59 Li Hai Refuses To Pay Up
Li Hai had a bad feeling when she saw the two of them, but she still asked them what the matter was.
“What’s wrong?”
Xia Ru followed Song Yan’s instructions and immediately started crying. “Grandma, I feel so awful that I can’t get a wink of sleep. If this continues, I think I’m going to die. Even if I can survive, what if I become disfigured? I won’t be able to get married then.
“Grandma, you always say that I’m smart, and I think I’m quite capable myself. How many girls in our village can find a stable job like mine? I just need to work for another year, and the factory manager said he would raise my salary. Maybe he would even let me be a leader and manage others.”
“Grandma, I have a bright future ahead of me. I can’t just let it go like this.”
Li Hai didn’t understand what she meant when she heard her words. She asked, “If you’re feeling unwell, you should seek a doctor. Your grandma can’t cure you even if you tell her about it.
Xia Ru stopped crying and looked at Li Hai with puppy eyes. “Grandma, I want to see a doctor in the city, but I have no money. Can you pass me some? Once I cure my illness, I’ll still hand you my monthly salary. Please, Grandma, I beg you.”
Li Hai’s expression changed immediately. After all that talk, she was now trying to ask her for money?
She had always been the one taking money from her three sons. She had never heard of anyone trying to take money from her.
Li Hai immediately followed suit. “You guys don’t know how much our family has to spend. So many people need to eat. When Xia Yu fell sick, we even took her to the hospital to see a doctor, which cost a lot of money. Also, when people hold weddings and funerals, they have to pay. I foot all the expenses in our family, which is a big burden in itself. There’s also the money for the children’s school fees and clothes. These are all money.”
Xia Ru understood Li Hai’s implication. She didn’t want to pay.
“Your father doesn’t pass me all his money every month. He should still have some. Ask him to take you to the city for a check-up. Don’t be reluctant,” Li Hai said.
Nnot only did she not take all of her three sons’ wages but she definitely left some for them. How could she not even have the money to go to the city to see a doctor?
Seeing that Li Hai was unwilling to come up with the money, Song Yan said, “Mother, Xia Ru’s trip to the city to see a doctor would cost more than 10 yuan. The facilities there are very advanced and the doctors there are all graduates from good universities, so it’s only natural that it would be more expensive. If she heads to the city now, she would probably have to spend over 100 yuan.”
Li Hai’s mouth dropped open in horror. “What?! A hundred? Why do you need so much?”
That was almost a month’s salary for her sons.
“I don’t have that much. You guys think of a way. I don’t have that much.” Li Hai’s tone became more determined.
Even if she only received a few hundred yuan from her three sons a month, collecting money and taking it out were two different things. The money that went into her pocket was hers. Xia Ru was just a girl. Why should she spend so much money on her just because she was feeling unwell?
As for whether Xia Ru could recover, Li Hai was mainly unconcerned. All she wanted was to keep the money in her pocket.
Even though she knew that Li Hai would not agree to it, the determination she displayed deeply saddened Xia Ru.
Among the three girls in the family, she was the most respected by Li Hai. Li Hai would always praise her in front of the other two. Xia Ye was her little follower. In her opinion, Xia Ye was very stupid and someone she could manipulate easily.
But now that she was sick and needed money, Li Hai turned out to be so stingy that she refused to part with a little money. She didn’t even look worried.
Therefore, in Li Hai’s heart, she was still nothing.
After thinking about this, Xia Ru didn’t feel embarrassed and said directly, “Grandma, since you don’t have the money, I can only borrow it from someone else. Our family doesn’t have that much, so I’ll return it with my salary next month. It means I can’t hand you my salary next month.”
Li Hai was unhappy when she heard Xia Ru. She glared at her and said, “Your father hands me half of his salary every month. He still has half of it. How could he not have such a small amount and has to borrow?”