"Brother Jian, it’s me."
"Nuannuan..." Jian Zhiqing on the other side suddenly smiled, and Qin Xiangnuan thought, even if his face always carried a slight coolness, that smile right now must be as warm as melting early snow, a pity she couldn’t see it.
"Brother Jian," she licked her lips, organizing her thoughts.
"Um..." His voice was bright, even with a bit of a deep male tone, making it sound a bit charming.
"Brother Jian, I have ten thousand yuan on hand now, what’s your card number? I’ll transfer it to you."
Talking about feelings hurts money, but talking about money also hurts feelings.
Qin Xiangnuan owed Jian Zhiqing money, which she always kept in mind. This had been one of her most frequent concerns over the past year. Not paying it back, her heart couldn’t settle, always fearing that he might think that money had been written off, that the debt was unpayable.
Only by repaying this money could her heart be at ease and find peace.
Jian Zhiqing was silent for a moment on the other end, and it seemed as if only their breathing could be heard in the call, yours, mine, mine, yours.
"Okay..." Finally, after a while, he spoke up and gave her a string of numbers, which Qin Xiangnuan carefully wrote down on paper. After repeatedly checking for accuracy, only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.
"Well, Brother Jian, I won’t bother you anymore," she said, not knowing what else to say, perhaps because she had grown up or become more mature.
She hung up the call, and the sound of the disconnected dial tone beeped from the handset until, after a while, her mind was still blank. She hung up the handset properly and planned to transfer the money to Jian Zhiqing’s account later. When next year arrived, the debt she had accumulated would also be paid off.
Every morning, she was accustomed to waking up early, but Granny Lu wouldn’t let the two students get up so early. After hearing Qin Xiangnuan’s words, she found an elderly person from the village to help, paying them five yuan a month. The elderly person was quite pitiable, with just a few acres of land, living meal to meal and also taking care of a mentally challenged son. Granny Lu had also experienced hardship, so seeing this elder struggling, her heart ached. Now that there was income at home and no shortage of money, and since there was a need to hire someone, she let this elder help out. The elder shared the same surname as Aunt Hua, both from the same village.
Granny Hua was over sixty but in good health, with a kind nature, cleanliness, and skilled in farm work. Fifty yuan a month was enough for her and her foolish son’s expenses for several months, and Granny Lu also provided breakfast. The leftovers, like lotus leaf pancakes, vegetables, and porridge, were all given to Granny Hua. Granny Hua would take these home and eat them with some coarse grains, so she didn’t have to cook for the day.
Granny Lu was a kind person, and Granny Hua was honest. The two elders got along well. Granny Hua was willing to endure hardship and would eagerly do washing and scrubbing work, leaving Qin Xiangnuan and Qin Xiangyang with nothing to do. Now, they focused solely on being students and didn’t have to get up early.
However, because of this, Qin Xiangnuan learned to sleep in. In her previous life, she never slept in—not even once. She discovered that sometimes, a little extra sleep could be such a comfortable and luxurious thing, especially during winter, when staying in a warm blanket, reading a novel, or reflecting awhile made her mood for the day exceptionally good.