Chapter 11: Repaying Money

On the way, Wu Zhiqiu had already planned how to use this money.

Their family had outstanding debts: two hundred yuan to her parents’ home, one hundred to her younger sister-in-law, sixty to her elder sister-in-law, two hundred to her eldest daughter, sixty to her brother-in-law, totaling six hundred yuan in debt. As soon as they had money, they would pay it back. Every family was struggling; the money had been borrowed from various places during the eldest son’s wedding for the bride price and to purchase furniture.

Now that they had money, they needed to repay it quickly! The remaining money would be used to buy a bicycle for her and Li Mancang.

She hadn’t given a bride price for the second son’s wedding, but she planned to give one hundred yuan to the second daughter-in-law. Over the years, they had taken care of them, and she couldn’t just turn a blind eye!

With this arrangement, the thousand yuan would be gone in no time!

Wu Zhiqiu sighed; being poor wasn’t scary, but being poor because of her was!

However, they wouldn’t live in debt anymore! They were finally starting anew.

Upon arriving at the recycling station, she first asked for half a day off from her boss. The night is long and a lot can happen; she needed to repay the money as soon as possible.

She hurried over to Li Mancang’s machinery repair shop. The security guard recognized Wu Zhiqiu and didn’t stop her, letting her in directly.

Li Mancang was startled to see his wife rushing to find him, thinking something serious had happened.

Wu Zhiqiu pulled Li Mancang aside and recounted how she got the money from their eldest son.

Li Mancang didn’t expect his wife to really ask for the bride price back; he thought she was just blowing off steam!

He never imagined she would actually get the money, and that their eldest son had over a thousand yuan in savings!

“Good-for-nothing! Useless brat! I’ve endured so much hardship to help him marry, and he saves up so much money without even offering to help me!” Li Mancang, usually an honest man, was angry for the first time!

From the time their eldest son went to university to getting married, Li Mancang had been struggling to catch his breath! The debts felt like a mountain pressing down on his heart.

This good-for-nothing had saved so much money and didn’t even bother to check how things were at home!

For the first time, Li Mancang felt that this so-called eldest son was full of nonsense and had no sense of responsibility! All that education had gone to waste!

“Take the money for your elder sister and younger sister first, then go home and give the money to your brother-in-law. I’ll go to my parents’ home and pay back my father and elder brother, and I’ll send the money to Fenglan tomorrow!”

Wu Zhiqiu didn’t care about Li Mancang’s angry face; she was organizing everything.

“Alright! I’ll go right now! I’ll borrow my apprentice’s bicycle!” The countryside was far away, and it took three hours to ride a bicycle. His old bicycle was no good!

“Don’t borrow it; just buy a new one instead! Sell the old one for scrap! Riding other people’s bicycles might break them!” Wu Zhiqiu had planned to buy two bicycles, so she might as well buy them directly.

Li Mancang had long wanted to replace his old, noisy bicycle.

“There’s enough money, you should buy one too. Walking to work every day is tiring!” Li Mancang, in his moment of happiness, didn’t forget to care for his wife.

“You’re finally showing some conscience. Let’s go buy them together!”

The couple happily went to the department store and bought two bicycles. Li Mancang’s was a 28-inch, costing one hundred eighty yuan, while Wu Zhiqiu’s was a 26-inch lady’s bicycle, costing one hundred sixty.

In the 1980s, they didn’t even need a receipt. The two rode off on their new bicycles, feeling joyful.

Wu Zhiqiu’s father lived in the western suburbs of the city; he had bought a small courtyard and had a vegetable garden. After retirement, he had been living there.

To conveniently take care of their father, the eldest brother also bought a courtyard nearby. The eldest sister-in-law had retired this year and was helping to take care of grandchildren and cook for their father.

When Wu Zhiqiu arrived, her sister-in-law was busy cooking, while her father was inside playing with several great-grandchildren.

“Our family’s sister is back!” her sister-in-law greeted warmly.

No matter what her sister-in-law thought in her heart, she appeared very warm and welcoming, leaving no room for criticism.

“Sister-in-law! Dad!” Wu Zhiqiu handed her sister-in-law two pounds of meat and a pound of candy.

“Little sister-in-law, you shouldn’t have spent so much. There’s plenty at home, and your life isn’t easy; why buy these things?” Her sister-in-law said politely but quickly took the things from Wu Zhiqiu’s hands.

 “Grandma!” A few children gathered around.

“Be good, grandma bought you candy. Go ask grandma for some!”

“Yay! Thank you, grandma!” The children cheered as they surrounded their grandma to get candy.

“Stop wasting money!” The old man pointed at his daughter, disapproving of her coming back with so many things. There were so many children at home who weren’t married yet, and his daughter was still in school; it was all a waste of money.

“Dad, today’s meat is pork belly. Don’t you love braised pork? I’ll have sister-in-law make it for you later!”

“Alright, I’ll  make it!” Sister-in-law said with a smile while handing out candy to the children.

The old man glared at his daughter. “Why do you have time to come today? Aren’t you working?”

He glanced at the calendar on the wall; it wasn’t a holiday, so why was she here?

“Dad, I came to repay the money!” Saying this, she took out two hundred yuan, handing one hundred to her father and fifty to her sister-in-law.

“Sister-in-law, this money has been owed for two years; I’m sorry it’s taken so long to repay!”

Sister-in-law was taken aback, not expecting her younger sister-in-law to come back to repay money.

Seeing the money, she hesitated. “We’re not in a hurry for the money; you should keep it for now!”

Wu Zhiqiu felt touched. Although her sister-in-law often talked big and could send someone off for two miles without eating, she had indeed been good to her. Over the years, she had borrowed quite a bit of money from her family.

“Sister-in-law, we have the money now, so I’ll repay you first. If we need it later, I’ll ask you!” Wu Zhiqiu pushed the money into her sister-in-law’s hands.

“Okay then, I’ll keep it for now, and come back for more if you need it!” Sister-in-law accepted the money without hesitation, putting it into her pocket before busying herself with cooking again.

“Is your family really well-off now? I’m not in a hurry for this money; I don’t have any use for it,” the old man said, looking at his daughter, who was so thin her clothes were hanging on her.

“Dad, I have it. This fifty, when the second brother comes, please give it to him! I won’t go to his house; who knows when he’ll come back!”

“Alright, if you need money, just tell me, don’t make yourself suffer!”

Wu Zhiqiu felt a lump in her throat. “Got it, Dad! I won’t suffer in silence anymore!”

“That’s good!” The old man thought Wu Zhiqiu’s words were meant to comfort him; a group of children who hadn’t grown up yet were suffering endlessly.

Before long, the eldest brother, Wu Huai’an, returned from work. He was currently working as an accountant at the cotton spinning factory and would retire in a year.

“Youngest sister, why do you have time to come today?” The eldest brother was delighted to see Wu Zhiqiu.

“Youngest sister came to bring us money and bought a lot of meat and candy,” sister-in-law quickly chimed in.

“Bringing money? Youngest sister, our family isn’t in a hurry for money; you should give it to others first,” the eldest brother said quickly.

“Eldest brother, I have it. If we are in a pinch later, I’ll come back to borrow!”

“Just give the money to Mancang’s family first; you don’t need to repay our family! Consider it as me supporting the children’s education as their uncle!” The eldest brother never intended to take that fifty yuan back.

“I think so too, but youngest sister insists on giving it,” sister-in-law, hearing her husband say not to take the money, felt a bit conflicted but pushed the responsibility onto Wu Zhiqiu, fearing her husband’s disapproval.

“Eldest brother, I really have it. I finished paying with Mancang’s family, only our family’s left!”

“Really?”

“Really!” Wu Zhiqiu affirmed.

“Alright, if you need money again, just come back for more!”

“Okay! Thank you, eldest brother! Sister-in-law!”

“No need to be polite among family!” Sister-in-law smiled, genuinely glad that the money she had finally received wouldn’t be given away.