The village chief was already wavering a bit after what Lu Youxi had said; he hadn't expected that Lu Zhenguo's family would actually pay for all four years of Lu Youbang's college tuition.
Honestly, for Lu Zhenguo's family to have reached this point was quite commendable.
Their village wasn't wealthy, and supporting a college student indeed meant draining their entire savings.
Moreover, at the end of her spiel, Lu Youxi hadn't forgotten to praise the village chief for being understanding, which kept a smile on his face the entire time.
"What's the matter?" The village chief's expression grew more gentle and affectionate.
Lu Youxi sighed with a look that said she found it difficult to speak.
She glanced at the village chief several times before lowering her head, keeping his curiosity piqued.
Lu Youxi felt the atmosphere was set and then said, "The reason my cousin is short on money isn't because of high living costs in the city, but because he got a girlfriend. He's afraid she'll look down on him and afraid she'll be unhappy, so he blew through the tuition money our family provided in advance. For the sake of keeping up appearances before his girlfriend and classmates, acting like a rich man when he's not, he spent all his money and refuses to earn some by taking a part-time job. A part-time job would get in the way of his social life and dates with his girlfriend. The money our family gave was sufficient, but it couldn't withstand his splurging! Uncle, you know the situation of our family, supporting a college student isn't easy. We already gave it our all. We can provide him with tuition and living expenses, but we can't allow him to just squander our family's money! It's not easy for our household."
Lu Youxi lowered her head and sighed again, "That's why I disagree with giving him more money."
The village chief's face turned serious as he frowned and said, "How did you come to know about this?"
Lu Youxi knew about it from her past life, but in this life, up until now, she didn't know.
So, she said to the village chief, "It was when my family went to the city to visit my cousin, I accidentally discovered it. But I didn't tell my family to avoid causing another upset. You know the temperament of my second uncle and aunt; they love to make trouble out of nothing, and my parents are honest folks. Moreover, my grandparents are biased toward my second uncle and aunt, and having a college student like my cousin in the family, if I spoke out about his behavior, it would only cause turmoil at home without affecting the outcome, so I chose not to say anything."
"But it's different with you, Uncle. Being the village chief, you're knowledgeable and fair, and you don't unconditionally side with one party. I can't let you misunderstand our family, which is why I've told you the truth."
Lu Youxue's expression flickered.
It was true that their family had gone to the city to see Lu Youbang.
One reason was to see Lu Youbang's college life, and the other was to take the opportunity to see the big city.
But if he remembered correctly, Lu Youxi hadn't gone with them.
Going to the city costs money, and while his parents were willing to take Lu Youxi, the grandparents would definitely not agree.
The village chief hadn't expected such issues and, even as the village chief, he couldn't be expected to know every detail of a family's private matters.
Seeing Lu Youxi's helpless expression, he heard her say, "If it weren't absolutely necessary, I wouldn't want to deceive my family like this."
The village chief sighed, "You've got it tough, too."
A good girl, quick to work, respectful, and good at studying.
She might just become the second college student to emerge from their village.
The Lu Family's elders just couldn't understand why they were so heavily biased against girls.
Fingers are of different lengths; adults unavoidably have favorites among their children, neglecting some, but even that didn't compare to the extreme bias of the Lu Family's elders.
"Fine, I'll stay out of this matter; just go ahead as you suggest," the village chief sighed.
Lu Youxi breathed a sigh of relief and took the opportunity to ask the village chief, "When my family comes later, could you say that you covered the medical expenses first?"
The village chief: "..."
Lu Youxi bowed her head slightly and said with embarrassment, "That way, I'll have a reason to get the money from my dad first without it being taken by my second uncle."
As for whether to pay back the money after getting it, Lu Youxi didn't say.
The village chief was at a loss for words; thinking to himself Lu Youxi really knew how to seize an opportunity, now that he didn't oppose her actions, she was even asking him to join in deceiving older family members.
"I want to save some money for Youxue," Lu Youxi explained with a pitiful yet sincere look, "Because of the costs of my cousin's education, our family hasn't been able to save a penny for Youxue's schooling. Everything else aside, when it comes to Youxue's education, it can't be compromised. In order to save money and provide for my cousin, Youxue has to rush back home to eat and then return to the town every midday up to now. Without any time to rest at noon, he has to hurry back to school after gobbling down a few bites of food. At the current stage, I'm not asking for much, just that Youxue can at least have a warm meal at school and not have to race home in the cold and heat at noon."
"Just take today as an example, had it not been for me being there, Youxue would have been the one hit," Lu Youxi said as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Ah!" The village chief sighed, "Youbang is too much."
Squandering the entire family's savings in the city.
"Alright, I agree to it," the village chief finally conceded.
Only then did Lu Youxi fully relax.
The reason she had continued to speak so openly to Lu Youxue, even knowing the village chief was listening outside, was to get the village chief's help.
With the village chief's assistance, the matter would be much simpler and smoother.
"Your family should be arriving soon; I'll go to the entrance to meet them," the village chief said and left the hospital ward.
No sooner had the village chief left than Lu Youxue went to the door, made sure the village chief had indeed gone, then closed it and came back to the bedside to ask Lu Youxi, "Sis, you've never been to the Imperial Capital, how do you know..."
"I said those things just to make the village chief believe me," Lu Youxi didn't hide the truth, "I definitely haven't been to the Imperial Capital to see for myself, but I didn't wrongly accuse Lu Youbang. What I said is true, do you believe me?"
"I believe you!" Lu Youxue said emphatically without hesitation, he believed whatever Lu Youxi said.
Seeing how her brother blindly trusted her to such an extent, Lu Youxi could not help but reflect on the past life; she seemed never to have seen Lu Youxue trust her like this.
What had she missed in her previous life?
After a while, Lu Zhenguo's couple, along with Lu Zhenjia's couple, arrived, accompanied by Old Madam Lu.
It was unclear whether the village chief had already returned or felt it was inappropriate to come in at this time.
Lu Youxi didn't see the village chief.
"Youxi!" no sooner had Liu Yushu called out her name when she was suddenly pushed aside from behind.
Then a figure rushed forward quickly, followed by Old Madam Lu's loud and raspy voice, "Youxue, how are you? Where are you hurt?"
"Grandma, I'm fine, my sister saved me," Lu Youxue struggled to free himself from Old Madam Lu, "Sister hurt her leg trying to save me."