Living like a widow? My rough neighbor is coaxing me to have a baby every night.

Chapter 55 You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub.

"This is extortion! This is blackmail!" Zhao Gang gritted his teeth. "We have no money, but you can take our lives! Fine, I'll quit this job, and none of us will survive!"

"You're quitting?"

Li Xianglian suddenly chuckled, a laugh tinged with unspeakable sarcasm. "Zhao Gang, are you really willing to give that up? You're about to get your deputy director position, and your mother-in-law in the city is a formidable woman. If you really become a jobless vagrant, do you think Wang Lili will still stay with you?"

Zhao Gang slumped in the soft chair, feeling as if all the blood had been drained from his body.

The room was filled with the smell of dry tobacco and foot odor, emanating from Niu Guihua, which was gradually consuming the fragrance of the high-end face cream left by Wang Lili.

Niu Guihua was sitting opposite him with an air of authority, holding Wang Lili's most treasured cookie box in her hand, crunching away with gusto, leaving cookie crumbs scattered all over the floor.

"Zhao Gang, have you made up your mind?"

Li Xianglian's voice was neither hurried nor slow, yet it felt like a dull knife grinding against Zhao Gang's heart.

Zhao Gang held his head in his hands, digging his ten fingers deep into his hair.

Without a job and without a future, he was reduced to nothing more than a peasant.

The Wang family is such a prestigious and wealthy household; let alone let him in, he'd probably be treated worse than a guard dog.

At that time, that unborn child will definitely be forced to abort by that ruthless woman, Yan Xiujuan.

Zhao Cuifen, who had been huddled in the corner, darted around a couple of times and figured out her son's weakness.

Although she was heartbroken over the money, so heartbroken she felt like she was going to urinate blood, she knew even better that she was truly backed to the edge of a cliff, and taking a step back would mean certain death.

She quietly approached Zhao Gang, her thin, withered hands tugging at his sleeve. Her voice was extremely low, carrying a desperate, reckless edge: "Gangzi... give it to me."

Zhao Gang suddenly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot: "Mom! That's five hundred yuan! Where am I supposed to find that much money? They're going to drain our family dry!"

"It can grow back even if it's drained! As long as the person is still alive, as long as this layer of skin is still there!"

Zhao Cuifen stared intently into her son's eyes, her old face gleaming with calculated cunning. "Think about it," she said, "once you get divorced and these plagues are gone, you can marry Lili! Lili is carrying your child!"

Zhao Cuifen became increasingly agitated as she spoke, spitting all over Zhao Gang's face. Her voice, strained and shrill, grew shrill and piercing as she spoke: "I just heard the doctor say that the belly is so pointed, it might just be a boy! That's the lifeblood of our Zhao family!"

Zhao Gang's body trembled.

"Besides, what kind of family is the Wang family? They're officials! Once you become the Wang family's son-in-law and rise to prominence, this five hundred yuan will be nothing! You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub! Consider this... a toll for paving the way for my grandson!"

Toll money.

These three words were like a bolt of lightning, splitting the jelly in Zhao Gang's mind.

Yes.

As long as he can keep his job and marry Wang Lili, he'll be set for life.

If you can't bear to part with these 500 yuan now, you'll end up losing everything.

Money can be earned back, but a ruined future is truly the end.

Zhao Gang turned his head, staring viciously at Li Xianglian's calm face. Fine, Li Xianglian, you're ruthless. I'll remember this. When I've risen in power, you'll be crying!

"OK."

Zhao Gang forced out the word through gritted teeth, as if spitting out poisonous blood, and his whole body slumped instantly. "Five hundred it is. But I don't have that money on hand right now; I'll have to find it. You all wait here, I'll write a note, but this divorce must be finalized today!"

"Wait a minute."

Li Xianglian didn't even flinch, merely glancing at him indifferently. "Write a note? Zhao Gang, your credit is worth less than toilet paper to me. I want cash, or something of value as collateral. Otherwise, we'll stay here until you've scraped together the money."

Niu Guihua, with great tact, leaned back and propped her dirty big feet up on the coffee table, landing right on the enamel plate with peony print.

"Oh, this chair is so soft, much better than our earthen bed at home. Da Bao, let's squeeze into this one tonight, and let your sister sleep in the big bed!"

As Zhao Gang looked at those large, swaying feet, his stomach churned, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.

"Don't touch my things!" he roared, rushing into the inner room and ransacking the place.

A moment later, he took out a bankbook wrapped in red cloth and a watch wrapped in a handkerchief. It was a prize he received last year when he was recognized as an advanced worker, and he hadn't worn it yet.

"There's three hundred in this passbook, all the savings I've accumulated over the years. This watch is new, worth at least one hundred and twenty. The remaining eighty..."

Zhao Gang gritted his teeth and pulled a handful of crumpled bills and grain coupons from his pocket. "Here they are! Take these and get to the Civil Affairs Bureau right now!"

Niu Guihua's eyes lit up, and she grabbed the watch.

She first listened to the sound by holding the watch to her ear, then breathed on the watch face and rubbed it vigorously with the corner of her clothes to make sure there were no scratches before she grinned with satisfaction.

Immediately afterwards, she grabbed the stack of money and grain coupons, moistened her fingers with saliva, and counted them one by one. Not satisfied with counting them once, she counted them again from the other side.

"Why didn't you just end it quickly earlier?"

Niu Guihua licked the wad of money, counted it one last time to make sure nothing was missing, and then contentedly stuffed it into the patched inner pocket, giving it a good pat as if afraid the money would grow wings and fly away.

She kept that Shanghai brand watch close to her body; it was a valuable item, meant for Da Bao to use when he got married—it would be a very prestigious betrothal gift.

Zhao Gang watched as his savings of several years vanished in an instant, his heart clenching with pain, feeling more intense than having a piece of his flesh ripped out.

He gritted his teeth, pointed to the door, and said, "I've given you the money and the watch. Now, take your things and get out of here! Don't let me ever see you again!"

Niu Guihua didn't move, but rubbed her bottom against the soft chair a couple more times, as if she wanted to take root and sprout there.

"Get out? Where to?"

She rolled her eyes, raised her thick eyebrows, and said, "Gangzi, have you gone crazy from studying too much, or are you just forgetful? Where did you and my daughter get your marriage certificate?"

Zhao Gang was stunned, his mind still reeling: "What do you mean?"