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Chapter 339: Chapter 329: No Need for Me to Repay, That’s the Best
The next morning, Shen Yunfang didn’t wait to be summoned; she got herself ready, left her child with Mrs. Wu, and went to see the leader.
However, she wasn’t the earliest arrival. As she pushed open the door of the Organization Department’s office, she saw Wang Guifen sitting in a chair, apparently having a casual conversation with the leadership. When the door was pushed open from outside, Wang Guifen instinctively turned to look at the entrance. As soon as she saw it was Shen Yunfang, she immediately clammed up.
"Xiaoshen is here, come, sit down," the leader greeted Shen Yunfang warmly as he stood up.
Shen Yunfang didn’t dare put on airs. She smiled and nodded her head, taking the seat closest to Wang Guifen. She greeted Guifen affectionately, "Sister-in-law Guifen, you’re here early too." This was clearly meant to needle her.
Wang Guifen gave Shen Yunfang a sideways glance and mumbled under her breath—probably nothing pleasant.
Shen Yunfang didn’t mind, turning her attention to the leaders. They had said yesterday that they would arrange for her to communicate with her mother-in-law today.
The leader checked his watch, and since it was about the appointed time as agreed upon yesterday, he said, "Yesterday, I arranged with the other party to call at eight in the morning. I didn’t expect everyone to arrive so early. Well, let’s call them now and see if everyone’s there."
All present, both creditors and debtors, nodded in agreement. Only then did the leader pick up the phone and dial. It took a while before he connected with the other side. After exchanging a few words with their leader, he called Shen Yunfang over and gestured for her to take the receiver. On the other end was Li Hongjun’s mother.
Shen Yunfang wasn’t the only one to stand up—Wang Guifen also rose eagerly, looking like she wanted to listen in.
Shen Yunfang wasn’t bothered; she wasn’t looking to dodge any debts.
"Hello," Shen Yunfang had barely gotten the word out when Qiu Shuping’s voice crackled through the line.
"Second son’s wife, what’s the deal? What do you mean by that? Your dad and I just stayed at your place for a couple of days, and you’re making such a fuss about it, huh? Is it really necessary to chase us all the way to your brother’s school just because we borrowed some money? Do you have any idea..."
Shen Yunfang pulled the receiver slightly away from her face; even if she hadn’t, the phone’s poor reception was loud enough that not only she but at least a few people nearby could hear it clearly.
Shen Yunfang pretended not to see Wang Guifen’s schadenfreude grin, waiting for the other side to finish ranting before putting the receiver back to her ear, "Ma, I really didn’t want to trouble you, but when I returned from our hometown, people came to my doorstep demanding money, and I’m completely baffled. Our family is honest, my parents have taught me since childhood to live within our means, and I’ve always abided by that, living a quiet life—I’ve never reached for more than I can handle. But to think that after I went back home, I’d be told that I was suddenly in debt for two hundred. When I heard it, I was thunderstruck! Ma, as ordinary people, we can barely save any money in a year. Everyone says the money was borrowed by you, but I can’t believe it. How could you do this to us? We’ve all divided our households, and we’ve been giving you the hundred yuan of support money annually as you requested. You shouldn’t bring trouble upon one son; asking for three hundred from us a year, even if we didn’t eat or drink and sold our blood, we couldn’t come up with that much. I suspected they must have made a mistake. Dad and Mom, you’re Li Hongjun’s biological parents; you certainly can’t treat us this way. I was planning to write back home to find out the truth. But Sister-in-law Guifen here couldn’t wait, pressing me to repay the debt and even went to the authorities, who then contacted Li Hongqi’s school, all to confirm this issue quickly. Ma, you surely didn’t borrow money in this matter, did you?"
As Shen Yunfang poured her heart out, her voice filled with tears, and by the end, she was sobbing, snot and tears mingling together. Yet, at this moment, there was silence on the other end of the phone.
"Hello? Hello, Mom, why aren’t you speaking? Leader, is there something wrong with this phone?" Shen Yunfang wiped away her tears and asked, holding the silent receiver.
"Yun... Yunfang..." Came the timely voice of old man Li from the other end of the phone. n𝚘𝚟𝚙u𝚋.co𝚖
Shen Yunfang hurriedly put the phone to her ear, "Dad, it’s even better that you’re there. You’re an old revolutionary, you must be able to understand the situation. Please talk to them quickly, tell them there’s no such thing, you didn’t borrow money here, we can’t even survive our days without this misunderstanding cleared."
There was silence again on the other end of the phone.
"Hello? Hello, Dad, talk to me!" Shen Yunfang anxiously shouted.
"Big sister..." The voice on the phone changed to someone else’s.
Shen Yunfang’s eyes cooled slightly as she called out, "Hongqi, you’re a college student now, you must understand the situation better than your sister-in-law, and speak clearer than her. Talk some sense into mom and dad over there, ask them to explain things quickly. People are pushing us for debt at our doorstep. If this goes on, we can’t live our lives. I might as well take the kids and come to your school."
The voice on the other end of the receiver changed again, "What are you causing a ruckus for? Bringing the kids to Hongqi’s school? Just drop it, if you have no money, just stay at home quietly. I’ll tell you the truth... don’t pull me, I’m her mother-in-law, and I’m just... what can she do to me?" Qiu Shuping’s irate voice came through the handset.
Shen Yunfang moved the receiver away, knowing the old woman was about to explode.
"I’m the one who borrowed the money, a total of two hundred yuan. But you can’t blame your dad and me for this, we’ve tried to consult with you and your husband several times when we borrowed it. You ungrateful thing, do you think my words are just farts? Then, I, this old lady, should shamelessly go out and borrow money to spend, and whether you and your younger brother wish to repay it or not is up to you," yelled Qiu Shuping in her no-nonsense voice.
After hearing this, Shen Yunfang responded plainly, "Fine, since you’ve put it that way, Mom, I can rest easy. Two hundred yuan, Li Hongjun and I can’t save that much in a year, and since you don’t need us to repay it, that’s great. Now, when others come asking me for money, I’ll just give them Taoshu Village’s address and let them figure out how to ask you for the money themselves."
As soon as Shen Yunfang finished speaking, she hung up the phone with a click.
Wang Guifen let out a loud exclamation and lunged for the phone, "Oh my God, why did you hang up? I told your mother-in-law, when she borrowed the money, she definitely didn’t say it like that. She said when you and your husband came back, she’d surely repay me immediately."
Everyone in the room had heard the conversation on the phone loud and clear. If things were as the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law said, she wouldn’t need to travel all the way to Taoshu Village for the money. She didn’t even know where Taoshu Village was – wasn’t this situation obviously hopeless?
"Sister-in-law Guifen, you heard it too; my mother-in-law and we are separate households. The money she borrowed she will repay on her own, even if we, as her children, want to help, we are powerless. Here’s what we’ll do: once I get back, I’ll write down my mother-in-law’s home address and the village phone number for you. After my mother-in-law returns home, you can ask her for the money," Shen Yunfang said, washing her hands of the matter.
