Chapter 29: The Matter of Qing Shan

  At night, Lin Er Niu came back and also asked him about the opening of the store. Lin He briefly explained the situation to him and told him that for a period of time, they wouldn't be making any money, and the silver at home would have to support the store until it became profitable.

  Huang thought Lin He was too reckless, it's better to sell the cloth puppet to Old Man Lin every month and make money, at least they can get some silver back every month, that money is enough for household use, now it's unknown whether the store can make money.

  What if we lose money? All that money will be lost, and my own daughter said that even if we lose, she has to bear a share of it. What if we don't have the money to compensate others in the end? It's really worrying.

  The two cows felt that Lin He was right, since they were doing business together, it was only natural to share the fortune and misfortune. They couldn't just let him take all the good things for himself. Besides, opening a store was always a risk, and Mr. Wen had invested so much money without complaint, so why worry about their relatively small investment?

  "Come on, child, why worry so much? This money was also earned by Hollie. Now our family is better off than before. It's nothing to go back to the way we used to live. We've been through tough times before and we've all made it through. The kids are thinking of ways to make life better for us, we should support them. If they succeed, the kids won't have to live a life with their faces in the dirt and their backs to the sky. Xiaobao can still go to school, and Dabao's future will be bright. Even if Hollie and Chen'er get married in the future, they'll be able to find better husbands. And if we fail, well, we can just go back to how things were before."

  Lin He felt that this father was becoming more and more impressive, when she first came, seeing her family so poor, this father didn't say much, Lin He thought in her heart that this father was someone without any skills, to put it bluntly, a bit embarrassing. However, the few times this father spoke up, he always gave Lin He unexpected surprises.

  Actually, this father still has ideas, it's just that the previous days were really too poor, so poor that people couldn't think of anything else. Once life got a little better, people's original thoughts and temperament all came out.

  Huang's family listened and fell silent, it was indeed so. However, Huang's family was after all an ordinary woman, she had never thought that she would become rich and noble, being able to live a life without lacking food and clothing was already good enough, the bitter days of the past were not something she wanted to experience again, but since her husband and children all agreed, she naturally agreed too, a family should be united.

  Days passed by like this, Lin He followed Da Bao and others to listen to the teacher's lecture in the afternoon, usually following Huang Shi at home doing some embroidery work, Lin He thought that if the store was renovated on that side, next time it opened, she would let Da Bao go alone.

  She's a girl and doesn't like to show off too much, besides, Da Bao also needs to be trained step by step, it can't always be that Da Bao follows her around.

  This afternoon, Lin He was embroidering with Huang in the courtyard. Chen Er brought Xiao Bao and Xiao Jun to play in the courtyard as well. Suddenly, they heard a commotion outside, and it seemed that Old Lady He's shrill voice was mixed in. Huang quickly stood up, intending to go out and take a look. Before she reached the gate, she saw Old Lady walking towards them, crying and wailing.

  Da Bo Lin Da Jiang also walked behind with his head hung low, and there were still many villagers following behind. Lin He furrowed her brow, she didn't have a good impression of this woman, and it was rare for her to come back to the village, had something happened?

  Lin He's heart skipped a beat, seeing the look on Mrs. Huang's face, fearing it wasn't good news. As soon as Madame He saw Madame Huang, she burst into loud sobs and said "Second Brother's wife, you must save our family's Qing Shan! I only have this one son, if anything happens to him, I won't want to live either."

  Lin He let Chen Er go out to find his father back, it seems that something big has happened, the old lady is crying like this, and the eldest brother is also silently sitting on a stool beside him, his own mother standing there with a confused face, outside There are still many neighbors who are watching the excitement at the gate of the courtyard, pointing and pointing.

  After a while, Huang's reaction came back, and she supported He, then walked into the house, and asked Lin He to pour her a glass of water, letting her rest for a bit, saying that whatever happened could wait until Er Niu returned.

  It wasn't long before Chen'er found Er Niu and brought him back. Er Niu saw his big brother sitting silently in the courtyard, looking extremely annoyed, and when he came in and saw his sister-in-law like this, he was also startled. He quickly asked her what had happened. He Shi sobbed and told him everything, but it wasn't until Lin Dajiang explained the whole situation that things became clear. After listening for a while, Lin He finally understood what was going on.

  He's the son of the He family, and he's 15 years old this year. Normally, he doesn't like to help out at home either. He hangs out with some rich kids in town, and somehow got into the bad habit of gambling. The money they had saved up at home was all stolen by him and lost completely.

  Yesterday, he followed others out again. This morning, he came back and said that he owed someone 100 taels of silver. He was detained there, and if the money wasn't paid within two days, his life would be taken. As soon as they heard the news, Mrs. He and Lin Dajiang were at home raising funds everywhere, even planning to sell the shop, but only managed to gather 20 taels of silver. The shop was not theirs anyway, it was just rented.

  The goods in the store were all sold cheaply, and these silver coins weren't enough to bring back. The big river had sold several acres of land at home, but only got more than 20 taels, adding up to only more than 40 taels. He Shi returned to her mother's house to borrow, but only managed to scrape together a few taels of silver, still owing exactly 50 taels, and didn't know where to borrow from, so she thought of coming to the Er Niu family.

  Lin Er Niu and Huang Shi heard these words, took a cold breath, did not expect Qing Shan to be so bold, actually lost so much money, what to do now. Lin He looked at He Shi's expression, knew what He Shi was thinking, the remaining money at home was likely to be spent, and the future days would be difficult again.

  The silver at home, except for the expenses given to the master, is probably only about 50 or 60 taels left. There's also next year's money for buying farm tools there. But Qing Shan is her father's nephew after all, and she can't not help him. The eldest uncle's family has only one son.

  Huang's family was also staring at Lin Er Niu, Lin Er Niu's face suddenly became extremely difficult. At home, there were only a few silver coins left. If they gave all of these to the eldest brother's house, their own household would have to suffer again. Moreover, this money was earned by He Er, who wanted his family members to spend a better winter. Now it had become like this, and if he didn't help, he feared that his parents would not be able to get through the winter.

  As expected, Zhao's wife had already entered the house and said, "Second Bull, take out some money to help your sister-in-law. Your family can still afford this little bit of silver."

  Lin Er Niu heard his mother say this, and naturally he was also unhappy in his heart. He furrowed his brow and didn't open his mouth to speak, but only looked at his mother.

  He originally had his mouth shut and wasn't crying, but when he heard that Er Niu didn't say anything, he started wailing again. "Oh my poor Qing Shan, your Second Uncle isn't even willing to help you, watching you die without lending a hand, what are you going to do?"