After everyone had fallen asleep, Xu Duoduo sent her consciousness into her space and opened the bag the heroine had accidentally missed.
Oh wow!
The living expenses of a capitalist’s granddaughter were seriously abundant.
Twenty rolls of ten-yuan bills. Twenty small gold bars. Two bundles of ration coupons. And one letter.
Xu Duoduo opened the letter.
My daughter Wei’er,
Life at home is becoming increasingly difficult.
In the coming years, there may be many inconveniences. I may not be able to continue sending you living expenses.
You must stay low-key and spend cautiously.
—Your father, Lin Qixiang.
The son of a capitalist really did have sharp political instincts.
The major political upheavals hadn’t even begun yet, but he had already sensed the warning signs and started preparing in advance.
No wonder people like him could make money during chaotic times.
Still—
all that money now belonged to Xu Duoduo.
After thinking it over for a long time, she decided she would tell Xu Ergen and Zhou Rong about this unexpected fortune tomorrow.
If you can’t win, then run.
Xu Duoduo intended to lead Xu Ergen’s family far away from the heroine and away from the original plot.
At this point, returning to the village seemed like the only path left.
Especially with the unstable decade ahead of them, the family would need money for far too many things.
Late into the night, Xu Duoduo absorbed several crystal cores to strengthen her own body while secretly transferring some energy into Xu Ergen, Zhou Rong, Xu Bu, and Xu Ting as well.
Years of exhausting labor had left hidden ailments in all of them.
“Duoduo, wake up. Time to get up.” Zhou Rong called softly.
“Mom… it’s not even light outside yet. Let me sleep a little longer…”
“Duoduo, Mom said we need to leave early to catch the bus. We’re taking you to the city hospital. Hurry and get up,” Xu Bu whispered near her ear.
“Big Sister, I’m not going. I’m really fine now. Didn’t we already explain at Grandma’s house yesterday that I didn’t cough blood? I just bit my tongue.”
Xu Duoduo stubbornly refused to move.
“Big Sister, there’s finally no Grandma yelling everyone awake at dawn. Let me sleep a bit more.”
She rolled over and continued pretending to sleep.
Looking at Xu Duoduo’s rosy sleeping face, Zhou Rong hesitated.
“Duoduo… are you really alright? You’re not feeling sick anymore?”
“Mhm. As long as nobody makes me get up right now, I feel perfectly fine.”
“Alright then, keep sleeping. But if you feel unwell, tell Mom immediately. Sleeping helps recovery too. We’ll all sleep a little longer.”
So the entire family went back to sleep.
In fact, they slept so soundly that they only woke again when Old Man Zhou came knocking on the door.
Without Old Madam Xu screaming like the cruel landlord Zhou Papi at dawn demanding work, sleep felt absolutely wonderful.
“Ergen, calculate it. How many roof tiles do you think you’ll need?” Old Man Zhou sat down on a stone in the courtyard while smoking from his pipe.
“Dad, for our two-and-a-half-room house, I think around three hundred tiles should be enough. A lot of the old roof tiles can still be reused.”
Then Xu Ergen lowered his voice awkwardly.
“Dad… right now the only money we have is the twenty yuan Big Sister gave us.
“It’s not enough to buy tiles. Could you lend me some first? I’ll repay you next month after I get paid.”
Xu Ergen had truly been struggling these past two days.
“Don’t worry about money. Didn’t I tell you yesterday your mother would lend you some?
“It was too late last night, so I brought it this morning instead. Here’s one hundred yuan. Use it first.”
Old Man Zhou opened a cloth bundle.
Inside was a thick stack of five- and ten-yuan notes.
“Dad… I’ve failed Xiaorong. I made her suffer with me…”
Xu Ergen’s eyes reddened again.
The Zhou family were farmers who survived by working the land. Their entire yearly household income only amounted to two or three hundred yuan.
Who knew how many years it had taken to save this hundred yuan?
“Take it already. Stop crying like a rooster pissing all over the place. I still need to go buy roof tiles with the production team leader.”
Old Man Zhou rolled his eyes at him.
He had watched this son-in-law grow up from childhood and had personally chosen him.
Xu Ergen’s character was excellent.
The only flaws were his soft temperament and how easily emotional he became.
Oddly enough, being scolded made Xu Ergen feel better.
He accepted the money and handed it to Zhou Rong.
“Xiaorong, keep the money safe for now. Once I save up a few months of wages, we’ll pay Dad back.”
“Alright. You two tidy up the house first. I’ll bring the roof tiles over later and have Daqiang and Dazhuang come help. We can probably fix the roof in half a day.”
With his hands clasped behind his back and pipe in hand, Old Man Zhou left.
“Mom, I want chicken soup. I’m drooling just thinking about it.” Xu Duoduo immediately began acting spoiled.
“Haha, you little glutton.” Zhou Rong laughed. “Once I finish cleaning the house, I’ll go around the village and see if anyone’s willing to trade us an old hen.”
After all, Duoduo had lost so much blood. She really did need nourishment.
“How about I go ask Xiaohong’s family now and see if we can trade for a chicken?” Xu Bu asked.
“Alright, go ahead.” Zhou Rong handed her three yuan.
“I’m going too!” Xu Ting immediately chased after Xu Bu.
“Xiaobu, keep an eye on your little sister! Don’t let that monkey climb any trees!” Zhou Rong shouted after them.
In the village, Xu Ting finally behaved like a real child again—mischievous and energetic.
“Dad, Mom, come inside first. I need to tell you something.”
Xu Duoduo closed the courtyard gate and pulled Xu Ergen and Zhou Rong into the room before shutting the door carefully.
Seeing her suddenly so serious, both parents’ hearts skipped a beat.
Was her injury actually worse?
“You girl… are you feeling unwell again?” Xu Ergen’s voice trembled slightly.
“Ah, it’s good news. Dad, Mom, hurry and sit on the kang. Look at this.”
Xu Duoduo pulled out yesterday’s bag.
Inside lay five rolls of ten-yuan bills and one stack of ration coupons.
Xu Duoduo was the type who’d pluck feathers even from a passing goose.
But taking out only part of the money was also intentional.
She wanted to test them.
Money could reveal people’s true hearts.
She needed to know whether Xu Ergen and Zhou Rong truly deserved her wholehearted trust.
“Th-this… where did it come from?” Zhou Rong stared in shock.
Immediately, she grabbed a nearby blanket and covered the money while nervously glancing toward the window.
“Yesterday before boarding the bus, when Xiaoting and I went to the restroom, a man suddenly threw this at me while being chased by a group of Red Armbands.
“I got scared, so I hid the bag under my clothes.”
Xu Duoduo mixed truth with lies.
“Mhm… now that you mention it, I do remember a group of Red Armbands running past us,” Xu Ergen recalled.
“Is there anything else inside the bag?” Zhou Rong uncovered the money again and began searching through the bag carefully.
“That bastard. The money definitely wasn’t obtained honestly. He was afraid of getting caught, so he dumped it on you instead.
“Good thing you were clever enough to hide it. Otherwise you might’ve gotten dragged into trouble too.”
Zhou Rong cursed while searching the bag.
“Xiaorong, stop cursing for now.
“Hide the money inside the hole beneath the kang bed first. I’ll burn the bag. If someone comes over and sees it, we’ll be in trouble. We can talk afterward.”
Xu Ergen immediately urged Zhou Rong to hide the money.
After destroying all evidence, the three sat back down facing one another atop the kang.
“Haha, Mom, do you think the God of Wealth knew we’d just split the family and had no money, so he specially sent us some?” Xu Duoduo teased.
“Stop talking nonsense. People don’t say things like that anymore nowadays.”
“Mhm, Mom. I’m only saying it at home.”
“Dad, Mom, now our family has money. But we absolutely can’t buy a house in the county town.
“If Grandpa and Grandma find out we suddenly have enough money to buy a house, they’ll definitely think we’ve been secretly hiding money all along. They’ll come make trouble.”
“Mhm. We’ll keep the money hidden and only take it out when necessary.
“No matter whether we have money or not, our family is staying in the village. We’re not going anywhere.”
Xu Ergen didn’t want to leave.
This was still the place he’d lived his entire life.
Only here did he feel safe.