Chapter 14 The Small Matter of Borrowing Money

Wen Lan once again saw Lin Nianhe's smile.

That familiar, unsettling, superficial smile.

"You really make sense with what you're saying, it's enlightening indeed."

Lin Nianhe smiled at Wang Xue, "Since you've said so, I believe you would also definitely selflessly contribute for 'everyone'. Well then, although I have no acquaintance with Comrade Miao Yulan, and we haven't spoken before she asked to borrow money, I still have to promote this spirit—"

She glanced at Miao Yulan, her voice not loud but each word ringing clear, "I'm laying it out here; however much Wang Xue lends you, I'll lend you the same amount."

Wang Xue was instantly uncomfortable.

She knew all too well about Miao Yulan's family situation.

The Miao Family favored sons over daughters, having four daughters before finally having a son. In the eyes of Miao Yulan's parents, daughters were like weeds; her three older sisters were married off for high dowries, almost like selling them, just to gather dowry money for their younger brother.

Miao Yulan was sent to the countryside in place of her brother, and thankfully so, otherwise her parents would have married her off for money long ago.

In fact, Miao Yulan's days in the countryside were not easy either; like most female comrades in the brigade, she barely managed to earn six points a day, enough food for just herself.

Yet even so, Miao Yulan would send half of her grain home every year after the autumn harvest.

As for herself... picking wild vegetables, collecting mountain goods, drinking cold water, as long as she didn't starve, it was fine.

She grew up in such a family, taught from a young age to dedicate her life to her younger brother, never feeling anything wrong with it, even feeling sweet satisfaction in her hunger.

Wang Xue knew Miao Yulan's situation all too well; she also knew that the borrowed money could never be returned.

Of course, she couldn't lend money to Miao Yulan not just for this reason, but more importantly…

She didn't have it either.

Apart from being able to eat slightly better than Miao Yulan, their pockets were equally empty.

Seeing Wang Xue's expression change unpredictably, Lin Nianhe smiled slightly, "Comrade Wang Xue, how much do you plan to support Comrade Miao? It's urgent for her family to get a bride, let's put our money together and send it to Uncle Team Leader, I believe he would be willing to help with the remittance."

Lin Nianhe acted caring, yet thought to herself—

Don't expect to play the landlord's game of returning money in full, and splitting the common people's money seventy-thirty!

Wang Xue also seemed to realize this point, and found herself unable to say anything.

Miao Yulan let out a cry like a young bird that couldn't find its nest, rushing into Wang Xue's arms, pleading fervently, "Wang Xue, Wang Xue! Please help me, I beg you! Otherwise, I really can't survive…"

Wang Xue, in a fluster, comforted her and no longer had the energy to sustain her earlier pretensions.

Wang Shumei pushed Lin Nianhe towards the door, and dragged Wen Lan along, calmly saying, "It seems Comrade Wang Xue still needs some time to think it over. Let's go back and rest for now, as missing work in the afternoon would embarrass the whole Educated Youth Corps."

Lin Nianhe, with a smile lingering, left behind a comment before departing, "Let me know once you've agreed on the amount, and we'll go to the brigade leader."

Lin Nianhe was somewhat puzzled; she was sensitive to people's emotions and was certain she saw stark fear in Miao Yulan's eyes.

What was she afraid of?

Lin Nianhe couldn't figure it out and didn't bother to think deeply.

Once Lin Nianhe stepped outside, she saw that most of the male Educated Youth who had gathered in the yard had returned to their rooms, only Sun Guanghui, the simpleton, still stood by the door with a look of concern.

He asked, "How is Comrade Miao Yulan? Is there a way to solve it?"

Lin Nianhe looked at him with complex eyes, hesitating for a moment before saying, "She asked me for two hundred yuan, which I don't have. Comrade Wang Xue persuaded us to promote the spirit of mutual aid."

Sun Guanghui nodded repeatedly, "It should be!"

After saying that, he returned to his room and soon came out clutching a bundle of neatly folded money of various denominations.

"This is all I have, thirty-two yuan and eight cents, please take it to Comrade Miao Yulan for me!"

Sun Guanghui's face was earnest, and if it weren't for the norms of male-female interaction, he probably would have directly stuffed the money into Lin Nianhe's hands.

Lin Nianhe was completely speechless.

She wanted to write a letter to the National Academy of Sciences, suggesting they take back endangered simpletons like Sun Guanghui for a thorough study.

His existence is a miracle of life!

Lin Nianhe was utterly drained and waved her hand in exhaustion: "I'm very tired, I'm going back first."

Sun Guanghui couldn't understand why Lin Nianhe wouldn't take the money, so he turned to Wang Shumei and extended his hand with the money further.

Wang Shumei rolled her eyes in utmost impatience and scolded in a low voice, "Are you stupid? Can this matter be solved with ten or eight yuan? Moreover, since when does a sister accrue external debt for her brother's marriage? Lending money now does not help her, it only harms her!"

Sun Guanghui was confused, "Why? How is helping her harmful?"

Wen Lan, standing by, also felt a surge of intellectual superiority and disdained Sun Guanghui: "Tsk, tsk... what a silly melon." After that, she rolled her eyes and also went back into the house.

Sun Guanghui was dumbfounded, innocent, and really wanted to understand what was happening.

Seeing his clueless demeanor, Wang Shumei sighed out of extreme helplessness, pulled him aside, and whispered, "Which family's son getting married would ask their daughter who went to the countryside for betrothal money? His family won't cover Comrade Miao's debts. The more she borrows, the heavier the debt becomes. How can a girl bear that? How will she get married in the future?"

Sun Guanghui pondered for a while then finally caught on, frowning, he said, "Then she should be told!"

Wang Shumei gave him a look, "You go tell her, we're not close with her, it's not something we can say."

Sun Guanghui wanted to ask how it should be said but saw Wang Shumei had also left.

He scratched his head, feeling it wasn't his place as a man to say these things, and after thinking for a while without finding the right words, also went back inside.

After Lin Nianhe returned to her room, she bolted the door, tightly pulled the curtains, washed herself and climbed onto the bed, grabbing a fascia gun to massage her aching muscles.

Before going to sleep, she applied a thick layer of menthol ointment onto her palms, easing the aching, and comfortably closed her eyes.

Lin Nianhe didn't want to meddle in the affairs in the front yard anymore, and even when Miao Yulan suddenly asked her for money, she just considered it as a family legacy of the Miao Family.

She didn't plan on making a fuss, but that didn't stop others from refusing to let her be.

"Hey, look at Educated Youth Miao's swollen eyes, did something happen at home?"

Just on her way to work in the afternoon, an auntie noticed Miao Yulan's swollen eyes.

Miao Yulan was a capable woman, no matter how hard things were on her heart, she never let it interfere with her meals or work, clearly worried about not earning today's points.

She was there, but her heart wasn't in the work. When an auntie asked, her tears fell like broken pearls onto the fertile black soil.

"Hey, hey, why are you crying, girl? Just speak up."

Miao Yulan didn't need to say it herself, as Wang Xue kindly spoke up for her, telling everything that should and shouldn't be said:

"Yulan's brother is getting married, but they are still a bit short on the dowry. Their uncles and aunts really can't manage, so they wrote to ask if Yulan could help a little bit... Aunties all know Yulan, she's always been the most filial, sparing each grain of rice as if splitting it into eight parts, where can she spare anything extra?"

"But this is Yulan's only real brother, how can she just ignore it?"

"It's also my fault, I have no ability to help Yulan, forcing her to ask Educated Youth Lin…"

As the aunties listened, they actually didn't see anything wrong.

Although "gender equality" and "women can hold up half the sky" had been promoted for a long time, the deeply ingrained idea of passing down the family line made it hard to change their thinking.

Especially since in the village the bride price was mostly twenty to thirty yuan, and a few years back, twenty kilograms of cornmeal could even bring home a pure maiden.

Thus, the aunties neither thought the Miao Family's parents were to blame nor believed that Miao Yulan could fail to repay the borrowed money.

Twenty or thirty yuan, a few months' salary for city folks, one could save up quickly enough to repay it.

After a while, the aunties kindly comforted her, "Educated Youth Miao, don't cry, wasn't the matter resolved? Get back to work, don't think about these things, you can slowly repay it later."

Miao Yulan cried even louder with a "waah".

Wang Xue glanced in Lin Nianhe's direction: "What resolution? She refused to lend!"

The aunties looked at each other bewildered and then turned to look towards Lin Nianhe.

In the corn field, that little figure was slowly moving forward.

Beneath the green corn leaves, a dash of red adorned the scene.