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Chapter 412: 402
"Mom..." Shen Yunxiu called out, drawing out the word mom.
Shen Da Niang’s heart immediately softened.
She glanced at Shen Da Ye who didn’t give her a pleasant look. Having been husband and wife for so many years, he certainly knew why his wife was looking at him that way.
Seeing that her husband wasn’t opposed, Shen Da Niang began to discreetly unbuckle her belt and then pulled out a small handkerchief from her cotton pants. 𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙥𝒖𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝒎
Shen Yunxiu’s eyes shone as she watched the handkerchief; of course, she knew her mother’s habit of wrapping money in a handkerchief.
As expected, Shen Da Niang carefully unfolded the handkerchief, and inside was a stack of RMB of various denominations. She picked out five large bills which were for their return ticket money, thought it over, then took two out from the five in her hand, put them back into the handkerchief, and pushed it towards her daughter.
"Xiu, your father and I have been scraping by in the soil all our lives—we don’t have much money and can’t help you a lot. Take this money and rent a decent place. It’ll help Chengjian focus on his studies so he can get into university. Once he’s there, there’ll be hope for better days," Shen Da Niang told her daughter with a smile, but in the end she still couldn’t help but remind her, "Don’t you squander this money, understand? Make sure it’s spent on something important."
"Mom, I know; I’m all grown up now," Shen Yunxiu replied playfully, taking the handkerchief and the money without any reservation, "My parents are the best."
"Look at you, still acting like a child when you say you’ve grown up." Helping their daughter and making her life better brought joy to both Shen Da Niang and Shen Da Ye.
Fang Chengjian’s goal, however, wasn’t these mere hundred-odd RMB. Seeing Yunxiu holding the money and looking as happy as could be, he felt nothing but disgust. But since changing their current situation relied on her, he had to continue to endure.
"Yunxiu, I think it’s getting late. Our parents must be hungry since they just got here. How about I go out and buy some groceries so we can all enjoy a nice meal when Dad and Mom return?" Fang Chengjian emphasized "when Dad and Mom return," hinting to Shen Yunxiu to hurry up and get to the point, as people would soon be home and it would be less convenient to talk then.
Indeed, reminded by him, Shen Yunxiu remembered the main reason she had asked her parents to come.
"Alright, go ahead. I’ll chat with Dad and Mom for a bit longer." After exchanging a glance, Fang Chengjian left with the two RMB given by Shen Yunxiu.
Shen Yunxiu continued to complain to Shen Da Niang, "Mom, you don’t understand; the Capital is the biggest city in our country." She made up this blatantly false statement, as many people believed that since the Capital is the center of the country, it must be the biggest city. "And it’s really hard to find a house here; sometimes, even if you have the money, you can’t rent a place."
"Is that so? What will you do then?" Shen Da Niang was easily misled, having no idea about these matters.
Shen Da Ye also looked over. Although he was the leader of the production team, he had never been to a big city and wasn’t sure what renting a house there was like.
"Mom, Shen Yunfang has come to the Capital too," Shen Yunxiu suddenly said.
"What? What’s she doing here? Wasn’t she in S City?" Shen Da Niang asked in surprise, "Didn’t she get into a university in S City? Why has she come to the Capital now?"
"She got into university?" Shen Yunxiu couldn’t control her shrill voice.
"Of course, she told your father in a letter. Your dad was quite moved for several days, saying that although your Third Uncle’s family has the shortest lot in life from the Shen Family, Yunfang turned out to be the most promising among us." Shen Da Niang was also incredulous. In her mind, Shen Yunfang was still the little girl who couldn’t do anything, and suddenly, she was a university student. And wasn’t she already married with children? How could she still go to university?
Shen Yunxiu was filled with hatred. Why should Shen Yunfang get into college? Why should she live a better life than herself? In what way was she superior to her?
"She’s lying, she must be lying. If she really got into college, why would she come to the Capital now? She must be deceiving us, writing to Dad saying she got into college just to show off. After all, you all don’t go out, so whatever she says goes." Shen Yunxiu quickly convinced herself, "Shen Yunfang, you big liar, I’ll see how I expose you this time."
"That can’t be, Yunfang isn’t that kind of child," Uncle Shen was the first to disbelieve.
"Yeah, Xiu, are you sure you didn’t see wrong? Maybe the person you saw in the Capital wasn’t Yunfang, there are plenty of people who look alike." Aunt Shen had watched Yunfang grow up too, so she also felt that Shen Yunfang couldn’t do such a thing.
"I wouldn’t see wrong. Even if she turned to ashes, I would recognize her." Shen Yunxiu was certain. It wasn’t just a one or two-time glance but many times. Even if she made a mistake the first time, she couldn’t possibly be wrong every time. It had to be Shen Yunfang; she was definitely lying. "Besides, what I wanted to tell you is that Shen Yunfang bought a house near us. When she came here, I sneaked several peeks. I’m certain it’s her."
"That’s really strange." Aunt Shen also felt her own child wouldn’t lie and was starting to feel confused.
"When we get home, I’ll seal a letter to Yunfang to ask and then we’ll know," Uncle Shen also felt there must be some misunderstanding.
"Dad, there’s no need for you to go back and go through the trouble of writing letters. Didn’t I just say it? Shen Yunfang bought a place near us, and it doesn’t seem like she’s living there. I figure, since she and I don’t get along, you and mom are, after all, her elders. You should talk to her for me, ask her to lend the house to me and Chengjian for a while." Shen Yunxiu finally revealed her true intentions.
She had a bit of self-awareness, knowing that if she asked Shen Yunfang to lend her the house, Shen Yunfang would definitely refuse. So she had discussed it with Fang Chengjian and then wrote to her parents, asking them to come over. Then they would be the ones to talk to Shen Yunfang, banking on the fact that Shen Yunfang dared not refuse them.
"Oh, she bought a house here? What about the house back home?" Aunt Shen clearly wasn’t on the same page as her daughter.
"Ah, Mom, how can you compare that old house to one here? Do you know how much it costs to buy a place here?" Shen Yunxiu rolled her eyes, lamenting her parents’ rural lifetime and shortsightedness.
"How much?" Aunt Shen genuinely didn’t know.
Shen Yunxiu held up two fingers.
"Ah, two hundred? That’s about the same as our house back home," Aunt Shen misunderstood.
"Mom, it’s not two hundred, it’s two thousand, two thousand," Shen Yunxiu emphasized.
"What, two thousand? Oh my goodness, that’s a lot of money," Aunt Shen was shocked. She had never seen that much money in her lifetime. To be more precise, she hadn’t seen more than five hundred RMB either. Even having a savings of two to three hundred RMB, she felt she was doing quite well in the village.
Uncle Shen was also surprised, mainly astonished at how much money his niece had access to. He wondered if his niece had done something illegal to obtain it.
"Yes, Mom, Shen Yunfang is loaded now. Please, help me talk to her. She won’t use it anyway, just let me stay there for a while," Shen Yunxiu began wheedling, tugging at her mother’s arm.
"This, this, can it be done?" Aunt Shen felt uneasy about the proposition, "Last time you wanted to stay in her house back home and she refused. Now it’s this expensive house, I think it’s unlikely."
"Mom, can you and Dad please beg her for me? You’re her uncle and aunt, you helped Uncle Three raise her for so many years. She’s got to pay back those favors. If she really doesn’t agree, you go and cry, make a scene, kneel down to her. I refuse to believe that even if you did all that, she could still refuse," Shen Yunxiu sinisterly offered her wicked advice.
