"Uncle, you know my situation. I hate to keep troubling you and my other uncle, it's not right. Please, see if you can lend me some more grain. Next year, I will definitely work hard and try to repay the grain as soon as possible," Shen Yunfang said with a hint of embarrassment.
For many years she hadn't resorted to begging like this, but now the situation demanded it. If she didn't want to be cursed at every day, or to just drink watery porridge, she had to swallow her pride and ask for help.
However, she was absolutely certain that this would be the last year she would have to borrow grain to get by. She told herself that next year, she had to work hard to quickly repay what she owed.
Living in debt of grain was not an easy life.
Uncle Shen listened to his niece's words, took a puff of his cigarette, and said nothing.
Frankly, he was surprised to hear such determination from his niece. Although he wasn't sure if she was just talking big or could actually follow through, having the will to do it was already good.
But...
"Yunfang, you are aware that although I'm the production team leader, I only get so much grain for a year like everyone else," Uncle Shen started but didn't finish.
Shen Yunfang, however, understood what he meant. "Uncle, if it's too much trouble, then forget it. I'll think of something else," she said.
"It's definitely troublesome, but as your uncle, I can't just watch you starve. The only thing is, if I lend you grain, others might be deceitful… Nowadays, nobody is well-off," Uncle Shen was indeed troubled.
Shen Yunfang also fell silent, thinking about the foolish things the original owner of her body had done, she too felt somewhat powerless.
Just a month ago, she had given away the grain she had just received, and now to claim she had no grain was indeed hard to justify.
"Uncle, I regret it, but there's no medicine for regret. Even if I go to the Li Family or my maternal uncle's house, I probably won't be able to bring back even a pound of grain," Shen Yunfang had been pondering this since the morning, but no matter how she thought about it, the grain was difficult to ask for.
Uncle Shen looked at Shen Yunfang, not expecting the child to have some sense. He had refused to lend her grain also because he feared that with grain in hand, she might get swindled by someone else's sweet talk and give it away again. Now it seemed that might not happen.
"That would be like casting meat buns to dogs, no use at all. Okay, I'll talk to your aunt later. Have her prepare a hundred pounds of corn for you tomorrow," Uncle Shen glanced to see that his wife wasn't in the room and agreed to the request. He still had to figure out how to explain this to her.
Shen Yunfang nodded happily in response, "Alright, I'll listen to you, Uncle."
This trip to her uncle's house wasn't in vain; not only did she learn about the current situation, but she also secured the much-needed documents. To her surprise, she was even able to borrow the grain she needed, which was a tremendous relief.
One could say that Shen Yunfang returned home in high spirits, but after she left, the house empty, Shen Damei sat on the kang with her legs crossed, wiping away tears with the old man.
"Ay, what are you doing, just speak if you've got something to say." Shen Yeqing understood his wife well enough, she felt aggrieved and was looking for a place to vent.
"What more is there to say? You've thoroughly embarrassed me." Shen Damei's heart ached whenever she thought about the notes she had to take out today. She had planned to go to the county with her daughter in a couple of days to buy some floral fabric for a new dress. She wanted to dress her daughter up prettily, so that the city folks would think highly of their family and to show them that, although from the countryside, they were in no way inferior to city dwellers.
"Oh my, how the old saying goes, 'women have long hair but short sight.'" Shen Daye started rolling a cigarette again, "You think those little schemes of yours are lost on me? You believe Yunfang, being young and naive, won't notice you skimming off her earnings. But have you not thought about the girl growing up? If she finds out later on, wouldn't she hold a grudge against our family?"
Shen Damei felt indifferent. So what if the girl found out later? By then, the money would have been spent, and whatever needed to be bought would have been purchased. At worst, she would apologize. That little girl couldn't possibly come demanding every single day.
"I'm not afraid of her holding a grudge. Besides, she has eaten how many meals at our house? What she's earned doesn't even cover the cost of the food she's consumed."
"Look at that, you see things too simply. Hmph, you might not be afraid of her holding a grudge, but have you thought about whether her future husband will? Don't forget, she's betrothed to the second son of the Li Family from Taoshu Village, and the lad is serving in the army. Who knows what sort of prospects he might have in the future? It won't do if you only think of spending money when you need to; you have to think about the long term." Shen Daye had heard the second son from the Li Family was doing well in the military. Back home, he was unruly and the family couldn't control him, so he ended up in the army. Turns out, the army disciplined him well, and now, he had become some kind of officer.
Just think, not even in his early twenties and already an officer, he was surely set for a good future.
"What dues do I have to pay? I don't have a son serving in the military." Shen Damei dismissively pursed her lips.
"Nonsense, your son may not be a soldier, but what about your grandchildren in the future? Can you just think about the short-term like this? Promoting someone now is easy, but in the future, it might open doors for the kids in our family. You weigh out what's more important."
"You're the one overthinking it. Anyway, Yunfang is your niece. If our family really runs into trouble in the future, she won't just stand by and watch." They were all relatives after all; she didn't believe Yunfang wouldn't lend a hand.
"If the third brother were still around, there'd be nothing to worry about, but he's gone now, isn't he?" Shen Yeqing took another draw from his pipe, seemingly reminiscing about his late brother through the smoke, "We are not that close to that girl Yunfang. Once she's married far away, it won't be so easy to ask for her help.
"Ah, don't talk about that. Didn't your sister-in-law also introduce a soldier to our Xiuxiu? If that works out, why would we rely on her? My own son-in-law will be way closer than him." Shen Damei started feeling better as she thought about the prospect of having a soldier as her son-in-law.
"Hmph, let's see if your daughter agrees first," Shen Daye snorted through his nose.
"Go on, as if she's not your daughter too." Shen Damei hit the old man discontentedly. "Hey, what do you think about that young man your sister-in-law introduced? I think he's quite alright, but as soon as I bring it up to your daughter, she criticizes this and that. It made me quite angry at the time, but later, when I thought it over, I realized that what she said isn't unreasonable."
Shen Daye picked up his tobacco pipe again, always finding women to have too much idle time on their hands.
"Your daughter says, living with the army still means dwelling in the backwoods; it's the same as here. What's the point of that..."