Doctor and His Glamorous Sister-in-Law

After saying this, Zhang Cuifen seemed to have exhausted all her strength and collapsed.

Liu Ergou, on the other hand, was so shocked his eyes widened, and he was rendered speechless.

400,000?!

What a joke.

In his entire life, the largest sum of money he had ever seen was what Lu Shuangyue had given him. And Zhang Cuifen had just mentioned 400,000. A full 400,000!

Liu Ergou simply couldn't fathom such a sum.

But he quickly came to his senses.

"Tch, I was almost spooked by your 400,000. How absurd!" he scoffed. "You took 400,000 from someone, so just give it back! What's the big deal?"

Upon hearing Liu Ergou's words, a troubled expression appeared on Zhang Cuifen's face.

Seeing this, Liu Ergou immediately understood.

"What the fuck?!"

"Zhang Cuifen, don't tell me you've already spent that 400,000! And a lot of it, at that!"

Hearing this, Zhang Cuifen turned her head away, not daring to say another word.

Liu Ergou could no longer hold back and grabbed Zhang Cuifen's clothes.

He roared, "Zhang Cuifen, what kind of joke are you playing with me?!"

"Let's put Xiaorou's engagement aside for now. Just tell me, what kind of major expense could there possibly be in our Fengzhu Village? Even a house in town doesn't cost 400,000!"

"Even if you bought a house, you could get a refund!"

"What the hell is going on?!"

Hearing Liu Ergou's words, Zhang Cuifen buried her head so low it nearly touched her chest.

"I... I didn't buy a house, it's just... it's just..." she mumbled, her voice barely a whisper.

Seeing this, Liu Ergou grew even more furious, gnashing his teeth. Unable to hold back any longer, he roared.

"Stop wasting my time! Spit it out! What did you do with the 400,000? If you don't come clean, don't blame me for what happens next!"

Seeing Liu Ergou's fury, Zhang Cuifen didn't dare hesitate and quickly blurted out the whole story.

"I... I used it to pay off the loan sharks. Of the 400,000, there's only fifty or sixty thousand left, which is just enough for my son's bride price!"

At these words, Liu Ergou's brow furrowed.

He took another long, hard look at Zhang Cuifen.

After scrutinizing her, he couldn't imagine why she would ever need to borrow from loan sharks. Although their family liked to act pretentiously, no one in Fengzhu Village had ever seen them spend extravagantly. At most, they just ran their mouths. When it came time to actually do something, they always backed down.

No matter how hard Liu Ergou racked his brain, he couldn't figure out what she would borrow from loan sharks for!

Zhang Cuifen said she had paid off 350,000 in loans.

With 350,000, you could buy two houses in town or build a three-story villa in Fengzhu Village. That was enough money to live a prosperous life. But...

Stared down by Liu Ergou's intense gaze, Zhang Cuifen crumbled and finally revealed the truth.

"Last year, I got involved with that old bachelor... He took me to the gambling den run by Cai Erye..."

At that, Liu Ergou understood everything.

So this Zhang Cuifen had borrowed from loan sharks to gamble.

But Zhang Cuifen didn't stop there, continuing to explain what happened.

"When I first started going, my luck was incredible. I would win nine out of ten games. In just a few days, my few hundred yuan had turned into thousands!

"So, I thought since my luck was so good, I should play for bigger stakes. But once I started, I couldn't stop...

"I never expected my luck to turn so bad. I didn't just lose the thousands I'd won; I lost all the money I brought with me. After that, I started borrowing from Cai Erye...

"The more I borrowed, the more I owed, until I couldn't pay it back anymore...

"Just then, Cai Erye started pressing me for the debt, so I thought... Xiaorou is single, and Er Lu had just returned..."

At this point, Zhang Cuifen's voice trailed off, unable to continue.

Liu Ergou's face was already red with rage.

So this old hag didn't come up with this on the spot, it was all premeditated! Even a vicious tiger won't eat its own cubs, yet she went so far as to sell her own daughter!

Suppressing his fury, Liu Ergou asked another question.

"Then why did I hear from people outside that the old bachelor spent 100,000 yuan to marry Xiaorou?"

Zhang Cuifen whispered in reply, "Well, he's the one who acted as the middleman. He delivered Er Lu's money to me..."

Liu Ergou couldn't stand to hear anymore. He spun around and slapped Zhang Cuifen hard across the face.

The force of the slap sent Zhang Cuifen staggering to the ground, her face swelling up at a visible rate.

Although Zhang Cuifen had just been slapped by Liu Ergou, she didn't dare utter a single word of defiance.

She could only lower her head and say softly, "I truly did wrong by Xiaorou... It's my fault!"

"But as for the 400,000 yuan bride price from Er Lu's family, you can kill me now, but I still can't produce a single penny!"

Hearing these words, Liu Ergou just sneered.

In his eyes, there were several types of people he despised most. And gamblers were one of them. He had zero sympathy for them.

These degenerates always think they can win it all back on the next bet, but they just end up losing their entire fortune and selling off their own children. Anyone who felt sympathy for a gambler was a complete idiot.

Looking at Zhang Cuifen lying on the ground, Liu Ergou sneered.

"Heh, what's the use of telling me all this? Why didn't you think about it when you were borrowing the money?"

"I'm telling you right now, if you dare let Xiaorou marry Er Lu, this matter won't be over. You can just wait to become the laughingstock of the entire village!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cuifen became desperate.

She threw all caution to the wind, scrambled over to Liu Ergou's feet, and clung to his leg.

She wailed, snot and tears streaming down her face.

"Er Gou, have mercy on your aunt!

"This is going to be the death of me!

"Don't look down on Er Lu for not being remarkable in the past, snot-nosed and all, but he's made it big now!

"I heard he knows a powerful person in town, and anyone who dares to cross them will face severe consequences!

"In another fifteen days, Er Lu is coming to get engaged to Xiaorou. If I can't produce her or the money by then, they definitely won't let me go!

"Er Gou, please, you have to help your aunt!

"Just take pity on your aunt!"

Looking at the pathetic woman before him, Liu Ergou couldn't help but sneer again.

It was the same old story: degenerate gamblers were absolutely not worthy of pity! Pitying a gambler was just being a fool!