The sun has just turned to the west, so it's not too late. If we are more careful, we should be able to make a round trip before dark.
Qi Yu quickened his pace and walked towards his sister's house.
My sister Qi Lan is a weak person, and her development of this temperament has a lot to do with the family environment. Her father died early, and her mother was not a shrewd person, so she gradually became submissive.
Since she left the cabinet, the number of visits to her parents' home has become less and less, and the relationship between the in-laws on both sides has only become a matter of face.
Because of this incident, my mother Zhou complained a lot, saying that her daughter was a heartless person. The reason why she married her close in the first place was because she expected her to help her parents' family more in the future, but in the end she didn't get any benefit at all.
In fact, Qi Lan can't be blamed for this. His brother-in-law, Sun Dacai, is a famous stingy man, and he has to be picky about everything. It is also because he likes to make cheap money, so his small business does not have many repeat customers.
According to Qi Yu's idea, in addition to taking my mother back today, I also want to talk to my sister about borrowing money. Otherwise, how can I pay back the money for the coffin?
After thinking about it, I arrived at my brother-in-law's house. Before I even entered the door, I heard the conversation between my mother and my sister inside the house.
"Lani, what happened to Ah Hao?"
"Mom, stop thinking blindly, my brother has nothing wrong with him."
The nickname Ah Ma was given by his father Qi Sanduo when he was still alive. According to country people, the more humble and vulgar a boy's nickname is, the easier it will be for people to raise him.
However, no matter how he heard this nickname, Qi Yu felt it was a bit awkward, and there was always a feeling that it was not sincere.
"Although Mom can't see clearly, she understands in her heart. When I came here, I heard shopkeeper Qian's voice. Do you think he, a coffin seller, can do anything good by coming to our house? Tell me the truth, Ah Ma is
Didn't something happen?"
Mrs. Zhou had already noticed something was wrong and was very worried.
Because he has inherited the memory of the original owner, Qi Yu currently has quite complicated feelings for this old mother. No matter how you say it, being cared about and missed by her is a kind of happiness.
Feeling warm in his heart, Qi Yu opened the door and went in, imitating the original owner's tone and smiling: "Mom, I'm here."
Suddenly hearing her son's voice, the old lady was surprised and happy: "Ah Ma, are you okay?"
Qi Yu wanted to be perfunctory, but seeing Mrs. Zhou's face full of kindness, he quickly said seriously: "It's okay, I just accidentally fell into the water and had a false alarm."
"It's okay, thank you, ancestors, for blessing me." Mrs. Zhou muttered, clasped her hands and bowed to the sky.
Qi Lan came to his senses and breathed a sigh of relief, then took his younger brother to the yard, deliberately avoiding his mother to ask about the situation.
She saw with her own eyes that her brother was not breathing. How could he come back to life now? Although there were many people who had been rescued after drowning, this was the first time he had heard of it in such a long time.
What's more, I always feel like he has changed somewhere, but I can't put my finger on it for the moment.
"Are you really okay?"
"What's the matter? I just drank a few mouthfuls of river water and felt a little uncomfortable in my stomach." Qi Yu said nonchalantly, and then asked, "Where is my brother-in-law?"
"Oh, he went to the West Village to buy preserved fruits. He will probably be back soon." Qi Lan looked at the sky and said.
Since my brother-in-law is not here, I can only try to find out what my sister has to say.
So, Qi Yu told Qi Lan the general process of removing the coffin. The five taels of silver debt was the key point, and his tone was relatively serious.
"Five taels of silver? How can we have such an expensive coffin in the countryside?" Qi Lan took a breath and frowned.
My sister thinks that the price is a loss.
Coffins in the countryside are not so particular. They usually use whatever wood is readily available, which is commonly known as miscellaneous wood coffins. This method uses local materials to save costs, and the price will not exceed four taels of silver.
Since this was the market price, it was impossible for Liu Quan not to know it. She probably succumbed to the lack of cash, so she suffered a dumb loss by default. Shopkeeper Qian, on the other hand, looked at Qian's face and took advantage of the situation to help.
Qi Yu began to plead: "Sister, you have to help me this time."
Qi Lan shook his head and said embarrassedly: "You also know that your brother-in-law has always made the decision regarding money. The most I can do is put in a good word for you. Whether he is willing to borrow it or not, I can't guess."
As he was talking, his brother-in-law Sun Dacai hurried back. As soon as he entered the yard, he saw his brother-in-law muttering there, his face seemed to be asking for help, and the wrinkles on his forehead couldn't help but tighten a little.
"Oh, it's Ah Ma who's here, a rare visitor!" Sun Dacai asked, looking left and right.
"I met my brother-in-law, uh... I came in a hurry today and didn't have time to prepare gifts. I'm a little rude." Seeing his eyes darting around, Qi Yu decided to smooth things over first.
Looking at his brother-in-law who was smiling with his arms folded, Sun Dacai was filled with doubts.
When he looked at himself, there was no time when he didn't put his hands behind his back with his nostrils in the sky. When he opened his mouth, he thought he was a scholar, and said some noble words that he was ashamed to associate with a hawker like him. Oh, why did he suddenly become polite today?
"Gift? Let's forget it. When have you come here without being like this?" Sun Dacai replied angrily, but when he looked sideways he saw his wife Qi Lan hesitated, and immediately became cautious: "I said, do you have anything to do with me?
"
"It's nothing serious. I came here this time to see you, but also because I ran into a little trouble and wanted my brother-in-law to help me find a solution." Qi Yu still kept his smile.
When he heard that he was in trouble, Sun Dacai's wrinkles deepened a little more, and he said with a face of a late mother: "What kind of little trouble is that?"
"I owe someone five taels of silver and I have to pay it back within ten days. I hope my brother-in-law can lend me some money..."
Before he could finish his words, Sun Dacai's face was clouded, and he interrupted: "Don't mention it, I'm not a banker, so where do I get the spare money? It's hard to do business now, and there are many people who take credit, so I can make a turnover
We encountered difficulties all over the world.”
"Brother-in-law, listen to me first. I won't lend you anything in vain. How about I pay you five cents in interest?" Qi Yu thought of a certain treasure from later generations, so he borrowed it from it.
Sun Dacai was overjoyed when he heard this, but after thinking about it for a while, he shook his head and said, "It's too late to talk about interest. How can I let you borrow money? Ah, it's not that I don't lend it to you, it's the money I have on hand.
It’s really hard to get rid of it.”
"..."
It was difficult to deal with, the favor card couldn't be used, the profit card couldn't be used, and even the brother-in-law didn't want to see him. Qi Yu felt disappointed, and at the same time he realized that the original owner had indeed overdrawn his personal reputation.
Mrs. Zhou kept warm in the room, but kept listening to the noise outside. Then she slowly walked out, banging a small wooden stick: "Uncle, you are Ah Ma's brother-in-law. Now that he is in trouble, you can't just watch.
Just ignore it."
As the saying goes: One hand is not as close as four fingers. In front of her son and son-in-law, Mrs. Zhou stood unswervingly on her son's side.
Sun Dacai was stunned. He didn't expect his mother-in-law to be at home. He frowned again and said, "Mom, why are you here?"
But Ms. Zhou was in a panic: "I came here with Ah Ma to borrow money from you. Tell me, can I help you?"
Sun Dacai made a cold face: "Speaking of favors, I'm going to talk about it. When you were engaged to Qi Lan, you always asked for my gift money, saying that you would help Ah Man.
Reading. During the holidays, I also spend a lot of money on pen and ink. He said that he is getting married this year and insists on forcing me to contribute a lot. Over the years, have I not helped enough? "
Mrs. Zhou sighed: "He doesn't need to spend money on anything to study and treat diseases? Alas... now the family doesn't even have money to buy rice."
Sun Dacai snorted: "Studying? What's the use of studying? He has studied for so many years, and he hasn't even passed the boy's entrance examination? Let me tell you, he is not the material for studying at all! It's a waste of money.
, and made yourself crazy, what are you planning on?"
"What if I win, wouldn't I become a teacher?" Ms. Zhou disagreed. In her mind, studying is very noble.
"Winning? How could it be that easy?" Sun Dacai curled his lips and said: "The storytellers have said that all those candidates are from the lower realms of the stars in the sky. How can we mortals have such luck? In my opinion,
It's better to let Ah Man learn to do some business with me. Although he won't make much money, it will be enough for him to spend his daily expenses."
"But he is a scholar..."
"Students don't want to eat?"
Qi Yu saw that the conversation was getting further and further, so he quickly interrupted: "Brother-in-law, stop arguing, it's about the money..."
Sun Dacai said flatly: "Don't mention money again, no!"
Answered very neatly.
There was no point in lingering any longer. Qi Yu thought about it and said goodbye decisively. He took Zhou's hand and walked out silently. At the same time, he also sighed at the sobs of his sister behind him.
As soon as they left the courtyard, they happened to meet a neighbor who happened to be passing by, and the mother and son caught a ride home.
When I returned home, the moon was already above the branches, and the Chang Geng star began to twinkle brightly.
Liu Quan had already prepared dinner. Seeing her mother-in-law and husband-in-law coming in one after another, Liu Quan silently walked to the kitchen to bring out dinner.
Dinner was steamed buns made of whole grains. The white porridge in the bowl was just white water with a few rice grains floating on it, and then there was a plate of pickles, which was light and light without any oil or water.
It’s really a piece of cake!
Well, think about it the other way around. Whole grains are good. Not only are they rich in vitamins, but they are also non-GMO products, so you can eat them healthily.
Just as Qi Yu was seeking self-comfort and stretching his neck to swallow his food, he suddenly heard his wife say: "Tomorrow I will go to the show to pick up some acupuncture needlework, so that I can exchange some money for rice..."
Looking at the porridge in the bowl, Qi Yu immediately understood the meaning behind his words. The family was facing a shortage of food.
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but think of my brother-in-law. How nice it would be to be able to borrow money. But borrowing money is a matter of affection, and not borrowing is also a duty. There is nothing to complain about.
In addition to the food ration issue, I still owe him five taels of silver.
"As the saying goes, there is always a path, so let's take our time and think of a way." Qi Yu sighed.
"Don't expect anything from my parents' side. You offended the entire Liu family at the homecoming banquet. Even now, my father is still angry."
There is one less way to borrow money.
The original owner's madness not only offended his father-in-law's family, but also seemed to have beaten his wife. Therefore, the relationship between the two fell to a freezing point since they got married.
"Oh, it's all my fault."
Liu Quan was startled and looked at him in surprise. It was hard to believe that such an admission of mistake came from his mouth.
It seems that he has really changed.
Became like a normal person.
Qi Yu naturally didn't know what Liu Quan was thinking, but at a glance he saw that the porridge in her bowl was only half a bowl, half less than his own, and he poured it over with sadness: "I can't finish eating, so my wife will eat it for me.