Chapter 218 is Senior Brother
Song Chunxue turned her head and saw Zhao Yufen.
"I didn't cry, but I did cry while watching the play."
"Now that it's Chinese New Year, shouldn't you pay me back the money you borrowed from me?"
Song Chunxue was too annoyed by what she just said and didn't bother to argue with her.
What does it mean to steal the spotlight? Is it because you can't stand what others think?
If you can't stand it, just keep it to yourself.
Zhao Yufen shrank her neck, her body, even thinner than Song Chunxue's, trembled, "I don't have any money right now, but you don't need my money anyway, I can pay you back in a few days."
Song Chunxue laughed in exasperation. She was indeed richer than before, so why did everyone seem to dislike her?
Even the honest and simple Zhao Yufen is like this?
“Didn’t we agree on this? I trust you to lend me the money. Even if I have money now, my money doesn’t grow on trees. Two taels of silver, when my eldest son divided the family property, I didn’t give him a single copper coin.”
At this point, she suddenly had an idea.
"I remember you sold the donkey boy, right? Even if you didn't get two taels of silver, you must have at least one. Pay me back first." Song Chunxue sighed and began to plead poverty. "I only managed to buy a courtyard in the county by borrowing money from all sides. Do you really think I've become a nouveau riche?"
Zhao Yufang kicked the snow off her feet. "Don't rush me. I promise to pay you back some more before you move out."
"How much is 'some'?" Song Chunxue looked at her coldly. "What did I do to offend you? Why are you talking to me so stiffly?"
Zhao Yufen sniffed and looked down at the snowflakes falling on her feet.
"It's not that they're stiff, it's just that they're envious. How did you suddenly become so rich? Everyone's so jealous behind your back they'd like to rob you. If it weren't for the Taoist priest in your family, would you still be watching the show these days? They'd have stripped the walls of your clothes off, believe it or not?"
"..." She was quite honest.
They were clearly very malicious just now, but their tone has softened considerably now.
"So you're not planning to pay me back, are you? Nobody in this village can see how hard I've worked. I've toiled away for most of my life, and now that God has suddenly been kind to me, isn't that something I earned myself?"
Zhao Yufen lowered her head and said, "It's not that I don't want to pay you back, it's just that my second son is clamoring to get married, and I'm completely broke, so I can't come up with any money."
"Okay, I can stop pressuring you, but if I let the eldest brother and Chen Feng and his wife go after this money, you'll be driven crazy by them. Have you thought this through?" Song Chunxue knew that once she told the eldest brother that the money Zhao Yufen borrowed from her belonged to the two of them, Chen Feng would be able to curse Zhao Yufen ten times a day.
The eldest son's yard is very close to Zhao Yufen's house, only twenty or thirty meters away. They see each other all the time.
"Please don't! Your eldest daughter-in-law is no ordinary woman. If she really comes looking for this money, I'll be doomed!" Zhao Yufen pleaded hurriedly. "How about I return five hundred coins to you first?"
"Okay, give it to me now, or..."
"I'll go home and get it now. You wait here for me," Zhao Yufen said, taking two steps forward. "Would you like to come to my house for a bit?"
"Sit down my ass. If your man hadn't spoken up last night, my second brother probably wouldn't have been so angry that he hit Cheng Laowu. That old bald guy is really bad. If I went to your house for a visit, I would only be asking for trouble."
Zhao Yufen was a little intimidated; Song Chunxue's mouth was getting more and more formidable these days.
The snow fell heavier and heavier, and before I knew it, my hair had turned white.
The play was not yet over, and apart from a few elderly people in their fifties and sixties who particularly enjoyed listening to opera, only Song Chunxue was in front of the stage.
The mournful tune of Qinqiang opera filled the air as Song Chunxue stood at a distance, listening quietly.
It wasn't cold at all when it snowed; it was even a little warm.
Snowflakes tend to land on eyelashes and melt slowly.
In the blur, a tall figure walked up to her.
He produced an umbrella from somewhere and handed it to her.
"What are you doing standing here? Waiting for Sanwa?"
Song Chunxue looked at the Taoist priest in front of her. Snowflakes fell on his tall, tied-up black hair and were also stuck to his beard, as if she could see what he would look like in his old age.
"Senior brother didn't run away?"
She thought that, given her senior brother's behavior, if he had overheard something last night, he definitely wouldn't have come to see him today.
"Why are you running?" Master Zhang said calmly. "If I were that shameless, I would have committed suicide in my childhood. Would I still be standing here?"
Song Chunxue took the umbrella handle, which still carried the warmth of the Taoist priest's palm.
“Brother and sister, I believe we are already brothers who have gone through thick and thin together. To add romantic feelings to that would be too narrow-minded.” His gaze fell lightly on her. “To be honest, when I saw you, I couldn’t see you as a woman.”
"..." Song Chunxue gritted her teeth, wanting to curse.
But this was for the best. She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. As long as she wouldn't offend her senior brother, and he wouldn't hold it against her.
"Perhaps you have already lived once. In you, I only see the indomitable spirit of a cultivator, the despair that leads to your utter despair, and the extraordinary opportunities that await you."
"Junior brother, I hope you will not have a wasted trip. The road ahead is long, so you must remain steadfast in your Dao and remain as strong as you are now, no matter who you encounter."
"I wanted to say this last time, actually you and Xie Zheng..."
Just then, Zhao Yufen came running up, panting.
"Here you go, take this five hundred coins first, I'll pay you back the rest in the second half of the year." Zhao Yufang stuffed a string of coins into Song Chunxue's hand, "Please don't let the eldest son and his wife come to collect the debt, I'm begging you."
Song Chunxue nodded, "Okay, just remember what you said."
"Let's go back early, or our shoes will get wet."
She didn't want to say anything more, so she opened her umbrella and went straight home.
The Taoist priest followed behind her.
*
The snow fell for half a day and was about two feet thick; it came at just the right time.
Once the snow melts, it will be the perfect time for spring planting, and this year's spring wheat harvest is sure to be bountiful.
Master Zhang remained at the Jiang family's residence. Song Chunxue understood that he was afraid someone would try to climb over the wall again.
She had already started packing, thinking that she should make as few trips as possible and take everything she could with her.
She almost forgot that she now owns land in the city and is planting wheat this year.
Farming requires tools.
She already regretted leaving one of the donkeys to her eldest son, but considering the cost of raising donkeys in the county and the fact that she would have to haul a lot of hay to the county with two donkeys, it wasn't worth it.
We'll make do this year, and hire someone to cultivate it next year.
Two days later, most of the snow had melted.
At the dinner table, Song Chunxue brought up the topic of moving.
“Sanwa should go to school now. We can’t delay any longer. Let’s move some of our things to the county first, and then Lao Si and I will finish the land before we move them away.”
"By the day after tomorrow, most of the snow on the road should have melted. Let's borrow a donkey cart and pack some essential things. Sanwa should find the teacher at the school as soon as possible and see which family is willing to take them in."
Master Zhang put down his chopsticks and said, "Find Lord Xie and take Sanwa to the county school to try. After all, it's an official school."
“Well, that’s fine,” Song Chunxue said to the Taoist priest. “Senior brother, then I’ll trouble you to take Sanwa to find Lord Xie.”
"You're staying to watch the house?" Master Zhang frowned. "Then what have I been doing staying these past few days? If I leave, aren't you and Lao Si afraid of those with ill intentions?"
Song Chunxue was in a dilemma; she didn't want to trouble Lord Xie any further.
"I will watch the house for you three. You three should move things and tidy up the yard quickly so as not to delay Sanwa's schooling."
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