Rebirth and making money first

After Zhang Xiaobing left, Zhang Jing busied herself with cleaning up the children. With Aunt Sun's help, Zhang Jing was able to free herself. Aunt Zhang felt deeply guilty about her grandfather's passing. She declined Zhang Jing's invitation but recommended her fellow villager, Aunt Sun, and so far, they seem to be getting along well.

When Zhang Jing had some free time, she thought about the nursing home. She called Li Xiangyue again to ask about the investment. She didn't know whether Li Xiangyue had invested in it, but as a member of the nursing home management, she should know.

"Sister-in-law, this is Zhang Jing. How are you doing? I haven't heard from you for a long time. How many months pregnant are you now?" Zhang Jing called Li Xiangyue. When Li Xiangyue heard it was Zhang Jing, she immediately said happily: "Xiao Jing, I haven't heard from you for a long time. My situation is stable here. The baby is almost 7 months old now. Xiaoyu is currently under control with medication. There will be hope when the time comes. Once he is cured, we can go back!"

Zhang Jing knew that Li Xiangyue only reported good news and not bad news, so she said, "Then take care of yourself and don't worry too much. Xiaoyu is counting on you!" Li Xiangyue said, "I know, thank you! Is there something you want to talk about? Just tell your sister-in-law!" Zhang Jing said:

"Sister-in-law, you can't hide anything from me. I called to ask you if your nursing home has an investment program? You can put your savings in the nursing home and get dividends every month. Did you know that?"

Li Xiangyue said, "I know about this. The nursing home is raising funds." Zhang Jing asked, "Isn't this fundraising regulated by higher authorities? Are there any policies to monitor it?" Li Xiangyue replied, "This is done privately, only within the nursing home. It must be kept secret from the outside world!"

Zhang Jing asked, "Sister-in-law, have you raised funds?" Li Xiangyue said, "I did, but I've already withdrawn it because my child is sick." Zhang Jing asked, "What do you think of the returns?" Li Xiangyue said, "If it's 10 or 20 yuan or more, you can still make a few hundred yuan a month. But if it's too much, I'm worried. After all, it would be bad if they found out."

Li Xiangyue asked Zhang Jing, "You didn't pay attention to this before, so why are you thinking about fundraising now?" Zhang Jing replied, "It wasn't me, it was my brother and sister who joined in. They each invested 10 yuan. No matter how much we tried to persuade them, they wouldn't stop. I want to ask if this is reliable. I always feel unsure."

Li Xiang said: "Zhang Jing, if it were you, I would still advise you not to invest in it as much as possible. After all, you don't work in the nursing home, and you are not an internal employee. There will always be risks if it is registered under someone else's name. Zhang Jing thought about it and said that in this case, I won't invest. Thank you, sister-in-law, sister-in-law, you must take care of yourself, eat more and better what you want to eat, so that the child can develop better. When you come back and have anything to do, just let me know if you need my help." Li Xiangyue thanked Zhang Jing repeatedly.

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Jing thought, this matter really doesn't seem very reliable. Zhang Zhi and Zhang Xiaobing's 20 yuan should be recovered as soon as possible, otherwise the risk is simply too great. But judging by Zhang Zhi's expression, she probably won't listen. Zhang Jing felt troubled by the thought, but then she decided to just let Zhang Xiaobing handle it. Whether or not they could handle it was their problem, so she had done her best.

Zhang Yongle's call was timely. When he arrived, he asked Zhang Jing if she had made up her mind. Zhang Jing asked him, "What have you decided on?" "Of course, I'll lend me money to buy a house! You don't want me to be homeless, do you?" Zhang Yongle said confidently.

Zhang Jing asked him, "Are you kidding me? Don't you want your house in Shenzhen anymore? Are you planning to settle down in Shanghai?" Zhang Yongle replied, "Stop talking nonsense. Are you going to lend it to me or not?"

Zhang Jing said, "I can borrow it, but I don't have that much! After all, my house back home needs renovations, and when we move back here, the house here will need renovations too. Just tell me the number, how much do you want to borrow?"

Zhang Yongle said, "That's more like it. I was talking about my woman, how could she not help me?" Zhang Jing was very disgusted when she heard this. She smiled coldly and said, "You are also very funny. I lent you money because of your godfather and because it's my house. You have put a lot of effort in renovating it. I am willing to repay this favor! After all, we won't have much contact in the future. I don't plan to ask you for the money I borrowed. Of course, I can't lend you too much. I can only lend you 30 yuan. If you don't want it, forget it."

Zhang Yongle heard this and said, "You're really ruthless! 30 yuan is useless for anything!" Zhang Jing said, "Don't be so confident. I lent it to you, so you should be grateful. After all, I can't take it back if you don't pay it back. But I still need to discuss this matter with my godfather to see what's going on."

Zhang Yongle immediately said, "If that's the case, I won't lend you the money." Zhang Jing said, "What's the big deal? What are you afraid of your godfather finding out?" Zhang Yongle replied, "None of your business is your business. You'd better not get involved! And don't tell my dad about my affairs." Zhang Jing said, "I don't want to bother with you. I'm hanging up now."

Zhang Jing called Uncle Zhang anyway, "Godfather, is everything okay over there? Is there any hope for Xiaoyu's surgery?" When Uncle Zhang heard it was Zhang Jing, he said, "Xiaojing, thank you for your concern. Xiaoyu's condition is under control now. Xiaoyue is almost eight months pregnant now."

Zhang Jing asked Uncle Zhang, "Do you have enough money now? If not, I still have some. Don't be polite to me!" Uncle Zhang said, "Xiao Jing is really in trouble, and I only realized that you have a conscience. Who else would lend us a hand?" Zhang Jing said, "I can lend you 50 yuan right now. Give me your account number and I'll transfer it to you! Don't say anything else, saving the child is the most important thing!"

Uncle Zhang said, "Okay! Xiaojing's godfather appreciates your kindness!"

After receiving Uncle Zhang's account number, Zhang Jing transferred the 50 yuan, figuring it would give Uncle Zhang some time to relax. As for Zhang Yongle, Zhang Jing decided she would have no further contact with him. He was becoming increasingly annoying.

Ah Chen came home from get off work, looking unhappy. Zhang Jing asked him, "What's wrong with you? Is your work tough? Or did someone bully you?" Ah Chen shook his head and said nothing. Seeing that he looked very tired, Zhang Jing told him to take a rest.

After Achen rested, Zhang Jing felt something was still wrong. She asked the aunt to look after the child while she took Achen to the hospital for a checkup. The results were a bit hard for Zhang Jing to accept. She said Achen's recovery had been slow since his liver transplant. Perhaps it was his bad mood, or perhaps it was the passing of his grandfather that had caused him to feel unwell. He needed to calm down and recuperate.

Zhang Jing told Achen, "This family can't live without you. You mustn't be unhappy. My children and I are counting on you!"

Achen said, "Grandpa is gone, and I'm not happy. Mom and Dad aren't here anymore, so I'm stuck here. But I'm not happy. I want Mom and Dad to still be with us like before. But Mom and Dad are only nice to my younger brother and don't come to see me."

Zhang Jing said, "You're an adult now, and the eldest brother. Your brother is younger than you, so naturally, Mom and Dad have to take care of him. Your sister-in-law is about to have a baby, and your child is already grown up. Now your brother's child also needs someone to take care of him. So they might neglect you. If you really miss Mom and Dad, we can call them. Or we can go visit them."

"Really?" Achen's face finally brightened up after getting Zhang Jing's affirmative answer.

Zhang Jing couldn't understand why he couldn't leave his family for even a moment. But thinking about how Achen was different from others, with a bit of a childish temper and a low IQ, she could only coax him and distract him: "Have you contacted Alan? And Datou?"

As expected, Ah Chen said, "No, I haven't called in a long time." Zhang Jing guided him, "Then you can call them and ask how they are doing recently. Don't forget, you are the squad leader!"

Ah Chen said, "Oh!" Zhang Jing watched Ah Chen dial Alan's number. As soon as the call was connected, Alan screamed, "Ah, squad leader, you called me? Oh, it's been a long time since you called me! I'm fine. How are you?" Ah Chen said, "I'm fine too."

"Ah, so where do you work? Is it hard?"

Achen said, "I work near my home, cleaning. Do you want to come over to my house and play?" Alan said, "Sure, but my child is still young. I can't take him that far."

Zhang Jing listened to the two of them talking for a long time before she spoke up. She asked Alan, "Alan, I'm Zhang Jing. How's your baby?" Alan said, "Ajing, my baby is adorable! How's your baby?" Zhang Jing replied, "My baby is beautiful and doing well. He can call mom and dad and can walk."

"Ah? Mine isn't working yet! I can only stand for a while with support." Alan said regretfully. Zhang Jing asked her, "How are you doing now?" Alan said, "I'm doing very well! My husband treats me very well. We also planned to bring the children to Hong Kong when the time comes. My brother and sister have come to see the children."

Zhang Jing said, "That's good, Alan, you should live a good life with your husband!" Alan said, "Yes, yes, I will. Don't worry, I'm a very virtuous woman. I keep the house very clean and my parents help me look after the baby."

Zhang Jing said, "That's great. Come over to my house when you have time. I'll tell you where I am." Alan said, "Okay, okay. You can also bring the kids over to my house. We can make dumplings. My husband makes delicious dumplings."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Jing asked Achen, "Do you want to call Datou?" Achen said, "I don't know Datou's phone number." Zhang Jing said, "Okay, I'll call him."

Zhang Jing's phone was picked up, and it was Datou who answered. Datou asked in a buzzing voice, "Hello, who are you looking for?" Zhang Jing handed the phone to Achen. Achen said, "Datou, this is the squad leader." Datou said, "Oh, squad leader, what's up?" Achen looked at Zhang Jing blankly. Zhang Jing said, "Talk to me, Datou, how are you doing?" Datou said, "Not bad."

At Zhang Jing's signal, Achen asked again: "Do you still need to go to work now?" Datou said he had no work to go to. As they were talking, a woman's voice soon came from the phone, "Who's calling?" Datou said it was Achen, and the phone was snatched away: "Achen, is your wife here? Is Ajing here? Let Ajing answer the phone." Achen gave the phone to Zhang Jing and walked away.

"Hello, Jing, it's me, your old sister! How are you now? Oh, we haven't contacted each other for a long time. You must have forgotten me, right? Now, I have two children, and I can't let go of the younger one. I'm so exhausted!"

Zhang Jing said, "Stop joking. Don't you have a nanny? Plus your father-in-law is helping you, how tired can you be?"

"Hey Zhang Jing, you didn't know my father-in-law passed away. When did it happen? It's been three months now. He died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage. It was so sudden! I'm at a loss now. I just finished dealing with the funeral. Luckily, I have a nanny to help. My mother-in-law is still in a nursing home. She doesn't know anything all day long. I don't know when it will end. I'm so worried! Luckily, we still have some family savings, otherwise we wouldn't be able to support her."

Zhang Jing said, "Then you can be the head of the family now!" "Do you think I want to be the head of the family? Even if I really am the head of the family, I feel that it is not as good as when my father-in-law is here. With my father-in-law looking after me, at least I can live a relatively comfortable life. Now I have to worry about everything. Look at Dazhuang, he is like a fool. He moves at the drop of a hat and eats a lot. He can't do the work he is supposed to do. I can't do anything about it."

Zhang Jing asked, "Have you asked the nursing home if you can let Dazhuang go there to take care of his mother?"

"Is there such a thing?" Zhang Jing said, "Why not? As long as you have the money, he can take care of his mother. It's convenient for him, and he has someone to provide him with food and accommodation. But you, can you handle two children?"

"Well, even if I can't do it, I have to do it. They are all my own children. I'll think about it, but this is also a solution. We'll see how the situation goes. If you have time, Jing, come out and have some tea together."

Zhang Jing smiled bitterly: "You also know that you can only go for tea when you have time? Look at us, we each have two children, how can we leave? Let's talk about it when we have time!"

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Jing looked at Achen playing with the children again and sighed softly, feeling that sometimes fools were happier than herself.