By the time Xing Yanheng was done with his antics, dawn had fully broken.
Cheng Yu wanted to sleep a bit more, but he was like a restless child—fiddling with her here, poking at her there, with a look of unabashed scheming on his face.
“Xing Yanheng, can you give me a moment of peace?”
“Then let me hold you for a bit, and I won’t touch you.” The man grinned, plainly wanting nothing more than to cling to her.
Cheng Yu pulled his arm over and rested her head on it, saying with exasperation, “Is this good enough?”
Perhaps the couple’s voices had stirred Ren Caifeng, who was up early.
Worried, she came to knock on the door and asked tentatively, “Xiaoyu, who are you talking to? Is Yanheng back?”
“It’s me.” Xing Yanheng answered, shamelessly adding, “Mom, Xiaoyu and I slept late last night. Go ahead and eat when it’s ready—no need to wait for us.”
Hearing this, Ren Caifeng chuckled by the door. “Alright, you two sleep then. I’ll keep the food warm in the pot, and you can eat when you get up.”
Cheng Yu: “…”
Knowing Xing Yanheng had done that on purpose, she sat up and shot him a glare. Still unsatisfied, she slapped him right on the body.
“Can’t you be less annoying!”
Xing Yanheng clutched the spot she’d slapped, laughing. It didn’t hurt at all—it was more like a tickle.
He didn’t know why he couldn’t help being such a fool, but the moment he saw her little face, he just had to tease her, loved watching her expression change because of him.
Hmm, was that a bit twisted?
“Wife, can we talk about something?”
“Speak.” Cheng Yu, unable to sleep with all his noise, decided to get up and help her mother-in-law with the chores. It wouldn’t do to just wait to be waited on.
Seeing her start to dress, Xing Yanheng reached out mid-air and grabbed her clothes.
“Come back under the covers to talk.”
“No way. I know exactly what you’re thinking.” Cheng Yu snatched her clothes back, pulled them on, and shot him a glare. “You get up too. After we eat, we’ll split up to deposit the money.”
“Fine.” Seeing that intimacy was off the table, Xing Yanheng didn’t linger either. He got up quickly and dressed.
Before heading out, Cheng Yu reminded him, “Mom doesn’t know you quit your job. Don’t let it slip, or she’ll worry about you.”
“Don’t worry, I know.” Xing Yanheng agreed readily, showing his trust in her.
Because if he were even slightly narrow-minded, he might suspect that Cheng Yu was hiding his earnings from Ren Caifeng out of selfishness, unwilling to honor their elders.
And Cheng Yu did not disappoint that trust.
At the dinner table, Ren Caifeng told Xing Yanheng about Liu Limei coming to the house to seize the grain.
Hearing that Cheng Yu had repaid the debt and defended her mother, Xing Yanheng looked at her with gratitude.
He had indeed judged her right.
But when he lowered his eyes, a shadow flickered in his gaze. On this trip back, he had originally planned to bring his cousin along to earn money with him.
Now, it seemed, there was no need.
“Mom, Yanheng and I need to head out in a bit. Take this money—if anyone comes demanding payment again, use it to settle the debt.” Cheng Yu pulled out twenty yuan from the money Xing Yanheng had brought back.
As long as she didn’t mention where it came from, Ren Caifeng would assume it was part of the bride price she’d brought over, so no explanation was needed.
“Xiaoyu, how can I take this? That money is for you—we can’t take it back.” Ren Caifeng refused.
Cheng Yu pressed it into her hands. “Mom, there’s a long road ahead. Yanheng and I will make you proud. It’s just a little money—consider it our filial respect to you.”
With that, she gave Xing Yanheng a look and they left before Ren Caifeng could react.
Ren Caifeng couldn’t catch up to them, so she had no choice but to put the money away for safekeeping for now.
…
Before leaving, Cheng Yu had already divided the money—three hundred yuan per bundle—and the two of them went to different savings banks, entering separately to make deposits.
After all that, they ended up with over a dozen passbooks, each inscribed with different slogans.
Cheng Yu tucked them into the inner pocket of her padded coat, where they were safe enough.
She had Xing Yanheng deposit the last bundle while she waited by the roadside. It should have only taken a moment, but who would have thought she’d run into Cheng Yan of all people!
Cheng Yan was just about to greet her when Xing Yanheng finished depositing the money and walked out of the post office.
“Here, keep this safe.” Xing Yanheng handed the passbook directly to her.
Cheng Yan had come to town that day to borrow money from a classmate, but not only had she failed to borrow any, she’d been mocked for it.
Watching Cheng Yu take the green passbook from Xing Yanheng’s hand, she exploded like a powder keg.
“Cheng Yu, you said you had no money, but I caught you red-handed! What’s this!” Cheng Yan grabbed Cheng Yu’s hand and held it up in the air—pinched between her fingers was the passbook Xing Yanheng had just handed over, which she hadn’t had time to put away.
Faced with Cheng Yan’s furious interrogation, Cheng Yu replied without changing her expression, “A passbook.”
“You have money and won’t lend it to me!” Her irate tone made it sound like she was collecting a debt rather than asking for a loan.
“I have money, so why the hell should I lend it to you?” Cheng Yu muttered to herself that today was just unlucky—she’d even run into Cheng Yan of all people.
Cheng Yan shouted self-righteously, “I’m your own sister! You watch me fall into trouble and won’t help? Are you even human?”
Whoa, so now it escalated to whether she was human or not?
Cheng Yu directly shook off her hand, rubbing the spot where she’d been gripped painfully.
“You’re my sister, so I have to give you money when you ask? What law says that? Besides, I came here today to withdraw money to pay off debts—we’ve got a ton of holes to patch ourselves and don’t even know who to beg. You just flap your lips and expect me to hand over money? Why should I?”
“That’s right, why should she, big sis?” Xing Yanheng chimed in from the side: “I’ve seen forced buying and selling, but never forced borrowing. What, are you planning to rob us right here on the street?”
Cheng Yan had been so focused on the passbook that she’d overlooked Xing Yanheng.
Now that he was mocking her, she trembled with rage.
“You broke bastard, you’ve got no right to speak here! Go die somewhere cool!” she screamed, as if venting all the resentment she’d held toward the Xing family in her previous life.
But from Xing Yanheng’s perspective, he’d only said a couple of things to her, and Cheng Yan was already this worked up.
Pursing his lips, he asked Cheng Yu, “Is your eldest sister mentally unstable? Hah, lucky I was set up with you and not her, otherwise…” He didn’t even need to finish the sentence—it was already enough to stab Cheng Yan right in the heart.
Cheng Yan’s face went from green to pale, finally turning white as a sheet.
She clenched her fists tightly, biting her lip hard, and then suddenly let out a strange, eerie laugh.
“Xing Yanheng, with that short-lived look of yours, I wouldn’t have wanted you anyway. And you, Cheng Yu, you think just because you’re doing better than me now, you’ll always be better than me? You won’t be smug for long. He Zhou will be back in the city soon. You remember this—when you fall on hard times, even if you come crawling on your knees to beg me, I won’t spare you a single cent!”