The flowers and grass by the small river swayed in the wind, and Zhao Xiaobing’s mood fluctuated along with them.

Should he go or not?

Go!

Zhao Xiaobing made up his mind. If he hesitated again this time and lost Deng Damei, he would surely regret it. He glanced at Deng Damei, whose cheeks were flushed, and said, “Let me walk you back to the educated youth dormitory first.”

“No need, I can go back by myself. You should go and rest. I heard from your mom that you have to help your uncle build a house this afternoon.”

“Alright then.”

Zhao Xiaobing lowered his head and took her hand. The warmth in his palm was still intense.

Deng Damei ran off, almost tripping over a small stone by the river, which scared her into running even faster. Her cheeks turned red all the way to her ears.

She hoped Zhao Xiaobing hadn’t noticed.

Actually, Zhao Xiaobing had already reached out his hand, but seeing her run so fast, he could only retract it.

Watching her run away, Zhao Xiaobing walked to the foot of the back mountain, looked up at the path leading uphill, and couldn’t help but feel his heartbeat quicken. He hoped Brother Zhao wouldn’t get angry later.

May Buddha bless him!!!

The mountain path of their Zhao brigade was entirely formed by people walking, relatively narrow but not rugged.

When he reached halfway up the mountain, Zhao Xiaobing took a deep breath and stepped into the courtyard, looking at Zhao Rencheng’s house from a distance.

Inside the house, Zhao Rencheng, hearing the bell ring, suddenly opened his eyes, got out of bed, and opened the door.

Standing in the small courtyard was Zhao Xiaobing, shoulders hunched and slightly bent. Zhao Rencheng frowned, his voice filled with anger from being disturbed in his sleep, and he stared at him, asking, “What are you doing here?”

Zhao Xiaobing’s heart trembled. Avoiding his gaze, he replied softly, “Brother Zhao, I have something I want to talk to you about.”

“Did you have to come to my house?” Zhao Rencheng retorted, his tone restrained but still carrying a hint of anger. His deep, dark eyes showed impatience. He really, really, really disliked people coming to his house.

Zhao Xiaobing braced himself and slowly nodded, sweat pouring from his forehead. He felt as if Zhao Rencheng’s fist might come crashing into his face at any moment.

Zhao Rencheng tried hard to suppress his irritation, clenched his jaw, and casually pointed to a bamboo chair outside the courtyard, “Sit here.”

“Alright.”

Zhao Xiaobing sat beside him, his hands awkwardly placed on his knees.

Zhao Rencheng rubbed his temples, took a guest teacup from the bamboo tray, and poured him some water, “It’s just plain water, drink up.”

“Alright.”

Zhao Xiaobing took the cup with both hands, gulped it down, and as he put the cup down, he wiped the sweat from his forehead again.

Zhao Rencheng had never liked beating around the bush and got straight to the point, “What do you want from me?”

“I… can I borrow seventy yuan from you?” Zhao Xiaobing stammered, as the amount was too large, and he wasn’t close to Zhao Rencheng. It felt too abrupt and presumptuous.

“Seventy?” Zhao Rencheng raised an eyebrow.

Zhao Xiaobing nodded.

The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds.

Zhao Rencheng, seeing him constantly wiping sweat, was somewhat impressed. Despite being so scared, he still dared to come, “What do you need so much money for? Building a house? Didn’t your family just finish building one?”

“No, I want to get married.” Zhao Xiaobing’s face instantly turned bright red, and he didn’t know where to put his hands and feet.

Brother Zhao hadn’t even gotten married yet.

He was borrowing money from Brother Zhao to get married.

It felt really immoral.

Zhao Rencheng indeed felt a pang of jealousy. Recently, it seemed like all the young people in the brigade were getting married, one after another. He wanted to give Zhao Xiaobing a hard time, but remembering that Zhao Xiaobing’s girlfriend was Deng Damei, and Deng Damei’s good friend was Zhang Yunxi, he held back and asked, “How do you plan to pay it back?”

Hearing that there might be a chance, Zhao Xiaobing’s eyes lit up, and he quickly explained his plan, “Ten yuan a year, for eight years, with the last ten yuan being interest.”

Ten yuan interest?

This surprised Zhao Rencheng. Among all the people who had borrowed money from him, Zhao Xiaobing was the only one who had proposed interest, “I can lend you the money, but you have to pay it back on time. Don’t make me chase you for it, or I’ll go straight to your parents.”

“I will pay it back!” Zhao Xiaobing quickly assured.

Zhao Rencheng also believed he would. Someone who had been avoiding him since childhood wouldn’t dare to default on the loan.

Moreover, Zhao Xiaobing had always been inconspicuous in the village, never causing trouble, never getting into fights, very law-abiding, and not very noticeable—a very honest young man.

If there was one thing that had caused a stir, it was his relationship with Deng Damei.

“Wait, I’ll write you an IOU.”

“Alright, thank you, Brother Zhao.”

Zhao Xiaobing was so excited that he bit his fist, his voice choked with emotion. He had prepared himself to be beaten up, but he never expected to actually get the money.

Brother Zhao was the best militia captain.

No doubt about it!!!

From now on, he would definitely listen to Brother Zhao.

Although…

Even if Brother Zhao hadn’t lent him the money, he would have listened.

But the situation was different now; he was willing to do so!

“It’s nothing.” Zhao Rencheng went inside to get paper and pen, wrote out the IOU, had him sign and press his fingerprint, and reminded him, “Don’t tell anyone you borrowed the money from me. If others find out, they’ll come to me, and I don’t have that much money to lend.”

“I understand!” Zhao Xiaobing nodded earnestly.

Zhao Rencheng handed him seven ten-yuan bills.

Zhao Xiaobing, holding the seventy yuan, felt extremely nervous, his whole body felt out of place, “Brother Zhao, I’ll head down the mountain now.”

“Alright, invite me to the wedding feast.”

“Sure!”

Zhao Xiaobing gave a silly smile.

Brother Zhao really knew how to talk.

He hit right on his favorite point!

Hehe.

Thinking about giving the money to Damei later, they could hold a wedding feast and get married, having their own little home, Zhao Xiaobing couldn’t stop smiling.

Seeing his infatuated look, Zhao Rencheng felt inexplicably uncomfortable, “You can go down the mountain now.”

Looking at him like that.

It’s really annoying.

“Alright, Brother Zhao, you should take a nap.” Zhao Xiaobing, with the money tucked away, went down the mountain, constantly looking around, afraid of running into anyone he knew.

Meanwhile, Zhao Rencheng put Zhao Xiaobing’s IOU into a box. Looking at the dozens of IOUs inside, he felt helpless.

He didn’t know when he would be able to collect these debts.

But the money kept going out.

The largest amount among them was from Zhao Xiaobing, a full seventy yuan.

The rest were mostly five or ten yuan.

After the incident with the old leader last time, he had thought about asking for the money back, but it was autumn now, and they hadn’t distributed money or grain yet. Seeing them borrowing food from the brigade to eat, he couldn’t bring himself to be harsh.

He didn’t hold much hope for these debts.

Closing the lid.

He stuffed it casually into a cabinet.

Zhao Rencheng lay back on the bed to continue sleeping. In the afternoon, he still had to repair the water channel, a very tiring job mostly done by men. Women and girls had many things to do this season, preparing for winter. It was said to be a slack time, but it wasn’t that slack.

Lying there, Zhao Rencheng began to think about how to make rabbit meat more fragrant and how to interact with Zhang Yunxi in the evening without it being awkward.

Sigh—

Not awkward.

Otherwise, Zhang Yunxi would definitely notice.

Deceiving himself, he slowly fell asleep.