Pretty and charming, dressed in the 90s, she's good at everything from making money to causing

"What do you mean by borrowing money?"

Aunt Zheng was no less shocked than Zhao Lijuan. She leaned out and looked at Zheng Miaoying with eyes full of panic. "Yingzi, you borrowed money? How much?"

"Um……"

Zheng Miaoying responded softly. She felt really guilty because she hadn't even figured out how to continue this lie.

However, her appearance actually suited the current situation perfectly—perfectly matching the embarrassing state of secretly borrowing money behind her parents' backs, having nowhere to hide it and being caught by relatives.

Zheng Miaoying glanced at Lin Ting and answered, "Borrowed...four thousand?"

Lin Ting: "..."

What's with that questioning tone?!

She had no choice but to continue the conversation, correcting herself by saying, "Four thousand and fifty."

“Oh right, right,” Zheng Miaoying quickly followed, “four thousand and fifty!”

Aunt Zheng staggered, her eyes filled with astonishment as she looked at Zheng Miaoying: "How dare you lend so much money? What were you thinking?"

Zheng Miaoying said softly, "I...I'm afraid we won't have enough money for the medical expenses?"

Lin Ting gritted her teeth and said, "Yes, the doctor said at the time that Auntie's condition was very serious and that we needed to prepare a large sum of money."

Aunt Zheng was stunned.

She had just thought her family's life was getting better.

She was thinking yesterday that she could buy a sewing machine and do odd jobs to make a living.

It turned out that the money didn't belong to them at all.

Aunt Zheng felt a pang of heartache when she thought about the meat she ate during the Chinese New Year.

Lin Ting glanced at Zhao Lijuan, who stood there dumbfounded, and saw that her brow was trembling and her hands were clenched into fists at her sides. She said, "Aunt Zheng, I wasn't in a hurry, but as you know, I run a small shop, and I need money to buy inventory, so..."

Aunt Zheng wiped away her tears, her voice trembling, but there was no resentment in her tone: "It's nothing, it's nothing, I shouldn't have borrowed money from you in the first place... I should thank you for lending it to me!"

As she spoke, she used her arms to prop herself up and shuffled a few steps into the kang (a heated brick bed). She took out a key from her clothes and shakily opened a small drawer in the kang cabinet. After groping around for a long time, she finally took out a cloth bag wrapped in red cloth from the very back of the drawer.

She counted the money here last night; it totaled four thousand two hundred and eighty yuan.

She took out two hundred and thirty, counted the money three times, and then handed it over: "Here, let me tell you how to count it too."

Aunt Zheng neither complained about Zheng Miaoying nor said anything else to Lin. She promptly repaid the debt the moment she learned of it, making her the best debtor ever.

Lin Ting stepped forward, about to take the money, when he was suddenly interrupted by a sharp shout from Zhao Lijuan.

"No! I can't pay you back now!"

Lin Ting's eyes darkened slightly, and when she turned around, she looked puzzled: "Why?"

Aunt Zheng was also a little confused: "Second sister, what do you mean by this?"

Zhao Lijuan also felt that she was being a bit too hasty, but she had no choice but to be!

She forced a smile, stepped forward, and said, "Well, my husband Daning is planning to take over another factory. He paid the deposit last month, but coincidentally, this month he needed to order goods from his original factory, and he didn't manage his money well, so he suddenly ran out of money... Third Sister, how about you lend me this money first, and I'll pay you back next month, plus fifty yuan in interest?"

Aunt Zheng said very frankly, "But this money isn't mine."

Zhao Lijuan's breathing was slightly labored.

Her younger sister is simple-minded, but she's very stubborn.

When Lao Zheng died, she advised her not to take Zheng Miaoying, this burden, with her. Lao Zheng's family wasn't all dead, and since Zheng Miaoying's surname was Zheng, of course they should take care of her!

She had already found a husband for her third sister; as long as she didn't bring her child, the man was willing to marry her.

But what about her? She insisted on bringing this burden along, ruining the wedding and making it impossible for her, the matchmaker, to explain herself to others.

Zhao Lijuan stared at the four thousand yuan and gritted her teeth, saying, "Third sister, Daning is your own nephew. After Miaoying gets married, won't he take care of you? You should help him out. If you can't raise this money, the ten thousand yuan deposit will be completely lost!"

"If you think fifty yuan in interest is too little, then consider this factory as your share. You take four thousand... I'll give you 2%, okay? Let me tell you, don't underestimate 2%, but you can definitely earn back that four thousand yuan in a month!"

Aunt Zheng: "I would like to take care of Da Ning, but this money isn't mine."

Zhao Lijuan: "..."

She tried everything, from kind words to harsh ones, but she remained convinced that the money wasn't hers.

How can the money in her hands not be hers?

In the deathly silence, Zheng Miaoying suddenly spoke up: "Second Aunt, my family really has no money. My brother has so many big boss friends in business. Why don't you borrow from them?"

Zhao Lijuan glared at her directly: "What do you know, you little brat! You can't borrow this kind of thing from a friend!"

Zheng Miaoying pursed her lips and said softly, "My friends are friends too... You don't borrow from your own friends, but borrow from my friends... That doesn't make sense."

Zhao Lijuan was taken aback.

This girl has really grown bold. She used to be so afraid of me that she didn't even dare to breathe loudly in front of me, but today she actually dared to talk back?

Lin Ting looked at Yingzi, then turned to Zhao Lijuan: "Wait a minute, I didn't understand. Did you mean that if Aunt Zheng takes four thousand yuan, you will give her 2% of the shares, and this percentage is based on the investment ratio?"

Zhao Lijuan nodded directly: "Of course, they're all family, why would I lie to them? It's just a coincidence. If it weren't for this, I wouldn't agree to anyone else getting involved!"

"So, your total investment is 200,000? That's not right about the deposit ratio," Lin Ting blinked her innocent big eyes. "You haven't been scammed, have you?"

Zhao Lijuan was stunned for a moment, then glared at her: "What do you know, you're just a small business owner? So many people are vying for that factory, it'll be given to someone else if you don't pay a bigger deposit!"

Lin Ting: "Oh, I see. Then tell me which factory it is, and I'll call my elders to ask. If it's reliable, it's fine for you to take the money and invest it."

Zhao Lijuan had made thorough preparations before arriving and said without hesitation, "It's the chemical plant in the south of the city!"

She spoke with absolute certainty, showing no sign of panic.

"okay."

Lin Ting took out his cell phone from his bag and dialed Uncle Nie's number.

Uncle Nie's phone always connects within three rings; he's incredibly reliable.

Lin Ting also moved closer to Aunt Zheng so that she could hear the conversation on the phone.

"Uncle Nie, hello, I'd like to ask you something," Lin Ting glanced at Zhao Lijuan with a half-smile, and continued, "Is the chemical plant in the south of the city going to be sold off? Do you know anything about it?"

Uncle Nie on the other end of the phone paused for a moment before saying, "Miss Lin is also interested in this chemical plant?"

Lin immediately understood the meaning behind his words and asked, "Does Uncle Jiang want it too?"

Uncle Nie: "Actually... we've already taken it down."

Lin Ting chuckled: "Could you please reveal the approximate amount? I'm not interested in taking over the factory; it's just that someone told me she's going to use 200,000 to acquire the chemical plant."

"Are you kidding me! Two hundred thousand? Just for a factory gate?"

After a pause, Uncle Nie added, "She wants to buy it separately, but they won't sell it separately!"