Life was getting better for Li Dong, he was starting to feel like he had some money to spare. It was a case of joy for some and sorrow for others.
Early in the morning, four or five menacing young men appeared at Da Chun's doorstep in the county town.
They stepped forward and began pounding hard on Da Chun's front door.
Hearing the commotion, Xiu Mei rushed to the door. The bolt had barely been opened when the young men barged in.
Fortunately, Da Chun's mother, Xiu Mei, was quite feisty. She wielded the door bolt and swung it wildly, managing to hold the group back.
"You come and smash down my door first thing in the morning. What grudges do I have against you? What enmity?"
One of the young men, missing a front tooth, spoke with a lisp, "Auntie, what relation are you to Da Chun?"
Xiu Mei's guard immediately went up. She retorted, "I am his mother. What do you want?"
"Good, since you are his mother, it's much easier. Da Chun lost two hundred taels of silver last night and we're holding him. Hand over the money now, or your precious son won't be coming back."
Xiu Mei was stunned upon hearing this. "No, impossible! How could he lose so much silver?"
The man was unhurried. He took out a written note from his embrace and handed it to Xiu Mei.
"This is what your son wrote himself. Have a look."
Xiu Mei couldn't read and could only shout inside, "Cui Hua, Cui Hua, come here quickly."
Cui Hua could recognize a few characters. She took the note, glanced at it, and burst into tears.
"This damned fool really lost the silver! Where are we going to get two hundred taels for him?"
Xiu Mei knew the situation was serious. She immediately put on a smile and said to the men, "Please wait a moment. I'll go inside and get the silver for you."
Saying this, she pulled Cui Hua into the house. "Cui Hua, how much silver do you have left?"
Cui Hua wiped her tears. "Yesterday I had over two hundred taels, but Da Chun took it all, saying he'd bring back five hundred taels today."
"Mother, I have nothing left. How much do you have?"
Xiu Mei sighed and took off her bracelets and the hairpin from her head.
"This is all I have."
At this moment, a maidservant walked over and brought Xiu Mei a cup of tea. "Madam, please have some tea."
Seeing the maidservant, Xiu Mei's eyes suddenly lit up. "Xiao Hong, you don't have to work for me anymore."
Hearing this, Xiao Hong was startled and fell to her knees with a thud. "Madam, please don't send me away. If I've done something wrong, you can hit or scold me, it's fine. I have no parents. Where will I go if I leave?"
Xiu Mei chuckled. "Xiao Hong, don't be afraid. I'm not sending you away, I'm going to find you a good home."
With that, she took Xiao Hong's hand and walked out with her bracelets and hairpin. "Gentlemen, since Da Chun isn't back, we don't know where the silver is kept. How about this: I have two pieces of jewelry here, and a maid. Do you think they can cover the two hundred taels of silver?"
To be honest, Xiao Hong was reasonably good-looking, with fair and tender skin, unlike a servant girl who did rough work. The men looked at her with wide eyes.
The leader took the bracelets and hairpin, then walked around Xiao Hong twice. "Then it's settled. I'll take the person."
Seeing that the man had agreed, Xiu Mei quickly took out the bill of sale from her sleeve. "This has been registered with the authorities. Rest assured, from now on, Xiao Hong will have nothing more to do with our family."
As she watched the group leave, Xiu Mei finally breathed a long sigh of relief, patting her chest gently.
"At least, that's over."
She breathed a sigh of relief, but Cui Hua beside her was crying heartbrokenly. "Mother, he gambled away a thousand taels of silver like this! How will we live from now on?"
Xiu Mei was also speechless. How glorious and ambitious it was when they first received the thousand taels! She even wanted to open a bun shop. But soon her son seemed to have changed into a different person. Every day he spent on food and drink, and recently he had taken up gambling.
In just a few days, hundreds of taels of silver were thrown away like this.
Xiu Mei was unwilling, but what use was it to be unwilling?
To save expenses, she had dismissed the other servants a couple of days ago, keeping only Xiao Hong. Now Xiao Hong had also been traded away. Apart from this mansion, their family truly had nothing left.
But what made her even more distraught was yet to come. Just as they were about to have lunch, Chen Da Chun returned, reeking of alcohol.
His bloodshot eyes were filled with red veins, clearly indicating he had stayed up all night.
Chen Da Chun's mouth reeked of alcohol.
"Mother, Cui Hua, pack up. We're moving!"
Moving?
Upon hearing this, Xiu Mei was greatly startled. Cui Hua also looked at Chen Da Chun in confusion.
"Why are we moving all of a sudden?"
Chen Da Chun chuckled. "I sold this mansion for a high price, two hundred taels. With these two hundred taels, I'm going to try and win it back tonight."
Xiu Mei stared at her son in disbelief, almost unable to believe her ears.
The mansion they had barely lived in for a few days was sold just like that.
It would have been fine if he sold it to start a proper business, but instead, he was going to gamble.
Just then, there was a clamor at the main entrance.
A middle-aged man in fine clothes walked in. The man was plump and looked quite presentable.
He surveyed the courtyard and nodded with satisfaction. He then looked at a man in green behind him. "Hmm, Shi Tou, this mansion is good. Master wants it. Make sure the deed is handled properly later, and don't let anything go wrong."
After speaking, he came up to Chen Da Chun. "Move out. Empty it for me before dark, otherwise I'll lower the price."
Chen Da Chun wore a fawning smile. "Master Liu, don't worry. I'll make sure it's done before dark."
As she watched the group leave, Cui Hua was the first to protest. "Da Chun, you sold the mansion! If you lose it all gambling again, what will we do next?"
Before she could finish speaking, Chen Da Chun slapped her across the face. "You damn bitch! You're cursing me!"
Seeing him hit his daughter-in-law, Xiu Mei also couldn't stand it. She stepped forward and grabbed her son. "You scoundrel! How dare you hit her! You've ruined our good home."
Chen Da Chun was somewhat hesitant to have his mother lay hands on him. He dodged and weaved. In one careless moment, Xiu Mei's foot slipped, and she fell backward onto the ground.
Xiu Mei was in so much pain that she couldn't recover for a long time. Chen Da Chun seized the opportunity, rushed into the house, took the deed, and ran out.
Seeing Chen Da Chun disappear, Xiu Mei, ignoring her pain, shouted to Cui Hua, "Quickly chase after him! Don't let him sell the mansion!"
But Cui Hua, a mere woman, couldn't possibly catch up to Chen Da Chun. In a moment, Chen Da Chun was out of sight.
When Cui Hua returned, Xiu Mei was already sitting up. Seeing Cui Hua return with tears streaming down her face, Xiu Mei knew it was over.
This home no longer belonged to them.