Lin Haodong took the payment slip and felt a headache coming on. The money for yesterday's banquet had been advanced by the brigade, so where would he get the money to pay?
After leaving the consultation room, he handed the payment slip to Liu Pianran: "Go pay the fee, and while you're at it, go to the pharmacy to get the medicine. I'm going to see my mother."
Liu Pianran subconsciously withdrew her hand, her face full of distress: "Where would I get the money to pay? You'll have to figure it out yourself."
When money was mentioned, Lin Haodong suppressed his anger, chuckled, and gently put his arm around her, pleading for help: "Pianpian, we're husband and wife. What's the difference between you and me? There should still be some money left over from the dowry your mother sent, right? I'll cover it for now, and I won't forget you when I make money in the future."
Liu Pianran bit her lower lip with a troubled expression: "I really don't have any more. I paid back the money last time, but when I bought shoes later, I didn't have enough money, so Yang Fang lent me another twenty."
Lin Haodong was raised by his mother since childhood, so he is filial, but since his engagement to Ji Xia, he has become accustomed to outsourcing his filial piety.
Liu Pianran had long known that her mother-in-law disliked her and was plotting to ruin her relationship with her husband.
She couldn't wait for Lin's mother to pass away so as not to be a burden on the two of them, so she was unwilling to spend money to treat Lin's mother's illness.
Moreover, she only had a few dozen yuan left, which she planned to use for living expenses after going to school.
The two stood in front of the ward, each complaining about their own difficulties. They talked for a long time but couldn't come up with a solution. Just then, Lin's mother coughed a few times inside the ward.
Lin Haodong immediately pushed open the door to the ward and asked with a delighted smile, "Mom, you're awake? Are you feeling better now?"
"I'm much better. Why did you bring me here?"
As Lin's mother looked around the pristine white hospital room, she said with heartache, "We're out of money at home. Why send him to the hospital? We still have medicine at home. Just give me two pills."
He didn't want to take her to the hospital, and then he banged on her door in the middle of the night, without even taking his own medicine?
Liu Pianran muttered to herself, but wisely stood behind her husband without saying a word.
Lin's mother smiled weakly at her son: "How much did it cost? We're out of money. This money must have been borrowed, right?"
Lin Haodong's lips moved, but he didn't know how to answer. Liu Pianran interrupted from behind, saying, "Mother, the doctor asked us to pay the bill, but Haodong can't afford it and doesn't know who to borrow money from."
Therefore, it's wise for the sensible to ask to go home.
Lin's mother glanced at her daughter-in-law, but did not respond to her explicit or implicit remarks. She just smiled bitterly at her son and said, "Sigh, I'm the one who's dragging you down. I heard that Xia made extra money by making clothes. She earned more than two hundred yuan in ten days or half a month. If only we hadn't broken off the engagement."
Chen Jing told his sister-in-law that Ji Xia had earned over a hundred yuan. Chen's sister-in-law boasted to others that it was one or two hundred yuan, but in Lin's mother's ears, it had become more than two hundred yuan.
Are there that many?
Upon hearing this, Lin Haodong felt a pang of unease.
He, a college student, didn't earn even two yuan, while Ji Xia earned more than two hundred yuan.
Thinking of the several times the young girls at the supply and marketing cooperative had scrambled to buy those dresses, Lin Haodong had no doubt about his mother's words.
After comforting Lin's mother, he turned around and told Liu Pianran to take care of her mother at the hospital, and then he left the hospital.
Lin Haodong planned to borrow money. Who would he borrow from? Of course, he would borrow from Ji Xia.
He first went to the supply and marketing cooperative, but only Liu Hongju and He Qiuying were working there in the morning.
Four or five girls who heard the news surrounded He Qiuying and bought the last two sets of new sample clothes. Two or three other girls, disappointed, saw the hair clips and hair ties recommended by Liu Hongju and each bought two.
Lin Haodong glanced at the encirclement at the supply and marketing cooperative, then smiled politely at Liu Hongju: "Comrade Liu, where is Xia? Where is she?"
Liu Hongju rolled her eyes coldly upon hearing this: "Lin, you're already married, you should be more mindful of keeping your distance from other women."
"Also, you shouldn't call her A-Xia; you should call her Comrade Ji."
Ji Xia is now their benefactor, and Liu Hongju is now Ji Xia's absolute fan, so she naturally despises Lin Haodong.
Lin Haodong looked somewhat embarrassed. He glanced around to make sure Ji Xia wasn't there, then asked, "Is she on the afternoon shift today?"
"What's it to you? Get lost! You just got married yesterday, and you're already here looking for Xia today. Haven't you hurt her enough?"
Liu Hongju criticized him without any politeness, and Lin Haodong's face turned dark. Before Liu Hongju could finish speaking, he turned around and left.
It's better that Ji Xia isn't here. If he borrows money in front of those two, they might just do something bad to him.
Ji Xia wasn't on the early shift, so she was naturally at her home. Lin Haodong had known Ji Xia for over a year, so of course he knew where her house in the city was.
Seeing Ji Xia's courtyard from afar, Lin Haodong looked somewhat nostalgic.
He stayed in Ji Xia's courtyard for both of his college entrance exams.
To allow him to focus on his exams, Ji Xia took a day off and prepared delicious food and drinks for him at home, including chicken soup, bone broth, meat buns, and braised pork. He ate more lavishly than during the Chinese New Year in just two or three days.
She was clearly deeply in love with him, so why did she change her mind so quickly? He only made one wrong move, and his attitude changed immediately.
He stared silently at the courtyard for a while, then knocked on the gate, stood on tiptoe to peek inside, and noticed something was wrong.
The courtyard seems to have changed; it's more crowded than before, and there seem to be more decorations.
A young girl looked up and saw an old man behind her watering the vegetable garden in the yard.
"He's got it wrong?" Lin Haodong subconsciously took a few steps back and looked around. Yes, this is the place!
Sun Xiaoyu opened the courtyard gate and looked at him warily: "Who are you?"
Lin Haodong hesitated for a moment, then smiled gently at Sun Xiaoyu: "Excuse me, does Ji Xia live here?"
Just as Sun Xiaoyu was about to answer, she suddenly heard Ji Xiangjun's cold and indifferent voice from inside the courtyard: "Lin Haodong, what are you doing here? Trying to cause trouble for A-Xia again?"
Ji Xiangjun came out of the house carrying his luggage, his eyes fixed on Lin Haodong with a cold and gloomy gaze.
Lin Haodong subconsciously took a few steps back, smiling ingratiatingly at Ji Xiangjun: "Second brother is going on another business trip?"
Ji Xiangjun glanced at him coldly: "I don't deserve to be called Second Brother, and there's no need for me to come looking for A-Xia. I've already transferred this house to Uncle Sun, and we won't be living here anymore."
As Ji Xiangjun spoke, he took out his luggage, tied it to the back of his bicycle, and then gave an instruction to Old Man Sun and his grandson.
"This man is no good. He's a master at deceiving women, cheating them out of money and sex. I'll avoid him from now on."
Upon hearing Ji Xiangjun say that Lin Haodong had cheated them out of money and sex, the way Old Man Sun and Sun Xiaoyu looked at Lin Haodong immediately changed.
Lin Haodong's face turned pale and then red, his eyes fixed on Ji Xiangjun's back with resentment. When Ji Xiangjun turned around, he looked away again.
Ji Xiangjun asked coldly, "I heard you got married to someone else yesterday, so why are you coming to see A-Xia? Lin Haodong, don't do anything unnecessary, otherwise, even if you're a college student, I won't let you off the hook."
Upon hearing that Lin Haodong was a college student, Sun Xiaoyu immediately knew who he was and slammed the courtyard gate shut.
Lin Haodong stared at Ji Xiangjun's back with a sinister look, mentally labeling him as deserving of the death penalty.
Once he finishes university and achieves success, the entire Ji family will face retribution.
While Lin Haodong was searching everywhere for Ji Xia, Ji Xia and Chen Jing were in the warehouse of the Sha Mian Textile Factory in the county town, haggling with Manager Qian.
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