My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 79: The Usury Crisis

At this moment, Jia Dongxu and Yan Jiecheng stood there, caught in a dilemma, completely unsure whether they should continue to stay.

Manager Li glanced at the two of them, frowned, and asked directly, "What do you two want?"

Jia Dongxu quickly forced a smile and said cautiously, "Manager Li, could we perhaps repay the money we borrowed later?"

Upon hearing this, Manager Li flew into a rage, pointing his finger at the two men and yelling, "Delay my ass! The ledger records it all clearly: nine out of ten borrowers, thirteen back, calculated daily! You borrowed two hundred, and this good-for-nothing over there borrowed one hundred. You two, if you have the money, pay it back right now. If you don't, get the hell out there and scrape together the money! If you don't see the principal and interest within three days, I'll skin you alive!"

Now the two of them had really messed up. Jia Dongxu and Yan Jiecheng were so scared that their faces turned pale. They muttered in a trembling voice, "We'll go raise money right away, we'll go raise money right away," and then they ran out in a panic.

Just as he was about to step out of the casino, he was stopped by the guards and immediately pinned to the ground for a thorough body search, including his underwear.

The casino staff searched the place for a while and found that the two men were indeed penniless. They kicked each of them and kicked them out.

The two were kicked and scrambled to their feet, but they still ran outside with all their might.

After running for a while, the two stopped, panting heavily.

Yan Jiecheng found a big tree to lean against and sat down, clutching his chest and panting heavily as he cursed, "Jia Dongxu, you bastard! You've ruined me! Nine out of 13 returns, do you know how much interest that is?"

Jia Dongxu glared at him irritably: "Am I not worse off than you? You only borrowed a hundred, I borrowed two hundred, who knows how much the interest will go?"

At this moment, Yan Jiecheng felt a cold sweat break out on his back just thinking about the consequences of telling Yan Fugui about this.

Jia Dongxu also looked worried. Although Jia Zhangshi always doted on him, she really wouldn't give him any money to cover such an astronomical debt.

After resting for a while, the two walked heavily towards the courtyard house.

At this moment, the two of them were filled with mixed feelings, and only three words kept running through their minds: money, money, money.

Meanwhile, laughter drifted from the back room of the courtyard house from Ye Shuqi and Ye Shuhua. The two women were stroking their bicycles, their joy evident. Ye Shuhua, meanwhile, was practicing riding her bicycle, wobbling and stumbling along.

Ye Shuqi looked at Zhang Lei and said, "Honey, we have way too many bicycles. I don't think there are many in the whole courtyard."

Zhang Lei said with a smile, "They are them, and we are us. It's more convenient for the two of you to go to work by bicycle. Walking every day is too tiring."

Just then, Ye Shuhua, riding her bicycle wobbly, suddenly crashed into Zhang Lei.

Zhang Lei reacted quickly, sidestepping and lifting Ye Shuhua out of the car. He then asked with concern, "Shuhua, are you alright?"

Ye Shuhua wrapped her arms around Zhang Lei's neck like a little monkey, with her legs around his waist, and mumbled, "It's nothing, it's nothing. I don't know what happened just now, the bicycle wouldn't listen to me."

Zhang Lei smiled and looked at her, saying, "The courtyard is too small. Let's find a more spacious place outside to practice later."

Ye Shuhua nodded and said, "Alright then."

At this moment, Ye Shuqin looked at the two and said, "Alright, stop hugging each other and come eat."

Upon hearing the word "dinner," Ye Shuhua quickly jumped off Zhang Lei.

Ye Shuhua asked happily, "Sister, what's that smells so good?"

Ye Shuqin said with a smile, "The husband bought a roast duck today, and brought one back."

Ye Shuqi asked curiously, "Big sister, you said you brought this back, did you and the head of the household secretly go out for a nice meal?"

Hearing Ye Shuqi say this, Ye Shuhua quickly looked at Ye Shuqin and asked, "Eldest sister, is it as Second sister said?"

Ye Shuqin gave an awkward laugh and said, "What's wrong? My husband and I went out, and you're still interfering? Do you think I've been too polite?"

Ye Shuhua ran up to Zhang Lei and pestered him, saying, "Honey, you only treat my eldest sister well, but not me and my second sister, right?"

Zhang Lei quickly explained, "Alright, my dear little aunt, what are you doing? Aren't you two busy with work? Next time you have a break, I'll take the three of you out for a nice meal, okay?"

Seeing that his plan had succeeded, Ye Shuhua happily said, "Then it's a deal, no take-backs allowed."

Zhang Lei smiled and said, "I won't go back on my word."

Soon, the four of them sat down together and ate roast duck.

Of course, it was mainly Ye Shuqi and Ye Shuhua who ate with relish, while Zhang Lei and Ye Shuqin, having already eaten before, were not as eager.

Looking at the heartwarming scene before him, Zhang Lei couldn't help but smile.

When Yan Jiecheng and Jia Dongxu arrived at the entrance of the courtyard house, Yan Jiecheng was so frightened that he dared not go in.

Seeing his cowardly appearance, Jia Dongxu couldn't help but urge him, "What are you doing? We're already at the door!"

Yan Jiecheng waved his hands with a mournful face, "No, no! If I go back and tell my dad like this, he'll beat me to death!"

Jia Dongxu frowned and thought about it, and he also felt that what he said made sense. He gritted his teeth and said, "We have to make up a reason. We can't say that we caused this ourselves."

Jia Dongxu's eyes darted around, then he suddenly slapped his thigh: "Zhang Lei, it's all Zhang Lei's fault! If it weren't for him, the two of us would never have gone to the casino!"

Yan Jiecheng paused for a moment, then nodded repeatedly: "Yes, it's Zhang Lei!"

Jia Dongxu's mind raced, and he added, "When we get back, we'll say that Zhang Lei brought us to the casino and tricked us!"

Hearing Jia Dongxu's excuse, Yan Jiecheng quickly nodded and said, "Yes, yes, let's shift the blame onto Zhang Lei!"

"As long as we both stick to the same story, no one will know what really happened."

Soon, the two reached an agreement, exchanged a glance, and finally managed to muster some confidence.

Soon, Yan Jiecheng returned to the Yan family home, and Jia Dongxu returned to the Jia family home.

At this moment, Yan Fugui was still talking about what had happened in the yard, completely unaware of Yan Jiecheng's pale face. Seeing Yan Jiecheng return, the third aunt hurriedly greeted him, saying, "Jiecheng, where did you go to do odd jobs today? Why are you back so late?"

Yan Jiecheng's voice trembled with nervousness: "Mom, I'm fine."

Yan Fugui frowned, looking at his incoherent state, and asked curiously, "Jiecheng, what's wrong with you?"

Yan Jiecheng trembled with fright and blurted out, "I...I...I didn't borrow money from loan sharks!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his mind went blank for a moment, and he was so annoyed that he wanted to slap himself—why did he have to say the truth?

Upon hearing the words "loan sharking," the three women were stunned. Yan Fugui's eyes darkened as he stared intently at Yan Jiecheng, saying each word clearly, "Jiecheng, tell me the truth. Are you hiding something from us?"