At the same time, steps echoed from outside the alley, as if someone was approaching!
The two people hurriedly separated as if they were thieves.
Bai Jue's heart was racing, and her face was flushed with redness.
"Dongzi, I'm sorry, Sister Bai Jue was rude. Let's go back to my house first!"
Bai Jue, too embarrassed to look at him, led Lin Dong in a fluster up the dirty, old corridor of the rental house.
Shortly after, the two arrived at the door of their current rental.
Bai Jue took out her keys to open the door, revealing a small and old one-bedroom, one-living room apartment.
Before even entering, they could see a slovenly man wearing glasses—who looked as if he hadn't bathed for at least three or four days—drinking beer voraciously on a broken sofa in the living room.
This was Lin Dong's cousin Lin Jian, the only college student from the village in the past!
But now, he has none of the spirited elegance of his suit-and-tie days; all that's left is the despondency of a gambling and drinking ghost.
Upon entering, Lin Dong glanced at his cousin.
He noticed the yellowing of his skin and sclera, the dull and sallow complexion, and the dry, coarse, swollen skin—clear signs of liver disease.
As he was about to inform him about the situation, he saw Lin Jian run over from the sofa:
"Dongzi, why are you here? Come in quickly!"
He was 'enthusiastically' running over to Lin Dong to help him with his bag.
As he searched through Lin Dong's bag, he said:
"Dongzi, you must have brought quite a bit of money with you this time to the city, right?"
"Lend me some money. I feel lucky today. If I go and bet, I'm sure to win!"
Lin Dong could hardly believe it; how had his cousin Lin Jian ended up like this?
"Lin Jian, Dongzi came to seek refuge with us. How could you ask him for money as soon as he arrives?"
Bai Jue couldn't stand by and watch; she quickly spoke out.
At this moment, it was as if Lin Jian had only just noticed Bai Jue. His face turned iron blue as he cursed at her: "Why are you back?"
"Didn't I find you a part-time job?"
"If you don't work hard to make money to pay me back, why did you come back?"
Hearing Lin Jian's barrage of questions, Lin Dong frowned and answered for her:
"I met Sister Bai Jue when I stayed at the station, and I brought her back with me!"
Lin Jian's face was sour as he glared at Bai Jue, "Fine, for Dongzi's sake, I'll let it slide today. You go back tomorrow!"
"I won't go, I refuse to do that sort of thing!" Bai Jue shouted, her voice trembling with humiliation. She'd rather die than return to that.
"You won't go?" Lin Jian raised his phone, "Do you want the things in here to be sent to your parents, your younger sister, and the nurse colleagues in the hospital?"
"You... you have no shame!" Bai Jue cried out in distress.
Lin Dong frowned deeply, addressing Lin Jian with a cold voice: "Brother Jian, what has become of you?"
"How can you force Sister Bai Jue to do such things?"
"Is this something a person would do?"
"Even a beast wouldn't do such a thing!"
Lin Jian sneered, "You, a kid from the countryside, what do you know?"
"I'm doing it for her own good. Just spread those legs, and the money will roll in!"
"Besides, when I spent the betrothal gift to marry her, wasn't it so she could earn money for me? Otherwise, why would I marry her?"
Lin Dong was stunned. Was this the proud, highly-educated elder brother of his clan?
The pride of the clan?
It seemed that the ancient sayings were right: the most heartless are often the scholars.
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Some scholars are so shameless, they have absolutely no bottom line!
"What's wrong? Now that you're all grown up, you're feeling sorry for your Sister Bai Jue?"
"In this phone of mine, I have explosive videos of her that I've secretly taken over the years."
"If she doesn't make five hundred thousand for me, then, I'll send these videos to her parents, younger sister, colleagues... Let's see then, who will lose dignity!"
"Of course, Dongzi, if you feel sorry for your Sister Bai Jue and don't want her to do that kind of work to earn money. That's fine too, you give me five hundred thousand."
"I'll give you all the videos. I'll even 'sell' your Sister Bai Jue to you!"
"But I'm afraid you'll never make five hundred thousand in your lifetime. A country bumpkin like you simply doesn't understand the saying, 'Money is hard to earn, shit is hard to eat...'"
Lin Dong really couldn't listen any longer.
Are these the words a human being should say?
He sighed, took out the one thousand he had brought from home, and threw it at him.
"Brother Jian, here's a thousand. Take this money and get the medicine according to the prescription I told you... You're in the early stages of liver disease now, it's still not too late for treatment..."
"You're the one who's sick!" Lin Jian snatched the one thousand before Lin Dong could finish.
Seeing the money, he was as eager as a dog spotting feces.
Clearly, someone who has completely lost themselves to gambling has lost all their conscience and only wants to keep betting.
He grabbed the one thousand and was ready to dive back into the casino.
Before leaving, he grinned and said:
"Dongzi, think about it. If you really hit a stroke of luck and make some money, out of brotherhood, I'll sell you your Sister Bai Jue at a 20% discount... for only four hundred thousand..."
"Get out! Lin Jian, are you even human?"
Bai Jue, standing nearby, hurled a shoe at him and yelled.
But Lin Jian felt no shame at all, grabbing the money and leaving the house.
After he left, only Lin Dong and Sister Bai Jue remained in the house.
Lin Dong's expression was extremely complex at the moment; he just couldn't understand how the pride of the family had degenerated to being worse than a beast.
"Woo woo..." Bai Jue was lying on the ground at this time, sobbing with a face full of tears.
Lin Dong sighed. Sister Bai Jue was such a good woman, to be married to such a man was truly unfortunate.
He wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know what to say.
After Bai Jue cried for a while and remembered that Lin Dong was there, she quickly stood up, wiping away her tears, and said:
"Dongzi, I'm sorry for making you witness this farce."
Lin Dong shook his head: "Sister Bai Jue, it's our Lin family that should apologize. Ah, why has he become like this?"
Wiping away tears, Bai Jue said, "Ever since the car accident a few years ago, he's been obsessed with gambling and has accumulated several hundreds of thousands in foreign debt!"
"And then he also got fired from his job at the company and has been unemployed at home, drinking to spend the day..."
"Sister Bai Jue, with the way he treats you, why don't you divorce him?" Lin Dong asked.
"I want a divorce, but he secretly took those kinds of videos of me. He said if I got a divorce, he'd post them online! He also wants me to do that kind of part-time job to earn money to pay off his debts... woo woo, if he keeps pressuring me like this, I might as well die."
Bai Jue kept wiping her tears.
The more Lin Dong listened, the angrier he got!
Calling Lin Jian a beast was an insult to beasts!
"Sister Bai Jue, was what he said just now true?" Lin Dong asked.
"Ah? What true?" Bai Jue was taken aback, somewhat puzzled.
"The thing about five hundred thousand."
"Dongzi, you... you want to spend five hundred thousand to buy Sister Bai Jue, to make her your woman?" Upon hearing this, Bai Jue's cheeks turned as rosy as a ripe peach, almost dripping with moisture.
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