“Take it and do it. Xiangdong is a kind and loyal boy. He has come all this way to his brother-in-law’s house. He is a guest, and we can’t just let him eat cornbread and pickled vegetables.” The old lady insisted.

Unable to refuse, Li Ying stepped onto a stool, took down the earthen basket hanging from the roof beam, cut a palm-sized piece of meat with a knife, and then went to the yard to pick vegetables.

"Xiangdong, pull me a scallion. Daxia, this melon is ripe, wash it and take it to your grandma."

Li Ying picked two round, bright purple eggplants, and then went to the bean trellis to pick some green beans.

Seeing Daxia skip and hop into the house carrying a melon, Li Ying quickly waved to her younger brother.

She knew her brother must be having some kind of trouble.

"Second son, tell your third sister honestly, what brings you here today?"

"Third sister, I'd like to borrow some money from you."

Li Xiangdong spoke hesitantly.

He knew his third sister was having a hard time, but he couldn't wait to find a way to make money for his fourth sister's sake.

How much do you want?

"One hundred yuan."

"What do you need so much money for?" Li Ying was shocked.

"I need it urgently, Third Sister, really!"

Li Xiangdong knew that this hundred yuan might be his third sister's savings of two or three years, and who would lend it to someone so easily!

He believed that Sister Gambler's feelings for them definitely exceeded her concern for a hundred dollars.

“…Okay, you wait.” Li Ying gritted her teeth and agreed.

"Third sister, I will pay you back as soon as possible. You can tell your brother-in-law that I will pay interest."

"Silly boy." Li Ying patted her younger brother's head. Where would a fourteen-year-old boy earn so much money?

Today's lunch was exceptionally lavish: a large bowl of stewed eggplant, green beans, and pork; a dish of pickled vegetable shreds drizzled with sesame oil; and steamed buns made from a mixture of cornmeal, bean flour, and coarse wheat flour laid out on a steamer rack. Each person also had a bowl of mung bean soup in front of them.

"I'm only doing this because of you, Xiangdong. Your third sister would never normally cook such a delicious meal for me," Hongshui, the brother-in-law of the third sister, joked.

Li Xiangdong chuckled and first added a piece of meat to his third sister's mother-in-law's plate, saying, "Thank you for your hospitality, dear mother."

Third Sister's mother-in-law looked at Li Xiangdong with a smile and said, "Eat quickly, eat quickly."

He was puzzled. How come Xiang Dong was so polite and knew how to talk? Before, he was just a silly, goofy guy.

Everyone devoured the delicious meal, and then the third brother-in-law, Hongshui, took Daxia to the east room for a nap, leaving the west room open for the siblings to talk.

Holding a small bundle wrapped in a red and white handkerchief, Li Ying said seriously to Li Xiangdong, "Your third brother-in-law and I only have this 120 yuan. Your third brother-in-law has agreed to lend you 100. But you have to tell your third sister what you're going to do with this 100 yuan."

"Third sister, don't worry. I definitely won't use the money for drinking, gambling, or whoring. I have serious business to attend to," Li Xiangdong solemnly swore.

"You little brat, you're not even fully grown yet, and you're already indulging in drinking, gambling, and whoring," Li Ying said irritably.

Li Xiangdong was about to tell his third sister about his fourth sister's affairs and his own plans when he opened his mouth. But then he thought that if his third sister knew that his grandmother had forced his fourth sister into a marriage exchange, she would be furious.

Given his third sister's temper, she would definitely go back to her parents' home and make a scene.

After all, in his past life, his third sister, Li Ying, after learning that his fourth sister had committed suicide, took a kitchen knife and cursed at his grandmother's door all day long.

But making a scene like this will not only be futile, but may also push the enraged father to his grandmother, Li Wanshi.

"Third sister, I will definitely walk the right path. Don't worry!"