Zhou Siyu returned to her room and immediately spotted Shen Mianmian sitting by the bed, reading. Just yesterday, Mianmian was hit as if she were on the verge of death, and now she not only had the energy to read but also had a new military coat on.
It was like a cotton blanket, capable of wrapping someone from head to toe, and it looked so warm it made her feel cozy just by looking at it.
"Did Dad buy it for you?"
It wasn't there at noon, but by the evening when Shen Jianhua came back, Shen Mianmian was donning a military coat, and Zhou Siyu was convinced that Shen Jianhua had bought it.
Shen Mianmian couldn't even be bothered to give her a glance and continued with her book.
Zhou Siyu searched around the room but couldn't find a second one. Clearly, only one was purchased—Shen Jianhua treated his own wild seed differently.
She no longer had the interest to read; she tossed her schoolbag onto the bed and walked out. Mianmian knew Siyu was up to some mischief again.
Seeing Zhou Siyu coming into the kitchen again, Zhou Lanfang was somewhat surprised, "Didn't I ask you to study and do your homework? Why did you come back?"
"I don't have much homework today, it won't matter if I do it after dinner." Zhou Siyu squatted in front of the stove, "Uncle has been tired all day, let me start the fire! You take a seat and rest for a while."
Moved by her filial piety and sensibility, Shen Jianhua sat on a stool and chatted casually with Zhou Lanfang.
"The New Year is approaching, check what we need to buy and get it in advance, things get expensive closer to the holiday."
Just today, the boss settled over three months' wages in one go, a total of more than a hundred yuan. Having a good New Year was no issue. Work at the kiln was exhausting but it paid much more than other places.
Now, the kiln had a new owner who hired only his own relatives, leaving Jianhua laid off. With the year-end approaching, there was no way he could find another job. He could only wait until after the New Year to see what he could find.
Zhou Lanfang had been holding back her frustration, and upon hearing about spending money, she said irritably, "Buy what? You're out of work now, and next year we still have to pay the kids' tuition. Our family depends on this little money to get by, if we waste it all, are we all going to starve to death?"
Shen Jianhua: "..."
He too was troubled by this.
After a sigh, he said, "I heard that next year the Li Family village is repairing the dam and they need people, I'll go ask then."
Hearing this, Zhou Lanfang's tone softened a bit, "My second brother mentioned he is thinking about rebuilding his house at the end of next year. He didn't directly say he wanted to borrow money from us, but the implication was clear."
Zhou Lanfang had two brothers and a sister. Zhou Siyu was her older brother's daughter. Her second brother married late, to a woman who had been previously married, and their child was just over a year old.
Her second brother's family lived in a simple adobe house that leaked rain, and after saving up for a few years, they thought about borrowing some money to rebuild it.
When the brother from her maternal family asked for help, how could her family not provide some support? If they refused to lend, her second brother and sister-in-law would surely harbor resentment towards her.
Without children from her own for the Shen Family and with Shen Family's parents still alive, she would have suffered without her brothers' support.
"They haven't started rebuilding yet, let's talk about it next year."
Shen Jianhua preferred not to discuss such matters in front of Siyu, in case something she said got passed on and made relatives unwilling to keep in touch.
"Achoo."
Zhou Siyu sneezed loudly.
"Did you catch a cold?" Shen Jianhua asked with concern.
"Might have been the wind," Zhou Siyu casually responded, "A window in the classroom is broken, and I just so happen to sit right by it."
"It's been quite cold lately, wear something thicker to school."
Shen Jianhua reminded her, carefully avoiding mentioning the military coat.