Husky’s Side Chapter 15

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Life-Saving Days by the Husky’s Side
How to accumulate a debt

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After Lin Ye left, Er-ge and the newcomer younger brothers began to fry the pot*.

[T/N: kick up a fuss]

Collecting 10,000 in a month, this was simply an impossible task for their group unless they pull off something illegal.

Seeking help from their parents was also impossible.

They were all well aware of Xiao Wu’s family conditions. His parents were farmers, but his father was disabled due to a serious illness, and since then, with his mother having no overly significant talents or abilities, she could only do odd jobs and work on the fields. To be able to support her son in high school right now was already considered pretty good.

Their brothers ran into trouble. They can’t just stand on the sidelines and watch everything go down.

Plus, there was another problem worth shining a light on.

Er-ge looked at Zhou Li. “Ying-ge, did you really find a job?”

Zhou Li nodded and ruffled the fur of a displeased-looking Uncle Dog. He gave a simple explanation, “I happened to have helped out a big sister. She sells cameras in the mall and was looking to hire summer part-timers. She heard that I was on a job-hunt and accepted me for work.” 

Er-ge said, “How much commission does she give?”

Zhou Li smiled. “You actually believed that? Who would give commission to a summer part-timer who has only worked for a few days? That was just to trick him.”

The little brothers fell silent.

Er-ge was somewhat at a loss. “Uncle, he… Is it really possible that he won’t pay for your tuition ah?”

Zhou Li said, “He has more and more signs of losing control recently, but there’s no way I’ll let him hit me. Beating each other up all the time, do you think it’s possible?” 

Er-ge opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, his face wearing an ugly expression that was able to convey his non-stop non-verbal swearing.

They really thought their situation was much better than it was in their heads. They sold vegetables to make money after setting up a street stall and felt that they had their fair share of fun in working at a part-time job. In addition to that, when they saw Ying-ge strolling about and buying vegetables that day, they subconsciously thought that the feud between the father and son was not as big as they made it out to be and that the two have already reconciled.

These days, they haven’t seen or heard Ying-ge hollering about beating Laozi anymore, so they didn’t care much about finding a part-time job. They couldn’t be bothered wasting their time staring at the WeChat group when nothing was coming out of it, but by the time their eyes see any opportunities that pop up in the chatroom, the job would have already been robbed by someone else.

Now, one brother carried a debt of 10,000, another brother may not be able to pay his tuition fees, and they were unable to help with anything.

Lao San thought about things more broadly and said, “If we really can’t make it, let’s just go and be little brothers for Master Lin bei. Maybe we can mix with the adults and get a higher status.” 

Er-ge said, “No. Let’s repay the debt. Can’t we pass our lives happily like that?”

Another little brother said, “We can’t ba. We do nothing more than running errands, working around, and picking fights bei. Such a big boss, how can he embarrass us students?”

Zhou Li said, “For example, he does something that offends the Heavens and reason* and forces you to go to commit the crime, and if you don’t go, he will kill your whole family. Will you do it?”

[T/N: outrageous acts]

Everyone: “……”

The few who thought that becoming followers of the boss was actually good, suddenly felt ill across their entire bodies.

The atmosphere was solemn again.

Zhou Li glanced at their appearances and, for fear that they will go astray on the quest to earn this amount of money, said, “My mother left me a little money, just barely enough for me to make do. I’ll go and work first, and if I really can’t do it then I’ll use her money.”

The solemn atmosphere disappeared with a “huala”.

The group of idiotic teenagers were joyful once more. As if the mountain-heavy pressure of them was alleviated, their faces immediately became lively. The only one who still had a tight face was Xiao Wu.

Zhou Li sent away the group of free-spirited boys with a smile, only keeping behind a lone Xiao Wu. He took the boy with him as he went to buy food for Uncle Dog.

Xiao Wu remained quiet during the entire trip. Only when he saw that he was going home after buying the food did he then say, “Ying-ge, can I go to your house and sit for a while?”

Zhou Li said, “Sure ah, let’s go.” 

The two boys quickly arrived to his house.

Zhou Li gestured for him to sit down wherever while he went to feed the dog. After cutting some slices of watermelon, he returned to the living room and handed him a piece of the fruit, then asked a question of greater concern: “How did you provoke Lin Ye? He’s even investigated your entire family clean.”

In the novel, these little brothers of the original owner were all cardboard cutouts standing in the background. Every time they appeared on the scene, they either followed the original to block Song Yingshi, or came to beat up the dog with the original. The rest was not written, not even one line.

According to the original’s character, if something like this happened, there was an 80% chance that he would’ve leaned in favourably and begged to act as a saddle* for Master Lin. Lin Ye may not like that rude temperament of his and would choose to reject him, so he could continue to jump in front of Song Yingshi later on. In this case, the original owner would be afraid that the man will persuade Xiao Wu to be his little brother to pay off his debts, to support and make things easier for them later on.

[T/N: be at his beck and call]

Xiao Wu held the watermelon in his hands but didn’t eat. Rubbing his fingers back and forth on the rind, he answered, hushed, “Not long ago, my mum broke her leg when she was working.”

The hand that Zhou Li stretched out to take a watermelon slice paused mid-air. He lifted his eyelids and looked at the other.

Xiao Wu didn’t know, but there was a sudden feeling of emptiness. He squeezed his words out, “It’s not serious, she’s already healed, that’s why I came out to play with you guys during this period…”

He sucked in a breath and continued, “But during those few days, I felt that I shouldn’t mess around anymore. But what can I do? That’s when I happened to hear that someone my same village works as a waiter at the Firefly Nightclub. The salary was quite high, so I went over to give it a try. During the three days of trial work, I poured wine for Master Lin once.”

Zhou Li: “……”

As he said before, how can such a dignified boss deliberately travel to their small community just to lay a trap for some teenager. So it turned out to be this!

Xiao Wu continued, “That place was messy. My mum noticed that I hadn’t gone home for a few nights. I don’t know where she heard about my wheareabouts, but she pulled me back home just like that. So later, when I heard that you wanted to work, I was scared you were looking to get a job in that sort of place. I wanted to find work with you, so I could persuade you in time.”

Zhou Li nodded.

Xiao Wu was silent for a few seconds before gritting his teeth and taking a deep breath. “Ying-ge, the truth is, Master Lin, he…he doesn’t want you to be his little brother.”

Zhou Li said, “I know. He has a special ‘hobby’.”

Xiao Wu was stunned. “You know?”

Zhou Li answered, “He looked at me with such obvious eyes, of course I could see it.”

Ji Shaoyan, who wasn’t all that hungry in the first place, offhandedly ate two mouthfuls of his meal. When he heard this sentence, he stopped eating and waddled out to stand in front of Silly Fool.

Zhou Li immediately picked him up and kneaded his fur, breaking off a small piece of watermelon to feed him. Seeing that the other did not take a bite, he guessed that the young master wanted to listen in on this conversation, so he put the watermelon back and continued to stroke his fur.

Xiao Wu recovered* and was instantly overcome with anxiety. “And yet you still involve yourself in this matter!”

[T/N: thoughts (soul) returned to reality/the present]

Zhou Li said, “Would you rather have me not involve myself and watch him drag you away to play with for a while, then come back a few days later to set me up and play with me instead?”

Xiao Wu choked.

Zhou Li said, “With the circumstances just then, I could only try to delay the pay day. See? At least now he has plans to only target me.”

Xiao Wu’s thoughts were scrambled into a mess and he didn’t know what to say. After a while, he only asked one very important question: “Ying-ge, did your mum really leave you money?”

Zhou Li honestly confessed, “No.”

Xiao Wu’s face paled at the reply. “Then…then what will happen in one month?”

Ji Shaoyan also caught a glimpse of Silly Fool, wanting to know what this guy had up his sleeves.

“I’ll think of another way bei,” Zhou Li took the opportunity to educate him. “Remember this: some things can go wrong with just one misstep, and there is a chance this misstep will be something that will affect you for a lifetime. Even if you’re forced to as a last resort, do not kill yourself over this kind of money. If you are forced with no way out by others, you need to force yourself to think of another path.” 

Xiao Wu was still pale, trying his hardest to think about it from his standpoint. “Are you wanting to ask your dad for money?”

“Impossible.” Zhou Li flatly rejected this possibility. 

If he allowed Qian Duoshu to take care of this, then no matter how much Qian Duoshu beats him in the future, he can only sit and take it at full force.

“Then…then…”

Xiao Wu’s mouth ran dry, keeping his “then” on repeat and was never able to continue afterwards.

He was clearly the one who owed the money, but Ying-ge drew away Master Lin’s attention the moment he appeared. When the time to pay back catches up to them, and it turns out that Ying-ge really wasn’t able to gather the money, Lin Ye will definitely abandon any thoughts of him and directly attack Ying-ge.

Zhou Li comforted him, “Don’t worry, I have a way to deal with him.”

Right now, there were less than 20 days before the summer holiday ended.

After 20 days, if for some reason there is an accident or a certain butterfly wing flaps in a way that prevents a certain rich and powerful family from showing up, he will simply go and ask Song Yingshi to borrow some money. Anyway, Song Yingshi was a daughter of the rich, 10,000 yuan won’t be a problem for her. Plus, he already knew what her character was like. As long as he told the truth in its entirety, Song Yingshi will definitely help him, and after that, all he had to do was pay Song Yingshi back slowly. 

So, with this situation, the issue of money was not important.

The actual worse outcome right now is that if the wealthy family doesn’t show up at all, no one will come forward to deal with Lin Ye. Then, Lin Ye, who received the money, will most definitely think of another way entrap him. Whether it’s 10,000 or 20,000, no matter how much he pays, he will never be able to escape his debt.

Right now, they were no different than ants who wish to shake the tree that is Master Lin. He will fight with all he has during this month before his ‘execution’, because one, he was placing his bets on the plot remaining unchanged, and two, he needed to properly think up a way to deal with this beast.

Xiao Wu naturally wasn’t aware of his plans, with all his attention on the 10,000 yuan debt. He asked, “What are you going do to gather the money?”

Zhou Li didn’t bother explaining, only saying, “When the time comes, you’ll know. Trust me.”

He didn’t wait for the other boy to start asking more questions and interrupted him with his own. “Will you have anything on in the next two days? If you don’t, do me a favour.”

Xiao Wu immediately sat up straight. “I don’t, what do you need?”

Zhou Li raised the uncle that was sitting on his lap. “I’m working for the next two days. I’m not confident on what’ll happen if I throw him to my dad. Help me take care of him. I’ll drop him off before I go to work and pick him up once I’m done.” 

This was a simple enough task and Xiao Wu agreed without thinking much about it.

Zhou Li’s heart was finally free of this heavy weight and he encouraged his little brother to eat the watermelon. Seeing that the other was still somewhat absent-minded, they had a brief chat before he sent the boy out the door.

Ji Shaoyan listened to the door “click” at its close and watched Silly Fool walk back.

He felt that with such a sudden appearance of a serious problem, now that there was no one around, this silly fool should finally be showing a little real emotion. But there was none. He watched the boy sit back on the sofa, pulling out the deck of cards and spreading it out in front of him.

Zhou Li said, “Come, it is time for our daily card drawing.”

Ji Shaoyan: “…”

Are you okay? You’re still playing?

Zhou Li said, “Pick ah.”

Ji Shaoyan thought to himself that this silly fool’s mind was short of not only just one muscle and no longer wanted to bother with him, so he ignored the other and walked back to the bedroom. Zhou Li thought he wanted to take a nap and didn’t stop him. He watched Niu Hulu by himself and laughed “hahaha” to an empty room, and once he was done taking an afternoon nap, he got up to cook.

That night, Qian Duoshu learned that he was going off to work the next day. Although he knew this was a good thing, he still wasn’t able to control his temper, scolding him for finding trouble when he had no reason to.

As long as this man didn’t raise his hand for a smack down, Zhou Li will simply let the words go in his left ear and out his right. Watching the man slam the door after stomping into his room, he lazily headed back into his own and stayed with Uncle Dog late into the night. He carefully brushed the little guy’s teeth and cleaned his small paws and fur in preparation for their sleep.

Without waiting for the boy to pick himself up, Ji Shaoyan climbed up the ‘steps’ by himself and flopped down on the bed, closing his eyes to sleep.

Zhou Li stroked his chin and looked this dog of his. He felt that Young Master Ji’s moments of aversion towards him today were pretty high up in the numbers, so he followed the other and climbed onto his bed, lying beside the dog and holding his paw, all the while gazing at the other’s face.

Ji Shaoyan glanced at him, then closed his eyes again.

Zhou Li secretly complained that this guy was way too irritable, and after a quick thought, said, “I’ll sing you a happy song tonight ba. Little Leaping Frog, have you heard it before?”

He said he was going to sing, and so he sung. “A happy pond planted the dream of becoming an ocean, the drums eyes and big mouth, singing the same sound…”

Ji Shaoyan eyes opened again.

 Zhou Li was very happy. “One happy little frog, li li li li li~”

Ji Shaoyan stared at him unblinkingly.

Zhou Li: “A happy pond has a little frog inside, it dances like it’s manipulated by a prince~”

Ji Shaoyan: “……”

This is the second time, Young Master Ji thought.

After he was pressed to the ground and tortured, this was the second time he had the urge to bite this kid.

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The author has something to say:

Ji Shaoyan: I don’t understand, there’s really too many muscles missing in this guy’s brain. It’s getting harder to understand this silly fool.

PS: When you have time, listen to《Little Leaping Frog》, it really is a joyful experience~~~

[T/N: search 小跳蛙]

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Please please please listen to the song and imagine this reformed delinquent singing like a fool.