This is already quite late for them; they would normally be asleep by this time.
"Knock knock knock"
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Song Lili was a little confused. Who could it be?
Upon opening the door, one sees Song Jianshe standing there, wringing his hands in bewilderment, his face full of embarrassment.
Song Lili glanced at him indifferently before lowering her eyes. "Big brother, is there something you need?"
"Lili...I...I have something to tell you." Song Jianshe became even more uneasy.
Song Lili glanced at Song Jianshe again, but her expression turned colder. "Then come in first."
Song Lili made way for Song Jianshe to come in, and when she turned around, she saw Song Fang looking at Song Jianshe with some curiosity.
She was supposed to take Song Jianshe outside to talk, and not let Song Fang know, but for some reason, she let Song Jianshe in at that moment.
Song Jianshe hadn't thought that far ahead. He felt uneasy after entering the room and didn't dare to meet Song Lili's eyes. He just looked down at his feet.
Song Lili relaxed and returned to her usual self. She slowly walked over and sat on the kang (a heated brick bed). "Big brother, what is it?"
She no longer speaks to Song Jianshe as casually as before, nor does she have the desire to chat with him; she only speaks about matters at hand.
"Lili, I..." Song Jianshe opened his mouth several times, but he just couldn't say the words he had rehearsed countless times in his mind.
Song Lili frowned. Song Jianshe's behavior disgusted her, and her eyes turned sharp.
"Since you're already here, just say it. Don't beat around the bush. I need to sleep after you're done." I don't have time to play along with your indecisive act.
Song Lili's words seemed to have hurt Song Jianshe. He looked at Song Lili with some hurt in his eyes and said, "Lili, how did you..." become like this.
Song Lili interrupted him impatiently, "Get to the point, stop with the nonsense. Besides, you're not going to cancel your plans, so don't waste your time."
Seeing Song Jianshe's helpless expression, Song Lili guessed that Xia Niu wanted him to do something again by taking care of the child.
Sure enough, Song Jianshe stammered for a long time, and after mentally preparing himself, he finally spoke softly, "Lili, I...I want you to give me some money."
"Money?" Song Lili frowned deeply. "How much do you want? What for? Don't you have money? Where did it go?"
Just as Song Jianshe breathed a sigh of relief, Song Lili's questions made him feel suffocated and incredibly guilty.
"I...I want twenty, I...I've spent...spent all my money." The more Song Jianshe spoke, the more guilty he became, his head bowed so low it almost touched his chest.
"Raise your head!" Song Lili suddenly shouted. "Look at me and tell me, what are you going to do? Where did your money go?"
In the past two years, since the family has become wealthier, Song Lili has been giving money to Song Yongren and Song Jianshe from time to time.
Song Lili knew that they saved all their money when they didn't need it.
If she remembered correctly, the two of them had at least ten dollars in savings.
Ten yuan is already a lot of money, and Song Lili looked at him suspiciously, not expecting Song Jianshe to come over again asking for money.
"You...you haven't gotten involved in anything you shouldn't have, have you?" If that were the case, Song Lili's eyes flashed with the ferocity of a wolf.
"No...no, I didn't." Song Jianshe quickly shook his head in denial, afraid that his sister had really misunderstood.
"What happened? Don't just answer one question at a time, explain yourself clearly." Song Lili's patience was wearing thin.
Song Jianshe had offended her before, and now his attitude made her furious.
"If you're not going to talk, then get out. I need to sleep too, I don't have time to waste here with you, I have things to do." There was a hint of exasperation in his words.
Song Jianshe didn't realize what she meant. Hearing Song Lili say that only made him more flustered, and he looked anxious.
"Lili, you...you don't get angry, I'll tell you, I'll tell you, please don't get angry."
"Speak," Song Lili said, taking a deep breath and trying to suppress her raging anger.
"It's...it's Xia Niu. Her mother said that there's no food left at home, so she wants to borrow money to buy some food."
"She said she would return it after the grain was distributed," Song Jianshe muttered, looking uneasy.
Looking at Song Jianshe like this and listening to what he said, Song Lili couldn't help but feel disappointed in him. Where was the Song Jianshe she used to be?
She couldn't help but ask, "Song Jianshe, do you still remember what you used to be like? Do you still know that there should be a bottom line in being a decent person?"
"What?" Song Jianshe looked at Song Lili in confusion, not understanding why she said that.
"It's nothing." Song Lili waved her hand weakly, suddenly feeling very bored and having no desire to continue.
“I will not give her the money. The grain distribution is about to begin, and I don’t believe Chen Erhua is taking the money to buy food.”
"If I'm not mistaken, you gave her the money you saved before, right? And Xia Niu secretly took the vegetables from her private plot to the purchasing station to sell, she must have made quite a bit of money from that, right?"
"If the Chen family really had no food left, they would have had enough money long ago. Even if they ate white flour buns every day, they would still have been able to get their share of the grain."
"Tell Xia Niu to take back those underhanded tricks. If there's a next time, tell her to wait. I won't show any mercy." Song Lili looked at Song Jianshe coldly.
The coldness, determination, and disappointment in his eyes were clearly visible to Song Jianshe, causing a sudden pang of pain in his heart.
"Lili, you mean... you mean Xia Niu took the vegetables you grew to the purchasing station to sell?" Song Jianshe asked with some difficulty.
Song Lili raised an eyebrow. "What do you think? Does she really think I'm stupid? So many dishes suddenly disappeared, does she really think I didn't know?"
"I only turned a blind eye to things because of you, Song Jianshe, but now you're no longer worth it."
"So you'd better understand that you'd better behave yourself from now on, otherwise... I'm sure you're not completely unaware of what I've been doing."
Song Jianshe had some guesses about what had happened to Luo Weijia and Xu Youcai in the past, but Song Lili simply gave her a definite answer.
"I... okay, I understand." Song Jianshe seemed to have all his strength suddenly drained away, his whole body went limp, and his face lost its luster.
“I will tell her, I…I will do it too.” After saying that, Song Jianshe turned and left without looking at Song Lili again.
So Song Lili didn't see that the moment Song Jianshe turned around, a tear slid down his cheek and quickly disappeared into the soil.
Song Lili stared intently at Song Jianshe's back for a long time before finally looking away.
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