so Jiang Hanyan took out the quilts to air them. She liked sleeping under quilts that had been sun-dried until soft and fluffy. However, while tidying the bedding, she discovered a small red box on the floor, which looked like a jewelry box.

She picked it up. Inside was a pair of gold earrings, but they were quite thin, not even thicker than a strand of hair. Jiang Hanyan highly suspected that these two earrings together might only weigh one gram.

Jiang Hanyan reasoned that these earrings must have been bought by Lu Chen, intended for the original owner of the body. But since Lu Chen hadn't brought them out until now, he clearly didn't intend to give them.

Was it because the child was gone that Lu Chen felt she was no longer worthy of wearing gold earrings?

Jiang Hanyan didn't particularly care for such thin earrings; she just wanted to verify if her guess was correct. She took the jewelry box outside, waved it in front of Lu Chen, and asked intentionally, “Are these gold earrings a gift for me?”

“No.”

Lu Chen's answer was as heartless and unfeeling as ever.

Stingy man!

Jiang Hanyan cursed him inwardly, but her smile grew even sweeter. She blinked and asked, “Do you have another lover outside?”

“No.”

Lu Chen's face darkened. This woman's head was full of lewd thoughts; she was too improper.

“I originally bought them for you, but since you lie, I'm not giving them to you,” Lu Chen explained kindly.

Third Brother said women need to be coaxed. Although he didn't like Jiang Hanyan, she was, after all, the mother of his child, so he had gritted his teeth and spent over 150 yuan to try and coax her.

But now that this woman wasn't pregnant, she naturally wasn't the mother of his child, so there was no need to coax her.

“Lu Chen, if you keep acting like this, you'll really be a bachelor for the rest of your life!” Jiang Hanyan reminded him sincerely.

It was one thing to have such thin earrings, but to retract a gift? This man was definitely destined to die alone.

She remembered now—in the book, Lu Chen lived to be thirty-eight and never had a wife or a girlfriend. As expected, he was destined to be alone!

“None of your business!”

Lu Chen snatched the jewelry box back. In a moment, he would go to the gold shop to return it. Combined with the money Third Brother gave him, he could scrape together five thousand yuan to pay off his debts.

That was right, Lu Chen was heavily in debt, with an amount as high as 250,000 yuan.

This debt was incurred by his father ten years ago. His father had run off and had been missing ever since, with no news of whether he was alive or dead. His grandfather had taken on the debt, but the grandfather passed away after only paying for three years. The remaining 200,000-plus yuan in debt was left to the sixteen-year-old Lu Chen.

After his grandfather passed away, he began doing small business. He earned his own tuition and living expenses. Living alone and dropping out after high school, he had ventured into society and earned a fair amount of money. Combined with his frugal lifestyle, he had saved quite a bit, and currently, he had 120,000 yuan in external debt remaining.

After paying this five thousand, only 115,000 would remain.

Lu Chen was in a good mood. For all these years, the debt of over 200,000 yuan had been like a mountain pressing on his shoulders, reminding him at every moment that even eating an extra egg required careful consideration.

Once the debt was paid, he would fry three poached eggs at once and buy a jin of braised beef from Old Wang's shop in the south of town. Every time he passed Old Wang's shop, the aroma of the braised beef made him salivate; he had been craving it for ten years.

However, last night's stewed beef was also very delicious. Lu Chen couldn't help but glance at Jiang Hanyan. Last night's meal was the most luxurious feast he had eaten in over a decade; every bowl of food was filled with the taste of money, and it was indeed exceptionally delicious.

As for marrying a wife, Lu Chen had never considered it. He didn't want to give the money he worked so hard to earn to a complete stranger; Jiang Hanyan was just a sudden exception.

Lu Chen stuffed the jewelry box into his trouser pocket and pushed his motorcycle, preparing to head out. The creditors for this five thousand yuan all lived in Jiang Hanyan's home village, which was a thirty-minute motorcycle ride away.

“Give me a ride to the market!”

Jiang Hanyan walked over. It would take over ten minutes to walk to the market, and she was too lazy to walk.

Lu Chen was originally reluctant, but thinking of this woman's spendthrift nature, he agreed and signaled for her to follow.

“Doudou, Auntie is taking you out to play!”

Jiang Hanyan ran back to the kitchen to grab the vegetable basket, calling out to little Doudou along the way. With such beautiful sunshine, a child should go out and soak it up more.

Doudou, who had been squatting on the ground drawing circles out of boredom, lit up instantly. He jumped up happily, ran to Lu Chen's side, clung tightly to him, and grinned.

Jiang Hanyan also came out. She had changed into a denim embroidered jacket. The original owner had many clothes, all of them gaudy, but this denim jacket was the most elegant.

Underneath, she wore a high-collared white wool sweater, paired with tight denim jeans and black mid-calf leather boots. She was tall, with a slender yet curvaceous figure. This outfit made her look charming and lovely, especially full of vitality, and those watery eyes were even more captivating than before.

When Lu Chen's gaze met hers, his heart skipped a beat. He immediately turned his head away and said impatiently, “Why change clothes just to go buy groceries!”

(End of Chapter)