Xu Minghui suddenly looked at his wife, "Why didn't you tell me about this? No, when did your mother-in-law break her leg? You didn't tell me either. Honestly, why didn't you tell me about something like this? We still have some money at home, you could have just sent it over. Why did you have to borrow from the third son?"
Chen Fengjuan lowered her head, wiped away her tears, and said softly, "I only found out yesterday. My brother said that my mother needs to have surgery on her foot, and the hospital in the county isn't good enough. She needs to go to a big city for the surgery..."
"Then hurry up and go. You're the one who provided all the money at home. Take it to your older brother and tell Mom to get the surgery done as soon as possible."
Zhou Nianmei, who was watching closely, noticed that Chen Fengjuan was clutching the hem of her clothes tightly with both hands. She knew what was going on, so she tentatively asked, "Is there too much money? It's okay. Although your brother and I haven't saved much money, we can still help out."
Chen Fengjuan suddenly looked up, her face covered in tears, and choked out, "No, sister-in-law, it's too much of a difference. The doctor at the county hospital kindly called a hospital in Hangzhou to ask, and it would cost at least 20,000 yuan. They said they need to install some kind of steel pipe inside. Anyway, we don't really know, but it costs that much. Where are we supposed to get that much money?"
Chen Fengjuan's mother only gave birth to her and her older brother. She couldn't ignore her parents' problems and always had to contribute money and effort.
"Ah, twenty thousand!" Zhou Nianmei plopped back down. This was a bit much. Their family's savings were only a little over four thousand, which she had saved by scrimping and saving for years, not even buying a new piece of clothing. Even if she wanted to lend it, she couldn't lend it all out, so she really couldn't do anything about twenty thousand.
Xu Minghui was stunned when he heard the number. He originally thought it would be at most one or two thousand, but he didn't expect it to be twenty thousand.
He looked up at his elder brother and asked with difficulty, "Brother, could you and sister-in-law lend us some money? We don't need much, just a thousand. A thousand will be fine with you."
He had made up his mind. He would borrow money from his siblings, and he could also raise money from his brother-in-law. If all else failed, he would have to borrow money from Granny Liu at high interest rates. There was no other way; he couldn't just watch his mother-in-law lie paralyzed in bed!
Xu Mingri glanced at his wife, and only dared to reply after seeing that she did not object, "Second brother, I can lend you the money, but your shortfall is a bit big. Fengjuan, how much money can your eldest brother raise?" He thought to himself that he couldn't let his second brother and his wife pay for everything!
Chen Fengjuan wiped away her tears and answered softly, "My older brother said he has more than three thousand yuan at home, and he can borrow some more from relatives, but not much, at most he can only scrape together about two thousand yuan."
"Doesn't that mean you and the second son have to pay the full 15,000?" Zhou Nianmei couldn't help but say. This was too outrageous. How could a married woman have to pay the bulk of the cost? It didn't sound right at all!
“My older brother is really desperate, so he asked me how much he could raise. I can’t just watch my mother die, Minghui, please save my mother. You know, my father has passed away, and my mother is all alone. I really don’t want her to leave.”
As Chen Fengjuan spoke, she burst into tears. She knew it was difficult to borrow money, but she really had no other choice. Her mother was waiting for the money to save her life!
"Yes, once an elderly person breaks their leg and is bedridden, they don't have many years left to recover. Of course, I'm not talking about your mother, sister-in-law, but anyway, let's borrow it first!"
What Zhou Nianmei didn't say was, putting aside whether or not relatives would lend the money, the question was, how would you repay it if you did? Many people don't lend money because they're afraid they won't be able to pay it back!
This family makes a living by farming, and they can only save a little money a year. They still need to eat and drink, and their children are growing up. When will they ever be able to pay it back?
Xu Minghui wiped his face and said in a low voice, "Lend as much as you can first. Fengjuan, have your eldest brother take your mother-in-law to Hangzhou to see a doctor about her leg. We'll wire the money later. Don't ask the third brother yet, we'll talk about it later."
Just because the third son made some money doesn't mean he can set his sights on her. She's his mother-in-law, not the third son's.
Chen Fengjuan opened her mouth as if to say something, but seeing the serious expression on her husband's face, she lowered her head and remained silent.
...
Xu Minghan, who was far away in Tianshui City, had no idea that this matter was related to him. At this moment, he was discussing with Zhang Xuemei how to renovate the house!
“You mean we should build a shoe cabinet near the entrance, or maybe one outside the door? I saw some people doing that when I went to look around before.” Xu Minghan scribbled on a piece of paper with a pen in hand.
“Hmm,” Zhang Xuemei nodded, “Anything is fine. I just want to install a laundry sink with a washboard on the balcony, then put the washing machine underneath, and fill the top with cabinets. You understand what I mean?”
"I understand, I understand. We'll install a clothes rack on the other side of the balcony, right?" Just like the new house they bought later, they installed it with as many large cabinets as possible, all the way to the ceiling, so they could store more things.
"Yes, and the room too. We need a dressing table built for my room, right by the window."
"Shouldn't we prepare a study room? Panpan will need to do her homework when she starts school!"
"There's no need to prepare one specially. Just prepare a room for Panpan, with a desk and bookshelves. She's in kindergarten now, so it's good for her to do some drawing and writing sometimes."
"What about the other two rooms? How are you going to decorate them?"
"Well, you'll have to ask Mom. Didn't we say we'd save a room for her and Dad? Let's see what kind Mom likes." Zhang Xuemei smiled as she looked at her mother-in-law, who was listening intently to their conversation.
Granny Liu was listening intently when she saw Zhang Xuemei smiling at her, and her old face flushed red. "Why are you looking at me?"
"Mom, my third sister-in-law said she's saving a room for you and asked how you want it decorated. See how good she is to you?" Xu Mingwan looked at her mother with envy.
Zhang Xuemei reached out and tapped Xu Mingwan's forehead from a distance, jokingly saying with a smile, "Don't worry, your sister-in-law will keep a room for you at home before you get married, so you won't be homeless."
Anyway, Panpan and Linlin are still young, so the two children will sleep with the couple. As for the younger brother, it depends on the situation. If he wants to stay, the remaining room will be given to him. He can move out when he buys his own house in the future.
Xu Mingwan blushed and looked at her third sister-in-law embarrassedly, "Sister-in-law, that's not what I meant."
"I know, don't worry about it. We're going to open a shop together, and it's inconvenient for you to live so far away."
At this point, Xu Mingwan could no longer contain her curiosity and couldn't help but ask, "Third Sister-in-law, what kind of shop do you want to open? Our shop in the clothing market is still empty, and we have to pay a lot of rent every day. It's so uncomfortable for it to just sit there empty!"
Zhang Xuemei glanced at the only man present and answered softly, "I've made up my mind. I'm going to sell women's underwear."
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