Daily Life in the 70s-Chapter 4 - Borrowing Money

They were in the middle of a meal.

"Uncle Yang, Auntie, Peihua's side sent a message, your sister-in-law has had another major hemorrhage..." The voice arrived before the person reached the courtyard gate, but Chen Shugen from the village hurriedly ran in, his face wore an expression of urgency. He had barely caught his breath when he saw the Yang Family members and quickly continued, "Quick, at the hospital, they're asking for money to be paid..."

Zhang Minghua was the first to put down her bowl and hurriedly stood up, looking towards Chen Shugen, her ears somewhat in disbelief, "But, but wasn't it already stabilized? How come, how come?" She turned to look at her husband, not knowing what to do.

It was Yang Dahai who remained composed. He stood up solemnly from where he was eating and calmly inquired about the condition of his second daughter-in-law.

"It was almost dinner time, wasn't it? Peihua's sister-in-law wanted to eat some wontons, but the hospital didn't have any. Peihua went out to the restaurant and bought two servings, one for each; Peihua planned to let his sister-in-law eat hers first and then wait for her to fall asleep before eating his own. But after sleeping for a while, she woke up and said she was hungry again, asking Peihua to bring the wontons from earlier. Peihua was dumbfounded, as he had already eaten the leftovers, but there were still the steamed buns he got from the hospital in the food container, and he asked her to have those for now."

"But the sister-in-law wouldn't agree to anything. She wanted the wontons from earlier, and when there were none left, she insisted Peihua go buy some more. Peihua had no choice but to run to the restaurant again, only to find they were out as well. After thinking it over, he bought some side dishes, hoping to let his sister-in-law eat them with the steamed buns..."

"The sister-in-law was very angry, accusing him of heartlessly stealing a patient's food... The doctor said her excessive emotions caused the wound to tear, leading to a major hemorrhage. They are now busy arranging for a blood transfusion..."

Just as Chen Shugen finished speaking, Zhang Minghua could no longer restrain herself and exploded in a tirade, "This damn foolish woman, why doesn't she just drop dead? Has her brain been scrambled by shit or was it squashed in a door? No sooner is one mess cleaned up than another one starts! Having such a daughter-in-law, I don't know what kind of bad luck our family has run into!"

"Alright now, Shugen is still here. Quickly gather the money and go with Shugen. Peihua is unreliable, and if you don't keep an eye on him, I'm afraid they'll cause more trouble," interrupted Yang Dahai, cutting off Zhang Minghua's words.

"Fine, I was also short of money because of the issues with the eldest... I'll go home and get the money, and you can come with me in a while, Auntie. I'll go ahead first..."

"Okay, we really owe you one today, Shugen. Once everything's settled, we'll call you over for a meal," Zhang Minghua came to her senses and thanked Chen Shugen.

"Don't mention it, Auntie, we're all in the same boat. I'll head out now."

"Okay, this is urgent, you go ahead."

After Chen Shugen left, Yang Dahai called Zhang Minghua into the inner room to get the money.

The few people left at the dinner table all had grim expressions on their faces.

Yang Peijun abruptly slammed his chopsticks down on the table, startling everyone.

They all stared at him blankly, waiting for what he would say next.

Yang Peijun glanced back at them, his face as dark as if he were constipated, "I'm full!"

Then, as everyone shifted their gaze to his bowl, it was even cleaner than his face, Yang PeiMin remembered that his brother had already refilled his bowl three times...

Yang Peiying, sitting beside him, moved swiftly toward Yang Peimin, evading as though dodging lightning.

Seeing the silence that prevailed, Yang Peimin couldn't help but ask, "Why is my second sister-in-law hospitalized?"

In her memory, this second sister-in-law, Bai Hehua, was someone with a sharp mind and numerous schemes. The original owner of her memories had loathed her intensely and had not refrained from complaining about her to Zhang Minghua. Bai Hehua was equally unyielding. She looked down on her pampered younger sister-in-law immensely and would often roll her eyes at her behind her back.

Yang Peiying glanced around at everyone else before whispering to her, "Second sister-in-law had a premature birth and was carried to the town hospital."

Yang Peimin was startled by this news. She remembered that before the original host had fallen into the river, Bai Hehua had been perfectly fine, proudly carrying a seven-month belly. She boasted in front of their eldest sister-in-law about having the Yang Family's eldest grandson in her womb, subtly oppressing the eldest sister-in-law into making lunch for her. Her behavior was both arrogant and pompous, which made the original host grind her teeth in irritation.

"How did she end up having a premature birth?"

Yang Peijun sneered, "She brought on herself, grabbing precious things from her parental home, locking them away from my second brother too, right in the cabinet. She got what was coming for her when she fell off a stool trying to get something down to eat. I've never seen a woman like that. If it wasn't for the lack of..."

"Peijun!" Yang Peiguo interrupted him, "The kids are right here. Don't talk nonsense; if dad hears this, he'll have words for you later."

Yang Peijun pursed his lips and didn't continue his earlier thread but instead kept explaining to his sister, "It happened on the afternoon you fell into the river. It was a terrible scene; she was soaked in a pool of blood. It was me and second brother who got the village cart and took her to the town hospital. She's lucky to have survived. Her baby—my nephew—suffered a lot because of such a mother. He's still in the observation room with some breathing issues."

His anger stemmed from the fact that he knew the family really had no money left. He had just paid his bride price and gotten engaged. To facilitate his marriage, the family had built him a new room, among other expenses, which depleted much of the family's savings. Then his elder sister was sent to the clinic for her rescue after falling into the river—that was another expense. Now, with Bai Hehua compounding the family's problems with her reckless actions, how could he not be angry?

His father, the production brigade leader, had been an upright man his entire life and had never borrowed a penny from the brigade. In the hardest of years, he'd rather faint from hunger than not share the family's spare rations with villagers on the brink of starvation. Everyone respected him greatly, and he always upheld his duties and responsibilities, never troubling the brigade or anyone else.

But now, the thought of him swallowing his pride to borrow money from the brigade made his son feel terribly distressed.

As expected, not long after, Yang Dahai and his wife emerged, gave quick instructions to the family, and Yang Dahai was set to borrow money from the brigade's accountant.

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Yang Peijun suddenly stood up, "Dad, don't go. I—I'll figure something out."

Yang Dahai glared fiercely, his face stern as he said, "And where will you come up with a solution? Just stay put; I know what I'm doing."

Under his father's glowering look, Yang Peijun muttered hesitantly, "I—I'll go borrow some from Li Hong's family."

Zhang Minghua became angry upon hearing this, "You brainless fool, that's your father-in-law's place, and you're not even married yet. Aren't you ashamed?"

Despite not hearing the rest of his son's words, Yang Dahai had already walked away.

Yet Yang Peijun was still arguing with his mother, "Ashamed? Their family took so much in bride price from us, what's wrong with borrowing a little?"

His words enraged Zhang Minghua to the point of raising her hand and smacking his arm hard, "The excessive bride price is the result of your own foolishness! You acted as if there were no other women but Li Hong. Now you realize your loss?"