The one in the lead was a middle-aged woman in cadre clothing, who grabbed the young woman holding a child next to her and pulled her forward as she spoke.
The woman glanced at Li Yanchuan and subconsciously shrank back.
The cadre woman became anxious.
“Xiao Bao’s mother, if it weren’t for Battalion Commander Li’s wife borrowing money and not repaying it, how could Xiao Bao have suffered so much? His life is almost gone, what are you afraid of?
The people who owe money are at ease, what are we lacking?”
“Xiao Bao’s mother, take your time and explain it clearly to Battalion Commander Li, what exactly is going on.”
As soon as Xiao Bao’s name was mentioned, Xia Xiaoyu understood most of it.
The story had to start with the original owner borrowing money.
How much money could Li Yanchuan’s subordinates, who were all struggling, scrape together?
The bulk of the money was still raised by Xiao Bao’s mother, the widow of Li Yanchuan’s old company commander’s son.
Thinking of this, Xia Xiaoyu felt a burst of emotion.
Company Commander Huang was Li Yanchuan’s company commander when he first joined the army, and he was as kind to Li Yanchuan as a mountain.
After he and his son successively sacrificed a few years ago, only his daughter-in-law and grandson Xiao Bao were left in the family, struggling to make a living.
His comrades were already helping them out on weekdays, but the original owner was able to ask Xiao Bao’s mother to borrow money.
A few days ago, Xiao Bao broke his leg, and the county town could only help set the bone, but couldn’t do anything else. The doctor suggested coming to the city to see a doctor.
But the money in Xiao Bao’s mother’s hands had already been borrowed by the original owner, so how could she take Xiao Bao to see a doctor?
Having no choice, Xiao Bao’s mother wrote a letter to the original owner, wanting to get back the debt.
But the original owner didn’t even look at these letters, purely treating Xiao Bao’s mother’s matter as a fart.
Even if they came to the door, she would rudely send them back, not being polite at all.
Now, the others in the military compound couldn’t stand it anymore. How could there be such a thing as bullying honest people, and the person who owes money is still the boss!
What’s more, Xia Xiaoyu borrowed money from more than just Xiao Bao’s family. They were all cheated out of money by Xia Xiaoyu.
Upholding justice for Xiao Bao’s mother was also to get back their own money!
After explaining the ins and outs of the matter to Li Yanchuan.
The group continued.
“Battalion Commander Li, you have to pay attention to the situation at home while defending the country. You don’t know, when you’re not at home, your wife borrows money everywhere, using your name. Even if everyone doesn’t want to lend it, they have to.
She said nice things when she borrowed it, saying she would pay it back in a week, but now a month has passed, and she hasn’t said anything about paying it back.”
The female cadre handed a thick stack of IOUs to Li Yanchuan.
“You know, no family is rich now, this is all money saved by tightening our belts.”
“Xiao Bao is still lying in the hospital bed, Battalion Commander Li, you also know that Xiao Bao still wants to be a soldier in the future, just like his father and his grandfather. If his leg is broken, how can he be a soldier!”
“Battalion Commander Li, Xiao Bao’s grandfather was your old company commander, you can’t just watch your old company commander’s grandson have an accident, right?”
“Battalion Commander Li, aren’t you just bullying people! Are you going to deny the debt!”
Li Yanchuan’s face was so black that it could scare people to death. He didn’t know that Xia Xiaoyu dared to do these things behind his back.
She even dared to cheat Xiao Bao’s life-saving money!
Xia Xiaoyu straightened her clothes and stepped forward. In any case, the original owner’s actions were not decent in the first place.
She had to apologize to everyone on behalf of the original owner first.
“I’m sorry, everyone. It was wrong of me not to pay everyone back on time. I don’t have any money right now, but I definitely won’t deny the debt I owe. Give me some time, and I can give everyone interest money.”
After Xia Xiaoyu finished speaking, the people who were still a little restrained because they saw Li Yanchuan were even more angry.
The people who accompanied Xiao Bao’s mother to ask for money had seen the original owner’s rogue face at that time.
Her unreasonable appearance that day was different from today.
In this case, who would believe her?
“Come on, you’re lying to us again!”
“That’s right, you only say nice things, but you don’t take any action!”
“We don’t believe you!”
Everyone spoke one after another, all expressing their dissatisfaction with Xia Xiaoyu.
All the people who came were female comrades, their voices were thin and their tones were high. Before long, the entrance of the yard was blocked with people who came to watch the excitement.
Xia Xiaoyu frowned even more deeply.
In the past half a month, the original owner had caused a lot of trouble, and had ruined Li Yanchuan’s promotion opportunities twice.
This time, Li Yanchuan took the initiative to volunteer for a difficult mission for a month, just to get another chance to move up.
Now that this happened, how could Li Yanchuan be promoted again?
A bold idea formed in Xia Xiaoyu’s mind.
Could she let herself be suffocated by urine? It was just earning money to pay off debts, she had plenty of ways!
But just as Xia Xiaoyu was about to speak, Li Yanchuan spoke before her.
“Everyone, listen to me.”
As soon as Li Yanchuan spoke, the yard instantly became quiet.
“Xiao Bao’s life-saving money is important, I’ll go pay Xiao Bao’s family back later.”
“As for everyone’s money, if everyone trusts me.”
“I’ll write a guarantee to everyone, guaranteeing that the money will definitely be paid back within a month, and the interest for these two months will be returned as well.”
“Battalion Commander Li, we naturally trust you, there’s no need for a guarantee.”
Although everyone said so, Li Yanchuan still handed the written guarantee to the female cadre.
The female cadre carefully read the guarantee in front of Xia Xiaoyu, and even read it aloud.
Everyone still had to give Li Yanchuan some face, so after reading it, the group left the yard in a mighty manner.
Xia Xiaoyu ignored the people peeking over the wall and followed Li Yanchuan back to the house.
Li Yanchuan’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot at the moment.
“Xia Xiaoyu, let’s get a divorce.”
Perhaps afraid that Xia Xiaoyu would not agree, Li Yanchuan pondered for a moment and added.
“Divorce, I’ll pay back the money.”
“No way!”
Xia Xiaoyu blurted out.
She looked up and saw Li Yanchuan’s expected sarcasm.
She then explained.
“I agree to a divorce, but I borrowed the money, I’ll pay it back.”
The debt of nearly a thousand yuan, including principal and interest, was simply a dream for Li Yanchuan, whose salary was only a few dozen yuan, to pay back within a month.
Li Yanchuan was actually a very competent husband. After getting married, all his salary and allowances were handed over in full.
Unfortunately, the original owner was able to squander it all, leaving only the bride price and dowry. Where could she get the money to pay back to the neighbors?
Besides, she had just seen that the guarantee stated that if the money was not paid back within the time limit, Li Yanchuan would resign from his position as battalion commander and use the money from his transfer to pay off the debt.
She couldn’t be so unkind.
Li Yanchuan was kind enough, and she, Xia Xiaoyu, was not that kind of person.
“After I pay back the money, we’ll go get a divorce.”