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Chapter 442: Chapter 432 Health is More Important (Extra for acite)
After entering the house, Shen Yunfang could see that this older sister’s family was indeed poor—their house was even more rundown than her own adobe home. The structure was much the same, but the adobe house was somewhat shorter, and the windows weren’t very large, which made the inside of the house feel dark and gloomy. Moreover, there was hardly any decent furniture around, but the place was very clean.
Shen Yunfang subtly looked around before being pulled to sit on the kang by Li Xianglian.
"You’re here on vacation from the Capital, but Hongjun hasn’t returned?" Li Xianglian asked eagerly.
"He has tasks to complete, and there wasn’t much for me to do alone in the Capital, so I brought the kids back," Shen Yunfang repeated her reason.
"Where are the kids, why didn’t you bring them here?" The same question as from old man Li.
Shen Yunfang gave the same reply.
As the two women casually exchanged updates, Shen Yunfang eventually got to the point, "I came to see how Jiajia is doing, to see how well she has recovered. Now that I see how pretty Jiajia looks, I can rest easy."
"Heh, pretty? What’s the use of a rural girl being pretty? It’s better to be hardworking," Li Xianglian said modestly, all the while her large hands continuously stroked her daughter’s hair.
Every mother loves to hear others praise their children; that’s a given.
"Now, that’s not right. Being industrious comes second. Jiajia, you should study hard so when you grow up you can go to college. Then you’ll get to wear pretty clothes and work in an office every day," Shen Yunfang spoke of a parent’s hopes for the future.
"Ah, I wish that could happen, but I don’t know if she has what it takes," Li Xianglian said with a chuckle.
"Don’t worry, our kid will definitely make it. Oh, big sister, someone’s sick in the family, aren’t they? I smelled Chinese medicine as soon as I came in," she had noticed the scent on arrival, but as the two before her seemed well, it mustn’t have been them.
"It’s no serious illness, just your brother-in-law. He’s been overworking lately, causing him pain in his back and legs, so I’ve prepared some plasters for him to use," Li Xianglian sighed.
While their daughter’s illness was cured, the family came back to face several hundred yuan in debt. They weren’t the kind of people to feel at ease with outstanding debts, so upon their return, they worked exhaustively, hoping to earn more income and get a larger share by the end of the year to pay off their debts.
Shen Yunfang understood the situation and advised with a frown, "Big sister, you should tell my brother-in-law to take it easy. If he doesn’t take care of his health now, it’ll come back to haunt him when he’s older."
"I’ve told him, do you think I haven’t? But your brother-in-law is proud; he wants to work hard to repay your money as soon as possible," Li Xianglian said helplessly.
"Mom, you keep talking about my dad, but isn’t your leg also hurting?" Jiajia called out her mother’s pretext, otherwise her mom wouldn’t be resting at home today either.
"You child," Li Xianglian said, slightly embarrassed.
"Big sister, don’t hurry to repay the money. I’m not short on cash; pay back whenever you can. There’s no need for you two to work yourselves so hard. It’s not worth it," Shen Yunfang thought that nothing was more important than health, for overworking for money now could ruin one’s body and later in life, no amount of money could buy back good health.
"We’ll repay your part slowly, we surely can’t pay it off for a while; we also owe quite a bit to the villagers, and your brother-in-law just wants to repay whatever he can as soon as possible," said Li Xianglian, who shared the same sentiment and worked as hard as a man when working outdoors.
"Mom, I don’t want to go to school anymore. I can come home and help you with work," Jiajia said, tears streaming down her face.
"You can forget about that. How old are you? What work can you do? Just go to school honestly. We have your father and I to worry about these things, so you children don’t need to be concerned."
Shen Yunfang remained silent but started to think. She could tell that her elder sister’s family was indeed in difficulty, and now that she found their character to be good, she wanted to help them out of their predicament. However, she needed to think carefully about how to help.
After finding out that Shen Yunfang hadn’t had lunch yet, Li Xianglian hurriedly began to prepare a meal for her.
Shen Yunfang didn’t stop her, but she didn’t let her prepare anything special either; just the leftover food from their midday meal would do.
What ended up being served was a bowl of rice drenched in water, a cucumber salad smashed by Li Xianglian just for her, and a dish of salty pickled vegetables.
Li Xianglian felt somewhat embarrassed, "Or you could wait a bit, and I’ll make you something better."
"No need, this is fine. I love rice and water," Shen Yunfang immediately started to eat, lifting the bowl.
Li Xianglian’s cooking skills were average at best, possibly due to her reluctance to use many ingredients. In any case, Shen Yunfang had just one bowl and claimed she was full.
Once the dining table was cleared away, Li Jianjun returned home with the two boys, having been informed by Jiajia, who had gone to the fields. 𝔫𝔬𝖛𝖕𝔲𝖇.𝖈𝖔𝖒
This led to another round of pleasantries, and Shen Yunfang brought gifts for each child, endearing her to the three Liu children.
After chatting for a good while, Shen Yunfang saw that it was getting late and decided it was time to bid farewell and head home.
Before she left, she took Li Elder Sister’s hand and discreetly handed her fifty yuan. Seeing Li Xianglian was about to refuse, Shen Yunfang firmly held her hand, "This is from Hongjun. It’s not much, so please don’t look down on it, Elder Sister."
"No, this isn’t right. You and your husband have already helped my family a lot. Nobody’s money is blown in by the wind. You keep giving me money, but how will you live?" Li Xianglian was reluctant to take the money, since she only asked for money from her younger brother when there was no other option. Her family was neither sick nor in disaster now, so how could she still take money from others?
"Elder Sister, you know I don’t lack this small amount of money. I’m not giving it to you; think of it as a loan. You and Brother-in-Law shouldn’t work so hard, and make sure to take care of your health. If something happens to you, what will become of the three kids in the future? Right? Also, this winter I might need you and Brother-in-Law to help me with some work in the Capital. You must take care of yourselves," Shen Yunfang had already thought about it just now; this winter, she could make some money and simultaneously help Elder Sister’s family.
Now she could be considered wealthy, at least in this period she was definitely a rich woman. Since last year, when she collaborated with Joseph on publishing "Transformers", she had been receiving a considerable amount of US dollars every month, and the amount was increasing each month. By now she had over three million US dollars saved in the bank (starting the second month, she realized that keeping all the US dollars by herself was not a wise decision, so she had someone deposit it in the bank). If this trend continued, in the next two years, she might be earning even more each month, and she was not far from being a multimillionaire.
This goes to show that no matter when, as long as you find the right path and seize the opportunity, you can make a fortune with almost anything. Future generations always say that China’s market is huge, but it seems that foreign money is even easier to earn.
Having visited Taoshu Village, Shen Yunfang felt as if she had completed a mission and happily continued living her own peaceful life.
Quite a few people came to her doorstep inquiring about military service; presumably, they were hoping Li Hongjun could pull some strings for them.
This was something Shen Yunfang didn’t dare to promise lightly, so she dismissed them all with the excuse that she would ask Li Hongjun about it once she returned.
