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Chapter 219: Chapter 212 What Are You Plotting?
"Sister-in-law, it’s not necessarily the case, of course, the fewer people who know about giving gifts the better. There’s nothing wrong with Hongqi going to deliver them himself," Shen Yunfang said sensibly.
Seeing her sister-in-law still so clueless, Wang Dan didn’t bother continuing with the advice and went on, "I won’t talk about the gift-giving, after all, it’s none of my money. But just a few days ago, when Li Hongqi got notified that he was accepted to university, he started scheming again. He said that since the school is in the south, where he’s a stranger, he wanted to go there first to get familiar with it. Tell me, does that make any sense? Where else has he been besides Taoshu Village? Which place isn’t unfamiliar to him? If we go by what he’s saying, there are plenty of places to get familiar with."
"What did our parents say?" Shen Yunfang thought they likely wouldn’t let him go.
"You know our mom, she’d eat a hundred beans and not find them smelly. She’s been tricked by Li Hongqi so many times and still hasn’t learned her lesson, so of course, whatever he says goes. Fortunately, our dad is still mindful of practical matters and didn’t let him go, saying that with the back and forth he’d need to pay for transportation, meals, lodging, and all that costs money. The family is already drained dry from the gift-giving, so where’s the money for this? What’s more, the year’s end is approaching—what’s the point of going out and showing off now? Thankfully, he was able to suppress him in the end," Wang Dan said, imitating the tone of the old couple quite vividly.
Shen Yunfang nodded. In her opinion, going ahead to get familiar with the environment wasn’t wrong, but the prerequisite was that you had to have your own money, the right conditions. Considering the family was now penniless, Li Hongqi making such a request showed a lack of understanding.
"It sure wasn’t easy to convince him not to go south, and now he’s making mischief again, whispering to our mom behind our backs to scrape together money for travel and living expenses," said Wang Dan, curling her lip. In her view, it hardly mattered whether he went to university or not. Before he’d even attended, he’d already cost so much money, and with two years until graduation, how much more would need to be spent? It would be more honest and straightforward to stay at home and farm.
"I’ve heard that universities provide subsidies to students. Some students not only don’t have to bring living expenses from home but can also save a decent amount by being frugal throughout the year," Shen Yunfang said uncertainly. 𝓃ℴ𝓋𝓹𝓊𝓫.𝒸𝓸𝓂
She was aware that after the resumption of college entrance exams in 1977, many universities were tuition-free and provided allowance. College students could say they started earning money from the moment they started university. If one knew how to live frugally, one could even save a bit after a semester. However, the situation with students from Worker-Peasant-Soldier University was something she was clueless about.
Wang Dan’s eyes widened and she asked, "Really, that’s a thing?"
"I only heard about it. Maybe it’s just a few schools," Shen Yunfang replied, not confidently enough to make any definite claims.
"Impossible, all the schools are the same. How could one school give money and another not? That would be total chaos," Wang Dan felt that what Shen Yunfang said might actually be true. There’s no smoke without fire, and if there wasn’t such a thing, who could just make it up out of thin air? Thinking it over, attending university really seemed beneficial. No wonder everyone was so eager to get in. It was just like being a city worker, not having to do any labor and getting a paycheck monthly.
"Fine then, he gets money for going to school, and yet he comes home playing the pauper, fooling these people, he really takes us for fools. Just you watch, when I get back, I’ll give him a piece to chew on." Wang Dan rolled up her sleeves in a stance that looked like she was ready to pick a fight.
Shen Yunfang quickly tried to dissuade her, not to have a visit like this and go back starting a war with her younger brother-in-law, otherwise the Li Family might think it was her doing the stirring. "Sister-in-law, you should take a break. Whatever we’re talking about might not even be true. Besides, it’s normal for Hongqi to ask our parents for money for school, as long as he doesn’t come to us for it."
Wang Dan thought about it and agreed, "That’s true, we’ve already split the family, and Hongqi lives with our parents. He can’t expect anything from me. The thing is, I’m telling you all this to give you a heads-up. Don’t be so naive. Whatever our mother says, you just listen. That fifty bucks you already gave, consider it water under the bridge. Li Hongqi won’t remember your kindness at all, and neither will our mother. You’re not getting anything good out of the money you spend; what’s the point?"
Exactly, Li Hongqi didn’t come to ask for the money personally; he got it from his mom, which was fair since he’ll eventually have to take care of her when she’s old. So, he took it without any qualms, which technically had nothing to do with Shen Yunfang. And then there’s Qiu Shuping who first thinks that the fifty bucks Shen Yunfei gave were too little. Li Hongqi needed two hundred to give gifts, and Shen Yunfei should have covered the whole amount as his duty being a sister-in-law. Secondly, in her mind, her youngest son is destined for great things. In the future, all his older brothers and sisters-in-law should rely on him. Now that the second daughter-in-law has given fifty bucks, they’ll be able to bask in her youngest son’s glory, and it’s as if the second family has already made a big killing.
Furthermore, in Wang Dan’s eyes, her feelings toward Shen Yunfang were mixed. She was glad that there was a fool to give money to her younger brother-in-law, so she didn’t have to pay for him to attend university. No matter if the young brother-in-law would truly be successful or not, she wouldn’t lose out. If he turned out to be a nobody, it wouldn’t affect her since she didn’t spend any money or make any investment. But if he became successful, as the eldest sister-in-law, she would also benefit. What made her unhappy was that since the second sister-in-law gave the money and she didn’t, it made her seem stingy in front of others, and her mother-in-law occasionally nagged about it. Originally in her mother-in-law’s eyes, she could at least be ahead of the second sister-in-law, but now, only she’s seen as the stingy and unfilial daughter-in-law in the Li Family.
So, this visit was to persuade the second sister-in-law not to give any more money. If neither of them gave money, then there would be no comparing who was better or worse. No, there would still be comparisons because rumors were spreading about how many chickens and ducks the second sister-in-law’s family had; they were so wealthy. If she didn’t give money for the younger brother-in-law’s education, people would gossip, and both the mother-in-law and younger brother-in-law would hold a grudge against her.
Therefore, Shen Yunfang giving fifty bucks just didn’t do her any favors.
"I’m not after anything. I just did it for Hongjun’s sake. No matter what, they are brothers, and if there’s a real need, we, as the second brother and sister-in-law, have to lend a hand. However, our ability is limited. Hongjun’s salary isn’t even enough to help his comrades, and I can’t earn much by myself here either. We’re short on work points this year, and we haven’t even received our share of the grain. I don’t even know how I’ll manage next year. I really can’t afford to help with Hongqi’s situation," Shen Yunfang said with a frown and troubled expression.
"Ha, every family has its troubles, I can understand that. Tell me more about this grain issue you mentioned," Wang Dan, now assured that Shen Yunfang couldn’t contribute any more money, felt relieved and was ready to gossip.
Shen Yunfang then talked about the grain distribution issue that still needed to be discussed at a meeting.
Wang Dan listened intently, and when it was her turn, she also chattered on about a bunch of the Li Family’s affairs.
