Miao Ruifeng put down the bottle and walked up to the old man: "Today, I'm not afraid of airing our dirty laundry. Second Uncle, there are things I've kept inside for too long wanting to tell you.

Back when my dad was gravely ill, I knelt before you to borrow money. He was your blood brother. Do you still remember what you said to me back then?"

Everyone was stunned. Turns out, they had all misunderstood before. These two aren't father and son; by seniority, Xiaohu and Miao Xinyue, as siblings, calling the old man 'grandpa' is perfectly logical.

This is the result of preconceived notions, things that seemed obvious weren't the true story after all.

But now, the focus isn't on that. Rather, from listening to this fat boss, it seems like the old man did something to wrong him many years ago?

The old man, breathing heavily, said: "Back…back then your cousin had just gotten married, and I had already borrowed from all the relatives I could. The old debts weren't even paid off yet. Where was I supposed to get the money?"

"Heh!" Miao Ruifeng laughed again: "Are you still trying to fool me? Back in those days, you walked around town like you owned the place, always riding in a sedan. In the 1990s! Given your circumstances, you needed to borrow money for cousin's wedding?"

The old man gave a bitter smile: "That's just what you saw. A businessman doesn't fear not having money himself, but fears others thinking he's broke. If I didn't act that way, who would dare do business with me? The factory might have shut down long ago."

Miao Ruifeng burst into laughter, clutching his stomach, tears streaming from laughter, leaving Xiao Feng and others dumbfounded.

The next moment, Miao Ruifeng suddenly slapped the table and asked: "Your so-called business, is it tomb raiding?"

At these words, a flash of panic appeared in the old man's eyes: "How…how do you know?"

"What's tomb raiding?" the little girl asked softly beside Xiao Feng.

Xiao Feng replied: "It's a local term; to put it bluntly, it's grave robbing."

"Grave robbing!" The little girl looked at the old man in disbelief, her gaze turning peculiar, and the reactions of others were similar.

This line of work, depicted glamorously in recent years in novels and dramas, is still despised among common folks. After all, making a living by digging up graves is indeed despicable.

Miao Ruifeng chuckled: "When I helped you clean the old house back then, I saw the ledger you wrote on the beam, the smallest amount was in the tens of thousands.

Aside from mentioning past debts, having so much money yet pretending to be destitute for me to support you, don't you find it excessive?"

The old man exclaimed: "That was all ill-gotten money; keeping it only brings harm to myself and others. You saw what happened to your cousin. Do you want to follow in his footsteps?"

Miao Ruifeng was unmoved: "At least cousin lived extravagantly for over twenty years. Even if he was executed at the end, he lived a full life!

But what about me?

My dad fell seriously ill, my wife ran off, leaving me with two kids. Do you know how I survived all these years?"

Hearing this, Xiao Feng and the others finally understood why the old man got so agitated by Miao Ruifeng's remark earlier. Apparently, the old man's son was indeed executed.

For a moment, the scene fell into a long silence. People, having reversed their stance, began to feel a bit of sympathy for the fat boss.

"You had it tough, bro!" Zhao Guo'an patted Miao Ruifeng's shoulder, clinking his glass, his tone indescribably somber.

Xiao Feng glanced at him without speaking, pondering whether he wasn't afraid of being slapped in the face again after just reversing his stance once.

Sure enough, the old man looked at Zhao Guo'an and sneered: "You pity him? Do you know why he's treating you to this drink?"

Everyone was bewildered, thinking neither the old man nor the young one was any good?

"What do you mean?" Zhao Guo'an asked, his face darkening.

The old man retorted grumpily: "Ever since the mother of Xiaohu and Yueyue left, he began drinking and gambling every day. When he lost, he borrowed, leaving the children to his mother. If it weren't for the national redevelopment here, and him opening a small shop, he might have starved on the streets by now."

Xiao Feng scrutinized the decoration on the first floor. If he didn't have some money, how could he have afforded such pricy decor? He began to doubt the old man's claims.

"But what does that have to do with him buying us drinks?" Zhao Guo'an asked in confusion.

"He plans to take advantage of you being drunk, start pretending to be pitiable, and then borrow money from you. If you say you don't have any, he'll beg you to take out a loan online for him, promising to pay back monthly so you won't have to worry about anything."

Sneering, the old man continued: "If you actually believe him, ha…"

Lu Yao immediately pulled out her laptop and typed 'Yuechen Inn' into the search bar, then hit enter.

Her idea was simple. If the old man was telling the truth, surely someone would've posted about being scammed online.

The group gathered around and saw Lu Yao looking at a post with a timestamp from 2017, the same year Jiuyou Town was developed into a tourist town.

The post titled: "I was too naive, five thousand bucks fed to the dogs, now writing my scammed experience, hoping everyone can learn and not be as simple-minded as me…"

The content elaborated the poster's experience of being deceived by the Boss's eloquence, being moved to tears, and ultimately losing five thousand bucks. Though some details differed, the general process matched what the old man described.

Additionally, the post included some pictures. The store in the pictures looked simple and humble, unlike its current embellishment, yet recognizable as this very inn.

Everyone looked at each other, feeling speechlessly duped, realizing their emotions were completely wasted.

At first, they sympathized with the old man, and then with the fat boss. Turns out, both were peas in a pod, one a tomb raider, the other a fraud, neither decent.

...

After this incident, eating was definitely out of the question. Just as Xiao Feng and the others were about to pay the bill and leave, the little girl who had led them earlier walked in, looking crestfallen.

From her appearance, everyone could guess the seven or eight parts of the reason, likely failing to bring in tourists.

Firstly, it's the off-season for tourism, so there aren't many visitors. Secondly, nowadays young people plan their trips beforehand, with accommodations and meals pre-booked. They'd check the ratings of a place before booking.

And with Yuechen Inn's poor reputation, it's no wonder no one would come.

"Grandpa, what's wrong?" Miao Xinyue, the little girl, asked the old man with concern, ignoring her drunken father as if she was long accustomed to it.

Miao Ruifeng was visibly upset: "You didn't manage to bring in any tourists, yet you have money to buy things. Speak up, who gave you the money?"

Miao Xinyue took two steps back and replied timidly: "The flower was given to me by an old lady; she didn't charge me."

Just then, Xiao Feng, Zhao Guo'an, and the little girl all shouted sternly in unison: "Throw away that flower!"

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