CTF 0028

Li Axiang couldn’t have been more excited to see Xu Yin.

If her previous warmth was mostly due to Xu Yin being her husband’s niece, her current warmth went beyond that. It was directed at Xu Yin as a person herself, for coming up with such a great idea for Da’ao Village.

“Yinyin, thanks to you, our village had a great year.”

Mother Xu, who was completely unaware of what Xu Yin had done, was puzzled. “What happened? Did she also get the skilled seamstresses in your village to take clothing orders here?”

Then, the two relatives stared at each other, both not understanding the meaning of the other’s words.

Xu Yin couldn’t help but facepalm. 

After Li Axiang explained the whole story, Mother Xu finally understood why the mountain villagers they had met on the way had been smiling kindly at them.

“Our Yinyin is truly smart! This little brain of hers is incredible.”

“And how could it not be incredible? It’s genetic!”

One was good at complimenting, while the other was good at cajoling. The mother and daughter pair made for a seamless cooperation. It made Li Axiang’s eyes twinkle with laughter.

After having lunch at her grandmother’s house and chatting for a while, Xu Yin returned home with her mother.

Winter days grew dark early, and there was still snow on the ground, even though the sky had cleared. The temperature was low, and the accumulated snow hadn’t melted yet. Travelling on dark winter roads wasn’t ideal.

As it turned out, Xu Zhinian and Xu Yin were on the same page. They arrived home before evening.

“Is your mother-in-law’s family doing well?” Mother Xu asked. She wasn’t asking because she cared, but just because she wanted to talk with her son.

“They’re the same as usual,” Xu Zhinian hesitated for a moment and then said, “Although… my wife’s eldest uncle wanted to borrow money from me. He said that in their village, they’re raising funds for mudflat farming and investing in fishing boats. Other families have borrowed money from relatives and friends, but they felt awkward asking us. When they saw me, they finally brought it up.”

“Did you lend it?” Mother Xu raised her voice.

Xu Zhinian choked. “No, I don’t have that much money on hand.”

If he had lent them money, he wouldn’t have mentioned it at all to his parents.

He wasn’t a fool. He could see how much his mother despised his in-laws.

As such, when his wife’s uncle shyly asked to borrow money from him, Xu Zhinian neither refused nor agreed to his request. He just said he would go home and discuss it with his wife.

However, he also knew that his wife didn’t have much money right now.

She’d spent the money she’d made on supplements for her parents, and he had also bought some things for his wife’s family. They both didn’t have much money left after that.

His salary, apart from the allowance and rewards for his mission before coming home, had all been given to his mother. He had initially set aside some pocket money, but he had heard that his wife had spent a lot of her savings during her pregnancy, so he gave it to his younger sister to buy a new dress. Now he didn’t have much left in his pocket besides the money for his trip back.

Seeing his mother’s expression, he knew that she probably wouldn’t agree to him lending the money.

Oh, well…

“Mudflat farming? Is it something the village is promoting? Will there be a market for what they produce?” Xu Yin interjected.

“Yes. I asked the village officials about it. They said they are planning to build a state-owned seafood processing factory nearby, which will prioritise purchasing from their village. They can process whatever they produce, no matter how much it is. That’s why they’ve mobilised the whole village for the project.”

“That sounds great,” Xu Yin agreed.

They planned to make a living from the sea. She then asked, “What about the fishing boat fundraising and investment?”

Xu Zhinian glanced at his mother and saw her buttoning her shirt without saying a word. He understood that it was his younger sister who held the authority now, and if she thought it was a good idea, the matter was likely to be settled.

As such, he started to explain the project to her more enthusiastically. 

“The people in their town want to establish a fisheries cooperative. They want to raise money to buy a large fishing boat, one that can operate in the far sea. The money raised will be considered as shares. In the future, whatever they catch and sell, they’ll distribute it according to the share ratios. But I think it’s quite a challenge. The families are already quite poor. Engaging in both mudflat farming and borrowing money for it will be a tough endeavour. I don’t think it’s realistic for them to hope that everyone would participate.”

“But if they do participate, they can just sit and wait to see their share of the profits later,” Xu Yin concluded.

Xu Zhinian was stunned for a moment. “Little Sister…”

“Here’s what we’ll do. They can consider the money we give them for mudflat money as a loan from our family, but the money that we give for the fishing boat fundraising must be considered as our investment. Did you ask if people from other villages can participate?” Xu Yin asked.

“Yes, they can…”

But the problem was, who would be willing to participate? 

Those remote areas were extremely poor.

Mudflat farming would at least use land that was already there. If it didn’t work out, they could stop leasing the land after the first year. 

But with fishing boat fundraising and investment, they’d practically just be giving their money away. Could they be sure they’d see a return?

Xu Yin chuckled at his expression. “Don’t worry, Brother! We’re going to get the money back.”

She remembered a passage from the original story where it was mentioned that Zhu Yunjing, after joining the army, often lent money to the soldiers under Xu Zhinian’s command in front of others to create an image of herself as virtuous and kind. 

One of the soldiers had expressed gratitude and mentioned that in their hometown, they were forming a fisheries cooperative organisation. Anyone who invested and became a shareholder would become one of the first thousandaires in the area…

Xu Yin tapped her chin, thinking, ‘If we invest now, we might get a return by the end of the year.’

Mother Xu was initially vehemently against lending money to her daughter-in-law’s family, but she never could resist her daughter’s persistence. Finally, she huffily pulled out one of the protective bricks from the wall hole at the head of her bed and retrieved a small cookie tin from inside. She opened it, revealing a handkerchief wrapped around some money, and took out a few bills.

“Mom, how much is that? Since we’re investing, we should put in more. It means a bigger share of the dividend when it’s distributed later,” Xu Yin encouraged her.

With the story’s ‘plot device,’ this was practically a guaranteed profit.

“You little brat! You’re always thinking so big about these things. What if there are no dividends, and we can’t get the money back?” her mother said.

“It won’t happen. You have to trust the government and their policies!”

“…”

If her daughter kept talking, she might have a heart attack. 

Words were one thing, but in the end, she reluctantly handed over all the money that her elder son had sent back over the years and glared at her daughter.

“That’s all! There’s no more!” she said, exasperatedly.

Xu Yin felt that this was probably enough. To ask for more would dip into her parents’ burial fund, which was not something she could persuade them to do by acting spoiled.

The next morning, Xu Zhinian made another trip to his mother-in-law’s house and made it clear that the money for mudflat farming was a loan from them, and the fishing boat fundraising and investment was done in the name of the Xu family.

The family of Xu Yin’s sister-in-law wasn’t the type to make trouble. On the contrary, they wouldn’t have asked their in-laws for money if they weren’t desperately poor. That same day, his wife’s eldest uncle accompanied Xu Zhinian to the town government. 

But it was early January, and government offices were closed for the New Year. 

They had to wait patiently for a few more days until the town government reopened before they could go back. They finally managed to get the fishing boat fundraising and investment sorted out after running around to several places, just in time before the office workers finished work.

When he signed the documents and handed over the money, Xu Zhinian thought for a moment and added Xu Yin’s name. 

When he got home and told his parents, his mother grumbled, “So you still have some conscience, after all!”

Xu Zhinian: “…”