Chapter 118

Tong Xuelu felt a warmth in her heart. Leaping off the bicycle, she said to him, “No, it’s alright. I am short quite a bit. I’ll just buy it when I save up enough money. I appreciate your offer though!”

No matter the time, anyone who would offer to loan someone else money was hard to come by.She appreciated his thought.She might take him up for it if she was only short several hundreds or a thousand yuan.But she only had a little over 1,000 yuan and was short almost 4,000 yuan. That was not an amount that she was comfortable asking for.The golden sun cast down on her, dying the tips of her hair a golden color. Fragments of golden lights danced in her eyes like stars in the night.Wen Rugui lowered his eyes. Staring at the ground, he said, “It just occurred to me that my family has a vacant house that nobody is currently living in. You and you family can stay there if you don’t mind.”Tong Xuelu’s eyes lit up, “Really? Where’s the house located?”Wen Rugui nodded and still avoided looking at her. “In the city.”“How big is the house? Can we go check it out right now?”“Not right now. I need to deliver something.” He showed her the milk candies and snacks in his hand as he spoke. “If you are not in a hurry, we can go check it out day after tomorrow. I’ll have someone clean it up first.”Tong Xuelu nodded and, with a smile on her, said, “Sure. Day after tomorrow works. Thank you so much, Comrade Wen!”The environment of Su Xiuying’s place was not good. If Wen Rugui’s one was located in a better area, for sure she would pick that one instead.“No worries.”Wen Rugui’s voice returned to its usual calm and nonchalant way.Tong Xuelu, “If that’s the case, you should hurry up and delivery your stuff. I shan’t keep you any longer!”Wen Rugui wanted to say that she wasn’t keeping him, but he stopped himself just in time. “Oh right. How would I get hold of you then?”Tong Xuelu thought about it some and said, “Let’s meet outside the post office at 10 AM day after tomorrow?”“Okay.” It’s a date.***Wen Rugui returned to the military compound with the White Rabbit milk candies, snacks, and another bag of green bean cakes.Old Mr. Wen saw him returning the same way that he left and couldn't help but gave him a stare. “What? Did you not find her?”Wen Rugui, “Oh, I found her.”That made Old Mr. Wen angry. “Why did you come back with all the stuff if you have found her? And what’s in the other bag?”“Green bean cakes.”“Gift from Miss Green Grass?”“Yes.”“What were you thinking? I told you to give her things. Nevermind that you didn’t give them to her, but you came back with more? Have you no shame?”Old Mr. Wen was so angry that even his goatee was about to quiver. He walked over and wanted to take the green bean cakes from him.Wen Rugui dodged and hid the green bean cakes behind his back. “Grandpa, I want to borrow 500 yuan from you.”Old Mr. Wen hrumphed and said, “Hand over the green bean cakes. And whatever happened to your own money?”Wen Rugui was making over 200 yuan a month and had just gotten a 20 yuan raise this year. He had been staying at the research center day in and day out all these years and had no girlfriend and not married. He had absolutely nowhere to spend money. He should have a big savings. Why would he be short money?Wen Rugui went silent for a little while and said, “I lent them to a coworker at the research center. Jianyi borrowed some from me as well.”“Jianyi?” Old Mr. Wen frowned. “Why did he borrow money from you? Is his dad aware of that?”Wen Rugui blinked. “A friend of his had some family trouble and he wanted to help them out.”A bean of light crossed Old Mr. Wen’s eyes. “Is his friend a man or woman?”Wen Rugui, “I don’t know.”Pu Jianyi, still at the cop station, sneezed and felt that he was getting a cold.