Chapter 82 – The Woes of borrowing money
There were two rest days because of the National Day and the weekends. In that era, there was no golden week, and there was not even five-day work week.
The students finished their tasks in the afternoon, and the farmer collected the corns in a tractor. This activity was finally over after the corns were loaded.
Those staying near the farm and the countryside went home for the holidays. They only need to be back in school on Sunday night. Feng Yu had also informed his father and Feng Xingtai’s jeep was parked outside the cornfield.
Feng Yu, Wen Dongjun, Li Kun and Li Na got a ride in the jeep back to their farms. The three boys sat in the rear seats, and Li Na sat in the front passenger seat. Her face was red and kept her head lowered. She dared not look at Feng Xingtai, but Feng Xingtai kept talking to her.
Wen Dongjun and Li Kun kept laughing secretly. Feng Yu, on the other hand, tried to change the topic. If Feng Xingtai knew that Feng Yu and Li Na were dating, Feng Yu would be beaten up by his father with the feather duster. He had got into the best high school in the city, yet he was not studying hard and start dating at this age!
Feng Xingtai sent Li Na and Liu Kun to the village town and then proceed back to their farmland using a shortcut.
At their door, Feng Yu saw a few bicycles parked outside. He felt that it was strange. There were visitors at his house?
Feng Xingtai’s face changed when he saw those bicycles and did not stop. Instead, he sent Feng Yu back to Wen Dongjun’s house.
“You play at Dongjun’s house first and come home half an hour later.”
Feng Yu was curious and asked: “Dad, what’s wrong?”
“It’s none of your business. Just come home after half an hour!”
When Feng Yu entered, Wen Dongjun was surprised. Didn’t Feng Yu return home? After a day of working in the fields, he was not tired?
“Feng Yu, your parents went to the fields? Have some peanuts and help yourself to the drinks.”
“Our family’s land finished harvesting last week. I am also not sure what had happened, but I am supposed to stay here for half an hour before can return home.”
Wen Dongjun’s mother suddenly said: “There must be someone here to borrow money again. Almost every day, there will be someone going to your father to borrow money. Your father is busier than Dongjun’s father who is the village head.”
“Borrow money? Borrow what money?” Wen Dongjun asked. Feng Yu’s family does not have any relatives staying in the village. Who will borrow money from them?
Feng Yu understood. This was the sad thing about staying in the farmlands. It was too small, and news spread very fast. If something happened in one’s family, everyone would know about it the next day.
Everyone in the village said that the Feng family had become wealthy. The daughter had found a wealthy husband in the city. Feng Xingtai can even afford to drive a jeep. The village head can only ride a small Jialing motorcycle.
There were some who were close to Feng Xingtai and wanted to borrow 3,000 RMB. Feng Xingtai just lent him the money without batting an eyelid. This made the rest believed that the Fengs really were rich.
A few people also came to Feng Xingtai’s house to borrow money. The excuses were either they need a few more thousand RMB to buy a tractor, did not have a good harvest, not enough money to feed their wife and kids, there were some who wanted to borrow over ten thousand RMB for a harvester and will pay back after a few years!
At first, Feng Xingtai lend them a few thousand because he had more than 50,000 RMB at home. But later, more and more people came to his house to borrow money. These shameless people did not even want to give interest and said that they will not be able to repay in the next 3 to 5 years. This money, they will return the money slowly over the years. There were even some who claims that they had helped Feng Xingtai with his farm before and now he is rich so he should at least give them a few thousand RMB. They were shameless enough to directly asked for money from him!
Feng Xingtai was pissed. His son had earned these monies, and these monies did not drop from the sky. Why must he lend them money just because they needed it? Those few who borrowed earlier promised to return the following year and agreed to include interest at the same rate as the bank. But those that came later were shameless beyond words. The Feng family was not a bank that printed money!
However, they were all living in the same village, and Feng Xingtai did not chase them away but politely rejected them by saying he had lent out all his money. But these people did not believe him and even questioned him: “You had lent XXX money, why are you not lending me money?”
Feng Xingtai was speechless and thought: “These were my money and I can choose to lend my money to whoever I like. Your tone and attitude doesn’t sound like you are borrowing money from me but sounds like you are asking me to repay you a debt!”
Feng Xingtai was very angry, and he rejected everyone who had came to him to borrow money!
Half an hour later, Feng Yu returned home. Those bicycles were not there anymore, and Feng Yu thought that those people had left. But when he entered the house, he saw 2 people inside. They seem to be waiting for dinner.
“Oh, Xiaoyu is back. Did you get used to your new school in the city? Oh yeah, your sister got a rich boyfriend, and he should not treat you too bad.”
“Yes, Brother Feng is so lucky. His daughter got a rich boyfriend, and his son can study so well. He definitely can get into university in future and return to the farm as a leader.”
Feng Yu suddenly asked curiously: “Uncle Song, Uncle Zheng, why are you at my house? Shouldn’t you be at home for dinner now?”
The smiles on their faces froze. This kid was chasing them out.
Luckily for them, Feng Xingtai said: “Xiaoyu, what are you saying!”
Smiles reappeared on these two faces. It seems like Feng Xingtai still wanted “face” and would ask them to stay for dinner. A few dishes and alcohol later, they will ask for a loan in front of Feng Yu. Feng Xingtai would not reject them.
Feng Xingtai said: “You think your Uncle Song and Uncle Zheng doesn’t know when to leave home for dinner? They do not need you to remind them.”
The smiles on their faces froze again. They couldn’t just say that they wanted to stay for dinner if they were not welcomed by Feng Xingtai.
“Yes, we are leaving. Brother Feng, we will come back tomorrow to discuss further.”
“I am leaving too. Brother Feng, you don’t need to see me out.”
After those two left, Feng Xingtai sighed. Zhang Muhua also came back from outside. When she saw Feng Yu, the worries on her face were all gone: “Son, you must be hungry. What do you want to eat for dinner?”
“Stir-fried shredded potatoes and salted duck eggs.”
While waiting for his mother to cook, Feng Yu asked his father: “Dad, how much did we lend out and how many people borrowed from us?”
“I had lent out about 40,000 RMB to more than 1 people. They also signed an IOU. There were some that will return in 1 year and some 2 years. Sighed… Having more money is also not a good thing!” Feng Xingtai lit a cigarette and smoked.
“Dad, let’s move to the town. There is a new building which was completed this year. We can buy an apartment and stay away from these shameless people.”
“No. After we bought the apartment, they would think that we had become very rich and will have more excuses to borrow money from us. At least, we can’t move this year.”
“Dad, just forget about it since you had already lent the money out. We are really very rich now. It is only 40,000 RMB. Anytime, we can take out 4 million RMB. But we can’t carry on lending out money. Especially people like Uncle Song and Uncle Zheng. They don’t do any work but play mahjong every day. Even if you lend them money, they are also unable to repay us. Why not I think of a way to help everyone in our village earn some money!”
Feng Yu thought of an idea and should be able to get rid of these irritating people.