Chapter 20 Loans
Having lived with Shi Dafu for so many years, Pu Xiang never thought that Shi Dafu was a very smart person. She also lamented more than once that it was a pity that Shi Hai was such a capable and thoughtful person, but Shi Dafu did not inherit any of his character.
He is more like his mother, Mo A Mei.
Now it seems that she was wrong again. Shi Dafu was not unsmart at all; he was too smart.
She couldn't remember how much work she had done during these years of marriage, but she remembered how much the Shi family had given out.
Dowry money, money given for having a child.
Haha, he actually asked for the money back.
Pu Xiang also thought about paying back the money, not for any other reason, but because in the countryside at that time, this amount of money was not a small sum, and many families emptied their savings and still could not afford it. She felt uneasy with it.
She also didn't want to wait until she had a good life in the future and then say to others that she, Pu Xiang, became rich because of the benefits she received when she was in the Shi family.
She didn't want to have anything to do with their family in her future life.
"OK."
Pu Xiang quickly recovered from her surprise. She opened the drawer of her desk familiarly, quickly wrote a receipt, and asked Shi Dafu to sign it.
Shi Dafu saw clearly what was written on the paper handed to him, curled his lips, looked disgusted, and sneered as usual: "You are an ignorant country bumpkin, and you are trying to learn how to write a receipt. You are quite thoughtful."
Pu Xiang laughed: "The betrothal gift was given by your family when you married me. Everyone knows that we took it. Now you want to take it back, so I will give it to you without any evidence. If someone says that I took advantage of your family in the future, I won't be able to explain it even if I have a mouth. I'd better write a note and you sign it. I have the evidence in my hand...Also, I am an ignorant country boy, but at least I graduated from junior high school, and you only graduated from elementary school. How can you be so shameless as to look down on me? I usually give you face, and you really think you have the face!"
He never looks at himself in the mirror, but complains about everything all day long.
Are you rejecting him?
Shi Dafu was stunned.
After six years of marriage and a five-year-old child, this was the first time he heard Pu Xiang talk about him like this.
"What's wrong with me graduating from elementary school? I am better than you even if I graduated from elementary school. I can marry someone with a higher education than you. If you marry again, you can't even marry someone who graduated from elementary school!"
He was angry.
Pu Xiang said calmly: "Even if you marry a college graduate, you only graduated from elementary school, so you are not as good as me... Do you still want the money? If you do, sign it."
He handed the receipt to Shi Dafu again.
This is almost 1,700 yuan, why don’t you want it!
Shi Dafu reached out to take it and took a look at the receipt. It clearly stated on it that he had to return 666 yuan of betrothal gift and 1,000 yuan of reward from his parents-in-law for the birth of the child, a total of 1,666 yuan.
Shi Dafu quickly signed his name and waited for Pu Xiang to count the money and hand it to him. He took it and put it in his pocket.
What a stupid woman! She doesn't know how much this money can be used for. She just returns it as she says!
Stupid! An ignorant country bumpkin!
He took another peek and saw that after Pu Xiang gave him all the money, there wasn't much left in her hand... Wasn't it too little? He hoped that Pu Xiang would never come back after leaving. They were both divorced, and only his father didn't agree!
He had a different idea from his father. He hoped that Pu Xiang would run away and never come back, so that he could marry a new wife right away.
Pu Xiang noticed the slight change in Shi Dafu's expression when he took the money, and she laughed along with him. That was all Shi Dafu's perception was.
The Shi family doesn't need this little money at all. Shi Hai asked Shi Dafu to take all the money from his wife. His original intention was probably just to let her go penniless so that she would have no money and nowhere to go and could not run away.
Take back the betrothal gift?
Even if they were really divorced, Shi Hai couldn't do such a thing. He still wanted to save his face and the reputation of the Shi family.
But no one expected that Shi Dafu had his own plans.
Shi Dafu took the money. When the divorce was made public, some people would say that Pu Xiang was stupid, but no one would say that Shi Dafu was smart.
When getting divorced, asking the woman to return the betrothal money is really a pain in the ass.
Even if this happened decades later, it would still be a hot topic on the Internet. You can imagine how it would have exploded in the 1990s.
Pu Xiang gave the money readily. If she only looked at the past, she gave birth to a child for Shi Dafu, worked like a slave for the Shi family for six years, and even paid the money back. She felt she was at a loss and stupid. But looking back, she had the information gap that people of this era did not know, and it was not difficult for her to make some money and become a wealthy woman. She did not care about this little money.
She can earn it.
And now she is leaving the house with nothing, so when she makes money in the future, the Shi family can't take a penny from her, nor can they say that Pu Xiang's success was all due to the benefits she got when she married into the Shi family.
And as for Shi Dafu, once he took the money, she would definitely promote him well, because he was a man who wanted to get back even the betrothal gift after a divorce.
Shi Dafu must remarry to gain a "good reputation" so that he can marry a "good partner" again!
The best one is Lin Meihua.
She has not forgotten how this couple treated her, and she will never let it go. She is very willing to give them a push and help them this time.
Pu Xiang grew up in the village. You know how the villagers talk. They can even tell you the surname of your great-grandfather and the name of your great-grandson by counting on their fingers. It’s not like the urban communities in later generations, where once the door is locked, who knows who?
Shijia Village is still more than ten years away from demolition. Even after the demolition, it is still the same community, and every household’s housing land is not much different from when they were in the countryside.
You can't see it when you look up, but you can see it when you look down. The villagers' mouths are so powerful.
Pu Xiang felt that even if she spent 1,666 yuan, she could not buy the gossip of the villagers in the surrounding area, who all sincerely criticized Shi Dafu and the Shi family.
The grandchildren can still recall the past.
There is no easy money in this world. She is not a fool, nor a spendthrift. She would not give all the benefits to the Shi family for no reason. Divorced women in the village have a harder life than widows. She just spent the money to buy herself a "stupid" personality and gain sympathy.
After doing the math, Pu Xiang felt it was worth it. I remember that in 1993, paper currency experienced a big depreciation, and this money was only enough to have a meal in the hotel, and it couldn't be too luxurious.
Pu Xiang praised Shi Dafu in her heart for being a little genius who was good at planning.
"Oh yes, and the gold ornaments my family gave you when you got married. Now that we're divorced, you should return them too."
After the betrothal money was returned, Shi Dafu suddenly remembered the gold jewelry.
Although he didn't see Pu Xiang carry it, this was something given away by his family, and he remembered it clearly.
Pu Xiang looked at him coldly. This disgusting man who didn't even care about his reputation remembered every bit of the benefits she had given him.
After signing the second receipt, Shi Dafu had three more gold items in his pocket.
Pu Xiang put all the receipts close to her and said, "Our marriage is now a clean one. You can take back the betrothal money and I can take my dowry. Is that ok?"
Shi Dafu took the money and things, and felt that he had completed the task given by his father, and was about to leave.
Now that I have money, I must go out to play in town.
When Pu Xiang mentioned the dowry, he paused and turned back: "Whatever you want."
As long as she can take it.
She had a lot of wedding items, including something as large as a sewing machine, which was too big to just be put in her pockets.
Even if Pu Xiang wanted to take it, her parents would definitely not let her take it.
"Wait a moment."
Pu Xiang once again stopped Shi Dafu who was about to leave and pointed at his wrist, "That watch was also my dowry. You haven't forgotten it, have you? Give it back to me."
It was one of the three major items of Pu Xiang’s dowry at that time.
Shi Dafu frowned and was about to say that this was something bought for him on their wedding, so how could he take it back?
But then I thought, I have already got the betrothal gift and the gold jewelry back, so what am I missing?
Just return it to her, and he can buy a better one later.
Shi Dafu felt a little uncomfortable taking off the watch he was used to wearing, but he still threw it to Pu Xiang.
"Should I ask you to write a receipt too?"
Pu Xiang glanced at the watch. It was still a valuable item these days. It was obvious that Shi Dafu took good care of it, as there were no scratches on it.
"If you want to write, just write. I will sign for you immediately. But you have just graduated from primary school. Can you write?"
Shi Dafu: “…”
My chest hurts from anger!
Shi Dafu left the room first, and Puxiang packed some clothes, took out a large canvas bag, and put everything in it.
When she went downstairs with her bag, Shi Hai and Mo A'mei were both sitting at the eight-immortal table downstairs.
It seems like he is waiting for her, wanting to see her reaction.
I don't know how Shi Dafu told his parents about taking the money, but I guess he definitely didn't say that he was taking back the betrothal money and the money for childbirth, and he also wrote a receipt.
If you knew, it wouldn't be so peaceful now.
Pu Xiang pretended she saw nothing, tied her bag to the back seat of her bicycle, pushed it away and drove away.
"Third sister, please come back soon. You must have worked hard on the farm. We will kill a chicken for you to make up for the hardship."
Pu Xiang didn't say anything and pushed the car out of the door. She looked back again and saw her father-in-law looking at her, still trying to save her marriage with his son. Her mother-in-law had a sullen face, probably because she had been beaten by her father-in-law. She didn't say a word from beginning to end and didn't scold her again.
Shi Dafu is not seen.
This man who was absent from their marriage life finally stuck to his own style.
"I'm leaving."
Pu Xiang didn't want to get involved and said goodbye coldly.
This time, she really left the home where she had been trapped all her life.
…
Seeing Pu Xiang riding away on her bicycle, Mo A-mei spat loudly.
"Are you really going to let this bastard go like this? I don't think she will come back. She has been spoiled for a long time! Maybe she is just like Zhou Xiaorou next door, and has been cheating on someone else outside! It's a good time for her to go out now!"
Shi Hai let out a deep breath.
“你扪心問問，三妹是那種人？讓你別一天到晚罵兒媳婦，你怎麽就改不了？你倒說說，三妹這樣的，你哪裏不滿意？”
莫阿妹想了一下，要說不滿意的地方，蒲香勤勞肯幹，吃苦耐勞，也不像有些小媳婦，整天就知道打扮，還偷懶，在男人那邊吹枕頭風，和婆婆對着幹，挑撥離間，就連生兒子這個事情，她都挑不出毛病，一舉得男，現在計劃生育，石家也不愁傳宗接代的事。
“那，那不是她把不住大富，一天到晚鬧。”
石海瞥她：“你兒子叫個女人把住了，你高興？大富喜歡的那些都是什麽樣兒的，你要那樣的兒媳婦？”
莫阿妹終于不說話了。
石海又說：“三妹和石文雅挺好的吧？我找她去勸勸三妹，讓三妹在她家住幾天。”
省得真沒地方去，要是被哪個老光棍、臭流氓拐去家裏，占了便宜，那他們家就真吃大虧了。
石海自覺一切都算計好了。
肯定不會有問題。
……
蒲香自行車上了公路，一徑就往鎮上去。
其他事情都不急，先把貸款借出來，這可是她事業的啓動資金。
在石子公路上颠簸了半個多小時，蒲香到了目的地——鎮上的信用社。
不過現在石家村所屬的水清鎮還叫水清鄉。
鄉信用社。
“石主任！”
蒲香一停下車，就看到一個眼熟的人。
大概是壞運氣都用完了，剩下全是好運了。
石衛東聽到聲音轉頭，看到蒲香立即認了出來，還往她身後找了一下人，沒看到石海。
“石海叔呢，他沒來？”
村裏的萬元戶，在他們這裏可是有存款業務的，石海這人又會和人打交道，石衛東和人處得挺愉快。
蒲香将車子一鎖，包一提，就快步走了過去。
“對，我自己一個人來的，石主任，有個業務要麻煩你了，我要借點貸款。”
石衛東帶着人往信用社裏走，邊笑呵呵地說：“你公公這個萬元戶這是又要折騰什麽賺錢的買賣了？”
“不是。”
蒲香也笑，表情非常尋常，“是我準備去縣城開個小店，本來呢也不需要貸款，但是這不是想到石主任的工作了嗎？”
後世銀行放貸可是有指标任務的，蒲香後來開了店，賺了點小錢，親戚家的幾個小後輩工作在銀行的，基本上都找過她。
存款，貸款。
她有點忘了現在的政策，但是她瞎說幾句，說沒說對都不礙事。她記得好像是後來幾年，她跟着石海來信用社，就是跟着這個石主任，借貸款，還貸款的事做了挺多次。
石衛東一聽又是縣城開店，又是借貸款的，立即就來了精神。
“好好好，那我就先謝謝石海叔了，謝謝你們家了，貸款準備借多少？”
蒲香說：“一萬塊。”
石衛東正拿了杯子準備喝口水，這一聽，差點把自己給嗆到了。
“咳咳，你說，多少？”
一萬塊是不多，但是這是對于城裏那些有錢人的，村裏的農民，一萬塊？一年忙累到頭，沒病沒災，一切順順利利才能餘下個兩三百塊錢，有些根本沒餘錢，只糊個口，一千塊都算是巨款了。
蒲香等着人吃驚完，笑笑，說：“是太多了嗎？當然，這邊少貸點也沒事，就是石主任你這邊貸款這塊工作做好了，在領導面前不也面上有光嗎？”
石衛東被蒲香這麽一說，立即心中一動。
他現在也就四十不到，窩在這個鄉裏的信用社，在很多人看來，已經是一個不錯的工作，但是，他老婆是中學老師，不久前因為工作出色，調動去了教育局，成了“領導”。
石衛東就覺得自己這個工作好像有點不夠看了，怎麽着和老婆站一塊兒，得讓人說一句登對吧。
他可不想當個“小男人”，出去讓人誤會他是靠老婆吃飯、看老婆臉色的小白臉。
最近石衛東想得最多的事情都不是加薪，而是升職。
怎麽升職，可不就得做出成績嗎？
蒲香看他有些意動，立即說：“石主任，我們國家改革開放後，是一直鼓勵一部分人先富起來，然後先富帶後富，實現共同富裕，你看我們這幾年社會發展得也确實快起來，就是我們農村的生活也好了不知道多少，前幾天我還去了縣城，發現縣城的發展也格外快速，各種小商品賣得非常火爆，這都是商機！我回來就想，作為農村婦女，也要想辦法讓自己富起來，我們這兒不是有種桑養蠶嗎？正好，這裏離省會林市也近，那裏有大規模的服裝生産和批發市場，我就想開始做女裝生意，和那邊聯系起來，要是能找到合适的渠道，把我們這裏的蠶絲也帶起來，蠶絲是好東西，能做衣服，能做被子，不管是找到廠子供貨，還是到時候往本地引進廠子，都是一件大好事，到時候我們這裏的農民也能跟着養蠶致富，把我們鄉，甚至我們縣打造成全國有名的養蠶基地。”
畫大餅這招，在後世早就不管用了，無論老少一眼就能看穿。
不過在現在還是好用的。
石衛東聽着，眼神裏閃着激動。
他倒不是真的随便來個人畫餅，就全信。
蒲香說的輕巧，但照他看這事情實行起來難度可不低，而且還充滿了未知。
女裝，和養蠶？
說有關，可關系也沒那麽大。
但退一萬步來說，蒲香說的那些，也不是完全不可能實現的事，他在信用社工作，接觸過不少這方面的人，聽說了不少下海經商的故事，那些成功者的發家史，簡直比故事還精彩。
蒲香這餅畫得都不算誇張。
還有吧，石衛東以前看蒲香跟着石海身邊，話也不多，都沒太注意過她，可這次聽她說話，卻感覺這農村婦女，說起話來完全不像那些畏畏縮縮的鄉下人。
感覺是真有些想法，有些本事的。
石衛東心裏飛快一權衡，想得明白，他一個信用社的主任，就負責放個貸款，又不是要和蒲香合作，人家成功還是失敗，和他沒有半點關系，有石家在，放出去的貸款他也不怕收不回來。
多個業務，對他來說也是好事。
石衛東皺了一下眉：“一萬有點太多了。”
蒲香等着他的下文。
“這樣，這次給你批個六千吧，等你的店先弄起來，後續要是有合作，擴大規模，再要貸多少都好說。”
蒲香的心理預期是五千，這已經超了。
“好的，謝謝石主任，這樣，我帶了身份證，現在可以辦手續嗎？我準備等會兒就去縣城看門面。”
石衛東還真沒想到她這麽雷厲風行，上午貸款，下午就去看門面。
“行行，現在的婦女同志可真是頂起半邊天，厲害啊！這貸款的名字寫石海叔？”
蒲香心中一動，很快打消了這個念頭，她是借貸款，不是來詐騙的。
“寫我的名，這是我自己想要搗鼓的事業，賠了賺了，都是我自己負責，和誰都沒關系。”
她和石家都沒關系了，真賠了，可不得她自己負責嗎？
聽在石衛東的耳朵裏，就是這小媳婦為了開店的事肯定和家裏人鬧了一鬧，這才說的賭氣話。
這也不奇怪，去縣城開店啊，這一個農村小媳婦，膽兒還真大。村裏人都膽小，不同意折騰也挺正常，不過石家還是縱着這個兒媳婦的，還是同意了。
他沒想蒲香是自己跑來的，還離了婚，實在是蒲香表現得太淡定，他半點沒往這個跟太陽從西邊升起來一樣不可能的方向的想。
這會兒蒲香又覺得給石大富那錢給得值了，沒鬧大這麽從石家出來，石海兒媳婦的身份還能用。
主打一個信息差。
等她真離婚了，別說六千塊貸款，六十塊她都借不出來。
要開店的啓動資金，她還得另想辦法，說不定還不得不去擺吃食攤子，多花費幾年時間。
有了石主任一路開綠燈，蒲香這貸款借的格外順利，沒有半點波折。
貸款六千，限期一年內連本帶15%的利息一起還上。
等到蒲香再從信用社出來，她身上已經多了一張存折，上面多了5500塊錢，剩下500她取了現金，帶在身上。
等會兒她要去縣城，這話不是瞎說的。
蒲香想到剛才給她辦業務的女員工，那吃驚，然後一直盯了她全程，仿佛她頭上臉上長了什麽奇怪玩意的眼神，她就覺得好笑。
估計這人轉頭就得和人八卦這事吧。
想着自己的傳說不僅要在村裏蔓延，很快在鎮上都要出現一個新的版本，她就有點想笑。
“三妹！”
蒲香和石主任告別出來，就有人叫她，她一擡頭，看到了一個熟悉的年輕女人，推着車子站在她的自行車邊上。
“石文雅？”
蒲香和石文雅也算是一輩子的朋友了，活到65歲，她去了海市生活，兩人也時常聯系。
石文雅兒子再婚的時候，還找她借過錢。
Shi Wenya waved at her, "Third sister, third sister, I saw your car and thought you might have gone to the credit union. I didn't dare to go in to find you, so I waited outside. Sure enough, I was right."
The woman has a round face and speaks in a loud voice. You can tell she is efficient.
Pu Xiang was also very happy to see Shi Wenya so energetic at this time.
Shi Wenya was a younger sister she got along well with after she married into Shijia Village. She was originally from Shijia Village, so she married in the village and gave birth to a son after marriage. Although her mother-in-law was not particularly easy to get along with, she could still get by.
Life was originally pretty good, but then Shi Wenya's husband was accidentally hit and killed by a car, leaving her a widow. The man she remarried also died of cancer before he reached the age of 40.
As his only son grew up, he became an unreliable young man. He abandoned his wife and daughter, got divorced once, and his second marriage partner was a hostess who came to his house with a big belly to force him to marry her. Shi Wenya was almost angry to death at that time.
But in the end, she couldn't help her son. After an examination, it was confirmed that the baby in her belly was indeed her son's. She could only accept it. She asked Pu Xiang to borrow money for this marriage.
"You are so smart, you can guess right and go to the street to buy things?"
Pu Xiang took her hand warmly and asked her.
"Third sister."
Shi Wenya's expression calmed down a bit. She looked around and saw that no one was around. Then she lowered her voice and said, "I'm not going out. Uncle Shi Hai came to my house and said that you and Dafu had a fight and wanted a divorce. Your parents couldn't persuade you to go back to your parents' home. You left Shi's house. Uncle Shi Hai was afraid that you would have nowhere to go at night, so he asked me to ask you to sleep at my house. I chased you all the way out. You pedaled so fast that I thought I had lost you. Fortunately, I recognized your car here."
She pedaled so hard along the way that her back was sweating.
Shi Wenya was telling the truth. She repeated to Pu Xiang word for word exactly what Shi Hai had said to her.
She has a good relationship with Pu Xiang, not with Shi Hai or Shi Dafu. She went out to look for Pu Xiang out of concern for her, not because Shi Hai asked her for help.
This is the first person Pu Xiang has met who truly cares about her since she returned to the age of 25.
Pu Xiang also looked around and whispered, "It's not about divorce, it's already divorced."
Shi Wenya opened her mouth in shock: "Ah!"
Then she immediately thought of many things that would happen next, and she became anxious: "What about your parents? Are they really not letting you go back to your parents' home like Uncle Shi Hai said? What are you going to do in the future? Where are you going to live? You can only stay at my house for a few days. If you stay for too long, my mother-in-law will definitely make a fuss. How about... go back and have a good talk with your parents?"
Pu Xiang reached out and patted her arm, saying, "Don't worry about this for now. I have something to do in the county town. Will you come with me?"
Shi Wenya exclaimed again, "Ah!" Why did they say they were going to the county town again? It wasn't the New Year or any other festival, so why were they going to the county town?
But Pu Xiang urged her again, and she agreed for some unknown reason.
"Go, go ahead."
When Pu Xiang heard her agreement, he waved his hand, got on his bike and left.
After all, I was young, and a one-hour bicycle ride to the county town was nothing. I had a good waist, legs and feet, and I could ride the bike very fast.
Shi Wenya was still worried at first, but halfway through the journey she put the matter behind her. Speaking of going to the county town, she wanted to see the Central Building, which was the tallest building newly built in the county town.
There is also a hotel there, but she has never been there before and she wants to go and broaden her horizons.
The two young women walked along the main road to the county town and soon entered the city.