Chapter 8 The Ungrateful Man Who Sold His Sisters to Escape the Mountains
Once Ji Hong starts talking, she can't stop.
Ji Huaizhi said impatiently, "Sis... Sis... Alright, listen to me first. This phone bill is too expensive. Let's not chat."
"Okay, tell me... are you out of money? Why do you need so much money outside? What kind of business are you in? Be careful not to get scammed." Ji Hong couldn't help but mutter again.
Then she remembered that even if her younger brother had no money, she herself didn't have any either.
Thinking of her in-laws' attitude towards her, she tightened her grip on the phone.
"Alright, alright, can you listen to me?" Ji Huaizhi quickly interrupted her, "I sent you a thousand yuan. Apart from the six hundred I borrowed from you last time, the remaining four hundred is my dowry for you, which is the money I earned."
"Are your brother-in-law's family good to you? You can stand tall with your younger brother backing you up."
Ji Hong covered her mouth and couldn't help but cry: "Where did you get the money? My parents were just saying they were going to borrow money from my in-laws."
"And those six hundred weren't lottery tickets..."
"You haven't lent it yet, right? I don't need it anymore. That six hundred was money I asked my parents to help me borrow back then. I don't know what my parents said to you back then, so don't let them lead you astray."
Ji Huaizhi spoke very quickly: "I won't say anymore. I've already sent the remittance slip back. Don't forget to pick it up later."
"Also, keep an eye on Ji Xiang at home. Who was that guy that Mom and Dad introduced her to last time?"
"Be careful they don't start causing trouble again one day, so you'll have to keep a close eye on things."
"I'll call you if I need anything."
Ji Hong wanted to say something more, but the call ended abruptly.
"Hello...Hello...Huaizhi."
Ji Hong was still a little confused after hanging up the phone. Her brother's tone of voice was the same as before, but why did it feel so different from before?
The old lady at the convenience store saw her hang up the phone and asked, "Ji Hong, was that your brother calling?"
"Yes." After saying that, she wiped away her tears and went home.
The mother-in-law shook her head; the daughter-in-law the Zhang family had chosen was truly...
Her family called, probably to borrow money again.
Just then, she saw Zhang's mother returning from grocery shopping, and her mother-in-law called out to her, "Sister-in-law Zhang!"
"What's wrong, Granny Li?" Zhang's mother asked, puzzled.
"Ji Hong's younger brother just called. Be careful, he might be asking you for money again!"
Zhang's mother felt ashamed: "I didn't lend them money when their family asked last time. What kind of nonsense is this?"
“Every family has its own problems. You should go back and have a good talk with your daughter-in-law. You still have to consider your own family. Your younger brother isn’t your own child either,” the mother-in-law advised.
When I got back, I saw her in the house talking to her son.
Seeing her son nod, Zhang's mother became anxious and called the person out.
Ji Hong had calmed down, and the couple looked at Zhang's mother with confusion, wondering what she was angry about.
"What's wrong?" Zhang Guiyang asked. "Did someone knock you with a bamboo pole while you were buying groceries?"
Zhang's mother felt distressed. Was he planning to borrow money from her family without her knowledge?
“Ji Hong, our family is just an ordinary family. If we were really rich, we could help our siblings out, but our family’s conditions are just average.”
"You have to take care of your own family first, right? I'm not talking about your brother."
“But now he’s all grown up and can earn his own money. The main problem is that your dad has also been laid off, and I don’t have any work to do. In the family, only Guiyang is earning money. You should also feel sorry for your husband.”
"You don't have children yet, but there will be many expenses in the future."
As she talked, Zhang's mother got a headache. She used to think that Ji Hong was a good person and hardworking.
But to her surprise, her family kept coming to her door to borrow money.
Ji Hong's expression was rather unpleasant. In the past, she would have felt embarrassed and upset, and dared not say anything.
But her brother's phone call gave her confidence, so she turned her attention to Zhang Guiyang and let him speak for himself.
"Mom! What are you saying?" Zhang Guiyang was also confused.
"Your mother-in-law Li just told me that Ji Hong's younger brother called. Isn't it to borrow money?" Zhang's mother saw that they were still planning to hide it from her.
Zhang Guiyang asked awkwardly, "What did you say?"
“No,” Zhang Guiyang stepped forward to explain, “Her brother did call, but not to borrow money.”
Zhang's mother still looked incredulous: "That's...."
“His younger brother called to say he had wired money to her. There seems to be a misunderstanding. The 600 yuan that my father-in-law asked for was not a bride price; it was a loan from his younger brother, who just called to return the money.”
"He also added four hundred to her dowry, saying it was from his younger brother."
Zhang's mother was a little confused and looked at Ji Hong.
"Not borrowing money?"
Zhang Guiyang nodded: "No, Huaizhi sent a total of 1,000 yuan to Ji Hong. She just told me that. We misunderstood each other before."
"This..." Zhang's mother felt embarrassed: "Ji Hong, Mom... "
"Mom didn't expect it to be like this either. How come... it's different from what she said before?"
Ji Hong said, "I guess my parents made the decision on their own; my brother doesn't know anything about these things."
"He probably didn't know that the 600 yuan was the dowry money that his parents added at the last minute."
This is the only explanation.
The most embarrassed person was Zhang's mother: "Well... Ji Hong's mother didn't know, just now your Grandma Li said that your brother asked you to borrow money, and that he made you so angry that you kept wiping away tears. I thought it was really about borrowing money."
Ji Hong shook her head.
That was actually her initial thought as well.
"Mom, I'll return the 600 yuan to you after my brother's payment receipt arrives." This was because my parents suddenly increased the bride price.
This made her feel ashamed and unable to hold her head high at home.
Her younger brother has made her proud this time.
However, she would keep the four hundred yuan for her younger brother, just in case he needed money in the future and wouldn't be unable to come up with it.
Zhang Guiyang was happy, realizing he had misunderstood his brother-in-law before: "No need, because my dad was laid off and the family couldn't afford the 'three turns and one ring' (referring to a set of three-wheeled vehicles and a radio). Just take this 600 yuan; it was agreed that it was your betrothal gift."
Putting everything else aside, the brother-in-law even gave a dowry, so their family didn't seem to have lost out at all.
She took it and used it at home.
Ji Hong looked at Zhang's mother.
"Take it. I didn't expect it to cause such a big misunderstanding."
What could Zhang's mother say?
We still need to see the remittance slip before we talk, otherwise, if there's no money at all, or they're just saying that to save face...
~
After making the phone call, Ji Huaizhi took Jiang Fulin directly to the clothing wholesale market, which was very close to the train station and also had a bus station nearby.
The two moved through the crowd, observing the vendors and the shop owners who came to buy goods.
With so many people around, Jiang Fulin followed Ji Huaizhi closely, afraid of losing him.
"Brother Ji, these are all women's clothes."
Ji Huaizhi: "I know, now that we can eat our fill, everyone will definitely want to dress nicely."
"Let's go to the watch wholesale market in the west."
Jiang Fulin quickly followed.
Meanwhile, Fang Youliang and Xiao Houzi had just boarded the train and bought a lot of things at the nearby wholesale market to take back with them.
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