Earlier in the cafeteria, Xinyan mentioned that she had asked Lyu Juncheng for compensation.
Xinyan brought up Lyu Juncheng’s compensation naturally to remind her mother, as she knew her mother well enough—just hinting would be enough, as her understanding was very strong.
The two sides were in a stalemate. Lyu Juncheng was so angry he wanted to hit someone, but he couldn’t. He restrained himself and said, "Aunt Yu, a hundred bucks isn’t a small amount. I just got married, and some of the money for the bridal gifts and the banquet was borrowed from colleagues. I really don’t have that much money on hand."
Mr. Lyu looked at Yu who was standing silently behind Yu’s mother, "Yu, Jun Cheng really doesn’t have the money right now. How about this—consider this as my debt to you. I’ll give it to you when we’re back in the village. What do you think?"
Mr. Lyu knew that his third son genuinely couldn’t come up with the money right now; otherwise, he would’ve likely paid them off by now. Continuing to cause a scene like this wasn’t a solution either.
Yu had also learned quite a bit from Xinyan. After all, they lived in the same village, and it wouldn’t be good to become enemies: "How much can you give now?"
Mr. Lyu turned to look at his third son, Lyu Juncheng.
Involuntarily, Lyu Juncheng reached into his pocket. A colleague who had borrowed money from him a while ago hadn’t been able to repay it. Knowing that Lyu Juncheng had borrowed money for the marriage, the colleague finally managed to scrape together and repay him out of embarrassment.
He originally intended to return the borrowed money yesterday, but he was upset about the announcement of the acting director in the workshop and ended up drinking too much.
Yu’s mother was very shrewd. Seeing his actions, she knew that Lyu Juncheng had money in his pocket: "Will you give it or not? Give us an answer, or we’ll go to the factory leader to seek justice."
Lyu Juncheng hated being threatened, but he had no choice now. He had to pull out the money from his pocket. Initially, it was thirty bucks, but he spent some on liquor and snacks yesterday, leaving him with twenty-eight dollars and sixty cents.
Yu’s mother’s eyes sparkled as she stared at the money in Lyu Juncheng’s hand, wishing she could snatch it into her own hands.
Yu looked at Mr. Lyu: "Today, I’ll give you face, but you’ll have to write me an IOU for the remaining amount. Once we’re back in the village, I’ll come to collect it from you."
Mr. Lyu was unhappy, but for the sake of his son’s future, he had to endure it: "Alright, let’s do as you say."
Once they had the money and the IOU, the Yu couple knew when to stop and to avoid any further delay. They inquired about the bus schedule for their way back and quickly left the Mechanical Factory.
After all, they were unfamiliar with the place, and now they had severed ties with the Lyu Family. Xinyan certainly wouldn’t help them anymore, and staying would cost money, which wasn’t worthwhile.
They were quite lucky; shortly after reaching the bus stop, a bus arrived.
After boarding, Yu’s mother patted her chest: "Thankfully, I came along, otherwise, we wouldn’t have gotten this good deal."
But after saying that, she frowned: "I do feel that Xinyan, that dead girl, is really different from before. It seems we have to think of another way; we can’t let her slip out from under our control."
Yu nudged her with his elbow: "Watch what you say."
Yu’s mother looked around: "What’s there to be afraid of? Who could know who we are......"
Yu actually felt a bit conflicted in his heart. Back then, when they adopted Xinyan, they promised to let the child go to school and take good care of her. But since there was no news from that person later, he let his wife have her way.
Thinking back to those years, perhaps that person had encountered trouble. But now the situation had changed, and many people previously sent down to the village for reform had left, making him feel somewhat uneasy.