Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

Watching Kuihua's figure slowly disappear, Jia Zhangshi was so angry that she slammed her hand on the table and started cursing.

“I told you Kuihua was an ungrateful, worthless wretch, Huairu, but you still didn’t believe me…”

"Do you believe it now?"

"If you hadn't begged her, this good-for-nothing might not have even been willing to part with two hundred yuan..."

"She said she didn't get along with her coworkers, couldn't borrow money, and was too embarrassed to ask..."

"It's obvious that he didn't want to help Bang Geng and didn't want to borrow money."

“We’ve worked together for more than half a year. Even if we’re just coworkers, they wouldn’t refuse to lend us even ten yuan.”

“Bang Geng is his own brother, the only grandson of the Jia family. If it weren’t for Bang Geng speaking up for him back then, I, this old woman, would never have agreed to let her live with me.”

"Now that Banggeng is in trouble, they won't even lend him a little money..."

"The Jia family has wasted all these years raising her..."

Although Qin Huairu was also disappointed with Kuihua's answer, Kuihua was still his daughter after all. Seeing that Jia Zhangshi was going too far, as if Kuihua had done something heinous, Qin Huairu quickly reminded her...

"mom……"

"It's one thing to say it, but you've gotten addicted to it..."

"No matter what, Kuihua took out two hundred yuan."

"Even with the two hundred yuan that Kuihua promised, we only managed to scrape together a little over five hundred yuan, which is still two thousand five hundred yuan short of the fine the police want us to pay..."

"Tomorrow is the deadline to pay the fine. If he can't scrape together three thousand dollars, Bang Geng will be sentenced to more than three years in prison..."

"Instead of wasting your time cursing people here, you should think of ways to scrape together the remaining two thousand five hundred yuan."

"Oh right... I remember you have a gold ring... Why don't you sell it first..."

"Sell the sewing machines we can at home too, and we should be able to raise over a hundred yuan. That'll bring us to seven hundred yuan. We just need to raise another two thousand three hundred yuan to redeem Banggeng."

Madam Jia wanted to refuse, but for the sake of her grandson Banggeng, she swallowed back the words that were already on the tip of her tongue, which was tantamount to acquiescing to Qin Huairu's decision.

But the thought of still being 2,300 yuan short of the fine made Jia Zhangshi feel a headache coming on.

Just then, a bold idea suddenly popped into Jia Zhangshi's mind, and her eyes lit up as she said, "Why don't we marry off Kuihua..."

"Since Zhang is so beautiful, and she refuses to help Banggeng, then we'll marry her off and use the dowry from her in-laws to help Banggeng..."

"Given the current market rates, and considering Kuihua's looks and job, asking for a dowry of seven or eight hundred yuan shouldn't be a problem..."

"Then the money we need to redeem the stick will be 1,500 yuan..."

"Go find Lao Yi again..."

"Mortgaging Lao Yi's house will definitely get us 1,500 yuan."

"No matter what, let's save the stick first."

If we were to marry off Kuihua according to Jia Zhangshi's method, it wouldn't be marrying off a daughter, but selling her.

Qin Huairu's first reaction was to refuse.

But she couldn't think of any other way besides this.

After receiving the news yesterday that Bang Geng had been arrested for smuggling, Qin Huai went from house to house in the courtyard to borrow money.

But the neighbors in the courtyard were all afraid of the Jia family, and besides, the Jia family wasn't exactly well-regarded in the courtyard. After going around to borrow money, Qin Huairu couldn't get a single penny. This morning, she took a bus back to her parents' home early in the morning, hoping to borrow some money from them. After all, Banggeng was her parents' grandson.

In the end, he didn't get the money and was even scolded by his brother and sister-in-law.

Before the reform and opening up, life in the countryside was very difficult. They thought that if their daughter Qin Huai married into the city, she could help support her family.

As a result, every time Qin Huairu's family came to borrow money, they were driven out of the courtyard by Jia Zhangshi. Qin Huairu not only did not help, but also stood aside and watched the show.

After several attempts, Qin Huairu's parents simply pretended they didn't have this daughter anymore, and would rather starve than go to the city to look for Qin Huairu.

Now that Qin Huairu's family is in trouble and she wants to ask her family for help, she'd be lucky if they even gave her a friendly look.

Borrowing money is simply impossible.

In the words of her brother and sister-in-law, even if the family had money, they would rather throw it away than lend it to the Jia family, not to mention that Qin Huairu's family had no money.

It was only when she returned to the courtyard house that she realized how much of a failure she had been as a person in the Jia family over the decades.

Not only were they treated like a plague by their neighbors, who avoided them, but even their own parents disowned them.

However, Qin Huairu did not have much time to grieve or regret her actions.

Because his son is still in detention, if he can't raise all the fines by tomorrow night, he will face at least three years in prison, and then the Jia family's world will truly collapse.

But he had no connections, no relationships, and no resources, so raising three thousand yuan was like trying to climb to heaven.

But no matter how difficult it was, she couldn't just stand by and watch Bang Geng go to jail, which led to the scene that just happened at the Jia family's house.

Qin Huairu was very reluctant to do the suggestion made by Jia Zhangshi.

But apart from this method, which would allow her to raise the fine in a short time, she couldn't think of any other way to save her son.

No matter how beautiful a daughter is, she will eventually get married.

She still has her own in-laws, husband, and children to raise... so Qin Huairu doesn't really expect Kuihua to help her in her old age.

In her eyes, Banggeng is not only the future of the Jia family, but also her only person to support her in her old age.

If something happens to the hamster, he/she will not be able to find a job or earn money in the future, which will affect his/her retirement and he/she may even be abandoned by the hamster.

If a person can't even support themselves, let alone an elderly person.

Compared to Kuihua's future happiness, Banggeng's future and his own retirement life are obviously more important.

Although Qin Huairu really didn't want to use his two daughters to raise money for Bang Geng's fine, he had no choice but to do so in the face of reality.

After a long silence, he said to Madam Jia, "Mother..."

"Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend...?"

“There really is one.” Madam Jia knew Qin Huairu would agree, and answered with anticipation.

“There’s a cripple named Zhang on the next street… He used to be a steel mill worker who became lame in one leg due to a work injury, but it didn’t affect his ability to walk.”

"Before the work injury, he was a level four fitter at a steel rolling mill. He had no parents to support him and no children. I heard he had saved at least two thousand yuan."

"After the work injury, the steel mill paid him more than 600 yuan in compensation, and also gave him more than 20 yuan in compensation every month."

"He once said: whoever marries him will receive a dowry of 500 yuan."

"Given that she's so beautiful and has a job, asking him for 800 yuan as a bride price isn't high; we can definitely negotiate it down." (End of Chapter)