“Ahem… Ye girl, if you have any other thoughts, say them all. Since I’m here, I’ll help you witness it.”
Ye Linlin nodded upon hearing this.
“I can agree to break off the engagement. But Bai Ni, since you’re stealing my fiancé, then our friendship ends here. When are you going to return the money I lent you?”
The words, devoid of any emotion, came from Ye Linlin’s lightly parted red lips.
“And that watch my brother bought me, you’ve borrowed it for over a month, and every time I ask for it back, you make all sorts of excuses. Return that too.”
Hearing Ye Linlin’s words, the villagers who had come along started discussing animatedly.
“My goodness, Ye Cheng even bought Ye Linlin that rare watch, he’s really willing to spend money.”
“Ye Linlin is also foolish, daring to lend out such a precious thing. If my daughter were so wasteful, I’d beat her.”
“The second daughter of the Bai family is really something. I’ve always seen her taking food and clothes from the Lao Ye family, I didn’t expect she also borrowed money and took the watch.”
“The Lao Ye family is really good to their daughter, not like the Bai couple who favor sons over daughters so much. They always give the good food to their two sons, and their two daughters are getting thinner and thinner.”
“That’s right, what did Bai Ni look like before? She’s gotten a lot fatter these past few years being close to Ye Linlin.”
“The Ye family girl is really good to her, and she still steals her man, tsk tsk tsk.”
Hearing the first half of Ye Linlin’s words, a hint of a smile immediately appeared on Bai Ni’s face, but the second half of the sentence quickly froze her smile on her face, slowly turning into shame and indignation.
Coupled with the discussions of the others, made her originally barely pretty face become somewhat distorted, red and black by turns.
Bai Ni bit her lip, her voice carrying a hint of grievance.
“Linlin, what nonsense are you talking about? Even if what you gave me was leftovers and old clothes, I’m very grateful to you, but you can’t slander me. When did I ever borrow money from you, and the watch… the watch was a gift from you.”
Ye Linlin smiled slightly. Bai Ni probably thought that she had no evidence, and she would have no way to do anything as long as she denied it, but she was wrong.
“The food and clothes were just to help you out, but I wrote down every loan you took.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Ye Cheng handed over a notebook from behind.
No one noticed when Ye Cheng had returned to the house. At this moment, he was standing side by side with Su Chenhuai, who had already rested, behind Ye Linlin.
“Here, the first time you borrowed money from me was on February 19, 1979, you borrowed 2 mao. The most you borrowed was when you said you felt unwell and had to go to the county hospital, you borrowed 7 kuai. In these few years, you’ve borrowed a total of 112 times, a total of 183 kuai 6 mao 8 fen. Okay, I don’t want your interest, and I’ll round it down for you, just return 183 kuai.”
Ye Linlin expected that Bai Ni would definitely deny it, but fortunately, the original owner had the habit of keeping accounts, and every loan Bai Ni took was clearly written in the book.
“As for the watch, let’s not talk about whether I would give away such a valuable thing, even if I did, I’m now asking you to return it.”
The crowd was even more in an uproar listening to Ye Linlin’s words.
After all, in this era, a worker’s monthly salary was only about 40 yuan, not to mention these farmers who toiled in the fields, their annual income might not even reach 183 yuan.
Ye Quangui and his wife Liu Xihong had been standing by the side, and Ye Linlin had stopped them from speaking many times.
Now, hearing that their foolish daughter had not only lent Bai Ni so much money, but even the watch had been borrowed, Liu Xihong cried out in a hurry.
“Damn it, your brother bought you such an expensive thing, I thought you were reluctant to wear it, I didn’t expect you to dare to lend it out.”
Poking Ye Linlin’s head hard with her finger, Liu Xihong turned her head and glared fiercely at Bai Ni.
“And you, quickly return the money and the watch, otherwise, I’ll make it so you have no face to stay in Dayu Village, no, even in Tongshan Township.”
Bai Ni’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot. She couldn’t return the watch, because she had already taken it to the black market and sold it for 150 yuan.
She turned her head and looked at Wang Junbao for help, her expression timid.
But Wang Junbao seemed unable to understand Bai Ni’s plea for help and didn’t say anything.
Seeing that Wang Junbao didn’t help, Bai Ni bit her molars in anger. When he was taking advantage of her, he said he was willing to do anything for her, but when she really needed him, he pretended to be blind.
When she spoke again, Bai Ni’s voice was trembling.
“I don’t have that much money, the watch was accidentally lost by me.”
Hearing that the watch was lost, Liu Xihong rolled up her sleeves and was about to start fighting, but was grabbed by Ye Quangui next to her.
“If it’s lost, then pay the equivalent in cash. That watch was brand new, 110 yuan, plus what you owe, a total of 293 yuan. Sign an IOU. I’ll give you 7 days to raise the money, or I’ll call the police.”
Ye Linlin didn’t want the watch that Bai Ni had worn anyway. She took the pen from Ye Cheng and quickly wrote the IOU on the notebook with a few strokes, tore it off, and handed it to Bai Ni.
Su Chenhuai glanced at the words on the note. The handwriting was delicate and powerful, completely different from the writing in the account book. Su Chenhuai looked up at Ye Linlin, with a few more traces of inquiry in his eyes.
Bai Ni looked at Ye Linlin in shock when she heard her words.
“Linlin, I’ve always treated you as my best friend, how can you force me like this? I… I will try my best to save money to pay you back, but 7 days is too tight, and we have such a good relationship, there’s no need for an IOU, right?”
Ye Linlin rolled her eyes and interrupted Bai Ni’s unrealistic thoughts.
“You know we’re friends now? When you were hooking up with my fiancé and throwing dirt on me, why didn’t you think that I was your best friend? Sign it quickly, or I’ll call the police right now.”
“Second daughter of the Bai family, since you admit to owing the money, then sign it.”
Hearing Qiao Zhengping speak, Bai Ni glared fiercely at Ye Linlin, reluctantly took the pen and paper, hesitated for a few seconds, and still signed her name.
“Okay, I hope the next time I see you is when you’re returning the money.”
Ye Linlin was satisfied and put away the IOU. In this era, 293 yuan was not a small amount, it was more than half a year’s salary for a worker.
“Wang Junbao, when we got engaged, we didn’t write a marriage certificate or exchange betrothal gifts. Today, with the village chief here to witness, let’s just call off our marriage today. In the future, we’ll each marry and not interfere with each other.”
Ye Linlin was in a good mood after receiving the IOU and didn’t want to entangle with the two of them any longer, so she directly broke off the engagement.
Seeing that her parents looked complicated, as if they had something to say, Ye Linlin shook her head, signaling them not to speak. After looking at each other, they still followed their daughter’s wishes.
“Hmph, that’s for the best.”
Wang Junbao turned around and left after achieving his goal, and Bai Ni also quickly followed behind Wang Junbao.
“Everyone, uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters, thank you for worrying about me so late tonight. There’s nothing wrong, everyone should go home and rest.”