Chapter 84: Twenty Gold Coins—Is That Enough?

"Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down? My child died because of those heartless animals in that family—gone, gone forever!" Hu Daniu threw down his spade, his eyes red with rage as he pointed at Li Ping and roared, "Do you have any idea how I felt at the time? I even got down on my knees and begged her husband, but that monster refused to save a life. That was a hospital, a place meant to save lives! I wanted nothing more than to strangle that inhuman family with my bare hands!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Li Ping collapsed onto her knees, weeping bitterly. "I'm a monster, my whole family are monsters. Please, I'm begging you, lend me some money so my son can get married. He's over thirty and still can't find a wife. How am I supposed to have a grandson? I can't live without a grandson… please..."

"A grandson?" Li Xiaohua lifted her head and sneered coldly. "You destroyed my child and now you want to borrow money from me so you can have a grandson? Aren't you something special? Do you think the whole world revolves around you? That everyone should give way to you?"

"I don't care! If you won't lend me money, then I'm not leaving!" Li Ping, desperate, plopped herself down on the ground and began making a scene. "If you don't lend me money, I'll die right here!"

"See that? I knew it. How could a family of animals like them ever come to apologize? Everything they say is a lie—they just want our money!" Hu Daniu grabbed the spade again. "Not leaving, are you? If you don't go, I'll smash until you do!"

With that, Hu Daniu struck Li Ping with the spade. A large "-40" appeared above Li Ping's head. Chen Yun was shocked; she only had 220 health in total—she couldn't withstand an attack from Master in his "Berserk" state. Hurriedly, Chen Yun stepped in to stop him. "Enough, stop! If you kill someone, you'll end up in court. It's not worth it for someone like her!"

Hu Daniu thought for a moment; he agreed, threw aside the spade, and took Li Xiaohua to sit on a stone bench, ignoring Li Ping.

Chen Yun squatted down and looked at Li Ping without saying a word. After a long silence, Li Ping started to feel uneasy and finally asked, "I'm really curious, just how thick is your skin? You destroyed my master's child and still have the nerve to come asking for money? Let me tell you, my master's job was arranged by me, and his money comes from me. I have money—plenty of it."

Li Ping replied, "That's great. Then I'll borrow from you. I just need twenty gold coins. Please, I'm begging you."

Chen Yun looked at her as if she were an idiot. "If you were in my place, would you lend it?"

"I would! Of course I would! That would be a good deed—why wouldn't I do it? It's better to break ten temples than to ruin a single marriage. Otherwise, heaven will punish you with thunderbolts for your sins!"

Speechless, Chen Yun thought, Unbelievable—could you be any more shameless? Even now, you still have the gall to argue and curse me?

"Fine, since you want to borrow money, let's analyze this. Somehow I don't think twenty gold coins will be enough." Chen Yun continued, "Let's do the math. Is this twenty gold coins the total cost for the wedding?"

"No," Li Ping replied glumly. "That's just the bride price."

"You see? Just the bride price is twenty gold coins. What about the rest?" Chen Yun began counting on her fingers. "If the bride price alone is twenty gold coins, do you think the other expenses will be less? What about the three gold gifts? What about the diamond ring? The red envelopes for the bride's relatives? The wedding banquet? With such a big appetite, the bride's family will definitely look down on a rustic outdoor feast in the village. They'll expect a hotel in the county, right? Probably not just any hotel, but a high-end, star-rated one. That's expensive—at least two thousand copper coins per table, isn't it? That's easily another ten gold coins, conservatively speaking."

Watching Li Ping's face drain of color, Chen Yun pressed on, "After the wedding, where will the couple live? Don't tell me you've built a house for your son in the village. Will the bride accept that? Will she be content to live as a village woman? Of course not. Even if she agrees now, it's only because she has no choice. She'll definitely ask to move to the county later. These days, whether they're from the village or the city, every girl wants to marry a city man. You know that, don't you?"

Li Ping's face turned from pale to deathly white as Chen Yun continued, "To live in the county, you'll have to buy an apartment. And it can't be a small one—at least a hundred and twenty square meters. At the current county price of one thousand fifty copper coins per square meter, that's nearly one hundred thirty thousand copper coins!"

"And you can't buy a low-floor unit. Lower floors never see sunlight, and a dark home is simply unacceptable."

"Too high is no good, either. When you're young, you don't notice it, but when you get older, climbing all those stairs will be miserable. And don't tell me every tall building has elevators. You know the quality of standard Imperial elevators—if you go a month without a breakdown, that's a miracle."

"There's also the parking garage, right? The price per square meter is even higher than for apartments—around fifteen hundred copper coins. And you can't buy a small one for your son. If it's too small, there won't be space for the car, and your daughter-in-law will surely complain. You need at least thirty-five square meters. How much is that? Fifty-two thousand five hundred copper coins!"

"Just those two items—how much is that? Nearly two hundred thousand copper coins. And that's not all!" Chen Yun continued, "Let me keep going. That two hundred thousand copper coins only gets you a bare shell! Nothing inside! You can't expect your son and daughter-in-law to move into an unfinished apartment, can you? You'll need a front door, windows, flooring, walls, solar water heater, bathroom—at the very least, the basics. That's another several thousand copper coins gone!"

"Then, after buying the apartment, you'll need to get the property title. You think they'll give you that for free? Not a chance! That's another hefty expense—several thousand copper coins. Done, right? Not yet!"

"When that's all finished, the place is just barely livable. But for a wedding home, it can't be so bare, right? Otherwise, why would any girl agree to marry? You need to decorate! Not just a simple job, but a full renovation! And that's not cheap. If you want a decent renovation, you'll need at least thirty thousand copper coins—and that's for the most basic quality. If you want something nicer, a renovation team could charge hundreds of thousands!"

Li Ping was dumbstruck, her face turning from deathly white to ashen purple. How much would this all cost? Even dozens of gold coins wouldn't cover it.

"You think I'm done?" Chen Yun went on. "After renovating, what's still missing? Furniture! Appliances! You can't just move in with nothing, can you? What about the sofa, the TV, the air conditioner, the fridge, the washing machine, the kitchenware, the toilet, the bed, the wardrobe?" Chen Yun fired off a barrage of "what abouts" until Li Ping was utterly dumbfounded.

"None of that is going to magically appear—you have to pay for it! And none of it is cheap. That's another several thousand copper coins gone." Chen Yun stood up. "So, you tell me—do you really think twenty gold coins is enough?"