Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Zhao Tiesheng refused to believe it and continued to knock on the door several more times, each time louder than the last.

"Chunqin, Qingmin, are you home? Open the door for me if you are."

"Boom boom boom——"

"Boom boom boom——"

No matter how hard he knocked, no one opened the door for Zhao Tiesheng.

Cheng Jinxiang and Zhao Dage watched from the side, staring intently at Zhao Tiesheng, making him very uncomfortable. He had previously sworn that Zhao Chunqin would definitely open the door and return the money if she was home, but now everything that had happened was a slap in the face.

Finally, because the knocking was too loud, the neighbor opened the door and yelled, "Knocking so loudly, don't you want people to sleep? If no one's home, don't open the door. If you keep disturbing the peace, I'll file a complaint!"

Zhao Tiesheng said awkwardly, "Okay, I understand. Then I won't knock."

Zhao Tiesheng was now in a dilemma. Knocking on the door was not an option, nor was not knocking. He couldn't just sit there and wait, especially with Zhao Da'e and Cheng Jinxiang watching. This made Zhao Tiesheng feel very embarrassed.

Zhao Tiesheng deliberately made up an excuse, saying, "I must have been hallucinating. There's no one eating here at all. Chunqin might have gone out. Why don't we come back later?"

Cheng Jinxiang glanced at Zhao Tiesheng and then at the door, and said sarcastically in a cold voice, "I think she's not home at all, but home but she won't open the door for us. She doesn't want to see us or return our money. Zhao Tiesheng, look at this, this is your good sister."

Zhao Tiesheng's face was grim, his fists clenched tightly. He refused to admit that it was his fault. "Jinxiang, say less. What you said is too harsh. I've already said that Chunqin isn't home, and there's nothing we can do if she won't open the door for us."

Cheng Jinxiang scoffed, "Not home? I just heard people talking inside. I thought they were eating, but when they heard us coming, they stopped talking and pretended not to hear us. They just didn't want to open the door for us."

Unable to bear Cheng Jinxiang's sarcasm any longer, Zhao Tiesheng said, "Then what do you want? I told you that was just an auditory hallucination. If that's what you think, there's nothing I can do."

Cheng Jinxiang retorted, "You're asking me what to do? Then I need to ask you properly what to do. According to you, this person isn't home, so we're just supposed to wait here? We came here early this morning and haven't even had lunch yet."

Zhao Tiesheng thought it was no big deal. "Let's go have a meal now, sit in the restaurant for a while after we finish eating, and then come back up later. Maybe Chunqin will already be home by then."

Zhao Da'e shook her head helplessly. Even at this point, her father was still stubborn. This father was hopeless. Once the money was recovered, she would persuade her mother to get a divorce.

Cheng Jinxiang pointed at the door and said coldly, "We all heard sounds coming from inside, so there's obviously someone in there. Now that there's no response to our knocking, it means they don't want to open the door for us. Zhao Tiesheng, how long are you going to keep deceiving yourself?"

Cheng Jinxiang was furious. She was disappointed in Zhao Tiesheng, resenting his cowardice and his escapism. How could she have married such a person?

Cheng Jinxiang's chest heaved violently, clearly quite angry. Recalling Zhao Tiesheng's suggestion earlier, Cheng Jinxiang found it amusing.

“You told us to go eat first and come back after we finish eating. But have you ever thought about whether Zhao Chunqin would open the door for us when we come back if she really didn’t want to? She might pretend she’s not home, or she might go out and avoid us while we’re eating, so we can’t find her.”

Cheng Jinxiang's words were not without reason. She was quite certain that she had heard sounds coming from inside the house, and the fact that there was no response when she knocked meant that she didn't want to knock.

Zhao Tiesheng was also in a state of confusion. He couldn't tell if what he had just heard was a hallucination. If even Cheng Jinxiang had heard it, then what he had just heard was not a hallucination. If there were sounds inside, it meant that there were people inside. If there were people inside, why didn't they open the door for him?

Zhao Tiesheng felt that Zhao Chunqin was having some difficulties, or that Zhao Chunqin was not home and that Li Qingmin was the one who didn't want to open the door for him. In other words, Li Qingmin didn't want to repay him, not Zhao Chunqin. For a moment, Zhao Tiesheng thought about many things.

Cheng Jinxiang took a deep breath and said slowly, "Zhao Tiesheng, let me put this to you, Da'e and I won't wait with you indefinitely. It's lunchtime, and Da'e and I are going to eat. You can wait here for now. What if Zhao Chunqin comes back in the meantime?"

Zhao Tiesheng was a little confused. "Jinxiang, do you mean I should wait here? Are you going to eat?"

What Zhao Tiesheng really wanted was for Cheng Jinxiang to wait there while he went to eat. After all, he was a grown man, and he needed to eat more so he would have the strength to talk later. But Zhao Tiesheng couldn't bring himself to say it. It would be best if Cheng Jinxiang brought it up herself. However, looking at Cheng Jinxiang's cold expression, Zhao Tiesheng opened his mouth and changed it to, "Then remember to bring me some food. I'll wait here so I don't miss the chance to see Chunqin when she comes back."

Zhao Da'e watched helplessly and shook her head. Her own father was truly stubborn and wouldn't give up until he hit a brick wall. She was at her wit's end.

Cheng Jinxiang took Zhao Da'e out to eat. Originally, Cheng Jinxiang planned to buy a steamed bun for herself and a meat bun for Zhao Da'e to save money, since they were going to build a new house soon and they had to be careful with their money.

But Zhao Da'e didn't want to eat such bland food, so she dragged Cheng Jinxiang to a restaurant to order dishes. She had plenty of money, so a few dollars or a dozen dollars was nothing to her. Eating well was the most important thing.

Cheng Jinxiang hesitated for a moment, then said, "Big Goose, how about we eat steamed buns? We can go to a restaurant next time we come to the city."

Zhao Da'e smiled, shook her head, and said, "It's okay, Mom."

After saying that, Zhao Da'e took out ten yuan from his pocket. "This is the money I earned from selling eggs. It's more than enough for me to have a good meal at a restaurant."

Cheng Jinxiang wasn't surprised to see Zhao Da'e take out money, since she knew Zhao Da'e was making money.

Cheng Jinxiang sighed and said, "Big Goose, although you have some money, you shouldn't spend it like this. We should save every penny we can. Buying steamed buns and dumplings might only cost less than a dollar, but buying rice would cost more. Compared to buying dumplings, we can save at least five or six dollars. With that money, we can buy four or five pounds of eggs, or we can take this ten dollars to the city to buy some vegetables and meat and cook them ourselves in the countryside. The taste is the same, and we can save even more money."

No matter how she thought about it, Cheng Jinxiang still felt that going to a restaurant was not worthwhile, so she pulled Zhao Da'e away.

But Zhao Da'e didn't leave. He spoke to Cheng Jinxiang in a gentle tone, "Mom, although eating at a restaurant is more expensive, the food is delicious. We earn money to improve our quality of life. Otherwise, what's the point of working so hard to earn money? Besides, this is my money. Mom, you don't need to worry about it. Just consider it my treat to a nice meal."

If you add the dowry money that Zhao Da'e lent to Cheng Jinxi before, her savings could reach nearly 10,000 yuan. Zhao Da'e naturally wouldn't care about this small ten yuan. Besides, she could spend it and earn it back with her own abilities.

Seeing Zhao Da'e say this, Cheng Jinxiang had no choice but to let Zhao Da'e do as he pleased, since it was Zhao Da'e's money and he should be in charge.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, Zhao Da'e ordered two home-style dishes: Three Delicacies and Shredded Pork with Green Peppers.

When the dishes were served, Zhao Da'e had already scooped up some rice and started eating. Smelling the aroma of the dishes, Zhao Da'e couldn't help but swallow.

Unable to resist picking up his chopsticks and taking a bite, Zhao Da'e knew that the money was well spent. It was delicious, so incredibly delicious! The food cooked by chefs in restaurants was always more fragrant than the food he made himself.

Even Cheng Jinxiang was eating with great relish, but poor Zhao Tiesheng was sitting outside the door all alone, hungry, and looking rather haggard.

Even Zhao Chunqin, who was inside the house, had finished her meal and was comfortably rubbing her stomach. Li Qingmin was about to speak when he noticed someone at the door and deliberately lowered his voice, saying, "Chunqin, how long is your second brother going to sit outside? I'm going to take a nap later and then go out. What if I run into him when I go out?"

Zhao Chunqin didn't think much of it. She tidied up the tableware and said, "Let him wait like this. Who told him to come looking for money from me? Go take a nap. When it's time to go out, we'll say we fell asleep and just woke up now."

Li Qingmin thought this reason was unreliable, "What if my second brother doesn't believe me?"

Zhao Chunqin said nonchalantly, "Whether he believes it or not, that's what we're saying. Second Brother is an honest man. Even if he knows we're lying to him, he won't dare to do anything. He's just an honest man who's easy to bully."

Zhao Chunqin always thought Zhao Tiesheng was an honest and easy-to-scam person. If she borrowed money from him and praised him a few times, he would naively lend her the money. When he came to ask her for the money back, she would pretend to be pitiful and say that she had no money and would pay it back later. Zhao Tiesheng would believe her and ask for it back later. As time went on, the money was naturally never paid back.

"Alright, go to sleep now. Didn't you say you had some things to do at the factory this afternoon?"

Zhao Chunqin urged Li Qingmin to go to sleep. Li Qingmin was also a little sleepy. When he got up from the chair, he didn't notice that his foot had tripped on the chair and he almost fell. Fortunately, he braced himself on the table with his hands so that he wouldn't fall. But he still made a loud noise. When Zhao Chunqin saw this, she immediately helped Li Qingmin up and said, "Look at you, how can you be so careless?"

Hearing the noises and faint voices coming from inside, Zhao Tiesheng, who was drowsy, was immediately awakened. Realizing that someone was inside, he immediately knocked on the door and shouted, "Zhao Chunqin, Li Qingmin, I know you're in there, open the door for me!"

"Knock knock knock—" Zhao Tiesheng knocked on the door several times in a row.

"I am your second brother, Zhao Tiesheng. Open the door for me!"

This knock on the door was filled with Zhao Tiesheng's anger. He had been waiting outside for quite some time. As soon as he started knocking, he heard a sound coming from inside. But when no one answered the door, he began to wonder if he was hallucinating or something, which made his wife and daughter laugh at him.

This couldn't be a hallucination, since he clearly heard voices and talking coming from inside. What could that mean? It could only mean that someone was inside and just didn't want to open the door for him!

No, maybe Zhao Chunqin didn't come back, and the person inside is Li Qingmin.

No matter what, he was Zhao Chunqin's second brother, and Zhao Chunqin would never treat him like this.

Thinking of this, Zhao Tiesheng changed his words to, "Li Qingmin, open the door for me right now! If you don't open the door for me, I'll tell Chunqin!"

Zhao Tiesheng kept knocking on the door, each time louder than the last.

The neighbor, an older woman, finally opened the door and yelled at Zhao Tiesheng, "Are you done yet? You keep banging on the door. Can't a person get some rest? If you want to find someone, go outside. Don't bother me here."

Another household on the same floor opened their door, and an old man came out wearing a thick gray cotton coat. The old man said irritably, "Keep your voice down. Everyone should be taking a nap at this time. Are you trying to disturb people's sleep by knocking on the door like this? I don't think you live in this community. If you keep knocking like this, I'll have to tell the community security to kick you out."

When Zhao Tiesheng was told this, his anger seemed to have been doused with cold water, and he instantly lost his momentum, looking like a wilted eggplant. He explained, "I am the older brother of this family. I came to find someone, but there were people inside who wouldn't open the door for me, so I knocked a little loudly."

The middle-aged woman waved her hand impatiently and said, "I don't care who you are, just stop banging on the door so hard. I need to take a nap. You're disturbing me. If I hear any more noise, I'll call security to deal with it."

After giving the warning, the woman angrily slammed the door shut. Heaven knows she had almost fallen asleep when the knock woke her up instantly, leaving her wide awake.

After being disturbed twice in a row, the woman was so angry that she wanted to hang the person up and beat him up, but her good manners prevented her from doing so. Instead, she cursed and insulted the person's ancestors for eighteen generations.

The old man asked with suspicion, "Are you here to see Zhao Chunqin?"

Upon hearing the old man's words, Zhao Tiesheng immediately nodded. "Yes, I am her second brother, Zhao Tiesheng. My younger sister is Zhao Chunqin, and she is a clerk. I came here to find her. Uncle, do you know where my younger sister is?"

Zhao Tiesheng still believes that the person inside the house is Li Qingmin, while Zhao Chunqin is still outside and hasn't returned.

The old man's expression immediately became strange. He glanced at Zhao Tiesheng, then looked him over more carefully. After a while, he frowned and asked, "Are you Zhao's second brother from his hometown?"

Zhao Tiesheng quickly nodded: "Yes."

The old man squinted, pondering for a moment. After a long pause, he opened the door completely and said, "Since he's her second brother, please come in. I've only been retired for a couple of years. I used to take care of Xiao Zhao... Xiao Zhao and his wife..."

That's a long story.

The old man didn't say much, he just kept sighing.