On the morning of August 29th, Chen Xihua was very tired because she had returned home late the night before and had been traveling by car all day. When she woke up, it was already 10 o'clock. As soon as she opened her eyes, she found five pairs of eyes staring at her in the room. Her older sister, Chen Chunhua, had also returned. She must have rested for two more days and had just returned home that morning. She would return to school in September when the semester officially started.
"Xiao Wu, tell me what important thing you did in the provincial capital?" Chen Chunhua asked gently.
"Big sister, you're back!" Chen Xihua glanced at her older sister, then rubbed her face vigorously with both hands, pretending to be awake, without directly answering her question. "I need to pee, I'm going to the bathroom!" she said, jumping out of bed, clutching her stomach and bending over as she walked out of the room.
"Big sister, look, Xiao Wu is acting guilty. He must be up to something bad!" Fourth sister Chen Xiuhua was the most furious because she hadn't kept a close eye on Xiao Wu for her eldest sister.
"She'll tell me herself in a bit. Xiao Wu needs to talk to me!" The eldest sister, Chen Chunhua, suddenly became nonchalant, because she had just noticed a hint of ingratiation in Xiao Wu's eyes when she looked at her. Hmph, let's see what she has to say!
"Big sister, how did you know?" Chen Xiaoliu raised his two thick black eyebrows, tilted his head, and scratched his hair with his right hand. How come he didn't see it?
"Chen Xiaoliu, what can you see! If Xiaowu wanted to lie to us, none of you could see it? If you could see it, it must be Xiaowu's intention!" Second Sister Chen Jinhua suddenly said. Usually, she and Xiaowu spent the most time going out to meet other people, and she was used to it. Xiaowu would talk and laugh with others, and even when she was present, she had never been able to figure out Xiaowu's true thoughts.
About ten minutes later, after washing up and drinking a bowl of porridge, Chen Xihua went back to her room. She didn't know if her headache was from lack of sleep or from preparing for her older sister's interrogation. Oh well, at worst, her older sister would ignore her for a month. Anyway, her older sister would only be able to come back once a month after returning to school.
Chen Xihua took the contract directly from her schoolbag and handed it to her eldest sister, Chen Chunhua. Apart from Chen Xiaoliu, whose head was too full to look, all the other sisters in the room crowded around to see it.
Five minutes later.
"Chen Xiaowu, you... never mind, I don't want to talk to you anymore!" Chen Chunhua was already too frightened to speak, so she became even calmer. She quickly closed the agreement, not even letting her younger sisters see it, afraid that they would be shocked: Two million, four million, doubling the amount, what kind of concept is this? And it's a gambling agreement!
"Big sister, we haven't finished watching yet!" Second sister Chen Jinhua protested loudly.
"Second sister, we're not watching anymore!" Fourth sister Chen Xiuhua tugged at her second sister's clothes. She noticed that her eldest sister's expression was off, even though she seemed calm.
"Why? I didn't see anything!" Third Sister Chen Meihua asked, pouting, also dissatisfied.
Chen Chunhua held the agreement tightly in her hand and remained silent.
"Big sister, I was wrong..." Chen Xihua could only resort to this tactic. She went over and hugged Chen Chunhua's arm, gently shaking it, "Big sister, big sister, I was wrong..."
"What did you do wrong?" After a long while, Chen Chunhua slowly asked.
"You're wrong about everything!" Chen Xihua said obediently.
Chen Chunhua: "......"
“I shouldn’t have made the decision before telling you, but I just didn’t tell you in advance. Whether I told you or not, I would still sign it. This is an opportunity, you have to believe me!” Chen Xihua said patiently.
"Phew... Xiao Wu, I know you're smart, but I'm afraid we can't handle the consequences, do you understand?" After an unknown amount of time, the atmosphere in the room was very heavy, and no one spoke. Chen Chunhua first took a breath before saying this.
“I know, big sister. I’ve made a prediction that it’s achievable. Even if we don’t, it’s okay. At worst, we’ll have worked for nothing for a year. We’re still young, so we shouldn’t worry too much about making or losing money. We should dare to do it. It’s not like we’re doing anything bad, like stealing or robbing.”
If we fail, we can start over. We can't let worries hold us back. Sister, we can afford to lose. You don't need to worry all the time. What you need to do now is prepare well for the college entrance exam!
Although Chen Xihua felt it wasn't a big deal, and she could truly afford to lose—she was only twelve or thirteen—the Chen sisters weren't like her. Deep down, they were older women, genuine teenage girls from a small town. That's why Chen Xihua explained the long paragraph that followed; she wanted to tell her other older sisters and Xiao Liu.
“Well, Xiao Wu, you might be right. If you hadn’t been so bold in doing everything, the rest of us sisters would probably be doing what you’re doing now, working hard to earn money, and we might not even be doing it as well as you. It should have been me, the eldest sister, doing the work to earn money and take care of you, but it’s you, Xiao Wu, who has to take on this responsibility!” Chen Chunhua’s tone was a little downcast.
"No, big sister, what you should be doing is taking the college entrance exam and managing my money in the future. You know, if you don't take care of me, I'll just spend all the money!" Chen Xihua immediately interrupted her older sister's wild thoughts, afraid that she would go down a dead end!
"Yes, I'll manage your money and keep an eye on you!" Chen Chunhua quickly perked up; hadn't she already been mentally prepared for this?!
"So, big sister, now there's something to manage the money, and we need you to step in. Go to the bank this afternoon and transfer 60,000 yuan to this account, Wang Ying's account!" Chen Xihua handed over the paper with the bank account number written on it!
Chen Chunhua had a bad feeling: Just as she thought!
"Sixty thousand..." Chen Jinhua, Chen Meihua, and Chen Xiuhua exclaimed simultaneously.
They had only guessed what big thing Xiao Wu had done that made her want to transfer 60,000 yuan out now. Xiao Wu's fingers were so thin that not only could air not leak through them, but an egg could also leak through them. Could she really make money like this?
Chen Baohua (backdrop): He's just a mascot, he has nothing to do with anything, and he didn't understand much either. He really wants to grow up.
"Alright, you've already made your decision, so we have to keep our promise. I'll transfer the money this afternoon!" Chen Chunhua had completely accepted it, but she felt that her heart wasn't strong enough and she needed to train it, otherwise she would be scared by Xiao Wu's occasional outbursts!
Chen Xihua instantly felt her headache disappear and her mind and body feel relaxed. She also had an unexpected surprise: after talking things out this time, her older sister probably wouldn't stop her from doing what she wanted to do in the future!
...
September marked the start of the second year of junior high school for Chen Xihua. Her previously tense nerves finally relaxed. From May to September, she had been busy with various ways to make money, or dealing with that old man, Mr. Qin, her teacher.
I'm so happy! My older sister is back at school, so this hurdle is over. Old Man Qin also went back to Shanghe Village on the last day of August. She finally doesn't have to practice calligraphy every day anymore. Old Man Qin always says, "Haste makes waste," so why does he keep such a close eye on me every day?
After school started, Chen Xihua could listen to opera when she got home in the evening. Chen Lao Er and his wife had already gone to Chen Da Bo's house to make a scene once, asking to borrow money without mentioning repayment.
They were just feigning poverty, saying they couldn't afford to send their children to school. Their third daughter was already in high school, and Yucai High School was even more expensive, costing an extra two hundred yuan per semester because of its arts training courses. Mr. and Mrs. Chen were seriously considering visiting Uncle Chen's house every few days from now on.
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