Countdown to Awakening

Sun Degui was now as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. He had already spent half of the 200 yuan gift money from the Ma family. Given his family's financial situation, it was simply not enough to come up with that much money.

Ma Hui looked unhappy. "Brother Degui, you have to return the money, right? I didn't marry your daughter. If you don't return the money, you know what will happen to your family in the future..."

Sun Degui panicked when he heard this. How could he come up with so much money? He had already spent half of it...

"Brother Ma, can you let me return half of the money first? I actually spent a little of it... but I'll pay you back the other half slowly..." Sun Degui said this hesitantly. But Ma Hui quickly replied, "No, I want to pay you back all of it. It's none of my business if you spend it. If your daughter doesn't marry me, how can I return only half of the money? Don't you agree, Brother Degui?"

Sun Degui became nervous upon hearing this. He and Chen Juan looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Village chief, how about you help me persuade Brother Ma? I really can't come up with the money now. When I save enough, I will definitely return it all to Brother Ma..." He turned around and begged the village chief to plead for him.

"Yes, Village Chief, Pan Di won't let us get married, and we can't pay back the huge sum of money. Please have some mercy and help us plead for mercy." Chen Juan also echoed his words. The Village Chief sighed and turned to talk to Ma Hui.

"No! I want it back in one lump sum. If your daughter doesn't marry, there are plenty of other people who want to marry her. I'll have to use this money to marry someone else's daughter!" Ma Hui's words were merciless. After hearing this, Sun Degui walked up to Qi Rongfeng and said, "Rongfeng, look at us, we've been brothers for so many years. Now that I'm in trouble, shouldn't you..."

Before Qi Rongfeng could say anything, Qi Yuanyuan rushed to answer him: "We don't have any money to lend you. I still have to go to college. Besides, what does your Sun family's affairs have to do with our Qi family?"

Planning on attacking our family? No way!

"You... you little bitch, how can you talk like that? My man is your elder after all, how can you talk to him like that!" Chen Juan was immediately upset when she heard Qi Yuanyuan say this. This little bitch has no manners at all! How dare she say anything!

Unexpectedly, Qi Yuanyuan didn't give in at all. "That's right. Who just said that the Sun family doesn't keep money with outsiders? Why are we brothers when it comes to borrowing money? We're no longer outsiders at this time. I've already told you that our family doesn't have any spare money to lend you. You can borrow from others. Borrow from whoever wants to lend you money."

Chen Juan knew Qi Yuanyuan was someone she couldn't afford to mess with, so she had no choice but to keep quiet. The most pressing matter at the moment was the Ma family's gift money.

Ma Hui suddenly came up to Qi Rongfeng and said to him meaningfully, "Brother Feng, it's not that I didn't remind you, your family has money, you might as well spend it yourself. Your daughter will get married sooner or later, and it's just a waste of money for you to send her to college."

Qi Rongfeng wasn't buying it: "I know what to do when it comes to my family's affairs. You don't have to worry about it." He spoke politely. After all, no one dared to offend the richest man in the village.

After saying that, Qi Rongfeng immediately took Qi Yuanyuan and walked towards home.

-

Chen Juan glanced at Sun Pandi, who was standing with Zheng Haifeng, and was furious. It was all because of this money-losing girl. If she hadn't refused to marry Ma Hui, would their family be in this situation? If Sun Pandi had agreed to marry Ma Hui, their family would have been rich! She could have had some connection with Ma Hui... and her son would have had money to go to school, right? But this damn girl just wouldn't listen! She insisted on going to college! As a result, their family had offended Ma Hui and had to borrow money everywhere! It was all her fault!

Ma Hui added, "I'll give you two days. If you can't pay the money within two days, your son may suffer at school..." He left after leaving a word.

Zheng Haifeng and the village chief were there, so they didn't dare to do anything excessive to Sun Pandi. They could only politely lead Sun Pandi home.

"You guys want to take Pan Di home?" Zheng Haifeng demanded. Chen Juan replied nonchalantly, "Of course we're the ones taking her back. We're her parents. If not us, who will?"

"Stop." The village chief saw Zheng Haifeng's worry. "Pandi, come with me and live at my house. I'm worried about you taking her away."

"How can this be? Pan Di is my daughter. How can I trouble you, the village chief, to take her away?" Chen Juan questioned. "Your daughter? Don't I know how you treat her? You want to marry her to Ma Hui, don't you? Now that I'm not watching, I don't know how you're going to torture Pan Di!"

"No, no, I really don't dare this time. If you don't believe me, you can ask Aunt Zhang next door, she can definitely testify. If I let Pan Di marry Ma Hui again, I will die a miserable death! Don't worry, Village Chief."

The village chief thought about it and realized that if he took Pan Di home directly, his family might not agree. So, why not just follow Chen Juan's wishes? I don't think they would dare to do anything bad!

"Okay, then. I'll do as you say, but you have to give me Pan Di's admission letter first. If you tear up her letter, I won't be able to read it either."

The couple had no choice but to agree, but they were also troubled because they had never seen Sun Pandi's admission letter. "Village head, I gave my admission letter to Yuanyuan. It's with her," Sun Pandi said.

Chen Juan was even more incredulous. Why not let it go into the hands of her own family but into the hands of an outsider?!

The village chief was relieved when he heard this. There was no way Yuanyuan would tear up Pandi's admission letter.

-

Qi Yuanyuan returned home. As soon as she entered the house, she saw the old furnishings: a few simple stools placed in front of the dining table, and an old calendar hanging on the wall, with the year 1998 clearly written on it.

A kind and gentle middle-aged woman stood beside the dining table. After putting down the dishes, she turned to Qi Yuanyuan and said, "My daughter, Mom made some chicken soup. The doctor said you are malnourished. Come sit down and drink some chicken soup."

Qi Yuanyuan sat down under the woman's pull. She searched for this woman in her mind - Liang Xiaocui.

Qi Rongfeng also smiled innocently and said, "Yes. Dad even bought a small fish specially..."

Looking at the steaming hot dishes and soup on the table, Qi Yuanyuan couldn't believe it. She could actually still receive the love from her parents and eat the food cooked by her mother...

Qi Rongfeng picked up a piece of braised fish and put it in her bowl, saying, "Yuanyuan, eat it. Dad bought this fish specially for you."

Liang Xiaocui said, "Drink the soup first. This fish has a lot of bones. You didn't buy a better fish..."

Qi Yuanyuan looked at the braised fish in the bowl, finding it a little hard to swallow. She said, "Dad, why doesn't this fish have legs? Aren't fish supposed to have sixteen different legs?"

Liang Xiaocui scolded, "Girl, look at you, are you stupid? What nonsense are you talking about? How can a fish have sixteen legs?"