Chapter 28 Uncle, can friendship be worth more than gold?

As the Spring Festival approaches, Sasa is still filming. It is a rare thing that he can sit in the office at the end of the year, wearing glasses and looking up at the refined pictures in the computer and checking the layout.

Sasa spends the Spring Festival like this every year. After all, he can take a holiday, but he has to produce the manuscripts as usual, so he has to rush to finish the online push for half a month. His design colleague Ella came over, opened her phone and asked Sasa if she knew how much the latest tour group was, and that it only cost 8,000 yuan to go to Sanya to celebrate the Spring Festival.

Xiaobei, who was sitting opposite Ella, asked, "Do you know that there is a weight loss club in Sanya now? It only costs 8,000 yuan a month and provides food and accommodation, and you can also lose weight."

Ella counted on her fingers and said, "That's indeed very suitable..." She turned to look at Sasa and asked if Sasa would go home for the New Year.

Sasa said it hasn’t been decided yet.

She actually didn't want to go home. This year, she had a very bad relationship with her parents because of the debt collection issue, and Yu Wanqiu hadn't contacted her for a long time. In the past, her mother would start sending her the menu for this year's Spring Festival when winter came. Although the family had fallen on hard times a long time ago, Yu Wanqiu had never forgotten the "old money" style in these years.

Only this year surprised Sasa, because until the 28th, her mother still hadn't called. She just asked her on WeChat when she would be home. Sasa was busy and forgot to reply, and her mother didn't ask again, which made her feel uneasy. In the end, she took the initiative to call her mother.

Even though they were thousands of kilometers apart, Sasa could still sense Yu Wanqiu's hesitancy on the other end of the line, constantly saying she was fine and had been playing mahjong recently and had forgotten to message her. Sasa felt something was wrong; Yu Wanqiu had always been energetic at the mahjong table, never listless. Just as she was about to ask further, the other end called out, "Wanqiu, do you need to change your medicine?"

Sasa frowned and asked her mother where she was. Her mother said nervously, "I have a cold and just need a shot."

Sasa called her father again, and he told her to talk about it when she got home, and asked her when she would be home. She felt a headache and wanted to get angry. She hated it most when people didn't say what they had to say directly.

Despite her anxiety, work was still scheduled until New Year's Eve. Air tickets were hard to come by for New Year's Eve, so Sasa had to book a high-speed train early on the first day. She rushed back to her parents' house to find the stove cold. Nanjing, which didn't have heating to begin with, felt even less warm. A gust of cold air blew in from the door. There was food on the dining table facing the door. She walked over and saw a cold steamed silver carp, a chicken, and a vegetable dish. This must have been her parents' New Year's Eve dinner.

Hearing the sound, Sasa's father came out of the study and was a little surprised to see her. "I thought you would be back in a few days."

"Is this what you had for your New Year's Eve dinner?" Sasa asked.

"I'm old and have had enough of the delicious food." His father answered naturally.

"Who's back?" Her mother's voice came from the bedroom.

Sasa responded and walked into the bedroom.

In the bedroom, Yu Wanqiu was lying on the bed looking exhausted. A clothes hanger full of clothes was moved to the side of the bed, with two medicine bottles hanging on it. There was only a little medicine left in the bottles, and bubbles were slowly rising.

Yu Wanqiu was receiving an IV drip. Sasa sat down beside the bed and asked what was wrong.

Yu Wanqiu said weakly that there was something wrong with her heart.

Sasa reached out and tucked the quilt for her mother, then whispered, "Mom, were you angry with me last time?"

Her father came in and said, don't put everything on our own family.

The medicine was gone, and Sasa reached out to remove the needle. Her mother tried to say something more roundabout, but she couldn't move Sasa's furrowed brows, so she finally said: In the early years, Sasa's uncle was always in the detention center for trivial matters. When Sasa was in high school and lived on campus, her mother would drive to her on the 9th of every month to bring her living expenses to top up her meal card, and then go to the detention center to deposit living expenses for her uncle. When she was a child, she and her mother had argued because her uncle's living expenses were higher than hers.

The year her uncle was released, her family was at the height of their success, and her mother had hundreds of grams of gold jewelry locked away in a safe. When her uncle was released, to ward off bad luck, her mother gave him a gold bracelet and a gold ring, weighing a total of 30 grams. She didn't consider it money at all.

Yu Wanqiu asked, do you remember, you were in high school at that time.

Sasa nodded and said that she remembered. So what happened now?

Yu Wanqiu sneered and said, "I asked him to borrow 10,000 yuan, but he refused to lend it to me, saying that this little money could not solve our family's urgent needs. It would be better to put it in the bank and earn a few hundred yuan in interest a year."

Yu Wanqiu repeated to herself: A few hundred dollars, what are a few hundred dollars?

Sasa didn't say anything, and Yu Wanqiu continued: He looked through the accounts from a long time ago and said that I borrowed money from him again and again, and finally got together 10,000 yuan, which was just enough to offset the gold.

Yu Wanqiu asked Sasa: ​​I don’t want to calculate how much money I have saved for his living expenses over the years.

Her father came over and tucked the corner of the quilt for her mother, telling her not to mention the past anymore, as she would get angry if she did.

Sasa said: Why are you angry with your uncle? Isn’t he always like this?

Yu Wanqiu said: He is the person closest to me, your grandparents are no longer around.

Sasa said: Dad and I are the ones closest to you.

Sasa wanted to say a few more words, but because her mother had a bad heart recently, she didn't say anything in the end. Yu Wanqiu always treated her uncle like an older sister, but in fact, her uncle was only one year younger than her mother.

Sasa asked: Are you angry because of this gold?

Her mother looked at Sasa and asked, "Do you think it's because of the gold?"

Sasa said, don’t be angry, I will go and get the gold back for you.

Her mother said, I only gave birth to you, you have no siblings, you don’t understand why I am angry.

Sasa said I didn’t understand.

Her mother held her chest and said, "I'm going to sleep, don't talk to me. There's food on the table, heat it up and eat it."

Sasa closed the door to the living room, took the car keys and left.

-

She bought a few boxes of New Year's goods at the supermarket downstairs and put them in the trunk. After arriving downstairs of Yu Wei's house, she called his uncle.

On the phone, Sasa asked, Uncle, are you at home? I came to wish you a happy new year.

Yu Wei said, yes, yes.

Although it is customary to pay New Year's greetings on the first day of the New Year, Yu Wei still did not expect that his niece would take the initiative to come and pay New Year's greetings, and she brought so many things with her. When she opened the door, she took the initiative to say: Uncle, I wish you good fortune in the New Year.

Yu Wei was very enthusiastic and said that everything was going well for his niece.

Auntie brought a fruit plate, and Sasa sat on the sofa and chatted with her auntie for a while. Sasa deliberately glanced at Yu Wei's neck. The gold chain on it was indeed thick. Sasa said: Uncle, this necklace is a gift from my mother.

Yu Wei reached out and touched the necklace, looking embarrassed: Yes, yes, your mother used it to ward off bad luck for me.

Sasa said: It seems a little thicker.

Yu Wei said happily: Yes, later I made money and added some gold.

Sasa said it looked like it was about forty grams.

Yu Wei exclaimed, but didn't reply. He asked her: Do you want to eat here at noon?

Sasa shook her head: I can’t eat. Our whole family can’t eat recently.

Yu Wei's face slowly fell and he stopped smiling, but he still asked Sasa in a soft voice: What does this mean?

Sasa said: I came here to ask for gold, otherwise I won’t be able to have a good New Year if I go back home.

His uncle raised his voice and said: On the first day of the New Year, you go to your uncle's house to collect the debt.

Sasa said: "New Year's Day? My mom was still getting injections on New Year's Eve."

My aunt and uncle are a couple who got married later in life. They rarely interact with Sasa and now they can’t get a word in. They don’t come forward to do anything. They just stand next to Yu Wei, not knowing how to react.

My uncle's neighborhood was being relocated, so people were used to visiting each other without closing their doors. So the neighbors across the street also came out to watch the fun. Sasa turned around and asked, "What are you looking at, auntie?"

It was embarrassing to just watch the fun, so I had to ask the neighbors next door, what are you guys arguing about on New Year's Day?

Sasa said: I'm here to collect a debt.

Yu Wei shouted angrily: What do I owe your family? I have also given money to my sister.

Sasa said: "You call that little bit of money money? If my mother hadn't cared about you back then, you would have starved to death in prison."

When Yu Wei heard her say this, he immediately walked over and pretended to hit her.

Sasa put her face close to him and said: I will call the police if you hit me. How many years will you be sentenced to for breaking the law knowingly for the second time? Will anyone save food money for you this time?

Her uncle stretched out his hand and then retracted it, and asked, Chen Su, what do you want?

Sasa said: I want gold.

Yu Wei pulled out his necklace, gestured to Sasa, and said: This is forty grams, and your mother's gold is thirty grams. How can I return it to you?

Sasa said: We can just go to the gold shop to melt it.

The neighbor across the street came over to pull Sasa and advised her: Adults should solve their own problems, and you, a child, shouldn’t try to come up with solutions.

Sasa broke free and said: I didn't mean to make such a scene, but my mother was so angry that she was still getting an injection on New Year's Eve. Why should our family keep enduring it?

The neighbor aunt said that adults’ affairs should be handled by adults themselves.

Sasa turned her head and glared at the aunt: Aunt, just watch the fun and don't say anything.

Yu Wei was so angry that he asked Sasa: ​​Aunt, this year is the first day of the new year, where can I go to melt it for you?

Sasa said: There is a gold shop open downstairs.

Yu Wei said: Let me tell you, if this gold melts, your mother and I will be cut off from each other.

Sasa said: Don’t say that to me, I’m just here to take the gold away today.

Her aunt couldn't help but come over and hold Sasa's arm, saying: Don't do this, your mother won't feel comfortable if she knows.

Sasa said: If I don’t do this, you will all think that our family is easy to mess with.

Her aunt came over to comfort Sasa: ​​You are young, and if you embarrass your uncle, you will regret it when you are old.

Sasa said: I will come back to apologize to you when I am old. I wish you a long life, but I will not leave until I achieve my goal today.

Her aunt kept saying "ouch, ouch", not knowing what to say.

Sasa turned around and saw her uncle on the sofa also starting to hold his chest and breathe heavily.

Sasa glanced at her phone and asked, "When are you leaving? I'm still waiting to go home and cook for my mother."

Her uncle said: Go now, I owe your whole family in my previous life.

Sasa said: You owe our whole family? I haven't spent a penny of your money. If my mother were to calculate the accounts carefully, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to pay it back even if you borrowed from a loan shark.

My uncle yelled: Stop talking, I'm going to join you now.

After getting in the car, the atmosphere between the two was very tense. When passing the traffic light, a child crossed the road. Sasa was startled and honked the horn in frustration and cursed.

Yu Wei turned his head to look out the window, not looking at Sasa, but asked her: Why are you in such a hurry?

Sasa thought he was talking about driving, and said, how can I not be anxious?

Unexpectedly, Yu Wei said: My uncle has no children, so the house will not be yours in the future.

Sasa sneered and said: No need, I can earn enough to buy your little shabby house in a year.

Yu Wei sighed and said: You just have a bad temper. This problem can obviously be solved properly.

Sasa was also angry and said: Uncle, my mother told me that if you make her angry to death, you will have no relatives in this world.

Yu Wei's arrogance subsided a little, and he whispered: How could your mother be so easily angered to death?

Sasa asked: "Perhaps because you have a family now, you think my mom is a burden by borrowing money from you. Your talk of giving me the house is completely empty. Putting aside whether I really want it or not, you're forty-seven years old and in good health, with at least forty more years to live. You're only halfway through your life, and there's no guarantee you'll end up handing over all your belongings to someone you can trust for the rest of your life."

Yu Wei crossed his arms and snorted coldly: You always talk to adults like this, so your uncle and aunt don’t like you.

Sasa laughed and said, "Isn't that great? If you like me too much, it will be troublesome to move around."

Yu Wei opened the window and took a deep breath. He was so angry with her that he asked her: Are you determined to make your uncle angry to death today?

Sasa said: My mother talks in the same exaggerated way as you do. So I would rather piss you off to death than piss her off to death.

Yu Wei said: You have to speak so harshly, you should think carefully, if you melt this gold, how will your mother and I meet in the future.

Sasa said again: That's why you really have to think carefully, after the money is melted, should I take it home or should you pay it back yourself? If you pay it back, there may still be a chance to turn back. If I take it back by myself, you will have nothing to miss with your last relative in the world.

Yu Wei suddenly panicked and said: Go find a gold shop quickly.

The two drove halfway across the city, finally finding a small, glass-fronted gold shop. The owner was there to pick something up and had no intention of opening on New Year's Day. Sasa had to go in and persuade him to finally open. After convincing the owner, she persuaded her uncle. Yu Wei hesitated, but finally took off the necklace. Sasa asked, "Help us melt this gold into a small 30-gram bar."

Sasa leaned outside and waited, lighting a cigarette. Her uncle came over, took her cigarette, and said, "Why would a girl smoke cigarettes?"

Sasa didn't say anything, picked up another cigarette and lit it. Her uncle then took hers and said: You have had a bad temper since you were a child. You are not likable when you are not angry, but you will make a big fuss when you are angry.

Sasa turned her head and asked very seriously: Do those cousins ​​really dislike me?

Yu Wei nodded seriously: They said that you look like a child who cannot be taught.

Sasa rolled her eyes: The reason why you are not doing well is because you like to teach others too much.

Yu Wei sighed: Just like this, that's fine.

Sasa asked again: How are you living with this aunt?

Yu Wei said: It’s pretty good.

Sasa sneered: You are doing well with everyone you meet. I can’t count the number of aunts I have met on one hand.

Yu Wei smiled this time and asked: What else? Life is all about traveling and seeing all kinds of people. I am very happy to live with you as my aunt.

After hearing what his uncle said, Sasa couldn't help but look up at him: Uncle, you are quite good at speaking human words, why do you have to make my mother angry?

His uncle frowned: What are you saying about your uncle?

Sasa turned her head away and didn't look at him: It's you who insisted on talking to me.

The gold shop owner behind him called out, "Work is done." His uncle turned around to get it, but Sasa suddenly grabbed his uncle's coat, pulled an envelope from his pocket, and put it in his uncle's pocket.

His uncle was stunned for a moment, and patted the envelope through his pocket. The heavy envelope was bulging in Yu Wei's pocket. He pointed at his pocket and asked Sasa: ​​What do you mean by this?

Sasa said: Come to our house later and please comfort my mother. Didn’t my mother borrow money from you before to offset your gold bars? I will return the ten thousand yuan to you now.

After Sasa finished speaking, she walked into the store and took out two small gold bars. The owner specifically told Sasa that the longer one was 30 grams and the smaller one was 20 grams. There was not much difference, so she should not confuse them.

Sasa took out a red marker from the side, drew a little heart on it, scanned the code and paid the labor fee. When she walked out the door, Yu Wei was still standing at the door in a daze.

Sasa said: Uncle, what are you daydreaming about?

Yu Wei didn't say a word on the way back. When he arrived downstairs of Sasa's house, he bought a few boxes of milk and fruit and carried them upstairs.

Sasa's parents were at home. Seeing Yu Wei coming, Yu Wanqiu went straight into the bedroom and closed the door, leaving Chen Mingsheng on the sofa, but pretended not to see him. Yu Wei went to the bedroom door and knocked flatteringly.

"Sister, I came to see you. Come out. I bought you some milk."

"Does our family need this little bit of milk from you?"

"Isn't that my brother's intention? I also brought you a surprise."

Sasa sat next to her father, listening to her uncle talking nonsense, but not talking about business. Sasa whispered to Chen Mingsheng, "Uncle, come back and return the gold."

Chen Mingsheng then raised his eyes and looked at Yu Wei, who was still coaxing Yu Wanqiu to open the door.

"He's been playing tricks like this for decades, always trying to make people happy. When he said he was coming to return the gold, your mother opened the door."

Sasa nodded, and her cell phone suddenly rang. It was Lin Bozhou again. He had sent a New Year's greeting video with a kitten on the cover. Sasa clicked on it without hesitation, and inside was Lin Bozhou wearing a black knitted hat and a muffled down jacket. He took a selfie and said to the camera: Miss Chen, Happy New Year!

She made a sound, and her father came over and asked: "A boy?"