Chapter 115: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 115

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

Time passed day by day.

Li Xiulan and Wang Zhanggen built their house at a very slow pace; after all, neither of them was very skilled, and they didn't have much money, so they had to scrimp in many places.

Meanwhile, He Dazhu's house next door changed by the day, its speed simply staggering.

He Dazhu had hired a construction crew of seven or eight people, so naturally the building speed was several times faster than Li Xiulan and Wang Zhanggen working alone.

In the blink of an eye, He Dazhu's house already had its three-story column bodies erected and walls built, while Li Xiulan and Wang Zhanggen's house still hadn't even poured the first-floor roof slab.

Actually, they still weren't sure whether to pour it at all — pouring a roof slab would cost quite a lot of money. Li Xiulan thought, why not just cover the roof with black tiles, or buy some asbestos tiles to lay over it?

Wang Zhanggen disagreed with her suggestion, feeling it would lose face.

So no matter what, they had to find a way to pour the concrete.

Li Xiulan couldn't win against him and just said coldly:

"There's not much money left at home now. If you want to pour the slab, you go figure out how to raise the money yourself. Just don't expect me to go borrow from Niu Chunsheng again!"

Wang Zhanggen's face darkened; he smoked in silence.

He naturally didn't want Li Xiulan to borrow from Niu Chunsheng again either, because in his view, every time she borrowed money, she paid with her body — a disgrace to his face as a man!

Before long, Qingming Festival arrived.

Around here, everyone placed great importance on Qingming Festival — sweeping tombs and worshipping ancestors, almost everyone returned; it was a show of respect to the ancestors.

Wang Zhanggen's eldest brother Wang Zhangtian hadn't returned to the hometown even for Spring Festival, but he came back the day before Qingming.

Wang Zhanggen knew this was his only chance to ask his eldest brother for a loan.

Once Qingming passed and his brother returned to Guangzhou, he'd have no way to borrow from him.

However, the brothers had fallen out over splitting the family assets earlier, and now they only kept up surface peace — the old brotherly bond was gone.

So Wang Zhanggen wasn't sure whether his eldest brother would be willing to lend him money.

That evening, Wang Zhanggen went to his eldest brother's old house, only to see Wang Zhangtian and his wife Zhao Lifen sweeping the old house under the dim light.

Their old house wasn't on the Jingzhu Expressway route, so they hadn't received any demolition compensation.

"Big Brother, Sister-in-law."

Wang Zhanggen stood at the door and greeted them.

His keen pride made him feel a bit constrained.

"Zhanggen, you're here!"

Wang Zhangtian looked up and saw Wang Zhanggen.

Two blood brothers, yet at this moment they seemed especially estranged.

Wang Zhanggen hurriedly took out a Daqianmen cigarette and passed one over.

Wang Zhangtian hurriedly declined:

"No need, no need. I smoke this one. Why don't you have one of mine instead?"

Wang Zhanggen looked — it was actually Shuangxi. This cigarette wasn't expensive, but it was definitely better than Daqianmen.

Wang Zhanggen accepted Wang Zhangtian's cigarette and gave a bitter smile:

"Big Brother, how have you been doing in Guangzhou?"

He took out matches and lit Wang Zhangtian's cigarette.

Wang Zhangtian smiled:

"Not bad. How about you?"

Wang Zhanggen answered honestly:

"I went to Dongguan to work not long ago, but didn't earn any money. Now the old house is about to be demolished, the new house isn't built yet, and we're short on cash, so..."

"We don't have money either. Two kids studying in Guangzhou costs a lot, plus daily rent, utilities, living expenses — we haven't been able to save a penny all these years!"

Zhao Lifen, who had been sweeping with her head down, suddenly interjected with that line.

Wang Zhanggen had originally wanted to ask for a loan, but before he could finish, his sister-in-law cut him off, leaving him unable to say those words.

"Alright then. Every family has its own hardships; I understand you guys..."

Wang Zhanggen's face was full of bitter smiles.

"You two carry on. I should head home. You carry on..."

Wang Zhanggen hurriedly turned and left, his back looking rather bedraggled.

Wang Zhangtian felt a bit uncomfortable.

He actually didn't want to fall out too badly with Wang Zhanggen — after all, they were blood brothers.

But his family really wasn't well-off either; to this day they still rented in Guangzhou, buying a house was a distant prospect.

The kids attended primary school in Guangzhou, and because they didn't have Guangzhou household registration, it cost a lot of money.

He had already decided that when it was time for junior high, he'd send the kids back to the town's middle school.

The town middle school had cheap tuition and offered boarding.

"Don't you pity him. When the old man died, he gave most of the family property to him; otherwise we wouldn't have had to go out and work!"

Seeing Wang Zhangtian's gloomy expression, Zhao Lifen added that line.

Wang Zhangtian made a "tsk" sound, turned back and gave Zhao Lifen a reproachful look:

"No matter how you put it, he's my real younger brother. Back then the old man gave him most of the family assets because he wasn't married yet and needed those things more. He hasn't even said how much he wants to borrow, and you directly refused — isn't that a bit too stingy!"

Zhao Lifen said coldly:

"I'm just stingy. We can't even move into the new house he built, so why lend him money!"

Wang Zhangtian had nothing to say.

He really wanted to repair the brotherly bond with Wang Changgen, but his own wife was blocking the middle, making it difficult for him too.

However, that very evening, after eating dinner, he still went alone secretly to Wang Changgen's home for a trip.

Seeing Wang Changgen's home was a mess, poor to the point of being practically bare walls, and there were still three dirty children to take care of, he couldn't help but feel some soft-heartedness.

"Eldest Brother, how did you come here?"

Wang Changgen and Li Xiulan, as well as the three children, were eating dinner at this time.

Wang Changgen hurriedly put down his bowl and chopsticks, went to the door to welcome his eldest brother.

He was holding a sullen anger in his heart, but still performed the surface courtesies fully, and politely asked:

"Have you eaten? Do you want to eat a bowl of rice here?"

"No need, no need... Changgen, those words your eldest sister-in-law said before, don't take them to heart. Every family has its own hard-to-recite scripture. My family indeed also has not a few difficulties. We brothers are all of an age now. We should mutually understand each other more. Don't compete like when we were young. You say, right or not?"

Wang Zhangtian hurriedly passed a cigarette to Wang Changgen.

Wang Changgen, however, declined his cigarette:

"No need. I still prefer smoking Daqianmen. Daqianmen has a stronger kick."

Wang Zhangtian could only bitterly smile and take the cigarette back.

He knew Wang Changgen had grievances in his heart, but couldn't say anything either.

He just took out one thousand yuan and handed it over:

"You take this money. It's not much, just one thousand yuan. Hope you can build the new house up as soon as possible. This old house is too dilapidated. You should give the children a new environment."

Wang Changgen, seeing this, couldn't help but stare blankly, his face revealing a trace of stunned surprise.

He completely hadn't expected that his own eldest brother would actually take the initiative to send money over.

Wang Zhangtian at this time also said:

"Don't let your eldest sister-in-law know about this matter. If she knows, she'll blame me for acting on my own initiative again."

Wang Changgen couldn't help but feel moved in his inner heart:

"Eldest Brother, I wrongly blamed you..."

Wang Zhangtian laughed it off:

"It's nothing. As your eldest brother, helping you is what I should do."

Li Xiulan, seeing Wang Zhangtian was willing to lend money to them, immediately said happily:

"Thank you, Eldest Brother. This sum of money is truly too important to us! Eldest Brother, I'll pour you a cup of tea!"

Wang Zhangtian, however, said:

"No need to pour me tea. I'm going back now. You all eat your rice. Just afraid Lifen will discover I lent money to you all and throw a temper again. Let's leave it at that. I'm leaving!"

Wang Zhangtian turned around and left.

Wang Changgen and Li Xiulan watched his departing back figure, both full of gratitude in their hearts.

In these arduous years, the kinship of sending charcoal in the snow appeared especially warm.

This debt of gratitude, whether it was Wang Changgen or Li Xiulan, would be firmly remembered in their hearts.