Tu Huidong’s face stiffened. “If we don’t have the money, can’t we borrow some?”
Borrow first, pay back later—wasn’t that simple enough?
But Chen Qiaoyu was unusually stubborn today and pressed on. “Can you really borrow it? The debt from Grandma and Grandpa’s funerals hasn’t been paid off yet…”
Tu Huidong couldn’t take it anymore. She slapped Chen Qiaoyu on the back. “What’s wrong with you, child? Are you determined to argue with me?”
“Your sister Dahong’s situation is urgent, but your uncle and I are still here! Why are you the one worrying about this?”
The commotion they were making caught the attention of Yu Jianshe and Chen Qingyang, who ran over from the next room with confused looks. “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”
Tu Huidong glared at the two of them standing there like gawking bystanders. Her anger flared up again, and she proceeded to yell at each of them in turn.
She didn’t stop until Chen Qingyang’s ears practically drooped.
It was Yu Jianshe who suggested that Tu Huidong keep the items. “Mom, we have to prioritize. Right now, the most important thing is my sister giving birth. Since Qiaoyu brought these, just take them. If it were really a hardship for her, she wouldn’t have been able to come up with all this stuff.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Tu Huidong smacked him. “What do you know?”
Could Qiaoyu be compared to him?
A girl’s life was far harder. As much as Tu Huidong resented having to deal with these two burdens her sister-in-law had left behind, she didn’t want Qiaoyu to go down the wrong path or get taken advantage of.
If Yu Lanxiang hadn’t indeed owned a silver ring—one that Tu Huidong herself had suggested her in-laws pay for after she married into the family—and if that ring hadn’t been missing after Yu Lanxiang passed away, she wouldn’t have believed Chen Qiaoyu’s story today.
And now Yu Jianshe was here stirring the pot?
Tu Huidong didn’t go easy on him at all.
Rubbing his shoulder, Yu Jianshe stood next to Chen Qiaoyu, wincing as he looked at the items in the basket, but he didn’t dare say another word.
When Yu Laifu and Yu Jianguo returned from the fields, Chen Qiaoyu told them the same story. “…I didn’t take it out before because I was afraid my father and stepmother would snatch it. Now that Qingyang and I have split from the family, and I’m older, there’s nothing left in the old house, so I used it to trade for these things.”
She left herself some wiggle room. “I didn’t trade with just anyone. It’s Granny Yao at the end of the village—the one who lives in the big green-brick house. She’s a good person. If I can earn some money in the future, I can redeem it.”
No matter what, she was determined to leave the items behind.
Tu Huidong and Yu Laifu scolded her sternly for a while, but with Yu Dahong about to give birth any day, they couldn’t afford to turn down the help. In the end, they accepted.
That evening, Tu Huidong kept Chen Qiaoyu and Chen Qingyang for dinner. Aside from several large bowls of oil-less greens, she splurged on a shallow dish of stir-fried small dried fish. “Your brother Jianguo caught these in the river specially. This is all there is—nothing more.”
Chen Qingyang glanced at Chen Qiaoyu and didn’t reach for his chopsticks.
He wasn’t a greedy child. This month alone, he’d already had roast duck once and a farewell feast. The oil in his belly was more than he’d had in the entire previous year combined. He truly wasn’t craving anything.
And if he wasn’t craving, Chen Qiaoyu—who had eaten one more boxed meal than he had—was even less so.
The two quickly finished their rice, grabbed their empty basket, and hurried off. “We’re taking the three-wheeler back. Gotta catch the ride, gotta catch the ride…”
They were almost out the door when Yu Jianshe, urged on by Tu Huidong, chased after them and stuffed a dime into Chen Qingyang’s hand. “If you don’t take this, I’ll have to walk you all the way back to Yaojia Village, and then I’ll be the one walking the night road home alone.”
Only then did Chen Qingyang accept it.
Yu Jianshe watched them get on the three-wheeler before waving and heading back home. “Qiaoyu, thanks!”
Chen Qiaoyu leaned over the edge of the three-wheeler’s trailer and smiled. “When Dahong jie has the baby, make sure to let me know!”
Her mother was gone. Her father now belonged to the Yao family. But she was going to hold this household together. She would make sure everyone remembered that Yu Lanxiang had existed—and that her children mattered.
On the way back, Chen Qingyang asked his sister, “Jie, what exactly did mom leave behind?”
First money, then a ring—but he had never seen either.
Chen Qiaoyu shut her eyes and lied smoothly. “A bit of both. Don’t worry about it.”
Chen Qingyang grew anxious. “How can I not worry? I’m a man!”
Chen Qiaoyu opened her eyes and gave him a once-over. “Are you sure?”
Chen Qingyang hesitated. “…I will be in a few years, won’t I?”
She reached out and patted his head. “For now, you’ve got me. If things really get tough, do you think I wouldn’t tell you?”
He thought back. They had always discussed things together. Even though Chen Qiaoyu protected him, he wasn’t useless like Yao Dabao. He could handle things too.
Chen Qingyang stared at his sister for a long time, still suspicious that her goods had come from Yao Dayong.
After all, she had gone down to the river to see him just yesterday.
If that was really the case… Chen Qingyang took a breath and thought it over. He decided it was actually fine.
Everyone in the village had seen Dayong ge’s character. Which family wouldn’t want to marry their daughter to him?
But Dayong ge had never agreed to anyone.
Chen Qingyang looked at his sister. If she absolutely had to marry someone someday, then marrying Dayong ge would be the best choice.
With that settled, Chen Qingyang hardened his heart. If that was the case, then Dayong ge ought to treat his sister well—it was only right.
Which young man pursuing a girl didn’t have to put in some effort?
Dayong ge’s family was well-off. Chen Qingyang certainly wasn’t about to feel sorry for him.
When they got home, they were drenched in sweat again. Chen Qiaoyu drew water and washed their clothes.
Luckily, the clothes she’d hung out earlier that afternoon were already dry, so she had something clean to change into.
She didn’t dare hang her denim shirt and black wide-leg pants in the yard. Instead, she hung them inside her room after going to bed at night and took them down before dawn each morning.
Today’s trip to her uncle’s house made one thing painfully clear to Chen Qiaoyu: if she didn’t find a way to explain where her things were coming from, people would grow suspicious.
The villagers were simple and honest, but when gossip started, three tongues could talk a person to death.
After thinking it over, Chen Qiaoyu decided that once this busy period was over and she’d earned enough work points, she would go to town and see what opportunities might be there.
Zhou Quan and Qi Xiangdong had both said as much. Qingyang had read the newspapers too—all last year, they kept talking about reform and opening up. She needed to go to town and see for herself just how open things had become.