Just as Lin Wanqiu put the last piece of dried meat into an oil paper bag and stuffed it into the wooden box at the bottom of the wardrobe, a series of urgent knocks came from outside the courtyard gate. The "bang bang bang" sounded like the door was about to be smashed.
"Lin Wanqiu! Open the door! Are you home?"
It was Zhang Lan's voice, even louder than yesterday, with a hint of urgency. Lin Wanqiu frowned, thinking to herself: What's this shrew doing here again? She failed to steal the meat yesterday, is she trying to cause trouble today?
She hid Shen Nian'an behind her back and whispered, "Be good, An'an, stay inside and don't come out. Mother will go check on you." Shen Nian'an clutched her clothes, nodding his head like a rattle drum, but there was a hint of fear in his eyes—he hadn't forgotten how fierce Zhang Lan and Old Lady Shen had been yesterday.
Lin Wanqiu walked to the courtyard gate, but didn't open it immediately. She asked through the door, "Sister-in-law, is something the matter?"
"Something's wrong! Something important!" Zhang Lan's voice was tinged with impatience. "Open the door right now, I can't explain this to you through the door!"
Lin Wanqiu slowly unlatched the door. As soon as the door opened a crack, Zhang Lan squeezed in, carrying an empty bamboo basket with some sweet potato mash on the rim, clearly indicating it had just been used. She looked around as soon as she entered, her eyes scanning the room like she was on a shopping spree, finally settling on the stove. She even unconsciously sniffed the air – obviously still thinking about yesterday's dried meat.
"What are you looking for?" Lin Wanqiu blocked her view, her tone indifferent.
Zhang Lan then looked away, cleared her throat, forced a smile, and reached out to pull Lin Wanqiu's arm: "Wanqiu, look at you, still so distant with your sister-in-law. I came to borrow something from you."
"Borrow something?" Lin Wanqiu took a step back, avoiding her hand. "Borrow what?"
"Lend me some grain." Zhang Lan rubbed her hands together, glancing into the house. "You know, Tiger is growing a lot, and he throws a tantrum if he doesn't get enough to eat. The sweet potatoes we got yesterday weren't enough, and we ran out of food this morning. Look at you here..." She didn't finish her sentence, but her meaning was clear: she thought Lin Wanqiu had some grain.
Lin Wanqiu sneered inwardly: Food shortage? When the grain was distributed yesterday, Old Lady Shen specifically asked for two extra jin of sweet potatoes, which she gave to Zhang Lan's family. How could they possibly be running out of food today? This is clearly an excuse to borrow grain and try to take advantage of them.
She deliberately feigned a troubled expression: "Sister-in-law, it's not that I don't want to lend it, but I'm also strapped for cash. Look at An'an's health, she needs those sweet potatoes to survive. If I lend it to you, An'an and I will go hungry."
"Oh dear, what are you saying!" Zhang Lan immediately raised her voice. "We're all family, how can you just watch me and Hu Zi go hungry? Besides, you're a woman with a child, how much can you eat? I'll just borrow a little, I'll pay you back next time the grain is distributed!"
"How much is one point?" Lin Wanqiu pressed.
Zhang Lan held up three fingers: "Three jin! Just three jin of sweet potatoes!"
Lin Wanqiu almost burst out laughing: Three catties of sweet potatoes, in this era of food shortage, is enough for an ordinary family to eat for two or three days. This is not borrowing a little, it's clearly asking for the moon. She shook her head: "Sister-in-law, three catties is too much, I really don't have any. I can only lend you one catty at most, and that's after An'an and I finish eating today's food, and save it up."
"One pound?" Zhang Lan's face immediately darkened. "Lin Wanqiu, are you trying to fob me off? What can one pound of sweet potatoes do? It's not even enough to fill a tooth gap! I think you just don't want to lend it to me!"
"It's not that I don't want to lend it, it's that I really don't have any," Lin Wanqiu said firmly. "If you think it's too little, then forget it."
Seeing that her gentle approach wasn't working, Zhang Lan immediately changed her tune, put her hands on her hips, and started throwing a tantrum: "Lin Wanqiu! Don't push your luck! Back when Tingzhou was around, you ate and used the Shen family's food, and now you're making excuses when we ask you to borrow some grain? Have you lost your conscience?"
These words were exactly the same as what Old Mrs. Shen had said yesterday, something Lin Wanqiu was already tired of hearing. She wasn't angry, but coldly looked at Zhang Lan: "Sister-in-law, don't say such unpleasant things. I eat and use the Shen family's food, which I earned in the fields with Tingzhou. Now that Tingzhou is gone, An'an and I earn our own food rations. Why should I lend them to you for nothing?"
"You!" Zhang Lan was speechless, her eyes darting around before she tried to appeal to his emotions. "Wanqiu, I'm begging you, please? Hu Zi didn't eat enough yesterday, and he was crying for food this morning. It breaks my heart as his mother. Please have pity on us, lend me three jin of sweet potatoes. I'll definitely pay you back when the grain is distributed next time, and I'll even give you an extra half jin!"
As she spoke, she squeezed out a few tears, looking rather pitiful. If it were the old Lin Wanqiu, she might have softened her heart. But the current Lin Wanqiu had long been worn down by the Shen family and had lost all her soft-heartedness, knowing that Zhang Lan's tears were fake.
She thought to herself: if she didn't lend it, Zhang Lan would definitely throw a tantrum here, attracting the neighbors to watch the show, and then they would say she was stingy; if she did lend it, given Zhang Lan's personality, she definitely wouldn't pay it back, and then it would be even more difficult to get it back.
Why not lend it to her first, and then go to her door to ask for it back when she doesn't pay it back? That way, the neighbors can see who's being unreasonable.
Thinking of this, Lin Wanqiu sighed: "Alright, sister-in-law, I'll lend you three jin of sweet potatoes. But let me make this clear: you must pay me back next time the grain is distributed, and you'll have to pay me back half a jin more, just like you said."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Lan immediately burst into laughter through her tears and grabbed Lin Wanqiu's hand: "Hey! Good Wanqiu! I knew you were a kind person! Don't worry, next time the grain is distributed, I'll definitely return it to you right away, and I'll even give you an extra half a jin!"
Lin Wanqiu withdrew her hand, turned around and went into the house. She took out three catties of sweet potatoes from her spatial storage. She would not lend her hard-earned food to Zhang Lan. These sweet potatoes were taken from her spatial storage. Anyway, there were plenty in her spatial storage. She wouldn't feel bad about lending them out.
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