Chapter 15 Pay back the money

After a while, the eldest sister and the people under the manager came back. The two sheep weighed a total of 115 kilograms. Zhang Xingwang also discussed with the manager the required cash and receipts.

This time, he received 80 yuan in total, and the other party rounded it up to 81 yuan. Moreover, the manager directly took out a pile of bills and asked him to choose, and he would pay the rest with money.

Looking at the pile of colorful bills in the light of the flashlight, Zhang Xingwang was dumbfounded.

There are shoe tickets, water bottle tickets, cotton tickets, cloth tickets, national grain tickets, cigarette tickets, alcohol tickets, etc.

There were also two half-pound oil coupons scattered inside, which were rare and hard to come by. Nowadays, every family depends on this little bit of oil, and families would not exchange them unless they were extremely poor.

I thought of my fourth sister carefully dipping the cotton cloth in oil when she made the rabbit. I took it without saying anything. I picked up 20 feet of cloth coupons and some food coupons for the rest.

I asked if there were any industrial coupons, and the person in charge replied nonchalantly:

"If we don't have it here, you can't find it anywhere else. But if you want a lot, you have to wait two days."

As he spoke, he took out four industrial coupons from his jacket pocket and handed them over. Nowadays, industrial coupons are also hard currency, as strong as eggs. Generally, only cadres or factory workers can be issued with a few.

It is used in everything from bicycles and sewing machines to soap and towels, but basically no one takes it out to exchange it.

I calculated the price with the manager, and after deducting the receipt, I gave him 53 yuan in cash.

It was not easy. After so much trouble, I finally saw the big black pick. The platform still makes money. Seeing people pay money with a calm face, Zhang Xingwang's joy was diluted.

I asked my elder sister to go home with me. On the way, my elder sister asked out of curiosity:

"Xingwang, how much do you get for each sale you make for someone else? Don't you need to tell them when you choose the tickets?"

"Didn't I tell them? I shot this sheep myself. No need to tell them."

"How much does it cost for the other party to send it to you? Have you paid them for the python last time?"

"The python didn't want money, but the other party just wanted a few packs of cigarettes. I already gave them this time. This time they didn't ask for much money, just two packs of cigarettes."

"That person is pretty nice!"

Then he changed the subject and said with a distressed look:

"I heard from my little sister that your two packs of cigarettes cost eighty cents. Why didn't you tell me earlier that I would go and deliver them to you?"

"You can't send it, but they have a way, it seems to be some remote path."

After hearing this, the elder sister did not ask any more questions. It was early September now, and the crops were almost ripe. There were militiamen guarding the main roads and the edges of the fields at night. If we really wanted to send something, the risk would be too great.

The brother and sister returned home. This time the whole family stayed up waiting for them to come back. Even the little sister was lying on the bed with her eyes wide open and a look of anticipation.

The mother was relieved to see the siblings return safely, and immediately began to ask about the process of selling the prey.

When they heard that Zhang Xingwang had sold the two wild sheep for 81 yuan, they received admiring looks from their second and youngest sisters and an expression of disbelief from their fourth sister.

The mother quickly asked:

"Xingwang, why didn't you obey and go to the mountains again? And you killed two wild sheep in just one day? How did you get them back? Who are the other party?"

"We agreed to go into the mountains together. There's nothing wrong with more people. They helped carry the sheep down the mountain. There are also people from the compound among them. They are not bandits or scum, so don't ask so many questions."

"Then don't waste the money from this sale. Pay off your foreign debts first. I don't want the rest. It's your money anyway, so just keep it for yourself."

"I see, Mom. It's a good opportunity for you to tell me who my family owes money to."

Wang Xiulan opened the small notebook under the bed and talked for a long time, and Zhang Xingwang finally figured out that the family owed a total of 46 yuan in foreign debt.

Basically, the debt was owed for buying medicine for the original owner. The Chinese medicine that the original owner took contained some precious ingredients, and he took it more than once. Basically, the compensation money from my father was spent on the medicine by the original owner.

It is better not to get sick if you have no money. If the original owner had held on for a few more days, this family would have gone bankrupt.

The foreign debt was 46 yuan, of which the eldest uncle borrowed the most, 25 yuan, in two installments. Uncle Liugen from the front yard borrowed 6 yuan, and the second uncle borrowed 5 yuan.

What was unexpected was that Xu Damao also borrowed 10 yuan. When Wang Xiulan was asked, she said that a few days ago, when she was wiping tears in the corner of the yard, Xu Damao was drunk and saw her and lent her the money.

At that time, Wang Xiulan had just brought the original owner back from the hospital and was feeling sad. Xu Damao saw the gift and took out a bunch of banknotes and left, which added up to exactly 10 yuan.

The next day after I gave him the money, he went to the countryside to show movies. It was said that he had a screening mission. He had been there before the autumn harvest began and has not returned yet.

I guess this guy was drunk at the time and suddenly felt guilty. It's hard to say whether he remembered it the next day.

Regardless of whether he was drunk or not, I owe him this favor and I have to find a way to repay it later.

As the night grew deeper, my younger sister and Zhang Xingwang could no longer hold back and fell asleep.

The remaining women in the room were still excitedly discussing what to buy now that the family had more money, and even the taciturn second sister would occasionally chime in. But they were all about daily necessities such as bowls, chopsticks and seasonings.

Zhang Xingwang was woken up by Tong Ge again in the morning. Needless to say, it was already half past nine. He gained another 0.1 cubic meters of space and 7 kilograms of sweet potatoes.

Can't Brother Tong try something different? Brother Tong's sweet potato farm has a good harvest of sweet potatoes. Eating sweet potatoes every day is not a big deal.

After getting up, washing up and having breakfast, I saw my fourth sister humming a song while washing dishes in the kitchen, while my second sister was smiling at me while sewing clothes for my youngest sister. The noisy youngest sister came over and happily looked at the new clothes that were about to be finished.

Seeing this, Zhang Xingwang felt satisfied. This was a bit like the atmosphere of home.

After saying hello, he went to the house of an old man in the Central Courtyard, intending to pay off his debts during the morning.

As soon as I arrived at the central courtyard, I saw an old lady coming back with a basket.

"Auntie, have you just come back from shopping?"

"Yes, isn't this prosperous? You are cured."

"I feel much better, auntie. Is uncle at home? I am feeling better now and my family is doing OK, so I am thinking of returning the money I borrowed from uncle."

"Zhonghai is not here. He has gone to work. There is no rush to pay the money back. Auntie knows about your family's situation, and you have just gotten better."

"It's okay, Auntie. It's not difficult to borrow again if you borrow and pay it back on time. I'll give you the money when Uncle is not here. Please let me know when he comes back."

As he said that, he handed over two big black tens and five one-dollar notes to the old lady. Seeing his firm attitude, the old lady put them away.

After saying goodbye to Auntie, he turned around and went to Uncle Liugen's house in the front yard. When he arrived at the door, he knocked. Auntie opened the door for him. Uncle Liugen had a little heat stroke and was resting at home. After learning about Zhang Xingwang's purpose, he refused for a while and then accepted it.

Uncle Liugen's house consists of two dilapidated rooms in the front yard. There is not much furniture in the house and it seems that he lives a very tight life.

But then again, life is tight, and I can still squeeze out six dollars from my teeth. This friendship is really a bit heavy.

This is different from the 25 yuan borrowed by an old man. One reason is that the old man is a role model in the yard and we cannot just ignore him.

Even if you want to establish a character, you have to pay this money, not to mention that there may be other calculations behind it.

But no matter what the other party's calculations are, he is always the one who borrows the most money. This is on the surface. The money must be repaid and the favor must be acknowledged.

Uncle Liugen is different. It is said that he has a good relationship with the original owner's father.

And considering the original owner's family conditions, he probably wanted to help but was afraid of gossip, so he said it was a loan. According to the original family situation, if nothing unexpected happened, the six dollars would not be enough to pay back.