The 1970s: Married First, Fell in Love Later-Chapter 46 - 45: Not Paying Back a Loan

It turned out that He Nan had asked Guo Jinfeng for 30 yuan to buy He Lang’s room. Guo Jinfeng hemmed and hawed, unable to produce the money, and finally, with no other choice, confessed she only had eight yuan.

"The 152 yuan from when the family property was divided, the 40 yuan Mom gave us the other day, and the seven-something yuan from He Lang... After Ziqing’s tuition and some household expenses, we should have over 180 yuan. Where did all that money go?"

Guo Jinfeng hung her head, not daring to speak for a long time.

He Nan’s face darkened. "Are you going to talk or not? If you don’t, I’ll go to your parents’ house and ask." He Nan had a pretty good idea where the money had gone; ever since the family assets had been divided, Guo Jinfeng had been running back to her maiden home every few days.

Hearing He Nan say he would go to her parents’ house, Guo Jinfeng finally, tremblingly, told the truth.

"I lent it all to my older and second brothers."

He Nan stared at Guo Jinfeng in disbelief. "One hundred and eighty yuan? You lent it all out?"

Guo Jinfeng said weakly, "My older brother’s son, Awei, is nineteen this year. My sister-in-law said he’s getting married, but their family has no money, so she asked to borrow 100 yuan. My second brother said their house needs repairs, so he asked to borrow 60. I gave the remaining 20 yuan to my mom. They’re having a hard time."

He Nan scoffed. "They’re having a hard time? Are we having it easy? You gave all that money away without saying a word to me. Do you even consider me the head of this family?"

Guo Jinfeng shook her head. "I was just afraid you wouldn’t agree. Besides, my brothers aren’t strangers. Their families were in trouble, so of course I had to help. It’s just a loan, not a gift. They’ll pay it back."

"When?"

"They’ll pay it back when they have the money. I suppose that’ll have to wait until the year-end payout."

He Nan was too angry to even speak.

"You gave all our money to your family. Now, I want to buy He Lang’s room. Our Ziqing is a big girl now, and she’s been stuck sleeping on the same bed with us. We finally have a chance to get her a room of her own, but we can’t afford it. It’s like you don’t have this family in your heart at all."

Guo Jinfeng muttered, "You’re all blood brothers, why bring money into it? Anyway, He Lang and his wife have that huge new house, and he’s not living in this room. He should just let our Ziqing have it."

He Nan stared at Guo Jinfeng. Suddenly, the woman he’d been married to for over ten years felt like a complete stranger. He’d always thought she was just a bit petty and liked to take small advantages, but he never realized she had no sense of right and wrong.

He laughed derisively. "Have He Lang just give it to us for free? Would the second family agree to that? You really have it all figured out. All this talk about being ’blood brothers,’ but when I was helping He Lang, you nagged me every single day, worried he wouldn’t pay me for my work. Did he ever short you a single cent?"

Guo Jinfeng looked weakly at He Nan. "Then what should we do? Why don’t we just tell He Lang we’ll owe him for now and pay him later?"

"You go say it. Let’s see if He Lang gives you any face."

On the bed, Tuanzi saw his parents arguing and, terrified, hid under the covers without making a sound.

He Nan slammed the door and stormed out, heading to the main house.

The moment He Nan walked in, Mrs. He asked, "What’s wrong? What’s all the shouting about so late at night? Is your wife refusing to buy He Lang’s room?"

Fuming, He Nan squatted down.

After a moment of silence, He Nan said, "We can’t buy He Lang’s room for now. She lent all our money to her family. One hundred and eighty yuan, given away without a word to me. We only have eight yuan left at home now."

Both Mr. He and Mrs. He were stunned.

It took a long moment for Mrs. He to react, and when she did, she flew into a rage. "Even before the family property was divided, your wife was always funneling things to her parents! After the split, she started running over there every other day—not even the freezing winter could stop her. All that money! How could she be so generous as to just lend it all to her family? If they were decent people, I wouldn’t say a word, but her family is a bunch of bloodsuckers! How will you ever get that money back? That spendthrift! That’s no way to run a household!"

Mr. He asked He Nan, "Did your wife say when the money would be returned?"

He Nan shook his head. "Mom’s right. It’s very likely we’ll never get that money back."

He Nan and Guo Jinfeng had been married for over ten years. He knew exactly what her family was like. They all favored sons over daughters, and this was especially true for Guo Jinfeng. She had practically no voice in that family.

Mr. He said, "Tomorrow, take your wife and go to her parents’ house. Get back whatever you can. From now on, you’ll manage the family’s money. Your wife can’t hold on to it."

He Nan nodded. Mrs. He then spent a long time in the room, coaching him on what to say the next day.

The next day, Guo Jinfeng was hesitant and didn’t want to go, but she couldn’t withstand He Nan’s anger.

So they went anyway.

No one expected that while two of them had left, only He Nan would return at noon, limping. He was covered in dirt, and his face was a mess of injuries.

Mrs. He almost fainted from rage when she saw him.

"My heavens, what happened to you? You went to get the money, so why did you come back like this? And where is your wife?" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Mr. He’s face was grim. "Did the Guo Family beat you?"

He Nan nodded and then recounted what had happened at the Guo Family’s house.

The moment the Guo Family heard they had come for the money, their attitudes changed completely. Guo Jinfeng’s mother flatly denied the money was a loan. Her two brothers and their wives pointed their fingers and cursed at the couple. Then, Guo Jinfeng herself turned on him, claiming the money was indeed a gift, not a loan.

In his fury, He Nan got into a shoving match with Guo Jinfeng’s brothers. It ended with the entire family holding him down and beating him. They also kept Guo Jinfeng from leaving with him.

"That’s outrageous! Simply outrageous! Shameless! They’re absolutely shameless!"

Mrs. He was so furious she paced back and forth.

"Forgetting about the money is one thing, but beating you like this? They’re bullying our He family, thinking we have no one to back us up!"

"I’m furious! That Guo Jinfeng is a jinx, a plague on our house! The He family has no such daughter-in-law! Tell her to get the hell out!"

"This is utter humiliation! No, this isn’t over. It’s not over!"

Mrs. He was so enraged she was becoming incoherent. Seeing He Nan’s battered face made her heart ache.

"Say something, will you?! Look at what they’ve done to your son! The Guo family is pissing on the He family’s neck!" Mrs. He shrieked at Mr. He, who had been smoking in silence.

Mr. He glanced at his wife, then turned his gaze to He Nan.

"Go have someone call He Ze and He Lang back home. I’m going to your Uncle He’s house."

And just like that, the entire family skipped their midday meal.

When Uncle He heard what Mr. He had to say, he flew into a rage. Aunt He chimed in from the side, "Younger Brother, this isn’t over. They’ve brought their bullying right to the He family’s doorstep."

Mr. He nodded. "I came here to ask you and Sister-in-law to accompany us to the Guo Family’s home. We need to demand justice."

"Done. We’re family. This is what family is for. I’ll get Zhen Dong and Zhen Guo to come along for support."

He Ze and He Lang both took leave from work and rushed back as soon as they got the news.

When Xue Yue saw He Lang come home in the middle of the day, she asked, "Why are you back at this hour?"

He Lang quickly gulped down some water before explaining, "Our oldest brother got beaten up by his wife’s family. Dad told me and Second Brother to come back so we can all go to the Guo Family’s house and demand an explanation."

"What?" Xue Yue didn’t know the details, but the news was an absolute bombshell.

"When are you going?"

"I don’t know. I’m going to the main house first."