Chapter 181: Can You Believe This?

Regarding Shi Xiaonan's stubborn opinion, Ning Weidong did not bother to explain himself aggressively.

In any case, he had already said it; it was Shi Xiaonan who refused to listen.

Moreover, Ning Weidong was also a bit curious about what Shi Xiaonan meant by blocking his path here.

His gaze swept over her; Shi Xiaonan's hands were empty, and she was not carrying anything.

If one were to call it a simple expression of gratitude, whether Ning Weidong accepted a gift or not, you at least had to make some kind of gesture.

Supposedly, Shi Xiaonan was not the type of person who lacked social awareness.

Ning Weidong guessed that Shi Xiaonan must still have something else to ask of him.

Sure enough, Shi Xiaonan stammered, "Um, I... I don't really have anything."

Ning Weidong frowned and said in a deep voice, "Sister Shi, you've finished your thanks; if there's nothing else, I'm heading back."

As he made a move to leave, Shi Xiaonan hurriedly said, "Weidong, wait~ I... I do have something."

Ning Weidong didn't actually want to leave; he could see that Shi Xiaonan was waiting for him specifically, and if he didn't resolve it, she would just come again later.

Ning Weidong turned around and smiled, "Sister Shi, look, just say what's on your mind. We are old neighbors who lived in the same courtyard; if there is anything I can help with, I will certainly not shirk my duty."

Shi Xiaonan licked her lips, finding it hard to speak, but at this point, she really had no other choice.

Although she had been released, this matter with Section Chief Zhang was not without its consequences.

Not to mention anything else, her job alone had become a problem.

She knew her own situation best; she was already very lucky that this time it was determined she had been coerced.

After coming out of the bureau and returning to the theater troupe, problems arose.

Although this matter had been kept confidential to a certain extent, they had already contacted her leaders for the sake of the investigation.

The theater troupe leaders knew some of the situation, and once Shi Xiaonan came out, they didn't dare to use her anymore.

Furthermore, Shi Xiaonan herself was not a permanent staff member; originally, it was because she truly had talent and could carry the stage, plus her master had once been a famous performer in Beijing, which could be used for publicity and ticket sales.

In reality, Shi Xiaonan was just a Temporary Worker.

This was also why she had tried every possible way to secure a spot to perform in Hong Kong.

As long as she seized this opportunity, it would be equivalent to gilding herself, allowing her to leave this small troupe and step onto a bigger stage.

Unfortunately...

After coming out this time, the troupe didn't dare to take her back, fearing they would be tainted by trouble.

Shi Xiaonan lost her job, which threw her into a panic.

The reason she had dared to divorce Wang Kai before was that her greatest confidence lay in having a job and being able to support herself.

Now, it was all over.

As for Wang Kai, having reached this point, it was long impossible for the two of them to mend their broken relationship.

Shi Xiaonan had been running around for the past two days, looking for many of her former friends and colleagues, hoping to find another place.

But this era was not like the future; finding a job was not that easy.

Not to mention that their circle of performers was not large to begin with.

Many people had seen Shi Xiaonan being taken away by Public Security, and because there was no clear explanation due to the confidentiality, many rumors had spread.

Those who had previously had good relations with her now kept her at a distance, let alone offering her work.

There had been a small troupe that initially spoke well of her, but the next day when she went, they told her not to come.

Shi Xiaonan immediately guessed that the troupe leaders must have inquired privately, learned some of the situation, and didn't dare to take her.

Shi Xiaonan had no other way, which was why she thought of Ning Weidong.

Coming here this time, besides thanking Ning Weidong, was also to ask for help.

Ning Weidong felt a bit disgusted; he had known early on that Shi Xiaonan might be trouble and had no intention of getting involved at all.

He hadn't expected that after all this, he would still get involved.

Yet he couldn't sternly refuse; if he spoke too harshly, Shi Xiaonan might start crying "ying ying ying" in the middle of the street, and he wouldn't be able to explain himself.

As for just brushing her off and leaving, Shi Xiaonan already treated him as a life-saving straw, and pulling and tugging would only make things worse.

Ning Weidong thought for a moment and said, "Sister Shi, don't be anxious; what is the most urgent difficulty?"

Shi Xiaonan breathed a sigh of relief; just now she was truly afraid that Ning Weidong would give her a cold shoulder or turn and walk away without a word.

If that had happened, she really wouldn't have known how to go on living.

Shi Xiaonan said in a low voice, "Um, could you lend me some money first?"

Ning Weidong was stunned; he hadn't expected Shi Xiaonan to ask to borrow money first.

But upon second thought, it didn't seem strange.

Shi Xiaonan truly had no money.

Although the income from performing was not low, there had to be a process of accumulation.

When Shi Xiaonan separated from Wang Kai, in order to find a way to divorce, she had left with almost nothing.

Since then, only a few months had passed; even if her income was decent, how much could she have saved?

Moreover, in their circle, various expenses were not small.

Especially since Shi Xiaonan had some artistic pursuits; ever since she moved out of the courtyard and shed the constraints of her family, she had poured her heart into her work.

She racked her brains trying to rehearse new plays.

It was all done in her spare time, which was fine for her.

But sometimes, rehearsals required others in the troupe to stay late.

Once or twice was fine, but after a long time, how could she feel comfortable?

Every few days, she would have to treat them to a meal, which was another expense.

If everything had been normal, Shi Xiaonan wouldn't have run into problems, and once her new play came out and made a name for itself, the returns would have been even greater.

However, no one expected that she would encounter this kind of predicament now.

Instead, Ning Weidong breathed a sigh of relief; for him, problems that could be solved with money were truly not problems at all. After getting the company up and running with Zhao Ruyi, to put it in common terms, Ning Weidong had achieved financial freedom.

That salary of several dozen yuan at work was completely meaningless to him.

Not to mention anything else, just from the few orders Wang Kaixuan handled a while ago, Wang Kaixuan himself earned 6,700, and that was only 30 percent.

The remaining 70 percent went into the company's account, and after deducting some operating costs, Ning Weidong and Zhao Ruyi could earn at least 10,000.

This was pure profit.

Ning Weidong said, "How much do you need?"

Shi Xiaonan was stunned for a moment; in fact, when she opened her mouth, she had already prepared herself to be rejected by Ning Weidong.

If she hadn't been truly at the end of her rope, she wouldn't have come to find Ning Weidong.

She didn't expect Ning Weidong to agree immediately, asking her directly how much money she needed.

Shi Xiaonan instead had a moment of blankness in her mind; she actually didn't know how much was appropriate to say.

In her heart, Ning Weidong hadn't been a Section Chief for long, so even if his salary wasn't low, he wouldn't have much savings.

What's more, she heard he was about to prepare for marriage, so he probably couldn't take out much money.

"That~" Shi Xiaonan thought for a moment, then stammered, "That, one hundred yuan, I will definitely..."

Before she could continue, Ning Weidong said directly, "Fine, where are you living now? I'll have someone send it to you tomorrow."

Shi Xiaonan opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything for a long time.

Ning Weidong frowned and asked, "Is that not enough?"

Shi Xiaonan hurriedly shook her head: "No, I... I don't know if I can still live there tomorrow."

It turned out that when Shi Xiaonan moved out of the courtyard before, she lived in a dormitory arranged by the theater troupe.

Now that she was no longer part of the theater troupe, she naturally couldn't continue to occupy the dormitory.

This was another reason why Shi Xiaonan was so distressed.

If she couldn't get money and find a way to change her living situation, she would be homeless.

After asking about the situation, Ning Weidong couldn't help but sigh in his heart; this woman's luck was really not very good.

It was also Shi Xiaonan's own character flaw; she took things too much for granted, never kept emergency money on hand, and had blocked her own path.

Furthermore, in this era, if one lost their family and their work unit, it was truly very difficult to survive alone.

This was still an era of collectivism.

Ning Weidong thought for a moment and said, "Forget it, I'll help you all the way; wait here for a moment."

After saying this, without waiting for Shi Xiaonan to respond, he turned and went back into the courtyard first.

If a person is beautiful, they can indeed receive kind treatment in many situations.

Looking at Shi Xiaonan's current appearance, it was even easier to evoke pity.

Ning Weidong returned home and was just about to take his bicycle when Bai Fengqin saw him from the room, came out, and asked, "Brother Weidong, going out again~"

Ning Weidong replied, "Yeah, have some business, I'll be back in a while."

After finishing, he pushed the bicycle out of the Dazayuan, went to the alley where he had just met Shi Xiaonan, and straddled the bicycle to signal for her to get on.

Shi Xiaonan didn't want to run into anyone she knew, so she hurriedly sat on it.

Ning Weidong rode the bike along the alley to the north, and before long, they arrived near Ning Wei's house.

He stopped early and said, "Sister Shi, you get down and wait for me first~"

Shi Xiaonan didn't know what he meant, so she could only obey obediently.

Ning Weidong then went to call Ning Wei out.

Ning Wei knew Shi Xiaonan and also knew Shi Xiaonan's situation.

Ning Weidong had already explained everything in his house; he came to Shi Xiaonan and said, "Sister Shi, go with Xiao Wei. He will help you arrange a place to stay first; we'll talk about other things later."

Just now, seeing Ning Weidong bring someone over, she felt a bit uneasy, not knowing what it meant.

She didn't expect Ning Weidong to arrange it this way and wanted to say something else.

Ning Weidong had already ridden off on his bike.

Ning Wei was left behind, standing more than a meter away from her.

Shi Xiaonan nodded awkwardly and nervously: "That, Comrade Xiao Wei, hello~"

Ning Wei nodded without speaking; he was also feeling puzzled in his heart.

It wasn't anything else, mainly because he couldn't be sure of the relationship between Ning Weidong and Shi Xiaonan.

Although Ning Weidong had just said that he had nothing to do with Shi Xiaonan, could those words be trusted?

The woman in front of him was too beautiful; even though she looked down-and-out and haggard at this moment, it couldn't hide her looks, nor that figure.

Ning Wei didn't dare to be negligent: "Sister Shi, you're too polite. Third Brother already told me everything just now. Don't worry, leave it to me."

Shi Xiaonan nodded and thanked him again.

On the other end, Ning Weidong rode his bike back, but didn't go straight home. He first went to the entrance of the alley and used the public telephone at the grocery store to call Chu Zhongxin to inquire about Shi Xiaonan's situation.

He couldn't just listen to Shi Xiaonan's side of the story.

Chu Zhongxin was slightly surprised: "Weidong, you're still in contact with this woman?"

Ning Weidong said, "Sigh, we're in the same courtyard, aren't we~ She just came to me for help, and I didn't know the specific situation."

Chu Zhongxin deliberated slightly and said, "She's actually fine; it's already been determined from above that she was coerced. But you should also be careful; I've seen that woman, and she's easy to cause misunderstandings."

Ning Weidong knew he was referring to Shi Xiaonan's appearance.

However, with these words from Chu Zhongxin, many of his doubts were dispelled, and he replied, "Fourth Brother, don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

The two chatted for a few more sentences, then ended the call.

(End of chapter)