Chapter 82: Chapter 83: The Flood is Coming
Translator: 549690339
Tang Zhijun arrived just in time to see Tang Zhinian holding Tang Yuxin, with a grim expression on his face.
“Bro, what’s wrong?” He took Tang Yuxin from Tang Zhinian’s arms, and touched her little face, wondering why they had woken her when she was perfectly fine. Tang Yuxin, with her big eyes the color of black grapes,’ looked as innocent and confused as ever.
Did they imagine we brought home something? They snatched the blankets, nearly freezing poor Xinxin.
As Tang Zhinian spoke, his voice filled with a hint of annoyance.
It’s a good thing we didn’t buy a TV, or who knows what they’d be saying about us?
Does it mean our family is destitute and that we can’t have any money? Do we have to live a meager life, barely getting by?
Tang Zhinian then carefully laid Tang Yuxin in the tricycle, “Bro, let’s go, let’s go home, it’s getting cold.”
Tang Zhinian cycled the tricycle while Tang Zhijun helped by pushing it from behind. Although they had made some money, they couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
There’s nothing wrong with earning money with our own hands, is there?
In the evening, Tang Zhijun brought out a check. “Bro, keep this here for now. We can talk about building a house next year or the year after. Don’t touch it until then,” he said.
Tang Zhinian, holding the check, didn’t know where to safest put it.
Eventually he rose, placing the check in the back of an old cabinet in the kitchen. A check is necessary to withdraw money from the bank. If the check is lost, so is the money.
Yuxin played with her hair as she sat to one side, her eyes rolling in thought.
Lowering her head, she touched her little feet and sighed in relief. She had been considering why they shouldn’t buy a TV or build a house. Building or buying would be in vain, as any flood could take everything away. It would be better to keep the money and rebuild their home when necessary.
She now knew where her father had hidden the money.
“Right there, Uncle. Keep going,” Tang Yuxin placed her little hands on her hips, strained her neck and tiptoed to see Tang Zhijun sitting up in the fork of a tree. At only twenty, Zhijun was like a big kid to her. She had practically grown up on his back. When they played together, he was like an older brother, both of them carefree. Currently, her most precious belongings had been carelessly wrapped in old plastic sheets by Zhijun and hung up in the tree. Inside the wrapped sheets were the family’s winter clothes.
It was still just the beginning of fall, and the winter clothes were safely locked away inside the cupboard. No one was thinking of airing them out just yet. That wouldn’t happen for at least another month. Even though their clothes were not valuable, they would be left with nothing to wear if they were all lost.
Yuxin still remembered the flood that year. Even if she hadn’t experienced it firsthand, there were still photos. The village had been nearly obliterated. Houses collapsed, lands were submerged, and all their belongings were swept away by the flood. Only a few large trees in the village had survived.