Su Xiangyang never expected that Meng Shuyun would say such a thing.
He was filled with bitterness; where would he get any money?
Every penny of her monthly salary of thirty-five yuan went directly to Meng Shuyun. Even if she wanted to secretly have extra tutoring, five yuan wouldn't be enough, let alone enough money to go to school.
Su Xiangyang's expression froze instantly, his voice filled with helplessness and disbelief: "Mom, are you serious? You know I only earn thirty-five a month, where am I supposed to find the money to go to school?"
Meng Shuyun, however, seemed determined. Without saying a word, she turned around and went back to her room, as if to say that the matter was settled and she had to figure it out herself.
She muttered to herself, "That's something for you to think about yourself. Don't bother me unless it's important. I'm an old man, I need to go to sleep. I have to go ask the doctor for help tomorrow, I don't have time to argue with you."
Early the next morning, Meng Shuyun and Su Xiulan rode their bicycles out, and Su Xiumei, who lived at home, also bought a second-hand one.
Since the incident involving the sisters Xiaoli and Xiaojuan, Su Xiumei has insisted on personally picking up the children, rain or shine, because only in this way can she feel at ease.
The two parted ways at the entrance of the county town. Su Xiulan carefully instructed, "Mom, I'll wait for you at the stall at the entrance after I finish looking at the shops. If you finish your business before me, buy something to eat if you're hungry. I'll be back as soon as possible."
Upon hearing this, Meng Shuyun was speechless... She wasn't a child, and she was perfectly sensible. However, she still replied, "I know, go quickly, look at a few more places, and buy one if you find a suitable one."
Meng Shuyun arrived at the teachers' family building. She was very familiar with this area; it was the area she was responsible for when she was sweeping the streets before.
She asked her neighbors and learned that Teacher Xie no longer lived in the staff housing. It turned out that Teacher Xie's mother had difficulty walking and the apartment she was allocated was on a floor that was too high up, so she moved back to West Street, which was a little further away from the school.
Meng Shuyun went to great lengths to find West Street, asking around from house to house, and finally found the Xie family.
It was a small courtyard, about ten square meters in size, filled with flowerpots and various kinds of camellias, some of which Meng Shuyun had never seen before.
Those flowers that bloom in this season must have been carefully cared for by their owners. Just by looking at these flowers, you can imagine how much effort and patience the owners have put in. Although it's not yet the season of warm spring and blooming flowers, there is already a hint of spring in the air.
Meng Shuyun called out into the yard, "Is Teacher Xie home?"
No one responded, so she raised her voice and called out a few more times, but there was still no response.
A neighbor passing by saw Meng Shuyun and kindly reminded her, "You're here to get tutoring from Teacher Xie, right? He hasn't finished class yet. Aunt Xie went out to get medicine, she should be back in a bit."
Meng Shuyun then realized that she had come at the wrong time, but fortunately, it was not far from the recycling station. She thought she could try her luck there and see if she could find anything good.
On the other hand, Su Xiulan looked at several shops, but they were either in remote locations, in bad locations, or too small to hold the goods she planned to sell.
She was unwilling to accept this, so she went to the opposite side of the supply and marketing cooperative, which was one of her most desired shops. She also had a bit of a vengeful mentality, wanting to make the supply and marketing cooperative manager who kicked her out suffer.
She felt that being kicked out of the supply and marketing cooperative was the worst decision they had ever made.
However, her previous letters of complaint seemed to have disappeared without a trace, leaving Su Xiulan with a slight sense of regret.
But she was still not giving up and wrote two more anonymous letters of complaint, but to no avail, and the supply and marketing cooperative remained unscathed.
Su Xiulan walked into the shop opposite the supply and marketing cooperative. It was a bookstore with very poor business, and most of the books were second-hand.
Logically speaking, the bookstore should have a lot of foot traffic, but it's located opposite the supply and marketing cooperative, so most of the customers are elderly people who naturally won't buy books.
With a big smile, Su Xiulan stepped forward and greeted the proprietress: "Proprietress, look, how about transferring this shop to me? I'm genuinely interested in renting it."
The bookstore owner got angry as soon as she saw Su Xiulan. She had come so many times in the past month, and she had said no, no, no, but Su Xiulan just wouldn't understand.
The proprietress said impatiently, "Oh, girl, why are you so stubborn? This shop isn't mine. I'm just helping out here. You're asking me, but I can't make the decision. You've really asked the wrong person!"
Su Xiulan began to have doubts. She had been here so many times but had never seen the owner. She suspected that the woman in front of her was the owner's wife and was deliberately lying to her, but she couldn't produce any evidence.
So Su Xiulan compromised and said, "Boss lady, then tell me where the owner of this place lives, and I'll go and talk to him."
The woman frowned, becoming even more impatient: "Our boss is very busy and doesn't have time to see you."
Just then, someone came into the store to buy a book, and the woman immediately shooed them away: "Can't you see I'm busy? I don't have time to chat with you. You'd better leave."
Su Xiulan was met with a cold shoulder, but she was not discouraged. She thought that if she tried a few more times, she would eventually have a chance.
So she got on her bicycle and left, intending to go through the alley to find Meng Shuyun.
In the alley, Su Xiulan saw an old woman with gray hair leaning against the roadside. When she got closer, she found that the old woman had fainted.
Passersby, fearing they might be scammed, adopted a "better safe than sorry" attitude, observing coldly before hurrying away.
Seeing this, Su Xiulan frowned. The old lady was about the same age as her own mother, and she couldn't bear to just leave her like this.
Su Xiulan helped the old lady up and asked anxiously, "Auntie, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
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