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"What’s the matter? Why aren’t we going? Come on, my son, your dad is almost starving to death!"

Urged by Da Qiangzi, Dawang came back to his senses and scratched his head embarrassingly, saying awkwardly, "Dad, that, can we go somewhere else to eat? Son, son doesn’t have that much silver, going to the Fuman Building..."

By the end, Dawang’s voice had become so weak it was barely audible.

Upon hearing his son’s reluctance to go to the Fuman Building for a meal, Da Qiangzi’s heart immediately chilled, and his face darkened as the formality of his address changed, "What’s the matter, Dawang, do you begrudge taking your dad there for a meal?"

"No, no, it’s not that, Dad. It’s just that your son really doesn’t have that much silver! If, if you really want to go, then I can borrow some from a coworker?"

As soon as he heard about borrowing silver, Da Qiangzi lost his appetite, but after a moment’s thought, clarity struck him, and he affectionately grabbed his son’s hand, saying with compassion, "Oh, my son, where is the silver you earn? Has it all been taken by your mother? Ah, my son, you’ve really suffered, working hard to earn silver that you can’t spend yourself, all handed over to that woman!

Don’t worry, from now on give your silver to Dad for safekeeping.

I certainly won’t let you be wronged or leave you without silver to spend! "

"It’s not that, Dad. Mother hasn’t taken anything from us.

" Hearing that Loudmouth had been wronged, Dawang quickly waved his hands to clarify, "It was I who gave the silver to mom, and she said that she’s saving it for us, for later when we need to get married and have children. Dad, please don’t mistakenly accuse mom, she’s been through hardships raising the two of us over these years, taking lots of suffering.

Even if mom spent all that silver, your son would still be willing and happy. "

Hearing his son defend Loudmouth so, Da Qiangzi felt a sourness in his heart and pursed his lips, his tone cooling again, "Didn’t you say that the new boss of the Fuman Building was the village ’Little Disaster Star’?"

"Dad, Lin Yuan is not Little Disaster Star; she’s our Lucky Star. If it weren’t for her, we’d probably still be living our past miserable life!"

His son concerning himself with defending Loudmouth was one thing, as she was his biological mother after all.

But now he was defending an outsider, which totally infuriated Da Qiangzi.

He immediately lost any desire to discuss going to the Fuman Building for a meal and, with a wave of his hand and a mutter of impatience, said, "Enough, enough, just find somewhere to eat. I’m almost starving! "

Watching Da Qiangzi walk out the back door, Dawang hurriedly followed, "Dad, wait for me, I need to ask for some time off."

Although they didn’t end up going to the Fuman Building, Dawang still took Da Qiangzi to a rather nice restaurant in town. To dine at such a place was something that Da Qiangzi wouldn’t have even dared dream of before.

Da Qiangzi unreservedly ordered chicken, duck, fish, and meat, along with a jar of fine wine. Although it was just one meal, it was enough to spend all of the two taels of silver Dawang had on him.

Even though it hurt to spend the money, seeing his father eat so happily still made Dawang very glad.

After a satisfying meal, Dawang, beaming, said, "Dad, have you had your fill? Xiao Wang has been working in town these days repairing people’s houses. Let’s go see him. I bet he’ll be especially happy to see Dad back!"

When it came to Xiao Wang, Da Qiangzi’s impression still lingered on that snot-nosed, mud-covered rascal from four years ago.

Picking his teeth with a chopstick, Da Qiangzi smacked his lips and said, "Oh? That kid can repair houses? How much money does that make him?"

His tone was full of disdain.

Caught up in his excitement, Dawang failed to notice, and eagerly said, "Of course it makes money! They aren’t just building houses for people, they’re renovating them to have central heating. That, ah, was Lin Yuan’s idea! They’re really making money now, much more than I am!"

Da Qiangzi’s mind was fixated on money; things like central heating or Lin Yuan’s idea were automatically filtered out.

Staring, with a chopstick still in his mouth, Da Qiangzi began to ponder new ideas: His elder son’s silver was with Loudmouth, and his younger son’s silver surely was too.

If this foolish older son couldn’t be swayed, then the younger one would be even tougher.

Ah, what bad luck he’d brought upon himself, having two sons, both sharper than the other, and neither close to him! Truly a headache!