"Dad, who are you talking to in the yard?" Song Yueqin was doing math problems inside the house, and the pile of numbers swam before her eyes, making her head spin.
Every problem she worked on, she got wrong, her error rate was almost hitting a hundred percent.
She was already feeling frustrated when she heard someone talking in the yard, it sounded like An Hao’s voice. So, she raised her voice and asked.
"Yueqin, An Hao is here," Song Jincai called her out after hearing Song Yueqin talking inside the house.
When Song Yueqin heard it was An Hao, her mood soured even further.
She slammed her book onto the table, got up, pushed aside the coarse cloth door curtain, and walked out, only to see An Hao squatting on the ground, writing something on the steps.
"Oh, did Captain Qin send you home? Coming here to show off now that you’re feeling proud, huh?" she started with sarcasm as soon as she opened her mouth, completely shedding the pretense of friendliness she usually wore.
"What are you talking about, child?" Song Jincai was baffled by his daughter’s words, "An Hao is here to borrow money, his dad broke his leg and is having surgery in the city right now."
"Borrow money?" Song Yueqin disliked the sound of that, "Dad, did you ask for Mom’s permission to lend money? Just lending money willy-nilly, and it’s not like my college entrance exam isn’t right around the corner. I need to be getting proper nutrition now, isn’t Mom squeezing every cent to buy me nutritional supplements?"
"Don’t talk nonsense. When did your mom ever agree to that? How would I not know?" Song Jincai gave Song Yueqin a stern look and whispered a reprimand, "An Hao is your friend after all, how can you have no sympathy at all?"
An Hao heard all this, and though it wasn’t pleasant, she held back and didn’t say a word because she urgently needed the money.
She finished writing the IOU and handed it to Song Jincai, "Uncle Song, keep this. I’ll be taking the money now, and I will pay you back as soon as possible."
"No rush, take it and use it."
Grateful, An Hao bowed to Song Jincai and left without exchanging a word with Song Yueqin.
Seeing An Hao leave without so much as acknowledging her only fueled her anger. She stormed back into the house, disgruntled at everything in sight, and began kicking the table and chairs.
"What are you doing?" Song Jincai was puzzled to see his daughter throwing a tantrum as soon as she came in, "Don’t you usually get along best with An Hao? Why are you so upset about me lending her some money?"
"I am no longer friends with her. Don’t ever bring her up to me again."
"What happened?" Song Jincai, seeing that his daughter was upset, tried to inquire what was wrong.
"Mind your own business. Go get the money back; I won’t allow you to lend it to her!" Song Yueqin pushed Song Jincai toward the door, pressing him to retrieve the money.
Song Jincai refused, "You can’t do that, to borrow out money and then just take it back! I’m not going!"
"If you don’t go, I’ll tell Mom!" Song Yueqin stamped her foot and stormed out, slamming the door behind her.
In no time at all, Song Yueqin had dragged Zhang Juyun back from playing mahjong at the neighbor’s house and pointed an accusing finger at Song Jincai, "Mom, Dad lent fifty yuan to the An family. I told him to get it back, but he refuses!"
Zhang Juyun exploded on hearing this, "What? You lent out fifty yuan! Who gave you permission to lend money? Don’t you know how poor the An family is? When will they ever be able to pay it back?"
"Plus, An Hao knows full well I’m bad at math and she doesn’t even offer to help, why would you bother with her! Either you get that money back, or I’m not letting this go!"
"That’s right! Go get it back! If you don’t, you’ll have me to answer to!" Zhang Juyun and Song Yueqin were united in pressuring Song Jincai.
"I won’t go! The An family is in trouble, have you two even a shred of sympathy?" Annoyed, Song Jincai squatted down, lit a cigarette, and started smoking.
If you won’t go, I will!" Zhang Juyun’s face darkened, and she turned on her heel and stormed out the door after An Hao.