Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

But Zhang Cuilan saw this as something to hide, or that Wang Guixiang didn't have any money at all. Zhang Cuilan wanted to ask Wang Guixiang directly if she had lent the money to outsiders, but she didn't say it out loud. She was afraid that if she did, not only would she not get the money back, but she would also fall out with Wang Guixiang, which would not do her any good.

So Zhang Cuilan secretly remembered this matter. Perhaps Wang Guixiang really did have a lover outside, just like Zhao Da'e said, and then gave the money to that lover. If that were the case, she would definitely make a big fuss about it, but now was not the right time to make a big fuss, since she had not yet obtained any evidence, and no matter how much she made a fuss, she would not be in the right.

So Zhang Cuilan came out of Wang Guixiang's room, and immediately pulled Zhao Tiegang back into the room and whispered, "Mom won't give any money, and she won't lend any money either."

Zhao Tiegang was slightly taken aback. He had thought that he would get the money no matter what, but he never expected that he would not get it.

"Are you sure? Did Mom say anything? Is there something she can't say that prevents her from lending money?" Zhao Tiegang asked tentatively.

Zhang Cuilan was speechless and almost rolled her eyes. "What unspeakable secret? I think it's just that you don't have money, or that you've already lent the money to outsiders, maybe even your lover."

Zhao Tiegang was startled. This was not something to be said carelessly. He immediately covered Zhang Cuilan's mouth with his hand. "Keep your voice down. This is not something you can talk about. If Dad hears this, this family will fall apart."

Zhang Cuilan said irritably, "So what if we break up? At worst, we can split up the family property, and that way we can still get some money."

Zhao Tiegang still felt that Wang Guixiang couldn't possibly have a lover outside. Although his mother was usually a bit arrogant and shrewish, she didn't have the heart to cheat on him.

"Cuilan, do you think there might be some misunderstanding here?" Zhao Tiegang asked, puzzled.

Zhang Cuilan shook her head and said irritably, "Misunderstanding, there's no misunderstanding at all. You may not believe me, but I'm quite convinced. At worst, I'll just keep a closer eye on this old woman every day to see if she has a lover or if she's lent any money from the family to outsiders."

Wang Guixiang didn't lend money to her family, and even how she addressed Wang Guixiang changed.

Seeing Zhang Cuilan's stubbornness, Zhao Tiegang said angrily, "Think whatever you want, but I'm warning you, if you accuse my mother of cheating on me without solid evidence, I'll never forgive you!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cuilan stood up angrily, looking at Zhao Tiegang in disbelief. "Zhao Tiegang, how dare you yell at me? Do you think I wanted to come back? If I weren't worried about our family not getting the money to build a new house, I wouldn't want to come back and worry about all this. I get annoyed just looking at you. Get out of here!"

After saying that, Zhang Cuilan pushed Zhao Tiegang out.

With a "bang," the door slammed shut.

Zhao Tiegang was met with a cold shoulder and was also annoyed. He waved his hand, intending to drown his sorrows in alcohol.

The Chinese New Year is just around the corner, and before the New Year, every household will do a thorough cleaning of their home.

The same thing happened at Cheng Jinxi's home. She woke everyone up early in the morning to do a thorough cleaning.

"Chunwen, go get a rag and wipe the table clean. Remember to wipe every little corner clean."

"Chunhong, go and clean the closet area. Take the clothes out and tidy them up properly first, then clean the closet after you're done."

Even Zhou Tianfu was assigned a task: to tidy up the kitchen.

The only one who hadn't been assigned a task was Zhao Da'e. Seeing everyone around him busy but not himself, Zhao Da'e ran over and tugged at Cheng Jinxi's sleeve, raising his hand and saying, "Auntie, I haven't been assigned a task yet. What am I supposed to do?"

Looking at the tiny Zhao Da'e, especially with its two little pigtails, Cheng Jinxi was charmed and couldn't help but tug at one of Zhao Da'e's pigtails, saying in a good mood, "Da'e, you're so small, you don't need to do housework, you can just play over there."

Cheng Jinxi hadn't forgotten that her son's betrothal money came from Zhao Da'e, and that Zhao Da'e was only seven years old and didn't need to do such tiring work.

Zhou Chunhong, watching from the side, felt a little sour. She took a rag and vigorously wiped the wardrobe, muttering to herself, "Mom is just biased."

No sooner had Zhou Chunhong finished speaking than Cheng Jinxi smacked her on the forehead. Cheng Jinxi's face darkened. "What are you talking about?"

Upon seeing Cheng Jinxi, Zhou Chunhong shrugged and said fearfully, "Mom, I didn't say anything. I'm working hard."

Everyone was busy, and Zhao Da'e felt embarrassed to just sit there, so he simply picked up a rag, wet it, and went to wipe the glass himself.

As soon as Cheng Jinxi came out, she saw Zhao Da'e wiping the glass on tiptoe. This scene touched Cheng Jinxi deeply. She didn't want Zhao Da'e to clean, but Zhao Da'e insisted on cleaning. Unlike her own little daughter, who had to be urged several times before she would clean, she was very difficult to manage.

Even on tiptoe, Zhao Da'e couldn't reach the glass above, so he found a small stool, stood on it, and started wiping the glass.

Cheng Jinxi also planned to take out the quilt cover to wash. After wiping the glass, Zhao Da'e helped to fetch water and put a large spoonful of hot water from the pot into the basin. Now that the weather is cold, you have to add some hot water to wash anything so that it will be more comfortable. Otherwise, it is very uncomfortable to wash things with cold water.

Cheng Jinxi put the duvet cover in, added some laundry detergent, and let it soak.

Zhao Da'e then took the initiative to pick up the broom and carefully cleaned every corner of the house.

The family worked all day to finish, and in the end, the glass, tables, and everything else were clean and shiny, making it look much more comfortable.

In the afternoon, Cheng Jinxiang came to the Zhou family to pick up Zhao Dage and took her to the market to buy some things.

My original intention was simply to buy Zhao Da'e a laundry set.

Cheng Jinxiang headed straight for the clothing section, and as soon as she got there, she saw several red children's coats. Cheng Jinxiang liked them very much at first sight, picked them up and touched them. The feel was quite nice. Then she compared them with Zhao Da'e's small body and they looked to be about the same size, just right.

"Boss, please try these on first," Cheng Jinxiang said to the shop owner.

The proprietress smiled and said warmly, "Of course you can try it on, young lady. If you buy it today, I'll give you a discount."

Cheng Jinxiang took the red overcoat and put it on Zhao Da'e. Wearing the comfortable overcoat, Zhao Da'e immediately felt warm.

"Big Goose, how do you feel wearing this?" Cheng Jinxiang thought the clothes looked quite good on Zhao Da'e. The red coat looked very festive, and Zhao Da'e also had two little pigtails, making her look like a lucky baby.

"Mom, I feel quite comfortable." Zhao Da'e told the truth and didn't say anything to stop Cheng Jinxiang from buying it. Anyway, she had given Cheng Jinxiang several hundred yuan a few days ago to prepare for the New Year. Since she had money, Zhao Da'e wouldn't treat herself badly.

Seeing that Zhao Da'e liked it, the proprietress immediately offered, "This red coat is cheap, only forty-five yuan! I'll give you a discount, you can get it for forty yuan."

Cheng Jinxiang frowned upon hearing this. "Boss, this is too expensive. Forty yuan is several days' wages for us. This dress is not worth the price."

The shopkeeper immediately became anxious upon hearing this and quickly said, "Girl, feel the material of my clothes. They're made of the finest fabrics, and they'll keep you warm in no time. They're made of the best materials, and look how beautiful the design is. It'll suit your daughter perfectly. Buy one and take it home."

Cheng Jinxiang shook her head and began to bargain, saying, "Boss, this piece of clothing is for children. Children grow quickly and will outgrow it in a year or two. Besides, ordinary clothes only cost twenty or thirty yuan. Why would you sell it for forty yuan like this?"

As soon as Zhao Da'e saw Cheng Jinxiang saying these things, she cleverly stepped forward and tugged at Cheng Jinxiang's sleeve, "Mom, let's not buy it, let's go."

The proprietress immediately became anxious. This was a potential sale, and she was eager to take it. She grabbed Cheng Jinxiang's arm and quickly said, "Oh, girl, what are you saying? How about I give you a discount on this dress? I'll sell it to you for 35."

Cheng Jinxiang remained expressionless and directly quoted a price, "25, boss, how about this price?"

The proprietress looked troubled. "Girl, your price is too low. I'm losing money selling at 25. Why don't you raise the price a bit? Who buys things like this, trying to cut the price in half right away? 33, how about I sell it to you for 33?"

Cheng Jinxiang shook her head. This wasn't the price she wanted. Thinking this, she turned around and pulled Zhao Da'e away.

The proprietress panicked again and hurriedly called out, "Girl, 30! How about 30? My price is low enough. You can't buy clothes of this quality anywhere else."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Jinxiang stopped in her tracks, pretending not to really want it, "30 is still too expensive, how about 27? I'll buy it for 27."

The boss looked grim and hesitated.

Upon seeing this, Cheng Jinxiang immediately tried to pull Zhao Da'e away. However, the proprietress quickly stopped Cheng Jinxiang, saying, "Girl, I'll sell it to you for 27. I see you're my first customer today, so I'll give you a discount."

The proprietress eventually gave in. After all, she could still make some money selling it for 27 yuan. Small money is money, and the proprietress didn't mind.

When Cheng Jinxiang heard the proprietress agree so readily, she secretly thought to herself that she had miscalculated and quoted too low a price. She should have quoted 20 earlier, so that there would have been room for negotiation.

But compared to spending forty or fifty yuan on a piece of clothing, spending twenty yuan on this piece of clothing was acceptable to Cheng Jinxiang, and she paid the money decisively. The clothes were then packed up, as she wanted to keep them for Da'e to wear during the Chinese New Year.

Carrying the clothes out of the store, Cheng Jinxiang felt she had accomplished more than half of her mission. One of her original goals was to buy Zhao Da'e an outfit for the New Year, and secondly, to buy some other items needed for the holiday. For several years before, she had been frugal and hadn't bought Zhao Da'e any decent clothes. Now, having narrowly escaped death in the hospital, she had learned a lot. She realized that many things should be spent on, and one should enjoy life when it's time to enjoy them, otherwise, there would be no chance to do so once she died.

Zhao Da'e and Cheng Jinxiang had similar thoughts. She tugged at Cheng Jinxiang's sleeve and said, "Mom, don't just buy me clothes, buy some nice clothes for yourself too."

In Zhao Da'e's memory, she had never seen Cheng Jinxiang buy any nice clothes for herself. She would either pick out cheap and practical clothes or buy them for her father. She never bought any nice clothes for herself.

Now that I have some money, I should spend it when I need to. There's no need to skimp on those few dozen yuan; I can earn it back anyway.

Cheng Jinxiang chuckled and couldn't help but ruffle Zhao Da'e's hair. "You, you're so young and you already think so much for your mother. I'll buy you clothes and stuff. After all, we have some money now, so we don't have to be as stingy as before."

A short while later, Cheng Jinxiang took Zhao Da'e to another store and bought a nice overcoat. Zhao Da'e touched the quality of the coat and found that it was of slightly lower quality than her own red overcoat.

Zhao Da'e couldn't help but shake her head; her mother was still reluctant to spend money on herself.

After buying clothes, it's time to buy some items for the New Year. Actually, Cheng Jinxiang took Zhao Da'e to the market to buy New Year's goods half a month ago, but they only bought food and such. However, some things are cheaper and have more styles if you wait until closer to the New Year to buy them, such as lanterns and paper cuttings.

They even bought some couplets and firecrackers.

Cheng Jinxiang also bought a gift for her eldest sister and her family, since they had helped her take care of the geese, so it was nice to bring them some gifts.

After doing all this, Cheng Jinxiang took Zhao Dage's hand and prepared to return to the Zhou family.

When Zhao Da'e got back to his doorstep, he saw Cheng Jinxi hanging out the washed bed sheets to dry. The wet bed sheets were heavy, and Cheng Jinxi had some difficulty lifting them. Seeing this, Cheng Jinxiang immediately went over to help.

Holding the other end of the duvet cover, the two sisters exchanged a knowing glance with Cheng Jinxi, each grabbing one end and twisting the duvet in opposite directions until all the water inside was wrung out.

After wringing it out, Cheng Jinxi unfolded the duvet cover and hung it on the rope, then secured it with clips to prevent it from being blown to the ground by the wind.

Zhao Da'e saw all of this. Washing clothes in winter was so difficult. Zhao Da'e couldn't help but say, "Washing clothes is such a hassle. When I earn more money in the future, I will buy a washing machine. It will be much more convenient then."

Cheng Jinxiang smiled after hearing this, "Why buy a washing machine? It's such a waste of money. I've heard that a washing machine in the city costs over a thousand yuan. You shouldn't buy one; it's too expensive. It's more practical to just wash by hand."

"Besides, the water freezes in winter, will this machine still work?"

In the cold climate of the north, in rural areas during winter, it was necessary to boil water to wash clothes. Otherwise, firstly, it would be too cold, and secondly, the water would be too cold to get the clothes clean.

At that time, washing machines were not common and were expensive, mainly sold to wealthy families in the city.

But Zhao Da'e felt that it was nothing. Having experienced the thrill of making quick money, a thousand or two thousand yuan was nothing to her, and buying a washing machine would free up her hands.