Chapter 3

This news caught Jian Feng off guard.

He never expected that the old lady, whom he had just mentioned, would have passed away so suddenly.

In his panic, he quickly made a decision: “You go first, help Dongzi if he’s busy, and I’ll go look for your sister-in-law and then head over later!”

Jian Li stopped her dad from behind: “Dad, you go ahead. I’ll go find mom.”

Jian Feng hesitated for a moment.

Xu Jianguo hadn’t really wanted to step up, and had come to find Jian Feng with the thought of tagging along, knowing that if something happened, Brother Feng would take care of it. So he quickly said: “Brother, Xiao Li said that, you should go with me.”

Jian Feng had no choice but to walk while reminding Jian Li: “Tell your mom to bring some money, and don’t dawdle.”

Jian Li patted her chest in assurance, and after sending him off, she slowly started tidying the table.

Heh, go early?

Why? To be a fool for someone else?

Jian Li washed the bowls, steamed two buns, split one in half, and then took a bottle of red oil-sealed sauce from the cupboard.

As soon as she opened it, a strong fragrance spread, and she used a clean pair of chopsticks to add two bites of sauce to the bun.

This was her mom’s watermelon sauce beans. Every summer, Wang Mengmei would make several jars of it. Sometimes when she was too busy to cook, she would use the sauce with a bun. The sauce had a sweet hint of watermelon and was also good for mixing with noodles.

While the watermelon beans themselves didn’t have much of a fragrance, when placed inside the warm buns, the aroma exploded.

Jian Li hesitated for a while, but ultimately couldn’t resist. She tore off a small piece of the bun and dipped it into the sauce. The steaming aroma, with a hint of melon, was quickly covered by the salty fragrance of the sauce.

She squinted her eyes in satisfaction, feeling guilty inside while saying what everyone who’s on a diet says.

“I’ll definitely lose weight tomorrow.”

She packed the two buns into a lunch bag, then poured the remaining corn soup into a lunch box. Jian Li took the bag and headed to find her mom.

Wang Mengmei was at her friend Li Lijuan’s house. Jian Li followed the memory’s guidance and slowly walked to Aunt Lijuan’s house.

Not far along the way, Jian Li began to feel short of breath. The weather was hot, and after just eating, she broke into a sweat after only walking for five minutes.

She had been through this in her previous life, so this time, she didn’t have the same urgent desire to lose weight. She walked slowly, maintaining a pace a bit faster than walking, which allowed her to sweat without straining her knees.

—-

In her previous life, she had worked hard to lose weight after being ridiculed for being fat. However, the weight gained from hormones was not easy to shed, and once she lost it, it easily came back.

Jian Li had injured her knees from excessive exercise and had been to the hospital. She had also fainted from low blood sugar and been taken to the clinic. In fact, she had been warned by doctors not to over-restrict food due to the fast weight loss causing stomach cramps.

She had taken too many detours on the road to losing weight.

Therefore, although Jian Li had decided to lose weight, she now wanted to do it gradually.

She continued walking slowly, taking breaks, and by the time she reached Li Lijuan’s house, 20 minutes had passed.

Though Wang Mengmei was angry that her husband had secretly borrowed money, as soon as Jian Li mentioned that Liu Xiangdong’s mother had passed away, she immediately stood up and told her friend to leave.

“The old lady was good to our family, so we should go and offer some incense and lend a hand.”

Wang Mengmei wasn’t one to be overly formal, so she grabbed her daughter and went straight to Liu’s house without returning home.

Jian Li shouted, “Slow down!”

Just as she was looking at her mother and planning to remark on how pretty Wang Mengmei looked with such fair skin, her mom immediately displayed her fiery nature and tried to hurry her along.

“Mom, don’t rush. Eat something first.”

Jian Li quickly took out the lunch bag. The two buns were still warm, and the soup in the lunch box was still a little hot.

“Mom, dad already left. Don’t rush. Eat first before going.”

Liu’s grandma, who had been very kind to her dad, had passed away, and going there would only mean crying for a few rounds.

Her dad hadn’t thought that much about it, but she had to at least make her mom comfortable first.

When Wang Mengmei saw the food her daughter had brought, she paused for a moment.

Jian Li took the opportunity to push her mom to sit by the flower bed. “We don’t know how long it will take once we’re there. It’s better to eat first.”

She didn’t remember much about the funeral, except that her parents had seemed unhappy afterward, and their relationship with Liu Xiangdong’s family had faded.

Jian Li handed the buns to her mom, and Wang Mengmei hesitated before awkwardly saying, “You’re arranging things for me now?”

But her daughter was being considerate, and Wang Mengmei felt warmed inside. She took the bun and began eating it.

Jian Li, no longer the shy one, actively asked, “Is it good? I even added watermelon sauce beans.”

Wang Mengmei looked at her as if the sun had risen in the west.

She was someone who always spoke her mind, and Jian Li had always been somewhat afraid of her. When they argued in the past, Jian Li would immediately retreat into her shell.

She was about to compliment her when it occurred to her—wait a minute, the watermelon sauce was made by her, the buns were steamed by her, so why did her daughter look so proud?

“Eh, it’s passable.”

Jian Li: …

She knew she wouldn’t hear a single compliment from her mom.

Wang Mengmei finished the two buns and drank the soup.

Jian Li seized the opportunity and said, “Mom, Dad just said that you should bring some money over.”

After she spoke, Jian Li shrank her neck, watching as Wang Mengmei visibly got angry.

“…Money, money, money! The money I just lent out today, who knows when I’ll get it back!”

The old lady had stomach cancer, and since her diagnosis, she didn’t stay in the hospital for long. The doctors said that at this stage, the illness was just a matter of time.

If she was lucky, she might make it to National Day; if not, this summer would be her last.

The old lady was sensible and knew that the disease was incurable. She directly said she wouldn’t seek treatment. She only had one son, Liu Xiangdong, who had been laid off and had two children to care for, so she didn’t want to spend the family’s money on her own treatment and leave behind a family with no resources.

Wang Mengmei didn’t think much of Liu Xiangdong and his wife, but she still had some respect for the old lady.

Because of this respect, her anger towards Liu Xiangdong grew even more.

“All he does is use his own mother as a pawn, saying he borrows money to buy the old lady something good to eat. Pah! Does he think I’ve forgotten what he looked like in the hospital?”

When the old lady was diagnosed and decided not to undergo treatment, Liu Xiangdong seemed relieved, with a face full of joy.

That was his own mother! Even if she decided not to get treated, how could he agree so quickly?

It was as if he feared she might change her mind, not even giving her a chance to protest. He just took her home, and his wife, with fake sincerity, knelt and pretended to vow to serve her mother-in-law in the next life.

Just thinking about it made Wang Mengmei feel disgusted.

No one expected him to sell everything to treat her, because everyone knows cancer can’t be cured. But as a son, how could he take the old lady’s kindness for granted?

And Liu Xiangdong’s wife, Zhang Qin, even though the old lady hadn’t passed yet, had been taking care of their children, cooking, and washing clothes for all these years. In these final days, she should at least show some filial piety. But kneeling in front of others—was she expecting others to see her “filial piety”?

Wang Mengmei was a dutiful daughter herself, so she felt especially upset with Liu Xiangdong and his wife.

Recently, Liu Xiangdong and his wife had been borrowing money from everyone, taking advantage of the old lady’s condition. Their excuse was simple: the old lady was ill, and these last days shouldn’t be spent in hardship. And they couldn’t afford Western medicine anymore, so they had to buy Chinese medicine.

The ones they borrowed from most often were their childhood friends, especially Jian Feng’s family.

First, Jian Feng only had one child, so the financial burden was a bit lighter. Second, the old lady had helped Jian Feng a lot in the past, so not lending him money would be a disgrace.

At first, Wang Mengmei didn’t refuse to lend them, but what made her angry was that the money was never spent on the old lady.

Liu Xiangdong and Zhang Qin would only buy the old lady some peach crisps, with the same excuse.

“Stomach cancer, by this time, she can’t eat anything else.”

A few days ago, Wang Mengmei went to visit the old lady, and the old lady was just holding a piece of peach crisp, nibbling on it slowly. It was heartbreaking to watch.

The old lady even tried to comfort them: “I can’t eat anything else, just ask Dongzi to buy me some easily digestible food.”

But her son, who should have been looking after her, didn’t do his part. This left Wang Mengmei feeling a sense of sadness.

When she got home, she was furious and decided not to lend Liu Xiangdong any more money. With that money, she would rather burn paper for the old lady every year instead of giving it to Liu Xiangdong’s family!

Now, adding everything up, Liu Xiangdong had borrowed over six hundred yuan from their family.

Six hundred yuan was equivalent to two or three months’ worth of Jian Feng’s salary.

Wang Mengmei yelled, but Jian Feng didn’t say anything. In the end, he just muttered, “I can’t bear it.”

Today was even worse. He had just lent out his salary without hesitation.

Wang Mengmei wanted to ask, wasn’t their family struggling too?

She had to pay five hundred yuan in rent for her market stall, and last month, she couldn’t even gather the money and had to borrow from her sister. Yet Jian Feng, who was constantly lending out money, didn’t bat an eye.

The more Wang Mengmei thought about it, the angrier she got: “Don’t talk about money, don’t take a cent!”

Now that the old lady was gone, wouldn’t giving money just be benefiting Liu Xiangdong and his wife?

Wang Mengmei fumed as she paced in circles. She couldn’t release her anger, and she wanted to find Jian Feng and give him a good scolding.

You’re the only one! You’re the one with a heart! The real son couldn’t even show compassion, but you’re the one who’s all in!

Jian Li, watching her mother getting more and more furious, started thinking about the past.

In the previous life, Liu Xiangdong borrowed money from her dad, but never paid it back.

This became one of the many “old grievances” her parents fought about over the years.

Her mother would argue that Liu Xiangdong was scheming and had borrowed the money on purpose, even though his family was better off than theirs by that time.

Jian Li later realized that Liu Xiangdong must have known the factory wouldn’t last much longer and feared his childhood friends might ask him for help. So he started giving the impression that his family was struggling financially.

But in reality?

Liu Xiangdong had been hiding from others, and after the old lady’s death, there was an insurance payout. The three houses his father left him in the countryside were later demolished for development.

Even the small factory he worked at, although the salary was low, had additional benefits. Liu Xiangdong later retired, and his monthly pension was also quite a lot.

After the SARS epidemic, Liu Xiangdong’s family bought their first commercial house, and later, when house prices soared, they prepared homes for their two children.

At that time, their family was going through the hardest period. Jian Feng went to ask for money, but they wouldn’t even let him inside, only poking their heads out at the door to claim they were broke.

In short, they didn’t have the money to lend.

Jian Li furrowed her brow. Her father’s childhood friends, Zhao Xiaopeng and Liu Xiangdong, had both let her father down. Zhao Xiaopeng had betrayed him badly, but Liu Xiangdong was no better.

Thinking about this, Jian Li said to her mother, “Mom, just now, Uncle Xiaopeng came to find Dad to go drinking at his place, along with Uncle Jianguo. He came over to tell Dad.”

Wang Mengmei stopped in her tracks: “Zhao Xiaopeng is asking your dad to drink? That’s really something. And Xu Jianguo, last time his wife came to ask me about the stall, I told her there were no stalls, and she gave me the cold shoulder. Why is he still…”

Wang Mengmei looked as though someone had grabbed her by the throat, her eyes wide open as she stared at her daughter.

Jian Li rubbed her nose and said in a muffled voice, “Mom, why don’t you also go with a few aunts?”

They had all grown up in the same big courtyard. Grandma Liu had been good to her dad and also to the others.

It didn’t make sense that now, after Grandma Liu passed, her dad was the one showing up and putting in money, while the other families only showed up in person.

Wang Mengmei ground her teeth and inwardly cursed Zhao Xiaopeng and Xu Jianguo over and over again.

Usually, these two would always call her husband “Feng Ge” whenever they received their pay, trying to get on his good side. But when something went wrong, they would shrink back, pushing their own selfish ones forward.

Take the matter of Liu Xiangdong borrowing money. These two cried poor the loudest, yet they only lent him a few dozen bucks. But their own naive one borrowed several hundred all at once.

Thinking about this, Wang Mengmei stamped her foot: “Let’s go!”

Xu Jianguo dared to come first to ask Jian Feng, so she had no problem calling on the wives from the other families.

If they didn’t go, then she wouldn’t either!

She didn’t believe that with all the wives present, Liu Xiangdong would still have the nerve to borrow money. And if he did, then everyone should lend him!

With a clear plan, Wang Mengmei wasn’t angry anymore and told her daughter to go home, while she proudly marched off to notify the other families.

Jian Li called after her mom: “Mom, are you still opening the shop tomorrow morning?”

The market Wang Mengmei ran was not far from home, and she had managed to get the stall through a friend. It had just started operating these days and sold early in the morning. The sugar buns and pepper-salt buns alone required waking up early.

Wang Mengmei rolled her eyes: “You worry about everything… of course, I’m opening!”

Their family had no money, and she still owed her sister a few hundred. Just thinking about it made her anxious.

Jian Li smiled and returned home first.

Once home, she helped Wang Mengmei with preparations and made sure everything was ready.

Then, she turned on the TV and started doing squats while watching.

“One, two, three, four…”

Her heavy body made her dizzy after just twenty reps.

Jian Li pushed through and did five more, finally collapsing on the couch, gasping for air.

After watching a bunch of nostalgic TV shows, Jian Li took out her textbooks and flipped through them, setting up a study plan.

By the time she finished everything and looked at the clock, it was already late at night. Her parents hadn’t returned, but Jian Li wasn’t sleepy.

So, she took out a big piece of paper and drew several grids.

After carefully writing the date, she recorded her food and exercise for the day. She drew 45 boxes on the page, and in the last box, she wrote “150 pounds.”

“Summer break goal.”

Feeling satisfied, Jian Li looked around for some clear tape to stick the paper in the most visible place.

Just then, the front door creaked open, and Jian Feng and Wang Mengmei returned.

Jian Li carefully glanced over, noticing her dad’s sour expression, while her mom…

Though her mom also had a dark look, she was behind her dad, making a hand gesture at Jian Li.

Jian Li: …Got it. Her dad must’ve been hit hard by a “friendship betrayal.”