NOVPUB
Chapter 748: 738
Old Li certainly could not give Li Xianghe any money. Putting aside the fact that this daughter had already become spilled water, even if the daughter was short of train fare, the Sun Family should be the ones to figure it out, not him, her father. Even if Li Xianghe hadn’t married yet, he wouldn’t have had any money to give to his daughter.
The hundred yuan he got from his second son for elderly care at the beginning of the year had already been given to Xue Meizi when she came to cook, eighty of it for a year’s expenses. The remaining twenty in his hands, the youngest son of Xue Meizi cried to his home wanting to buy books, and Old Li, moved by pity, gave the money to the child. So he literally did not have a single cent now.
Moreover, Xue Meizi’s youngest son was attending junior high school in the county and needed money for everything. He wanted to help this widow and her orphaned children, but he had already run out of money and was wondering whether he should write to his second son and ask him to send more money via mail.
Of course, Old Li couldn’t just tell Li Xianghe this or she would go and pick another fight with Xue Meizi.
"Xianghe, Dad really has no money at hand. You better go back to the Sun Family and think of a solution," he said.
Li Xianghe, of course, did not believe him. "Dad, I’m your biological daughter. I’ve run into trouble and have come to you for help. If you have any money, just lend me some. I’m not asking for it for nothing. Treat it as if I borrowed from you, okay? Once I get to Z Province and Chengbin starts getting his salary, I will mail it back to you." How could her father possibly not have any money? Her second brother had given Old Li one hundred yuan when he left, and even if he spent some to hire help, there should still be some left.
Old Li remained silent, but he just wouldn’t open up his wallet.
"Just give me an answer. Rest assured, whatever amount you give me now, I will pay you back double when the time comes," Li Xianghe persisted relentlessly.
"Xianghe, I really have no money left. You know, I hired your Aunt Xue to come over to cook and do laundry for me, and that costs money every month. Originally, I agreed to pay for one year, so that money was spent a long time ago." 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝒐𝒎
"Dad, how much do you pay that woman every month? Were you swindled? That’s it, I’m going to settle accounts with them," Li Xianghe said, thinking Xue swindler had taken all the hundred yuan.
Indeed, she wasn’t wrong in her thinking. That hundred yuan, no matter what it was for, had indeed transferred from Old Li to the Xue Family. But how could Old Li let his own daughter confront them? He wouldn’t have the face to see Suqin then.
"Li Xianghe, stop making a fuss. You’re already married into the Sun Family. If you need money, you should ask them, not come to me," Old Li was also getting angry.
"Dad, how can you say that? Even if I’m married, am I not still your daughter? Besides, as I’ve already said, the Sun Family outright refuses to let me go to Z Province. How could they possibly give me money?" Li Xianghe stamped her feet in frustration.
"If they don’t let you go, you should just stay at home obediently. Before, when you didn’t follow the troops, you were still living just fine. What’s the fuss about?"
"Dad, you’ve changed, you’ve changed. When Mom was here, you didn’t treat me like this. Oh, I get it now, did that Xue swindler say something to you?" Li Xianghe wore an expression of sudden realization.
Old Li was made uncomfortable by her words, after all, he did feel a bit guilty.
"Hmph, then you just wait for your mother to come back and ask her for money," Old Li said, and feeling ashamed to stay at home, he walked out with his hands behind his back. At the door, he turned back and added, "Don’t make a scene, do you hear me? If you cause trouble at your Aunt Xue’s doorstep again, I will disown you as my daughter. Don’t you ever come back to this house."
As Li Xianghe was left staring dumbfounded, Old Li strode away.
"Oh my mother, please come back soon. Dad’s heart has been utterly bewitched by that old vixen. The stepmother hasn’t even entered the house, and yet there’s already a stepfather...," Li Xianghe sat down on the edge of the bed and began to cry and sing, each note following another in mournful succession. People who were farther away couldn’t hear her, but she had attracted the attention of the mother and daughter from the Zheng Family across the way.
In the end, Li Xianghe didn’t manage to borrow a single cent from Old Man Li, because she was afraid of being caught if she went back to the Sun Family, so she shamelessly stayed overnight in the old house, sharing a bed with Old Man Li.
Li Xianghe even tried to persuade her father, but the only response she got was a snore louder than the last.
The next morning when Li Xianghe got up, Old Man Li was already gone without a trace. She didn’t need to think to know that her father had gone to cozy up to that despicable woman again.
At this moment, Li Xianghe deeply regretted not saving some money instead of spending it all on food. If she had saved a little, perhaps now she wouldn’t need to beg others for help.
But it’s hard to buy foresight, and with her love for good food, even if she had known the need for money today, she might not have had the willpower to save any.
Li Xianghe cuddled up in her blanket and thought for a while, going through all the relatives from whom she could possibly borrow money.
There was no point even thinking about her elder brother and sister-in-law. Wang Dan was stingy as they come; make a donation to her, but try taking money out and you’d hit a dead end. That left only her elder sister as an option. With her soft heart, surely her tears would do the trick.
Li Xianghe had no other choice, so she dressed and took Niuniu with her to her elder sister’s house.
To Li Xianghe’s arrival, not a single one among the Liu family’s five members welcomed her; thus, they all greeted her with stony faces, including her own elder sister, Li Xianglian.
To secure the money, Li Xianghe endured it, entering the house with an aggrieved air. She had intended to pull at some heartstrings with small talk before getting to the main issue, but Shuanzi, that little brat, bluntly asked her what she was there for?
Seeing that her elder sister and brother-in-law made no move to intervene, Li Xianghe could only swallow her dissatisfaction and pitifully explained that she needed to go to Z Province with the army and had no travel money.
"Tch, just here to borrow money," Shuanzi dismissed scornfully.
"Elder sister, Chengbin has asked me to bring Niuniu to Z Province, to get her a proper check-up. Even if you can’t stand me, Niuniu is innocent. She’s been different since she was little, and this opportunity to get medical attention is so rare. You have to help me," Li Xianghe implored as if she were the best mother in the world.
"Your Jiajia was ill before, you should understand how I feel right now, right?"
Li Xianglian was initially somewhat softened, blaming the adults was one thing, but the child was innocent, and as an aunt, she did feel pity for Niuniu. But Li Xianghe’s next words hardened her heart. She remembered how Li Xianghe had acted when her own child, Jiajia, was sick.
"Don’t bother, I won’t lend you a single cent. Go act pitiful somewhere else," said the brother-in-law, rejecting her bluntly without needing any intervention from the elder sister.
"Elder sister..." Li Xianghe called out, still not giving up.
"Enough, what he says goes in this household. I don’t have money to lend to you," Li Xianglian said firmly.
At the very end, Li Xianghe’s money for the ticket was borrowed from the Zheng mother and daughter, but it wasn’t an ordinary loan—it was a high-interest loan. The promissory note clearly stated that for the fifty yuan borrowed, seventy-five yuan had to be paid back within a month. At the bottom were Li Xianghe’s blood-red signature and thumbprint.
