Lin Zhoushi had a tattered towel wrapped around her head and kept whining all day long, unable to let go of her worries about losing money.
Hearing Yu Xiaofeng say this, anger surged within him, and he shouted, panting and cursing:
"You're trying to kill me! I've already said the money's lost and can't be found, yet you're still clinging to this hope. You'll only be happy when I'm dead!"
"Really lost?" Yu Xiaofeng raised her voice eight octaves in disbelief, but seeing that the old lady was indeed sickly, she felt that she wouldn't lie.
Besides, Lin Baojia was her most beloved son; how could she possibly stand by and watch him die?
What should we do then?
Who can I borrow money from?
Setting bones at the county hospital, plus hospitalization, will cost at least fifty yuan.
Who could lend her so much money all at once?
Seeing her anxious, Ma Huijuan suggested, "You have a gold bracelet, why don't you sell it?"
Yu Xiaofeng was overjoyed and hurriedly went inside to find the bracelet. She then said to the men carrying her husband:
"Brother, please be a good person and take this bracelet from me. I don't need any more, just give me fifty yuan."
That gold bracelet is quite heavy, weighing at least twenty grams. If you were to sell it at a bank, you could easily get eighty yuan for it.
If it weren't for the emergency, I wouldn't have asked for such a low price.
"Young lady, I'm broke, why don't you ask someone else?"
Who can you ask in such a critical moment?
Her eyes glanced at the neighbor next door. When it comes to wealth, who can compare to Jiang Ning?
"Huijuan, go! Even if you have to beg, sell this bracelet to Jiang Ning!" she suddenly instructed Ma Huijuan.
Ma Huijuan immediately jumped back, looking terrified: "Mom, you know I've never gotten along with her. Going there would only make things worse for you. You'd better handle this yourself."
No matter what, you're her aunt; you should at least give her some face.
Yu Xiaofeng thought it made sense, so she took the bracelet and went to get it.
Before Jiang Ning could close the door, she was stopped by her laughing voice.
"Xiao Ning, you're home! As you can see, your uncle is injured and needs money. This bracelet is from my family and we treasure it. Could you buy it for sixty yuan?"
Jiang Ning chuckled, rubbing her forehead: "You've gained ten pounds in just this short time!"
"Fifty is fine too. That's because you're richer!" Yu Xiaofeng smiled ingratiatingly.
Jiang Ning's face darkened and she said, "Just because I have money doesn't mean I deserve to be a sucker. I don't like this bracelet of yours, go find someone else."
Yu Xiaofeng panicked. Hearing her husband yelling and screaming, she immediately knelt down:
"Xiao Ning, please, I'm begging you! Without money, your uncle will really die!"
His usual arrogant and domineering demeanor was gone, leaving only tears and pleas.
Jiang Ning didn't soften her heart and only held up three fingers: "The quality of your bracelet isn't very good, but for Uncle Chen's sake, I'll take it for thirty."
Ma Huijuan sneered inwardly. She never expected Jiang Ning to take advantage of her vulnerability. Thirty yuan? She might as well have gone to Shuanzi for it!
"What?" Yu Xiaofeng also felt the price was outrageous and immediately stopped crying. "You're taking advantage of my misfortune. I, Yu Xiaofeng, have never begged anyone before. Today I've finally seen your ugly face."
"I'll never sell this bracelet to you again, no matter who I sell it to!"
She took the bracelet and stormed off.
Let's get him to the hospital first. Once he gets there, they'll definitely try to save him. We'll pay later!
After making up her mind, she arranged for someone to borrow a tricycle and took Lin Baojia to the county town.
In those days, hospitals didn't refuse patients. They immediately arranged surgery for them, but required Yu Xiaofeng to pay the medical fees within two days, otherwise the medication would be stopped.
When Lin Baojia heard that the medication would be stopped, he berated Yu Xiaofeng and Lin Tao, calling them useless for not being able to even get this little bit of money.
Yu Xiaofeng was also worried. The fracture surgery cost twenty-one yuan, and the follow-up medication would cost another eight or nine yuan. She could only raise the money by selling the bracelet as soon as possible.
If only I had sold the bracelet to Jiang Ning, at least she and Lin Tao wouldn't have had to go hungry while keeping watch.
The next morning, she took the gold bracelet and went out to try her luck in the black market.
Jiang Ning also set off.
She carried Lin Qiao on her back, and Lin Chen carried Wang Xiufen on his back. The family of four, on two bicycles, headed towards the Sixth Middle School, one in front of the other.
If it weren't for school, Lin Qiao would have wanted to go to the county town with them. She had never been there before and really wanted to.
After dropping off Lin Qiao, the group rode for another forty minutes before finally reaching the county town.
They went to a photo studio first.
At the entrance, Wang Xiufen immediately spotted the photos of the two people in the shop window.
Among the photos the two brought back last time was this one, and she liked it no matter how she looked at it; she stared at it for a long time.
The photo studio manager came out, saw the person in person, and hurriedly greeted them with a smile:
"Since we put up your photos, my photo studio's business has doubled. Not only do they take pictures here, but they also ask where the bride bought her dress. When I said you made it yourself, they asked how we found you."
"Here we are," Jiang Ning said with a mischievous smile.
"Let me introduce you. This is my mother-in-law, the one who made this outfit. We're planning to open a tailor shop, and we need customers."
The curator nodded to Wang Xiufen, smiling with a hint of respect:
"Sister, your skills are really good. If you open a tailor shop, you'll definitely have a lot of customers."
Jiang Ning smiled and said, "Actually, we're not very confident. The countryside is not like the county town. In the county town, many people have jobs and a fixed salary every month, so they can easily spend a few yuan to make clothes. But people in the countryside are not so wealthy. That's why I thought I'd come and ask if we can get orders in the county town."
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
