Siheyuan: Struggle in the Red Era

Lin Baoyan made up her mind to wait for Tao Xiaomei to speak herself.

It was enough that she offered to help Cao Shuiyun once. Her identity was not suitable for being too ostentatious or having close contacts with others. If too many people knew that she took the initiative to help her classmates with expenses, then more people would definitely come to her for help.

Should she help or not? If she helped, how could she help so many people? If she didn't help, it would cause resentment.

One of the great feuds of life and death is destroying someone's future.

Although she didn't, some people believed that not lending him money to continue his studies would be ruining his future.

And the identity she fabricated will also be dug into.

The problem is that no matter how well she makes up her identity, she is afraid of being dug into, which will cause all kinds of inconvenience to her daily life.

Fortunately, Tao Xiaomei's brain was not damaged. She finally made up her mind, wiped her tears, and said to Lin Baoyan: "Li Xiang, I'm afraid I have to trouble you too."

Cao Shuiyun breathed a sigh of relief: "Fortunately you didn't resist to death. I have said before that Li Xiang is kind-hearted and willing to help classmates. If you ask her for help, she will not refuse you if she can help. Don't you agree, Li Xiang?"

Lin Baoyan glanced at Cao Shuiyun sideways. It turned out that she had known about Tao Xiaomei's affairs for a long time. The two of them were acting here.

However, she does not mind this kind of scheming. For the sake of her own future, as long as it does not infringe on the interests of others, it is okay to use some tricks at the right time to gain benefits for herself.

She nodded and said to Tao Xiaomei, "That's right."

Tao Xiaomei said a little disappointedly: "My parents and brothers originally said that no matter what the life is like, they will support me to finish high school. Anyway, I study well and will definitely be admitted to university. After graduation, my family will be fine."

"I was afraid that my grandmother would not agree, so I calculated the bill for her in detail, just like Li Xiang did just now. She also agreed that after I graduated from college, all the money I saved for at least five years would be handed over to my family."

Cao Shuiyun hissed and muttered, "How cruel! My family only asked for the money we saved for three years."

Lin Baoyan was speechless. Be it three years or five years, if it were a son, unless he was the kind that was particularly disliked, otherwise, you can see which family would want him so badly.

Tao Xiaomei continued, "Originally, everything was fine. But on the second day of the Chinese New Year, after my aunt came to visit, my grandma changed her mind and refused to let me continue studying. She said that my aunt had found a good partner for me and gave me 200 yuan as a betrothal gift. This amount of money was just enough for my two cousins ​​to get married."

Lin Baoyan frowned: "What does your cousin's marriage have to do with you? Your family has not split up? Can your parents tolerate it?"

Tao Xiaomei smiled bitterly and nodded, saying, "Yes, my family has not split up. My eldest uncle and my younger uncle's families have long been dissatisfied with my ability to go to high school. My father is a carpenter, and the money for my high school education was secretly saved by him while working outside. He told others that he borrowed it from my grandmother's uncle, so they didn't make a fuss."

Cao Shuiyun didn't know about this before, but now he understands why Tao Xiaomei said that she was settling accounts with her grandmother and had promised to hand over her salary for so many years.

Tao Xiaomei continued, "My parents love me, and my brothers support me, but they had a quarrel with my grandma and my uncle. Later, when the quarrel got out of hand, we asked the captain to mediate. The result was that my parents decided my marriage, and my grandma couldn't interfere. But if I continued to go to school, I had to hand over the cents I was supposed to earn."

Lin Baoyan and Cao Shuiyun were shocked.

Tao Xiaomei wants to continue her studies, but she not only needs to pay for tuition and living expenses, but also has to pay a redemption fee to her family's public account. Her grandmother and uncles are really cruel.

Tao Xiaomei looked at Lin Baoyan eagerly: "It's a drought now. At the end of last year, we didn't get any money at all. So, my parents tried to push the money to the end of the year. Now I need my expenses. Can you lend me the money? Don't worry, I will sign the loan contract just like Shuiyun, and I will definitely pay you back the money and interest as agreed."

Lin Baoyan thought about it for a while and felt that this time she could not give all the money at once like Cao Shuiyun did. She should pay it monthly so that others would not think that she had plenty of money and then come to her to borrow money. In the end, she originally did a good deed, but ended up becoming a villain who ruined her classmates' future.

She only thought about it for a while. Seeing that she didn't speak, Tao Xiaomei thought she didn't want to agree. The hope on her face slowly faded. By the time Lin Baoyan spoke, Tao Xiaomei was almost in despair.

Lin Baoyan thought for a moment and said, "I don't have much money on hand right now. I'll pay the money you owe the school this semester first, and then we can talk about how to draft this loan contract and how to get the money."

Tao Xiaomei's mood was like a roller coaster. Although she didn't know what a roller coaster was, she was really surprised after hearing what Lin Baoyan said. She couldn't even listen to the subsequent contract drafting. She only heard that she had to pay the school money.

This meant that she could continue her studies and her future was not cut short.

Cao Shuiyun was equally happy. She had been on good terms with Tao Xiaomei since the beginning of the freshman year of high school. Now they were the only two girls from the countryside in the class, which made their relationship even closer. They really didn't want their good friend to drop out of school.

After discussing for a while, the three returned to the dormitory first. Cao Shuiyun took the initiative to give up the previous contract with Lin Baoyan and returned the debt. Then, like Tao Xiaomei, he redrafted the contract. After signing the contract, he received the tuition and miscellaneous fees that should be paid to the school this year and his first month's living expenses.

There is a small episode in the middle.

The living expenses of the two of them have been cut again and again, and they don’t want to take more.

Lin Baoyan scolded them: "I have borrowed so much money, it's not like I won't be able to pay it back in the future. If you are so hard on yourselves now, aren't you afraid that you will starve to death and won't be able to pay back my debt in the future?"

The two of them then increased their living expenses a little, but it was only enough to have enough to eat.

Afterwards, Tao Xiaomei took Cao Shuiyun to assure Lin Baoyan: "Don't worry, we will not tell anyone about what happened today and this contract, and we will definitely not cause you any trouble."

Cao Shuiyun also assured: "I will keep my mouth shut and won't tell anyone. If someone asks me, I will say that my family borrowed it from someone else."

"You are helping us out of kindness. We are not heartless people."

Lin Baoyan nodded in belief, but, there is no such thing as a impenetrable wall in this world. Sooner or later, news will leak out from Tao Xiaomei and Cao Shuiyun's homes. She is not worried. Anyway, she has the contract in hand, and she can give them living expenses like squeezing toothpaste every month. No matter who comes to ask for help, she can always say that she has no money and cannot help.

They returned to school early, and this whole process took a lot of time. By the time they went to the Academic Affairs Office and returned to the dormitory, the remaining two roommates had not arrived yet.

Three people began to clean the dormitory.

Cao Shuiyun and Tao Xiaomei simply wouldn't allow Lin Baoyan to do it.

"There are two of us here. Why do you need to do anything? Just go out for a walk. When you come back, the cleaning will be done."

Lin Baoyan did not reject their kindness. She picked up a book and went out to find a classroom.