Chapter 65: Everyone Helps Her Urge for Repayment

“I do have a job, but I need to pay off debts! You forcibly borrowed my dowry, causing my marriage to fall through and my engagement to be canceled. What more do you want, Sister Fang? Please return a little to me.”

Hearing her words, the surrounding people erupted into discussions, like a pot boiling over.

“What? Forcibly borrowing someone’s dowry and causing their marriage to fail?”

“Hey, little sister, why did you have to borrow someone’s dowry? Was it to save a life? Even if it were for a life, you should have borrowed it from someone else.”

Fang Qing’s face turned red with embarrassment, stammering without being able to say a word.

Since she wouldn’t speak up, Lin Yuyao helped her out.

“It wasn’t to save a life; it was because she wanted to open a salon.”

“What? You borrowed someone’s dowry just to open a salon? I say, young lady, you really are something. If she wants to borrow it, you just give it to her?”

“Oh, it wasn’t me who gave it. It was my ex-fiancé. He tricked me, saying a friend’s family member was seriously ill and urgently needed money for medical treatment. I thought it was a matter of life and death, so I agreed to let him take the money.

But I didn’t expect he was lying to me, and that money wasn’t used for saving anyone’s life but was instead given to her to open a salon. I was so furious that I called off the engagement right away.”

Everyone listened to her, expressing their approval of the breakup.

What kind of unreliable person was this? To deceive money from a woman before marriage? If they had gotten married, what kind of chaos would that have been?

The girl was young and beautiful; she didn’t deserve to suffer such humiliation.

Everyone’s gaze towards Fang Qing changed; they were actually speculating whether the girl’s ex-fiancé and this woman had something going on.

But the girl was young and beautiful, while this woman had a child, indicating she was married.

There could be other reasons, right?

That kind of thing shouldn’t be guessed at randomly.

“Sister Fang, please return me a little, will you?”

Fang Qing looked troubled and said, “Yuyao, I really want to pay you back, but I have no money. I haven’t found a job yet, and I need to settle the child. I really…”

The restaurant owner could no longer hold back and said, “You should at least pay her back a little. Yuyao comes here every day for meals, always ordering spicy tofu and rice, claiming she loves it. Who would actually like eating that? I understand; she’s trying to save money. Oh! Poor girl.”

Hearing the owner’s words, everyone’s sympathy surged.

“I say, ma’am, don’t be too unreasonable. Let’s not even talk about whether borrowing that money was proper. Just look at the situation now. You and your son are here ordering a feast while this young girl is eating nothing but tofu and looking like a stick! Tsk, it truly fits that saying: the one borrowing money is the master, while the one asking for it is the servant. She’s almost in tears and still can’t get a single cent.”

These words ignited everyone’s anger, and they began to demand that Fang Qing repay the debt.

She wanted to leave, but a table full of dishes had just been served, and she hadn’t even had a chance to eat yet. How could she bear to leave?

Seeing that she couldn’t avoid repayment any longer, she reluctantly took out a crumpled ten yuan bill.

“I only have twenty yuan left; my son and I need to live. I can only give you ten yuan.”

Having ten yuan was better than nothing; Lin Yuyao quickly accepted it.

“Ten yuan is fine, Sister Fang. I hope you find a job soon and can repay me.”

Fang Qing softly replied that she would, and then sat down to eat.

But the food didn’t seem as appetizing anymore.

After Lin Yuyao took the money, she remembered that Liu Jie and Zhou Jie were still waiting for her to return with their meals.

Not saying anything more, she hurried back to the bookstore after getting the food.

When Zhou Jing saw her return, she quickly went over to help her carry the food.

“Why did you take so long? If you hadn’t come back, I would have gone to look for you.”

Lin Yuyao thought that since Fang Qing was here, she was probably renting nearby, intending to stay long-term.

Her little incident would likely be exposed, and there was no way to hide it.

To avoid them guessing randomly, it would be better to tell them herself.

So, during lunch, she shared her story for the first time.

The two of them were stunned for a moment after hearing it.

“So, you came here to get a divorce?”

Lin Yuyao nodded. “I initially thought the certificate was finalized, so I came here to figure out how to get divorced. I didn’t expect the certificate hadn’t come through yet, and I had to retrieve the documents.”

“Thank goodness the certificate didn’t come through; otherwise, your military marriage wouldn’t be easy to dissolve.”

“Yes.”

“That ex-fiancé of yours, was he the one sitting over there, staring daggers at Xiao Fu?”

Huh?

They were glaring at each other?

Lin Yuyao nodded, “Yes, that’s him.”

“Wow, he looks like a decent guy. How could he be so foolish?”

Lin Yuyao smiled faintly and shook her head. “He thinks he’s doing the right thing; there’s no way to explain it.”

“How can there be no way to explain it? It’s right to repay kindness, but there should be a limit. Even if you want to repay kindness, you shouldn’t take… no, it should be called cheating. No matter what, you shouldn’t cheat someone’s dowry to repay a favor.”

“Yes, Sister Zhou is right. Yuyao, thank goodness you broke off the engagement; someone like him isn’t worth it. I saw him the other day; he’s decent, but far inferior to Xiao Fu.”

Lin Yuyao: …

Liu Yihuan realized she had misspoken and awkwardly coughed twice, saying, “He’s far inferior to Xiao Yi, too.”

Hearing her open up, they finally understood why Lin Yuyao always looked troubled when she first arrived.

After taking several days off, she seemed to brighten up afterward, which should mean her issues had been resolved.

…

Fang Qing reported Lin Yuyao to Lu Jiangting, and he cornered Lin Yuyao on her way home from work.

“Yuyao, did you pressure Fang Qing for money today?”

Lin Yuyao: …

“Please watch your wording. I asked her to pay back the money, not pressured her for it. It’s only right for debts to be repaid. If she doesn’t pay, that’s shameless.”

Lu Jiangting: …

When did she become so sharp-tongued?

“Fine, I misspoke, but you didn’t need to say it so shamelessly, did you?”

“Ha, did I say anything wrong? She’s eating fish and meat with her son while I’m struggling to make ends meet with tofu and rice every day. Is it because I like tofu? Huh? Why should she be able to eat lavishly while owing so much money, while I can barely afford my meals and still can’t get my money back?”

Lin Yuyao loudly questioned Lu Jiangting, who felt quite guilty after hearing her words.

“I didn’t realize you were in such a tough situation.”

“Ha, you didn’t realize? Of course, you wouldn’t. If you could, you wouldn’t ask me why I’m wearing clothes bought by Fu Huayi. Because I don’t have any clothes to change into, and I can’t afford to buy any, understand?”

Lu Jiangting was shocked and felt even guiltier.

“Yuyao, I honestly didn’t know. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. When my salary comes next month…”

Before he could finish, Lin Yuyao interjected, “Next month, you’ll also use that salary to support her and her son.”

Lu Jiangting: …

Lin Yuyao sneered, “She’s here seeking refuge with you for her and her child; you can’t just let them starve, can you?”

In her previous life, he had said the same thing and had calmly given half of his salary to her.

Lu Jiangting felt a headache coming on and irritably scratched his head, “Fang Qing’s salon was smashed, and we don’t even know who did it. For their safety, I had to let them come here. Here, there are organizations, so no one dares to bully them.”