Rebirth 1983: Building My Business Empire-Chapter 590 - 573: Leeches

Tang Sufen looked at her eldest son, Huang Jianshe, in disbelief and asked tremblingly: "What did you say? Say it again?"

Huang Jianshe cried out: "Mom, I don’t know how I ended up owing so much debt. Mom, if I can’t repay the money, they’ll chop off my hand."

"Five Thousand Yuan, how can I pay that for you?"

Tang Sufen had painstakingly saved up four thousand eight hundred yuan over the past three years, and all of it went to her second son and daughter-in-law to buy a house. Because the second son’s wife said she would only have children after buying a house. After getting the money to buy the house, they quickly prepared for pregnancy, and now she’s already expecting.

Hearing she had no money, Huang Jianshe knelt on the ground and pleaded: "Mom, if I can’t repay them, they’ll chop off my hand, and Meili will definitely divorce me and take my son away. Mom, you must help me; otherwise, my family will fall apart."

Unable to resist her son’s pleas, Tang Sufen could only say she’d find a way. And her solution was to sell a jade carved snuff bottle and a Yuan blue and white pen holder that Lu Hongjun had collected, selling them for four thousand nine hundred. She added another one hundred yuan herself to make up the Five Thousand Yuan.

Tang Sufen said: "Only this time, if you owe debts again next time, I won’t be able to help you."

After swearing he’d never do it again, Huang Jianshe took the money and left. To be exact, he ran out, and with a light step.

Half a month later, Lu Jiaxin heard the housekeeper say that Lu Hongjun called her, saying there was something important. The housekeeper said, "Boss, the old man said it’s very important and wants you to call him back as soon as possible."

Lu Jiaxin listened but put the matter aside.

When Lu Hongjun couldn’t get a call back from her, he had no choice but to find Lu Jiaguang and ask him to call Jiaxin and say it was something very important.

Lu Jiaguang wouldn’t call Lu Jiaxin without knowing what it was about, so he asked, "Third Uncle, what’s going on? If you don’t tell me what’s happening, I’m not calling Jiaxin."

His sister still hadn’t cooled off from the last incident. Bringing up something that might upset Jiaxin again would only add fuel to the fire. Now, at least Jiaxin wasn’t blocking their calls entirely; if she changed her number, they might never reach her.

Lu Hongjun looked at the door, saw it was locked, and then approached Lu Jiaguang, speaking in a very low voice: "Last year, I found two treasures at an antique market. Who knew Tang Sufen would steal and sell them, then buy two fakes to try and fool me. A couple of days ago, I opened the cabinet and noticed right away, but she still wouldn’t admit to it."

Lu Jiaguang’s face instantly darkened. It was a good thing he hadn’t called Jiaxin, or she’d be furious again: "I told you not to marry her. Now look, you brought a thief into the house."

She must have stolen the antique pieces to support her son. Luckily, everyone pressured him back then to give his private collection of antique pieces to Jiaxin; otherwise, it would eventually fall into the hands of this thief.

Lu Hongjun paused and said: "I asked her to return the money, but she said she spent it all. When I checked, I found out that Huang Jianshe’s sister-in-law had recently rented a storefront to open a jewelry store, and they invested ten thousand yuan in it."

"And then?"

Lu Hongjun said: "I went back to confront Tang Sufen. After hearing what I said, she fainted. Later, I found out that Huang Jianshe was afraid she wouldn’t give him the money, so he lied about owing a gambling debt of Five Thousand Yuan, claiming the creditor would chop off his hand if he didn’t repay it. Tang Sufen was scared he’d lose his job and her family would fall apart, so she stole my treasures to sell and used the money to pay his debt."

Lu Jiaguang felt like something got stuck in his throat; he couldn’t swallow it: "Uncle, calling the police won’t help. She’s your wife; selling your stuff without permission isn’t a crime."

Lu Hongjun knew this well: "I told Tang Sufen if she doesn’t return the money, I’ll report Huang Jianshe for theft."

That is indeed one way to handle it, but since he wants to involve Jiaxin, it must not be that simple.

Lu Hongjun sighed and said: "Tang Sufen forbade me from going to the police, saying if I did, she wouldn’t stay with me."

"I insisted on reporting it, but I didn’t expect her to say if I destroyed Huang Jianshe, she’d report me with Jiaxin to ruin our reputations."

Lu Jiaguang couldn’t help but laugh mockingly: "Let her report then. I want to see what she can do to ruin Jiaxin’s reputation."

Before going to Hong Kong, Jiaxin was just a student. Her record was spotless, so there’s no way Tang Sufen could have anything on her. Using this excuse to threaten them is just laughable.

Lu Hongjun said: "She knows I gave Jiaxin a collection of items and she suspects they are valuable antique pieces. If she reports it, the authorities will definitely investigate."

Lu Jiaguang’s heart skipped a beat but quickly returned to normal: "Uncle, didn’t you tell us those items were obtained legally? If they were, let her report it."

Lu Hongjun said: "I exchanged money and supplies for those items. Supplies... you know about that era... if traced, it falls into the category of misconduct."

Lu Jiaguang’s face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. He held back his anger and said: "Third Uncle, we can’t let her threaten us, or she’ll keep using this against you for money."

"Third Uncle, go back and tell her if she makes up lies, I guarantee I’ll get Huang Jianshe sent to the sewing machine, and Huang Jianjun won’t have any good days either. She can report it if she’s not afraid of both her sons ending up alone."

Lu Hongjun felt comforted and said: "You should find a chance to tell Jiaxin about this."

Lu Jiaguang refused, speaking in an unpleasant tone: "Third Uncle, Jiaxin hasn’t calmed down from the last incident. Let’s not add to her troubles."

"From the last time, she hasn’t even picked up our calls. If you keep this up, in the future, neither Ah Jie nor I will help with your matters."

Those words silenced Lu Hongjun.

After thinking it over, Lu Jiaguang decided to give Jiaxin a call. This wasn’t something he could tell the housekeeper about, so he just left a message for Jiaxin to call him back.

When Lu Jiaxin heard the message saying it was very urgent, she finally returned the call.

Lu Jiaguang explained what Tang Sufen had done: "Jiaxin, I’ll handle this matter. But just know, the batch of items Third Uncle gave you wasn’t exactly obtained legitimately, so keep that in mind." ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

With Lu Hongjun’s salary and benefits, it’s impossible he collected so many treasures. Those who managed to hide these valuables knew their worth, and even in those times, they couldn’t be exchanged for just a pittance. She thought, since Lu Hongjun was retired now, probably no one would look into it. At that time, even those carrying old reputations were let go of lightly; Lu Hongjun merely traded supplies for some benefits, nobody would bother dusting off these old accounts. Of course, even if they investigated, she wasn’t afraid. After all, she wasn’t aware, and the innocent shouldn’t be blamed.

Lu Jiaxin asked: "Do you think this matter will come to light?"

Lu Jiaguang sighed: "This family is like leeches, clingy and hard to shake off. When Third Uncle can’t satisfy their desires anymore, who knows what they’ll do."

Saying this, he suddenly felt very fortunate: "Jiaxin, it’s a good thing you went to Hong Kong instead of following Third Uncle’s plan to get a job here."

If Jiaxin had graduated college and gone to work, any trouble Third Uncle got into would definitely affect her career, and she’d be easily manipulated. Now, ha, if they dare report Third Uncle, none of the Huang family will get away unscathed.

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