Chapter 36 Entering Society
Leaving the company again, Nanjiu felt a mixture of emotions. She knew this was the opportunity she'd been waiting for, but chances don't always come. If she passed on this one, she might have to accumulate capital for three to five years to even begin operating independently. By that time, Xingyao might have become a giant ship. She could easily ride on the favorable winds and board the ship, so why risk being swallowed up by Xingyao five years from now?
After clarifying her thoughts, she only had one thing left to do - raise money.
Nan Jiu walked to the gate of Guo Wenhui's residential complex and paused for a long time. Finally, she called her mother.
Guo Wenhui said she was outside with her younger sister at an interest class, which still had half an hour to go. Nanjiu wandered over to the fruit shop across the street from the complex and asked the owner to get her the largest durian, which she usually wouldn't buy. She also bought a pack of good cigarettes from a nearby shop and waited for an hour at the complex gate, carrying her things.
A biting cold wind swept through the empty street corner. Guo Wenhui gathered the scarf around her younger sister's neck, shielding her from the wind with her body. Nan Jiu stood alone, motionless, her figure long and lonely under the dim streetlights.
In the spacious living room, Nanjiu was wearing a pair of ill-fitting men's slippers. As soon as she sat down on the sofa, the dog, always hostile to her, bared its fangs. Nanjiu glanced at the dog, Dagui. Dagui immediately roared and dismissed it.
The stepfather symbolically said to Dagui, "Stop making noise." Apart from that, there was no other action.
Dagui licked his nose, stopped baring his teeth, and approached Nanjiu in a crawling posture, declaring that this was his territory.
Nanjiu stood up silently and moved to a small plastic stool nearby.
She informed Guo Wenhui and her stepfather of her intention. Guo Wenhui's face turned grim, and she glanced at her husband from time to time.
Her stepfather worked within the government and earned a good income, enough to provide a comfortable living for the family. Nanjiu was Guo Wenhui's daughter, and they always met during the holidays. Despite this, she had never troubled her stepfather growing up. This was the first time she had ever lowered herself to ask for a favor. She promised to write an IOU and repay the full amount, including principal and interest, within three years.
My stepfather sat on the dark sofa chair that belonged to him. The leather of the chair had a cold and hard luster due to age, just like the eyes behind his glasses.
"Your dancing job is just a way to make a living while you're young. Is it really necessary to invest so much money in it? You're not stupid. If you have the energy, you might as well take the civil service exam."
Nan Jiu bent his knees, the muscles at the corners of his mouth slightly tense. "I still want to... have more attempts, to fight harder. It's a pity to narrow my path now."
My stepfather habitually pursed his lips, forming two rigid lines on his face. "With your job of dancing around for people to see, what can you possibly accomplish?"
All the naturalness and smile that was maintained slipped away from Nanjiu's face quietly. She slightly retracted her chin and her fingers gradually bent at her sides.
Guo Wenhui glanced at Old Feng. Realizing his words weren't very pleasant, his stepfather changed the subject: "I know you don't want a fixed salary; you want to make a lot of money. Aren't you asking me, a salaried worker, to borrow money? Is it that easy to make a lot of money? If everyone could make money, there wouldn't be so many people scrambling to get the civil service exam every year. Young people shouldn't be so ambitious."
The stepfather waved his hand, and Dagui jumped off the sofa and moved to his legs.
"Your mother and I won't rely on you for our retirement. If you have any problems that you can handle on your own, please do so."
He patted Dagui's butt, and Dagui turned around and glared at Nanjiu. Nanjiu looked at Dagui, stood up, and turned to leave.
Guo Wenhui sent her out the door, glanced at the expensive things on the ground, and felt a little guilty: "Take the things back."
"This is for my little sister." Nanjiu put on his shoes and walked out of the house.
Guo Wenhui whispered to her, "I have five thousand here, you can take it first."
"No, sorry to bother you." Nanjiu closed the door for her and walked into the elevator.
The moment the elevator door closed, a mist formed in her calm eyes. As the numbers jumped down, her vision wavered. The elevator stopped at the first floor, and when the door opened again, there was no trace of emotion on Nanjiu's face.
Leaving the complex, the window panes of the guardhouse were thinly condensed, the hunched silhouette of the security guard faintly visible. Withered sycamore leaves fluttered feebly in the bleak evening breeze. The blue light of a takeout electric cart flashed by, darting into the lifeless night. A woman in pajamas, wearing plush slippers, ran downstairs to retrieve the lonely cup of milk tea.
Nanjiu stood in the howling wind, wrapped his coat tightly around himself, and continued walking towards his father's house with his head down.
When Nan Jiu knocked on Nan Zhendong's door, Xiao Kai had already gone to bed. In the small living room, Nan Jiu and Nan Zhendong sat around the small dining table.
Liao Hong was preparing breakfast for Xiaokai tomorrow morning in the kitchen.
Nan Zhendong poured a glass of water for Nan Jiu and said to her in a low voice, "Your Aunt Liao should be able to come up with some money, but I can't make the decision for her on this matter."
Nanjiu clinked the glass, which was filled with freshly poured boiling water, so hot that he couldn't drink it.
Liao Hong prepared the things and walked out of the kitchen, saying to Nan Jiu: "If the man I told you about last time doesn't work out, you can try to find a way to negotiate a betrothal gift..."
Nanjiu was unable to drink the glass of water until he left.
Nanjiu left her mother's house and went to her father's. No one asked if she had eaten dinner, nor did anyone notice that she was wearing only a thin coat in the cold night. Just like when they decided to separate as children, no one asked if Nanjiu was sad.
Nanjiu had never begged them for anything, not even a single ounce of warmth from them at an age when she needed their care the most. This was the first time she cast aside all her forced dignity, tore off the armor of "independence" she'd been forced to cultivate, and cast aside her inherent stubbornness as she awkwardly addressed her closest blood relatives.
Coming out of Nan Zhendong's house, she stood alone on the cold street. The night was as dark as ink, and the cold wind scraped across her skin like a knife. She wrapped her thin coat tightly, but it was no match for the biting cold. Her stomach was so empty that it hurt, but it was nothing compared to the emptiness in her heart. Nan Jiu took out her cell phone, flipped through it again and again, and searched through the address book. Finally, her eyes fixed on Grandpa Nan's phone. Three hundred thousand, this number was like a huge rock, pressing on her chest. She could almost imagine the worried expression on her grandfather's face when he answered the phone, and imagined his wrinkled hands taking out the passbook from the tin box.
This wasn't twenty or thirty thousand, but three hundred thousand. Never mind whether the old man had the money, or would he even lend it to her. If she took it from Grandpa, the entire family would come after her. Her calculating aunt, her overbearing aunt, her covetous Liao Hong, and her cousins. They would immediately be on guard, making her a target. This wasn't just a loan; it was a personal act of igniting a war against her.
Nanjiu's fingers slid open, and the pages of the address book slid randomly again, finally stopping at that name.
More than four months ago, she told him she wanted to go out and try her luck. He warned her that going out there would be hardship. But she was determined, like someone who wouldn't turn back until she hit a wall.
More than four months later, she hit her first wall.
About money, about family, about choices.
At her mother's house, she endured heartbreaking humiliation and indifference; at her father's, she was treated as a commodity to be sold. She dreamed of moving forward, but her feet were already hanging in the air. Her so-called family had never given her a foothold.
She was unwilling to bow to Song Ting, and did not want the pride she had when she left to be crushed by reality just over four months later.
Nanjiu's fingertips felt cold as he stared at the familiar names in his address book. Pride shattered into pieces, piercing his heart, causing a dull pain. But reality was sharper than pride. To move forward, he had to learn to bow to reality.
Nanjiu's fingers hovered over the dial button, torn between pride and shame, unable to press it. After struggling for several seconds, her nails practically digging into her palms, she finally closed her eyes and pressed the screen with all her strength. The regular waiting tone echoed through the receiver, each one like a hammer hitting her heart, and with each sound, her heart sank.
In just a few seconds, countless possibilities flashed through her mind. She considered the possibility of him making a sarcastic remark, or perhaps he'd ask to meet her to discuss the purpose of the money in person. After all, it was a significant sum. She even prepared to rush back to Hat Lane overnight to write the IOU.
When the call was connected, Song Ting's voice was as cold as ever: "Hello."
Just one word, with that familiar tone that she had long been accustomed to, was like a precise key that pried open her tense heart, and the sour taste condensed at the tip of her nose.
"Xiaojiu?"
She quickly suppressed the inappropriate bitterness and tried to keep her voice steady: "Are you asleep?"
"not yet."
Her fingertips tightened, and she almost held her breath: "I want to... borrow some money from you."
"How many?"
"Three hundred thousand." The moment these words came out of her mouth, her heart skipped a beat, as if she had suddenly fallen into the void.
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. When he spoke again, his voice was still calm: "Is the card I gave you still there?"
"exist."
"I called that card."
There was no questioning, no ridicule, not even a single extra question. Nanjiu gripped his phone tightly, his throat choking, his eyes gradually warming.
He heard the sound of cars passing by on the street and asked her, "Are you still outside?"
"Um."
"Have you eaten yet?"
This sentence instantly broke down all her defenses, and the street scene in front of her gradually blurred.
"Xiao Jiu?" He called her again.
"I've eaten." She squeezed out an almost inaudible response from deep in her throat.
A long silence fell on both ends of the phone again. Only the faint sound of electricity and the suppressed breathing of each other could be heard in the receiver.
"It's snowing these two days, go back early." He told her.
"You should rest early too."
Nanjiu hung up the phone, hailed a car, and returned to the rental house. When the door opened, Xia Yanran was in the living room, applying a facial mask. Nanjiu hurried into the room and left again a moment later.
Xia Yanran had known Nan Jiu for so long, but she had never seen her look so serious. She took off her mask and asked, "Where are you going?"
Nanjiu put on his shoes again and replied to her: "I'm going to the bank and will be back soon."
At the ATM, Nanjiu clutched the card tightly and inserted it. The balance showed the money had arrived. Before pulling out the card, Nanjiu checked the transaction details. Ten minutes earlier, a transfer of 200,000 yuan had just been made. So, this nearly forgotten card had originally held 100,000 yuan.
It was the card Song Ting had slipped into her bag when she left Mao'er Lane during her sophomore year. Over the years, she had never checked it, never used it, and it had followed her from her university dorm to her rental apartment. Looking at the numbers on the screen, a belated sense of sadness washed over her. She pulled out the card, clutching it in her palm, feeling the warmth of his hand through the coldness of the card.
She turned around, opened the glass door, walked down the stairs, and sent a message to Song Ting: I got it, I will return it to you as soon as possible.
She put away her phone and looked up. Wherever the light reached, snowflakes drifted down from the sky. The wind blew in from the corner, scratching her face and causing it to sting painfully.
The first snow fell, and she stood in the cold wind, clenching her fists. The snowflakes wove a silence around her, but they couldn't cover the waves surging in her heart.
She vowed to do her best to win a future - a future where she would not have to borrow money from anyone and could control her own life.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
