“So what kind of car are you looking to buy, what’s your budget? Paying in cash or financing?” Narisu asked.
Song Ying smiled. “Well, brother, I like Hummers.”
Narisu sucked in a breath. “Sis, I like that car too, but I can’t afford it!”
A Hummer costs over a million. Way too expensive.
Song Ying pulled out her phone and opened Xiaohongshu. “Brother, what about this car? I like this one.”
Narisu took a look. “Tank Black Warrior 300. That one works—it’s around two hundred thousand or so.”
“You can put down a small down payment and finance the rest.”
Song Ying said, “Brother, I have money. I don’t need a loan.”
Narisu asked, “How much money do you have?”
Auntie Qiqige chimed in, “Your sister’s got plenty of money—she has several hundred thousand…”
After hearing his mother finish, Narisu said, “Mom, girls know how to save money, but guys can’t hold onto it. If I had five hundred thousand, I’d have blown through it by now.”
It was true. If he had five hundred thousand in cash, he’d have spent it all already.
No way he’d manage to save it up.
Qiqige said, “Enough with that. Your sister is also a girl, but look how hard she spends money.”
That was hard to argue with. His sister really did spend money like crazy—no ordinary person could match her.
“Yingzi, I still suggest you finance it. Aren’t you using that five hundred thousand to open the restaurant and build the new house? Keep that money for now, in case of emergencies,” Narisu said.
Uncle Wang Lei agreed. “Cars are depreciating assets. Financing is the right call. We’ll keep the money for other things.”
Grandma Chen Shuqin came over. “Listen to your uncle. Building that new house and restaurant—who knows how much that’ll cost. Let’s keep the money for ourselves.”
Song Ying said, “That’s true.”
Even though she had several million, she might as well finance the car.
Anyway, she had the money—she could pay it off whenever she wanted.
“By the way, Uncle, when do you all have time? Come with me to pick up the car.”
Wang Lei said, “Whenever works. We’re free anytime.”
“Tomorrow then?” Song Ying asked.
Wang Lei said, “Sure, tomorrow.”
And so it was settled—they’d head into the city tomorrow to pick up the car.
Several people helped out in the kitchen, and the food was ready quickly. Including cold dishes and canned goods, there were eight dishes in total.
“I just love your braised pork ribs, Auntie. They’re so good—even better than what the head chef at the five-star hotel I worked at makes.”
Song Ying’s words delighted Auntie Qiqige, who covered her mouth and laughed.
“How could my cooking be that good, compared to a five-star hotel head chef?”
Song Ying said, “Auntie, don’t sell yourself short. Your ribs are genuinely delicious.”
Qiqige picked two ribs onto her plate. “If they’re good, eat plenty.”
At her grandparents’ and uncle’s house, Song Ying certainly wasn’t going to be polite. She ate a lot, until her belly was round as a ball.
How to put it? The food at five-star hotels was good, sure, but it didn’t have that feeling of eating at home.
In terms of culinary skill, her auntie certainly wasn’t as good as those chefs.
But she just loved eating her auntie’s cooking—it went perfectly with rice.
After eating and drinking their fill, they had some tea, and then Song Ying and Chen Shuqin headed back. Early tomorrow morning, her uncle and cousin would come pick her up, and they’d go into the city together to get the car.
After Song Ying left, her cousin’s wife Zhao Min went back to the back house—their own place—to prepare the bird’s nest.
Narisu came over. “What’s that?”
Zhao Min said, “Bird’s nest. Yingzi bought it for me.”
Narisu was puzzled. “People are really strange. With so many delicious foods out there, why would they insist on eating swallow nests?”
Zhao Min said, “What do you know? This is very nutritious. Don’t be fooled by how small this box is—it’s expensive, over a thousand yuan.”
“That expensive?”
Narisu came over and poked at the bird’s nest, only to have his wife slap his hand away.
Zhao Min said, “Don’t poke at it randomly. You’ll ruin it.”
“In a bit, I’ll stew a bit more, and you can all have a taste.”
Narisu waved his hand. “I won’t eat any. Mom and Dad probably won’t either. Grandpa and Grandma might have a little. Stew less.”
Zhao Min said, “Fine, I’ll just stew this one piece—no, it’s called a ‘cup.’ One cup of bird’s nest.”
Narisu said, “Call it whatever you want.”
Meanwhile, Song Ying had already arrived home. Her grandpa hadn’t gone out to tend the sheep today—he’d sold sheep this morning.
“How much did you get for them?” Chen Shuqin asked.
Song Guozheng said, “Two hundred twenty thousand.”
Chen Shuqin said, “Good. Perfect timing—tomorrow Yingzi can go buy the car and spend the money, so no one will come asking to borrow from us.”
The villagers figured that since their granddaughter was grown up and working now, the family had no major expenses, so they kept finding excuses to borrow money from them. Though they did pay it back later.
But Chen Shuqin wasn’t too keen on lending money to people.
Song Guozheng said, “No one’s borrowing. When I ran into Second Sister-in-law while selling the sheep today, I mentioned that Yingzi wanted to open a restaurant and buy a car. With Second Sister-in-law’s big mouth, the whole village will probably know about it before long.”
Chen Shuqin asked, “What did Second Sister-in-law say?”
Song Guozheng said, “What could she say? She just said the car should be bought by Yingzi’s future husband.”
Chen Shuqin curled her lips. “A car isn’t cheap either. Unless she finds someone from a wealthy family, who’s going to buy one for her?”
Her sister-in-law—whose daughter had married someone moderately well-off—was always going on about how when you find a partner, you should have him buy you a car and a house, or else don’t get married.
The car and house she meant weren’t the kind where the couple lived together, but a separate house and car bought solely for the woman.
With requirements like that, how could an ordinary person ever satisfy them?
Song Guozheng said, “You said it.”
“Car and house—our Yingzi can buy those herself. She doesn’t need anyone else to buy them for her.” Chen Shuqin huffed.
The ones you buy with your own money versus the ones someone else buys for you—how could they be the same? A house and car bought with your own money are just more comfortable to use.
And when Yingzi finds a partner in the future, she shouldn’t look for someone too poor, nor someone too rich. She should find someone from a similar background, a family roughly on par with theirs.
If she marries someone too poor, her daughter will suffer. If she marries someone too rich, her daughter will have to live by reading other people’s expressions—uncomfortable and uneasy.