Chapter 700: This Money, Must Be Repaid

Chu Che quickly returned.

Chen Ye saw this guy wearing a smug grin, looking like a fox that had just raided the henhouse.

"Hey, what did you trade for?"

Chen Ye walked over, curiously sizing him up from head to toe.

Chu Che chuckled. "Nothing at all!"

"Bullshit, you can fool other people with that line, but come on, tell me, what did you get?"

"Oh, can't fool you, huh? Fine then, no point in lying to you!"

Chu Che had that "So you didn't fall for it after all" look on his face.

Just as Chen Ye was waiting for Chu Che to stop messing around and finally reveal the answer...

Chu Che patted his butt, turned around, and walked off.

"Damn it..."

Chen Ye and Chu Che had originally wanted to keep a low profile, but things have a funny way of spiraling in unexpected directions.

Who knows who spread the news, but before long, rumors were flying all over the base.

The news that the Wonder's Heart in the Silent Council's shop had been traded away spread like wildfire.

Word even got around with surprising accuracy that it was Chen Ye who had taken it.

It even came out that Chen Ye had used a loan from the Silent Council to make the trade.

And that Chu Che from the Silent Council had also taken out a hefty loan and traded for a bunch of good stuff.

Especially that Wonder's Heart Chen Ye had gotten his hands on - plenty of people were eyeing it with intense greed.

Some had even been planning to make a move directly.

But unfortunately, the Silent Council's strength wasn't just for show.

You didn't need to guess twice to figure out who was pulling the strings behind all this.

To that end, Chen Ye and Chu Che didn't bother denying anything. When they had reached the loan agreement earlier, Hou Junji had flat-out said he planned to use their loans as a publicity case.

All at once, all sorts of news was flying everywhere.

Previously, the base had been buzzing with talk about whether to relocate, and where to go.

Over that issue, the captains of the various convoys had argued endlessly, with tensions growing increasingly heated.

But now, the topic of taking out loans to boost strength had shot straight to the top of the base's hot list.

Plenty of people were approaching Elder Hou Junji to consult about loan terms.

And many others, with a grit of their teeth and a stamp of their foot, went ahead and borrowed.

Nothing mattered more right now than boosting their strength.

Elder Hou Junji's mood today was visibly improved by a wide margin.

On the other hand, some other folks weren't feeling quite so great.

When Sun Xixi heard how much Chen Ye and Chu Che had borrowed, she was momentarily stunned.

When Dantai Bie heard the news, he was dumbfounded for a long while too.

Chen Hao was even more flabbergasted, her mouth hanging open.

By the time the second meal of the day rolled around in the afternoon, the news was already spreading everywhere.

When everyone gathered together again, the fact that Chen Ye and Chu Che were carrying astronomical debts had already reached every single member of the convoy.

"You two, are you out of your minds?! Borrowing ten thousand gold coins? What the hell were you two thinking?"

"It's over, it's over! Ten thousand gold coins, at the current market rate, that's eighty thousand jin of food!"

"And for the two of you, that's a hundred sixty thousand jin!"

"How are you ever going to pay that back?! Sell the entire convoy off piece by piece and it still wouldn't cover what you two owe!"

"Ever since I was little, my mom always told me, wear shoes that fit your feet, and never spend money before you have it!"

"You two... you're done for..."

Dantai Bie kept muttering to himself...

Though Dantai Bie was a chatterbox, he genuinely had Chen Ye and Chu Che's best interests at heart.

But Chu Che and Chen Ye? They couldn't give a damn.

They ate and drank as usual...

The two of them squatted off to the side, each holding a huge bowl of food, shoveling rice into their mouths while listening to Dantai Bie nag.

It felt almost like they were watching a show.

As if the ones drowning in debt weren't them, but the anxious Dantai Bie in front of them.

Only the pink-haired girl narrowed her eyes slightly, staring hard at Chen Ye and Chu Che with a thoughtful expression.

"Xixi, how come you're not the least bit worried?!"

Dantai Bie had been going on and on, but seeing that Chu Che and Chen Ye were acting like complete outsiders, and even Sun Xixi showed no sign of concern at all...

And it wasn't just Sun Xixi who was calm - even Iron Lion, Xu Lina, Gong Yong, and Ding Dong all seemed equally unfazed.

Sun Xixi set down her big bowl, fixing Chen Ye and Chu Che with an appraising stare.

After a long pause, she finally spoke: "You two... don't tell me you're planning not to pay it back!"

The moment those words left Sun Xixi's mouth, Chen Ye and Chu Che both reacted like cats whose tails had been stepped on.

They immediately fired back:

"Little girl, don't talk nonsense! Do I, Chu Che, look like that kind of person?"

"Sun Xixi, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want! Don't you all know exactly what kind of person I, Chen Ye, am?"

One spoke with righteous indignation, the other with indignant righteousness.

Against Sun Xixi's slander and defamation, they lodged their strong protest.

Dantai Bie suddenly had a realization, and the look he gave Chen Ye and Chu Che turned distinctly strange.

Dantai Bie was a peripheral member and hadn't spent much time with the Fair Convoy crew.

So while he knew Chen Ye and Chu Che to some extent, he didn't know them nearly as well as Sun Xixi did.

You could say that before Chu Che and Chen Ye even opened their mouths, Sun Xixi already knew exactly what they were going to say.

Chen Ye pointed at Iron Lion. "Iron Lion knows my character better than anyone! Ask him, ask him if I'm the kind of person who'd borrow money and never pay it back!"

Iron Lion paused mid-bite, looked around at everyone, and seemed like he hadn't been listening to a single word any of them had said.

Chu Che's face darkened, and he hurriedly doubled down on his pledge: "Paying back what you owe is only natural and right! Sun Xixi, don't you go doubting me and Yezi's integrity!"

"We are absolutely going to pay this money back!"

Chen Ye nodded vigorously. "We're definitely paying it back! I never once said we weren't going to! Not a single word!"

Sun Xixi's mouth twitched. "Tch..."

Her eyes were full of contempt, and her tone even more so.

Chen Ye and Chu Che turned to look at the others.

Iron Lion was still shoveling food into his mouth, clearly having heard nothing anyone said.

"Iron Lion, will you stop eating for a second? Do you believe in our integrity or not?"

Iron Lion looked up blankly, then nodded blankly, and said in his honest voice: "I believe you. Captain, Yezi - other people might not trust you, but I, Iron Lion, absolutely do!"

Chen Ye shot Iron Lion a look that said "Good brother, loyal to the end."

Iron Lion grinned, then went right back to eating.

Sun Xixi rolled her eyes.

Chen Ye and Chu Che then turned their expectant gazes to Xu Lina.

Xu Lina kept her head down, clearly wearing a "Don't ask me, I don't know anything" expression.

This damn woman...

The two turned their hopeful eyes to Ding Dong.

Ding Dong looked a bit awkward, cleared her throat, and said: "Well... debts, they must be repaid! Even if the world ends!"

The way she said it, it sounded more like she was coaxing them than actually believing in them.

Chen Ye and Chu Che nodded, expressing agreement with Ding Dong's words, not showing the slightest hint of embarrassment.

Then the two looked at Gong Yong.

Gong Yong opened his mouth, glanced at Chen Ye, then glanced at Chu Che.

In Gong Yong's eyes at that moment, the two of them looked like the wolf and the jackal from that old saying about villains working together in collusion.

These two were his convoy's captain and deputy captain.

He couldn't afford to offend them.

Gong Yong hemmed and hawed for a long time before slowly forcing out three words: "I... believe too!"

Chen Ye and Chu Che nodded with satisfaction.

Throughout the whole convoy, apart from Sun Xixi, it seemed like everyone had some faith in them.

This world, the malice it holds toward us brothers is just too heavy.

"Um, I have a question. If they really don't pay it back, what would happen?"