Volume One, Chapter 15: Lending Neighbors Money

Wang Hui rushed forward and grabbed the doctor’s hand, her eyes filled with anxiety and hope. “Doctor, how is my daughter? Is she alright?”

“Don’t worry, Sweetie is fine. She just lost quite a bit of blood from her head. She’ll wake up soon,” the doctor said with a reassuring smile.

“Is there any chance she has a concussion or anything like that?” Wang Hui asked, concerned.

The doctor shook his head. “The impact wasn’t on a critical area, so no concussion. However, I recommend keeping her under observation in the hospital for two or three days.”

Hearing this, Wang Hui finally relaxed and thanked the doctor profusely.

Meanwhile, Su Wanyue hurried off to the payment window to pay for two days of hospitalization.

When Sweetie finally woke up, Wang Hui was able to properly thank Su Wanyue.

“Sister Wanyue, I’m so grateful you were here today. Otherwise, I really wouldn’t have known what to do,” Wang Hui said, wiping her nose, her eyes brimming with heartfelt gratitude.

Su Wanyue waved her hand modestly. “It’s nothing.”

Wang Hui nodded gratefully and reached out to touch her precious daughter.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps sounded outside the ward.

“Sweetie! How is my Sweetie?” Huang Qinglei had heard about the incident from his colleagues and rushed over as soon as he finished his work.

“Qinglei, luckily Sister Wanyue helped out. She carried Sweetie here, paid the fees, ran errands—thanks to her, Sweetie is fine,” Wang Hui said, finally smiling in relief upon seeing her husband.

Su Wanyue helped? Huang Qinglei glanced at Su Wanyue with a complicated expression.

Though the village women generally got along well, when it came to money, no one was quick to open their wallets.

These days, everyone was dirt poor, barely able to support themselves, let alone lend money to others.

Moreover, many close to them hadn’t stepped forward, yet this woman with a less-than-stellar reputation, Su Wanyue, had.

Perhaps she wasn’t as the village gossip claimed, nor as Lu Zetao had assumed.

“Thank you so much, Su Wanyue. Once I get paid at the end of the month, I’ll repay you immediately,” Huang Qinglei said gratefully.

“Brother Huang, don’t mention the money. It wasn’t much. You and Xiao Hui should take good care of Sweetie first,” Su Wanyue smiled.

Hearing this, Huang Qinglei’s opinion of her improved somewhat.

The doctor was busy, and after a short while, Huang Qinglei left to attend to his own matters.

No sooner had he gone than Chen Ruyun hurried into the ward, her face full of worry.

“How is Sweetie?” Chen Ruyun asked anxiously.

“She’s fine now,” Wang Hui replied.

Children playing together inevitably had their bumps and bruises; it wasn’t something the adults could always control.

Besides, Sweetie was doing well now, so Wang Hui held no grudge against Chen Ruyun.

“That’s a relief,” Chen Ruyun sighed, then slapped Dazhuang on the back of his head. “You naughty boy! Always causing trouble! Wait till we get home, I’ll teach you a lesson!”

Dazhuang burst into tears.

Wang Hui tried to calm Chen Ruyun down.

After a while, Chen Ruyun noticed Su Wanyue was present, and Wang Hui explained the situation.

Like Huang Qinglei, Chen Ruyun’s expression turned a bit strange upon hearing this.

Su Wanyue understood but didn’t feel awkward.

“You... you paid the money?” Chen Ruyun asked tentatively.

Su Wanyue nodded.

“Thank you so much. How much did you spend? I’ll pay you back now,” Chen Ruyun said sincerely.

Though Chen Ruyun had her flaws, she was a reasonable person.

One thing was clear: had Su Wanyue not promptly brought Sweetie to the hospital and paid the fees, Dazhuang would have caused a serious problem.

“Sister-in-law Li, it really wasn’t much. You don’t need to pay me,” Su Wanyue shook her head.

Wang Hui was surprised to hear this.

By rights, Chen Ruyun should have paid, especially since she often bullied Su Wanyue’s simple-minded younger brother and spoke ill of her behind her back. So why was Su Wanyue refusing payment?

Seeing this, Chen Ruyun took Su Wanyue aside outside the ward.

“Little sister, I insist on repaying you. Just tell me honestly—how much did it cost?” Chen Ruyun asked sincerely.

Seeing her insistence, Su Wanyue couldn’t refuse any longer. “It was thirty yuan in total.”

She only had a few yuan left in her pocket now, but luckily she had bought enough materials earlier and could sell for a few more days.

Once she earned some money, she could manage the cash flow—it wasn’t a big problem.

Chen Ruyun rummaged through her purse for a long time, then pulled out a handful of coins and small bills. Counting carefully, she had only five yuan seventy cents.

“Little sister, this is all I have now. You take it first. When I get home, I’ll ask Yunfei to chip in, and then I’ll pay you back.”

“Sister-in-law, this money—”

“Don’t refuse.” Chen Ruyun pressed the money into Su Wanyue’s hand. “I have to take Dazhuang and grandpa home now.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll repay you as soon as I can.”

With that, Chen Ruyun returned to the ward and shortly after left with her son and father-in-law, greeting Su Wanyue before going.

Su Wanyue wasn’t a saint; money didn’t fall from the sky. If giving Chen Ruyun this small amount made her feel better, then she could repay it slowly.

Life had taken a drastic turn overnight.

Making money had to be a top priority. With time still on her side, she could make some glutinous rice balls to sell at the middle school.

The middle school let out later, and some students stayed for evening study sessions.

After telling Wang Hui, Su Wanyue left the hospital.

The county hospital wasn’t far from home. She had taken a tractor earlier to save time, but now she was reluctant to spend money on transportation and decided to walk back.

The old Su Wanyue had been delicate and pampered, refusing to do any chores, avoiding walking whenever possible, even carrying an umbrella when going out.

But now, she had no such luxuries.

Making money was the way forward!

A little sunburn didn’t matter—besides, she was still beautiful.

Thinking back to her previous life, though she had been powerful and extravagant, her looks were average, and by her thirties, she hadn’t found a partner. The wealthy and influential thought she was too old and plain, while the penniless pretty boys didn’t interest her.

Now, she was a stunning beauty!

Being beautiful came with many advantages…

Business at dusk was naturally not as good as during the day. Middle school students were more rational than elementary school kids; selling glutinous rice balls was a bit tough.

Luckily, her younger brother Su Zhiqiang saw her setting up the stall, brought some acquaintances over to try the treats, and Su Wanyue gave them each one for free to help spread the word.

That’s how she managed to sell all the pastries.

Counting the earnings, she made over ten yuan in that short time.

Su Wanyue took her brother to eat a bowl of fresh meat noodles nearby, then gave him a few yuan to make sure he ate well at school.

On the way home, Su Wanyue kept pondering her glutinous rice ball business.

On one hand, selling pastries wasn’t a long-term solution—kids would grow tired of them and couldn’t eat them every day.

On the other hand, the profit was slow. Although costs were low and prices modest, making two or three hundred yuan a day only earned her about thirty or forty yuan after expenses. She needed to keep investing to support the household, pay for her brother’s education, and still owed her birth mother two hundred yuan to repay Lu Zetao.

Lost in thought, she suddenly bumped into Lu Zetao walking home from work.

He was dressed casually, strolling slowly along the road.

His foot injury wasn’t fully healed yet.

Su Wanyue, being tactful, didn’t approach him first, sensing his discomfort.

But Lu Zetao noticed her and came over, seemingly wanting to say something.

Impatient by nature, Su Wanyue spoke first. “What’s the matter?”