Chapter 33 : Zhou’s little plan

The day after Liu left, Mother Xiao woke up early and took eight eggs from the jar. She packed a bag of cornmeal and a small bag of homemade flour into a cloth bag and asked her third son to deliver them to Liu’s house.

Although Xiao Yi was still angry, he listened to his mother and took the things to her.

As Mother Xiao had expected, when Xiao Yi arrived, the Liu family wouldn’t even let him in. They acted as if he didn’t exist, but they accepted everything that was sent to them.

People from both villages saw it. Xiao Yi took a lot of things to his mother-in-law’s house. As a result, everyone’s tone changed, and the stories about the Xiao family changed as well.

But the Xiao family didn’t care what others said. They just wanted to live their own lives.

Father Xiao had already decided to go to the county with his eldest and second sons to find work. The thing they had the most of was strength. Except during the busy farming seasons in spring and autumn, they mostly worked outside and used the money they earned to support their family.

Now that the children had their own families, the money they earned in the past had been used for the children’s marriages. There was still some debt to pay, which had been borrowed when Xiao Hechuan was sick and needed medical treatment. He paid a little each year but had not yet fully repaid it.

Xiao Yi also wanted to go, but Mother Xiao told him to take it slow and first solve his wife’s problem. He needed to deliver gifts a few more times to show his sincerity.

So, Father Xiao, Xiao Qin, and Xiao Mian began packing, planning to leave first.

On the night before they were set to leave, the second son, Xiao Mian, was washing his feet and preparing for bed. Zhou couldn’t help but speak out about what had been on her mind for days.

“Xiao Mian, I have something to discuss with you.”

Zhou sat on the edge of the kang, biting her lower lip and twisting her hands nervously, looking very anxious.

Xiao Mian knew her well, and her appearance meant it was likely about having a baby.

“Are you thinking of some folk remedy? I’m telling you, I won’t drink it. Just forget it.”

He was genuinely scared and didn’t want to have any more problems with his health. Last time, things had only gotten worse.

“I don’t have any folk remedies. I’ve been staying at home all day lately. You know, I’ve had an idea in my mind that I want to discuss with you.”

Zhou lowered her head and spoke softly. It seemed she felt her thoughts might not be reliable, so she came to Xiao Mian to discuss it.

Hearing that it wasn’t about folk remedies, Xiao Mian sighed in relief.

“Tell me, what’s going on? I want to know.”

Zhou took a deep breath and said:

“I want to borrow some money from my fourth brother’s wife so that I can go to the county to see a doctor. In the past, I could only see doctors in the town, but those doctors are unreliable. We don’t have the money for a better doctor. I heard from my mother that there’s a charity hall in the county, and the doctors there are very skilled. So I want to give it a try.”

“It just so happens that my fourth sister-in-law has some money. I want to borrow it from her first, and when we make money in the future, we can pay her back slowly. But I can’t bring myself to ask her for this. She just got married not long ago, and we’re not very close. But you brothers have a good relationship. Can you talk to mom and ask her to help persuade my fourth sister-in-law? We just need to see a doctor, not for anything else. My fourth sister-in-law is very reasonable, so she should agree.”

It turned out that Zhou had this idea in mind. She wanted to talk to Jiang Sui, but their relationship was average, and she was afraid of being rejected. So, she hoped to get Xiao Mian to speak with his mother about it.

Mother Xiao and Jiang Sui had a good relationship as mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. It was clear that Jiang Sui also respected Mother Xiao, so if Mother Xiao agreed, there wouldn’t be any issues on Jiang Sui’s side.

To be honest, after hearing what Zhou said, Xiao Mian was actually a little moved.

However, weren’t they being a bit too calculating? The third sister-in-law had tried to borrow money but failed. If they asked for it right away and Jiang Sui agreed, they feared the third sister-in-law might think too much of it. If she didn’t agree, the already somewhat strained relationship between the sisters-in-law would only worsen.

This situation made people think about money as soon as they had any in their hands.

Xiao Mian was lost in thought, but there was no response, and Zhou became anxious.

“Hey, come on, say something. Why are you staying silent?”

Xiao Mian looked at his wife’s anxious expression. He understood her desire to have a child. She was already twenty years old, and others her age had children running around.

He felt the same way he wanted a child, but they just couldn’t conceive.

After thinking for a while, Xiao Mian finally spoke

“Wife, I think your idea is feasible. Fourth brother’s wife is a reasonable person. If you tell her you need to borrow money for medical treatment, she will definitely agree.”

“But we can’t talk to her about it right now. We just had that incident with the third brother’s wife. It’s not appropriate to bring it up now. We can’t put the fourth brother’s wife in an awkward position. If she lends it to us and not the third brother’s wife, she’ll be upset if she finds out. She’s pregnant, so we can’t risk upsetting her right now. If something happens to her, we can’t afford that. We’ve been dealing with this for several years, so a few months won’t make a difference.”

“It just so happens that I’ll be going to the county tomorrow to look for work, so I can ask around there first. That way, I won’t be running around like a headless chicken in the future. Don’t you think that makes sense?”

The brothers of the Xiao family always prioritize family harmony because their parents taught them from a young age that the family must stay together, no matter what.

Zhou was very happy to hear that her husband agreed with her plan, but she became anxious when she heard his analysis and him telling her not to bring it up now.

“But if we don’t tell her now, what if something happens later and we end up spending all our money? What will we do then?”

She was also worried that the plan wouldn’t hold up in the face of unexpected changes. She agreed with Xiao Mian’s reasoning but was simply afraid.

“Pooh, pooh, pooh! Don’t be so negative. What are you hoping for? Everyone in our family will be fine, everything will go well, and there will be no accidents. Wife, just relax and don’t overthink things. Look at how worried you are every day. In the future, talk to your fourth brother’s wife and Lanlan more often, go out for walks, and don’t keep yourself so depressed. I’m out here working hard, right? If anything happens, we’ll be able to rely on ourselves in the future. What else can we do?”

Xiao Mian was very optimistic. As a grown man in the prime of his life, he had no worries about making money.

Zhou felt a bit aggrieved, but she wasn’t completely ignorant, so she nodded and agreed.

The next morning, early in the day, the father and his two sons set off with their bags on their backs.

Mother Xiao had prepared dry food for them and repeatedly reminded them to take good care of themselves while they were away, and that the father and sons should support each other and work together.

Xiao Yi was delayed in finding work because of his wife’s situation, and he felt very upset, but he wasn’t idle. After breakfast, he went to the mountain to chop firewood. He just wanted to do his best to help the family so that his mother wouldn’t have to work as hard in the future.