The Female Lead Decides to Act Wickedly

Chapter 11: Chapter 011: Starting as a Swindler (Part 11)

He Hongtu did as he promised; he took out all his remaining savings, and used them all to compensate the fellow villagers of He Family Village.

Of course, the money was far from enough.

But He Hongtu declared in front of the police that once he got paid, apart from the necessities for his family’s livelihood, he would use the rest to repay his debts.

Seeing He Hongtu’s sincerity, and with the police as witnesses, the villagers who had ”invested” felt at ease and stopped chasing He Hongtu for the money.

Furthermore, at this stage, the villagers were well aware that He Hongtu wasn’t to blame for the incident—they wouldn’t be able to get the money back from him even if they tried.

The fact that He Hongtu was willing to pay back the money was considered highly honorable; they didn’t dare to press him too hard.

Paying in installments was certainly better than not receiving a dime.

It should be noted that in this scam, not only people from He Family Village were swindled by Boss Huang, but also many others.

There were also ”lead persons” like He Hongtu.

After Boss Huang fled, the swindled individuals turned to their respective ”lead persons.”

Unlike He Hongtu, these people were not so honorable. Some cited their contracts to shirk responsibility, others joined in denying the claims, and some simply disappeared from the County after stealthily slipping away.

”Alas, Hongtu is truly a righteous kid!”

”Indeed, indeed, we can’t blame him for our being tricked!”

Not just the villagers of He Family Village, but the general public who heard about the incident also felt that He Hongtu was a decent person.

For a while, He Hongtu was not only spared from being called a swindler, but he also received widespread praise.

Of course, Uncle He and the other two families cursed He Hongtu in every way they could.

But the immoral things they had done in the past were also brought up by the villagers.

No one spoke up for them; instead, people felt it was ”just desserts.”

Even the police said, ”Sort out your own family matters,” and dismissed Uncle He and the others with that.

Tian Zhenzhen’s stepmother originally wanted to demand money too, but when she saw that Uncle He and the others not only failed to get their money back but also became a laughingstock for miles around, she hesitated.

You see, the stepmother also felt guilty.

Not to mention how she had treated Tian Zhenzhen over the years, the house that Tian Family now lived in was bought jointly by Tian Zhenzhen’s real father and mother.

After Tian Zhenzhen’s real mother passed away, by rights, half of that house should belong to Tian Zhenzhen.

However, with the stepmother’s instigation and having a son like Tian Xiaobao, Tian Zhenzhen’s real father never even considered giving Tian Zhenzhen any share of the money.

Initially, he even believed his wife’s words and wanted to marry Tian Zhenzhen off to the simple-minded son of a restaurant owner in the town just because they were willing to pay a three thousand yuan dowry.

But Tian Zhenzhen was clever, secretly getting together with He Hongtu, and then deliberately showing up at Tian Family with a nonexistent pregnancy.

Not only did she ruin that marriage arrangement, but she also extorted one thousand yuan as dowry money from her real father.

The stepmother feared that if she went to demand money, the old grievances would be brought up by Tian Zhenzhen.

The stepmother had secretly consulted a lawyer. Although according to old customs, the Tian Family’s house should have nothing to do with Tian Zhenzhen, a daughter who had married out.

But if Tian Zhenzhen insisted on suing, it was hard to say how the matter would turn out.

...Forget it, that ten thousand yuan, just, just consider it stolen by a heartless thief!

The stepmother felt so aggrieved she almost spat blood but in the end, she bore it.

And through this incident, the stepmother had a clear realization that neither Tian Zhenzhen, the cheap stepdaughter, nor He Hongtu, the man praised by everyone as honorable, were actually easy to deal with.

Maybe they were even connected to that scam.

But these words, the stepmother dared not voice, for no one would believe her if she did.

Because He Hongtu had used ”facts” to convince everyone that he was truly honorable!

In the years that followed, He Hongtu regularly made scheduled repayments of the ”collected funds.”

His family of three did not buy a single new piece of clothing, they couldn’t bear to eat meat even once a month, meticulously saving, all to repay the debt as quickly as possible.

Many long-time customers could no longer stand by idly and came up with ways to support them.

He Hongtu’s performance kept improving, but the number of people cursing him was dwindling.

Even the children of those regular customers couldn’t outright call him a swindler, for whenever they did, their own fathers would retort, ”Have you ever seen a fraudster who eats chaff and saves to repay others’ debts?”

He Tiantian: ୧(๑•̀◡•́๑)૭

How impressive, my dad!

Having witnessed the entire process, He Tiantian developed complete admiration for her birth parents.

Cough, cough cough, well, that’s to say, Boss Huang was indeed a swindler, and her real dad did indeed raise two hundred thousand in investments.

But, at the critical moment, her real dad did not hand over the money to Boss Huang.

Boss Huang, probably in a rush to flee, did not quibble with her real dad and even tacitly took the blame for the big, round, and dark pot.

Six-month-old He Tiantian, with her big round eyes, watched her parents hiding under the bed, one counting money, the other keeping the books, a scene that very much resembled splitting the loot.

With such cunning and vengeful parents, almost resembling foxes, He Tiantian unknowingly developed a set of peculiar values.

In the blink of an eye, ten years had passed.

The He Family had long since repaid the ”debt,” bought a house in the County, and opened their own health club.

He Hongtu and Tian Zhenzhen successfully transitioned from ordinary sales staff to partnership distributors, with hundreds of clients in their hands.

Their business might not be booming, but in their modest shop, elderly folks sat every day, getting their blood pressure measured, soaking their feet in herbal medicine, receiving massages... One could tell from outside the window that this couple was definitely earning a good income.

Ten-year-old He Tiantian had smoothly entered the best primary school in the County, becoming a fourth-grade student.

With her articulate parents, whether by genetics or by osmosis, this life’s He Tiantian became especially cheerful and clever.

Her little mouth babbling away, the same words spoken by her just sounded so pleasant.

Completely different from her previous life, after starting school He Tiantian not only avoided being bullied but also became the most popular person among her classmates.

However, this situation seemed to change after a new student suddenly transferred to her class at the start of the new term.

”Zhou Zixuan?” What a coincidence, in her previous life she also had a classmate named Zhou Zixuan.

But back then, Zhou Zixuan was the class’s renowned beautiful writer, whereas she, He Tiantian, was the pitiful one who could only hide in the corner.

No friends, poor academic results, even the teachers didn’t like her.

She and Zhou Zixuan were like a control group and experimental group, He Tiantian looking at the excellent and popular Zhou Zixuan with untold envy.

Of course, that was in her past life!

Now, He Tiantian, who lacked neither love nor friends, even though her academic performance was still not very good, possessed tremendous self-confidence and was extremely optimistic.

She didn’t envy or resent Zhou Zixuan and had no thoughts of antagonizing her.

But, Zhou Zixuan sought out He Tiantian—

”You little liar, your whole family are liars!”