Since both had met each other’s parents, their relationship should have been essentially settled. They would marry after graduation, so they shouldn’t be so calculating about money. Xia Ziyu would rather spend some money than let Wang Jianhua associate too much with other women. How could Senior Liu be considered proper, actively pursuing Wang Jianhua despite knowing he had a girlfriend? Xia Ziyu couldn’t possibly trust someone like that!
Wang Jianhua was spinning like a top – attending classes on weekdays and tutoring on weekends, looking utterly exhausted. Five yuan per lesson wasn’t easy money – the students he tutored weren’t studying the same subjects, so he had to prepare different lessons. The students had their judgment about the quality of his teaching and would report back to their parents. If Wang Jianhua didn’t put in the effort, even Professor Liu’s reputation wouldn’t help. For this well-paying part-time job, he stayed up late preparing lesson plans. Even during his college entrance exam preparations, he hadn’t studied the material so thoroughly. To explain things clearly to his students, he had to learn everything again.
He knew he had been neglecting Xia Ziyu lately, but it couldn’t be helped – these were special circumstances.
“Ziyu, I’m not being distant with you. Your living expenses don’t come easily either – Uncle and Auntie run a small restaurant but have to support such a large family… Right now I can only rely on myself to save money. A few hundred yuan won’t solve the problem – I want to save for half a year and try to establish truly useful connections.”
At Wang Jianhua’s current crazy rate of earning over 200 yuan per month, half a year would amount to nearly 2,000 yuan. If this money could help the Wang family out of their predicament, what was two thousand? Even twenty thousand – Xia Ziyu would grit her teeth and find a way.
The question was, could the Wang family’s situation be resolved with just two thousand yuan?
Xia Ziyu had this money – she had asked Zhang Cui for 5,000 yuan, given Zhao Gang 500 yuan as a “deposit,” and spent some visiting Wang Jianhua’s parents in the countryside. She still had over 4,000 yuan left. She had hurriedly obtained this money from Zhang Cui, firstly planning to look for money-making opportunities in Beijing, needing it as capital.
Secondly, she had planned to use part of it to support Wang Jianhua’s parents.
Sending things and money to the countryside could only temporarily improve Wang Guangping and Ran Shuyu’s living conditions. Using the money to reconnect with old acquaintances and smooth relationships would have more long-term value. Although Xia Ziyu could easily provide the amount Wang Jianhua wanted to save, she didn’t want to make it too easy for him.
Two weeks after their conversation, Xia Ziyu finally handed Wang Jianhua an envelope:
“Jianhua, I’ve been thinking – your idea of saving money isn’t wrong, but if you wait half a year to save enough, wouldn’t Aunt and Uncle have to endure more hardship at the farm? If I hadn’t seen it myself, that would be one thing, but having witnessed Aunt and Uncle’s life at the farm with my own eyes, how could I bear it?”
The bulging envelope contained two thousand yuan.
Wang Jianhua felt the money burning in his hands and refused to accept it.
Xia Ziyu insisted he takes it, “Consider it a loan. My family wired this money to me. You can pay me back when you’re better off financially. Sacrificing your studies to raise money is putting the cart before the horse. You can continue tutoring students but should reduce the number… Jianhua, I can’t bear to see Aunt and Uncle continue suffering at the farm, nor can I bear to see you so exhausted.”
Xia Ziyu didn’t mention Senior Liu at all, but holding the envelope, Wang Jianhua felt guilty. It wasn’t that his heart had changed, but Senior Liu’s eager help in arranging tutoring work – to say she wanted nothing in return would be playing dumb. He was in his twenties; how could he not tell when a girl liked him?
Wang Jianhua found it difficult to reject Senior Liu’s enthusiasm because she was offering exactly what he needed! It wasn’t charity, nor would there be the embarrassment of being asked to repay the money – tutoring students meant Wang Jianhua was earning money with his knowledge. Of course, he wanted to earn such dignified money, but Xia Ziyu was right – every day delayed meant another day his parents had to endure at the farm… It was now spring 1984, and the nation had long since begun work on reinstating transferred officials, but Wang Guangping’s turn hadn’t come yet. Had he been completely forgotten?
Or was someone deliberately blocking Wang Guangping’s reinstatement?
Wang Jianhua needed to figure all this out. The longer it dragged on, not only would Wang Guangping and Ran Shuyu continue suffering at the farm, but the Wang family feared the nation would completely end the reinstatement program for transferred officials, leaving Wang Guangping and Ran Shuyu stuck at the farm forever! That harsh place tortured not just the body but also crushed the spirit – his parents couldn’t hold out much longer.
Wang Jianhua gritted his teeth:
“Ziyu, I’ll write you an IOU. I won’t let your kindness go unrewarded!”
He needed this money, and so did the Wang family.
Xia Ziyu had chosen the perfect moment to offer the money, earning Wang Jianhua’s gratitude. This move also defeated the threatening rival Senior Liu, who couldn’t directly give Wang Jianhua money – they weren’t dating, she had no standing, and Wang Jianhua wouldn’t accept it.
Wang Jianhua wrote Xia Ziyu an IOU, though she didn’t care about it. If she could casually give Zhao Gang 500 yuan, what was 2,000 yuan to Wang Jianhua?
But since Wang Jianhua had solemnly given it, Xia Ziyu accepted it, tucking the IOU into a rarely used book. Wang Jianhua indeed reduced his weekend tutoring, now teaching only two students, earning 20 yuan over two days. He could still earn 80 yuan a month, and with the school allowance, Wang Jianhua finally didn’t need Xia Ziyu’s regular financial support.
This was still thanks to Senior Liu’s help, and Xia Ziyu, being socially adept, prepared some gifts and personally delivered them to Senior Liu as Wang Jianhua’s girlfriend.
She hadn’t cursed anyone and maintained a very sincere attitude, defeating her love rival through capability. Those who knew about this praised Xia Ziyu for being sensible and generous. Wang Jianhua’s male classmates were incredibly envious – where had he found such an understanding, non-jealous girlfriend? His luck was extraordinary!
After handling the rival crisis, Xia Ziyu had only two thousand yuan left. When she tried to ask Zhang Cui for more money, she learned that her family had already erupted into chaos.
The shop had closed, and now her parents, like Xia Xiaolan’s parents, were fighting for divorce!
Zhang’s Snack Shop was built up by Zhang Cui’s efforts, but Xia Ziyu’s efforts were also there. Without Xia Ziyu, how would Zhang Cui have started selling snacks in the county town? Many people sold snacks in the county town, but why had Zhang Cui stood out?
The snack shop was Xia Ziyu’s first pot of gold, with monthly profits of several hundred to a thousand yuan, a stable cash cow.
It wasn’t that Xia Ziyu didn’t want her parents to run a bigger business, but firstly, the Xia family had no connections or capital, and secondly, Xia Changzheng and Zhang Cui lacked capability. But Xia Ziyu never imagined that even a perfectly good snack shop could close… This absolutely could not happen!