Chapter 11: Money Saved Through Frugal Living
Chapter 11: Money Saved Through Frugal Living
After finally finishing their meal, Wang Jing urged Fang Yuenian to check how the books were drying. "If they're not completely dry, go to Aunt Hongmei's house and borrow her hairdryer!" she said.
Upon hearing this, Grandma Fang stopped wiping the table with the rag she was using. "Didn't your grandfather say last time that he wanted to bring a hairdryer home? Why didn't he listen to him again? He's so reliable, he just forgot! Niannian, make sure he buys one next week, and you bring it home!"
Fang Yuenian went into the room and saw that Wang Jing had spread his books all over the table, and there were several empty test papers hanging on the windowsill waiting to be done. He reached out and touched them, and they were all dripping water. He had no choice but to accept his fate and went out of the room. "I'll go borrow a hairdryer."
He didn't want to go to Aunt Hongmei's house.
Aunt Hongmei is a very nice person. It's mainly her mother-in-law who, in front of others, is either showing off her grandson's achievements, talking about her double-door refrigerator, or the pattern of her floor tiles. Every word she says exudes a satisfied arrogance, which is really annoying after a while.
It's no wonder that her family is one of the wealthiest in the village. Her wife, Hongmei, is shrewd and capable. The young couple runs a fishpond and raises crabs. They not only built a three-story house, but also decorated it in a way that was consistent inside and out. All the household items were high-end. In just one or two years, they have already surpassed the Fang family in terms of wealth and status.
Grandma Hongmei was home alone. Upon hearing Fang Yuenian's words, she hurriedly found a hairdryer and said, "Oh! Is this a snack? How did your book get wet? Last time, my Xiaohui's notebook got a small tear, and the teacher scolded him! Luckily, the teacher likes him and only said a few words before letting it go. His mother, who was tutoring him, spent the whole night glued it back together..."
—My grandson, Xiaohui, is studying at the county's No. 1 Middle School. My daughter-in-law is so worried about her son's studies that she can't take care of herself, so she specially went to the county town to accompany him. This is the first time such a person has done this in the village, and it's something to be proud of.
Fang Yuenian took the hair dryer, said "Thank you, I'll bring it back right away," and then ran off in a flash.
Wang Jing finally finished cleaning up the kitchen. She pushed open her son's bedroom door and saw Fang Yuenian engrossed in blowing on a book, looking miserable. She couldn't bring herself to be angry. She slammed the glass of milk she was holding onto the corner of the table and asked, "Can you blow it dry?"
"Yes, yes, yes, I guarantee it," Fang Yuenian said, quickening her pace as if on cue. "I can do the test paper tomorrow morning."
Wang Jing said, "Which student wouldn't cherish their books? You, on the other hand, wouldn't forget to bring your schoolbag even if you fell into the water."
Fang Yuenian retorted, "I had my backpack on, why would I throw it off halfway?"
"Who pulled you out of the water? Your car must have fallen into the water too, right?"
"It's the old man from the family next door."
Wang Jing gave her a cold look: "Shut up, drink your milk, I'll go boil some water for you. It's hot, so don't use the shower tent anymore, just take a shower in the small room."
Fang Yuenian immediately said, "Okay, okay, whatever."
Two years ago, the family renovated the house and laid cement floors. Wang Jing originally planned to follow Hongmei's example and build a bathroom with drainage and install a solar water heater for convenient showering. However, she couldn't do it at the time. Now that Fang Yuenian is about to enter high school, she feels she can't put it off any longer. She finally started laying the floor a while ago, but she was busy with everything and kept dragging her feet. It's still not finished.
Fang Yuenian then said, "Mom, I want to go to the city tomorrow."
Wang Jing paused: "What's going on?"
"I want to buy some reference books."
Wang Jing didn't speculate much about the credibility of his words. She stared at her son's back for a while, then suddenly turned around, pushed the door shut, and asked knowingly, "Niannian, who are you going with?"
Fang Yuenian naturally answered, "Cheng Bing."
Wang Jing moved her lips, seemingly lost in thought, then reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of bills.
They were all small change, except for two fifty-yuan bills which were considered a lot of money. She carefully looked through them twice, counted a few bills, and pulled her son over to face her: "Here, twenty yuan for the bus fare, and fifty yuan for you to buy books, is that enough?"
Fang Yuenian tossed the hair dryer aside, took it, and saw that it was colorful and cost far more than seventy yuan. She was puzzled: "Why are you giving so many?"
Wang Jing's voice was muffled: "The extra hundred yuan... take it to your sister Junjun."
Fang Yuenian's heart sank slightly. After a long while, she said in a low voice, "Sister Jun, you can't have it."
"She doesn't want it, so why don't you buy her something? What's wrong with you, you child?" Wang Jing's face flushed slightly.
Compared to when she married into the Fang family in a grand and glamorous way, Wang Jing has clearly aged.
Years of hard work had etched deep shadows into her once large and bright eyes. Her face and neck, tanned from years of exposure to ultraviolet rays during farming, were now a wheatish color. Her hair, which she used to perm frequently in her youth, was now loosely tied back. Her figure was no longer slender, and at over forty years old, she looked every bit the robust and hardworking woman. Compared to her younger sister Hongmei, she was not only less striking, but even compared to the slightly older Cheng Qiuyan, she appeared rather plain and unassuming.
All her former trendiness and ambition have been reduced to the mundane tasks of daily life, which she supports single-handedly. She can't tell anyone what's on her mind.
Looking at her son, who was still quite grown up, she even showed a hint of self-deception and embarrassment.
Seeing that Fang Yuenian was still silent, Wang Jing patted his shoulder and lowered her voice: "Isn't she always right to treat you? Your grandma goes around saying bad things about her, but she never ignores you. She's a terrible person, and she's incredibly proud. She didn't even do well on her high school entrance exam, and she only got into the second-best high school. How many people in the village laughed at her? Now that she's going to take the college entrance exam, she'll definitely be studying every day. Buy some milk, some fruit, some other food, and send it all to her dorm. Just buy it and take it to her. She didn't want it last time, but what if she does this time?"
Fang Yuenian listened for a while before finally saying, "Oh, I understand."
He agreed, but he knew perfectly well that he couldn't spend the money.
He had long ago made up his mind that he would never make things difficult for Cheng Junjun again.
The next day, Fang Yuenian got up very early and went to the back door. Looking out, she saw that the gate of the Cheng family on the other side of the river was indeed open.
The area behind the Fang family's house was rather desolate. Apart from the dilapidated outhouse and a small mud-brick house piled with firewood and other miscellaneous items, there was only a wharf, forming a stark contrast with the Cheng family's house on the opposite bank. Fang Yuenian had also asked to plant some flowering and fruit trees here, but Fang Wu and Old Lady Fang both disagreed. They seemed to have a natural hostility towards this place and were simply unwilling to tidy it up.
Just as he expected, Cheng Bing watered a small pear tree in front of the door.
Peach trees take three years, apricot trees four, and pear trees five. That pear tree was planted by Fang Yuenian, who insisted on planting it with Cheng Bing, and it's almost been three years now, growing quite well. At first, Cheng Bing seemed indifferent, as if she didn't like it, but she took great care of it. In winter, she even went to a relative who grew fruit trees to get some lime slurry to coat the trunk. This spring, the pear tree only had a few scattered blossoms, but the branches were blown askew by the wind. Lin Guohui had to build a trellis to support it, and it took several months for it to regain its balance.
Fang Yuenian waved to him, first gently, then with both hands, and then by jumping up and waving with both hands, finally catching Cheng Bing's attention.
He hurriedly ran to the wharf, jumped onto his own cement boat, turned around, stretched out his foot and pushed off, and floated away with the boat.
Actually, taking a U-shaped route wouldn't be far, but he still preferred this method. He would grab a broken oar, paddle a few times, and reach the Cheng family's wharf on the other side—it was much easier.
He put down the oars and sat on the bow of the boat, then called out to Cheng Bing, "Is that enough? Finished watering? Come on up, I have something to tell you."
Cheng Bing put down the watering can, stepped onto the water's edge, and stood there asking, "What?"
Fang Yuenian beckoned: "Come on up, I have something very important to say."
Cheng Bing had no choice but to board the boat.
The cement boat rocked a few times. Fang Yuenian grabbed Cheng Bing's arm with one hand and stretched out her other hand in front of him, showing it off triumphantly: "Look."
There was a large wad of bills in his palm; it looked like a lot.
"Where did you get so much money?" Cheng Bing was slightly taken aback.
"It came from a legitimate source," Fang Yuenian said excitedly. "Besides my own twenty yuan, my mom also gave me fifty yuan to buy the materials."
Cheng Bing twisted his hand away, "What did you tell your mom? Were you planning to buy the high school materials as well?"
Fang Yuenian said, "I'll just buy whatever I think is best. I mainly have twenty yuan left and want to buy something for Sister Jun. What do you think I should buy?"
Cheng Bing looked at him, then at the money, and asked, "When did you save up so much?"
He was genuinely surprised. Twenty yuan was almost a week's living expenses, and Fang Yuenian always needed to eat two ounces more than others to feel full.
"Are you looking down on me?" Fang Yuenian couldn't stand such words. "It's all the money I saved by scrimping and saving. It's not much, but it's enough to buy Sister Jun some apples or something. How could I go to see her empty-handed?"
Cheng Bing felt uneasy thinking that he had probably given up his beloved weekly fried chicken skewers in order to save money, and said softly, "My mom gave me the money."
“Aunt Qiuyan is Aunt Qiuyan, and I am me.” Fang Yuenian was so excited that he took a step, causing the boat to rock again. Cheng Bing instinctively grabbed him: “Be careful.”
"It's alright, it's alright," Fang Yuenian said. "It's settled, I need to hurry up and have breakfast. Time is a bit tight, I still need to fix the car later."
Cheng Bing paused for a moment, then finally nodded: "Okay."
Fang Yuenian replied with a grin, "Okay, I'm going home now, see you at the intersection!"
The repair shop was located in the village brigade area, because the village committee and primary school were both there. So, around the repair shop and the two small shops across the street, there were always old ladies who spent their days playing cards and chatting, women who wore pajamas all year round, old men who came out to play chess, and disheveled young people who didn't go out to make a living and stayed in the village all day playing cards.
The strange and interesting stories from the villages around here are gathered, embellished, and spread, creating a lively and noisy atmosphere that sustains the endless fun in these otherwise mundane days.
The owner of the repair shop was named Xiaofeng, in his twenties. He also worked as a barber. He was very skilled, able to both repair tires and cut buzz cuts. He was taking a towel from an old barber's neck and patting him up and down when he turned around and saw Fang Yuenian and Cheng Bing. Seeing the two young men pushing their bikes over, he whistled.
"Hey, kid Fang, getting your car fixed?"
Fang Yuenian parked the bicycle in front of his shop and kicked the foot of the car, saying, "The chain is broken."
Xiao Feng collected the money for the haircut and went over to take a look. "What happened? It broke again! You little brat, you're too useless! Unfortunately, I don't have any replacement chains here today. My dad went to town to buy one, and he should be back this afternoon."
Fang Yuenian: "What? What am I supposed to do today? I still need to go to town."
Xiao Feng was baffled: "It's so close to town, why don't you just ask Cheng Xiaogui to take you there on his bike? Besides, what are you doing going to town today, Saturday? You'll be going again tomorrow anyway."
Fang Yuenian: "..."
Yeah, Brother Cheng can just give me a ride!
He immediately turned his head and looked at Cheng Bing with eager, pleading eyes.
Cheng Bing: "..."
He turned his face away, lifted his leg onto the bike, pushed off the pedal, but didn't move.
Fang Yuenian grabbed the back seat of his car with one hand and pulled it along with the other, and in one go, she pushed her beat-up car towards Boss Xiaofeng, saying, "Thank you for your trouble!" Then she jumped onto the car seat that he had been eyeing for so long and shouted, "Alright! Let's go!"
Cheng Bing ignored his orders and said calmly in the silence, "It can't carry that much."
Fang Yuenian, being flexible and adaptable, immediately suggested, "How about I push you first, and then I'll climb up once you're running?"
Cheng Bing didn't say anything.
Fang Yuenian then said, "Why don't you give me a ride first, and I'll take over when you're tired?"
Cheng Bing still didn't respond.
Fang Yuenian said again, "Or I can go first..."
Cheng Bing took a deep breath, resignedly pushed off with his foot, and slid off with the young master on his back.
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