Chapter 4: Chen Ye
Thinking about the immature plan he had just come up with, Chen Yuan didn't have much confidence, but for now, there was no better way.
...Not long after,
In a typical alley in West City, within the Chen family's courtyard.
Chen Yuan pushed the door open and entered. At a glance, he saw his father, Chen Ye, who had just gotten up and was squatting at the entrance of the main hall, rinsing his mouth.
Chen Ye, dressed as a middle-aged scholar, had a gaunt face, a short beard, and was wearing a grayish-white robe that was still quite decent.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, he looked up. Seeing it was Chen Yuan coming home, he unexpectedly asked, "Why are you back so early today? Is the meat stall doing so well?"
Chen Yuan did not answer the question and said in a low voice, "Dad, I want to discuss something with you."
Chen Ye glanced at him, somewhat surprised.
But it seemed that because he had never seen Chen Yuan like this before, he paused for a moment, then stood up and said, "Let's talk inside."
Back in the main hall. Father Chen sat on the chair, picked up a smoking pipe from the table, and started smoking it with a rhythmic sound.
"Why do you want to talk to me?"
Chen Yuan stood in front of him, slightly bowing his head: "I would like to borrow some money from you."
"Borrow money? For what purpose?" Chen Ye looked up, his brows furrowing.
"Practice martial arts."
Chen Ye looked at him in surprise: "Practice martial arts?"
"Yeah."
Chen Ye looked down, took a few puffs of his cigarette, and exhaled a white cloud: "How much do you want to borrow?"
"Fifty taels."
"Fifty taels?!"
Suddenly, a woman's scream echoed into the parlor: "No!"
Chen Yuan turned around, and a plump, fair-skinned woman holding a wooden tray came into view.
This is his stepmother, Chen Liu.
"You little brat, do you think our family is a charity?"
The woman's face turned ugly, and she glared at Chen Yuan, sharply saying, "Let me tell you, it's impossible!"
"With your clumsy skills, what do you know about martial arts? Do you think you're Yun'er? Hurry up and get to work!"
Chen Yuan had anticipated this scene and calmly said, "I'm not taking anything for free. I'm an adult now, and it's time to split the family."
"As long as my father lends me fifty taels, I don't want anything from the Chen family."
Chen Liu-shi sneered, "The money of the Chen family was all saved up by your father and me."
"What does it have to do with you? Are you trying to inherit the family business?"
Chen Yuan took a deep breath and said coldly, "If you can't even part with this little, then don't blame me for causing a scene."
"If I'm not doing well, the family won't be doing well either. Yunshan City is only this big, and Dad is still working in the government office, so he has some standing."
"If this blows up... Aunt, you wouldn't want Yun and the others to be gossiped about outside, would you?"
"Little beast! What did you just say?!" Chen Liu was furious.
Chen Ye slammed the smoking rod on the table and said, "Enough!"
"Ah Yuan is still my son, what are you saying, you woman?!"
Chen Ye gazed deeply at Chen Yuan: "Ah Yuan, are you really going to split the family?"
Chen Yuan met his gaze calmly and nodded.
"Enough!"
Chen Ye let out a sigh, tapped the pipe on the corner of the table, shaking out the ash from the tobacco pipe: "Give him a hundred taels."
Chen Liu's eyes widened, and she was about to say something.
"Why aren't you taking the money?!" Chen Ye slammed the table and shouted loudly.
"Hmph!" Chen Liu let out a cold snort, ultimately not arguing with Chen Ye any further.
With a 'bang!'
She heavily placed the tray on the table beside Chen Ye and silently walked towards the inner room.
"..."
"Ah Yuan, over the years, I have indeed neglected the household matters."
"You must resent me for it, right?" Chen Ye exhaled a puff of white smoke, his tone somewhat complicated.
Without waiting for Chen Yuan to respond, he continued, "With your usually silent demeanor, to propose a separation, you must be extremely resentful."
Chen Yuan shook his head and didn't say anything.
The previous self-had endured so many years of hardship, so naturally, there was a lot of resentment.
But that Chen Yuan is already dead, and has nothing to do with him.
Chen Ye sighed, "Your mother's affairs have nothing to do with you. Over the years, I've held a grudge against you, and that's indeed my fault."
"Splitting up the family is fine; it prevents us from becoming enemies."
"However, since you haven't learned any skills, if you just take some money and go out, I'm afraid you'll end up wasting it and living a hard life."
"How about this: there are still ten days left in the month, and we'll settle accounts with the pig slaughterers at the end of the month."
"You can continue running the butcher shop business, and the accounts for the goods taken this month will be settled at home. Whatever you earn or lose will be yours."
"From now on, this business will also be handed over to you. If you blame me, it is only right."
"I just hope you won't hold too much resentment against your Aunt and your two younger siblings."
"After all, we are all family. In the future, when I'm no longer here, you siblings will have to support each other." Chen Yuan let out a sigh of relief.
This is a good thing for him.
The butcher shop business is still quite profitable; after a month, it can bring in about seven or eight taels of income.
Although rice is expensive, and silver is cheap these days.
But it is enough to feed a family of five in Yunshan City for two or three months.
If he wants to practice martial arts in the future, he will also need a lot of nutritional supplements. This amount of money, neither too much nor too little, will at least cover some of the expenses for practicing martial arts.
"Thank you."
Chen Yuan replied sullenly, "I'll go pack my things."
Saying this, he turned and walked out of the main room.
He turned around and walked out of the main room.
Hearing the word "thanks," Chen Ye, who was smoking in the room, paused with the cigarette in his hand and couldn't help but give a bitter smile and shake his head.
After a long pause, he finally sighed.