Chapter 58: You're Actually Quite Capable

  When Wang Haodong arrived at Zhang Shufang's home, he saw the harvested wheat spread out in front of the door to dry in the sun. The door was unlocked, indicating that there were people inside. In contrast, the neighboring house of Xiao Yufen had a tightly locked gate with several piles of straw in front of it, showing that both families were harvesting wheat.

  Wang Haodong drank red tea and stepped into Zhang Shufang's home, as soon as he entered, he saw Zhang Qian, fiddling with an MP3 player, with earplugs in her ears, occasionally muttering a few English sentences.

  Seeing Wang Haodong return, Zhang Qian hastily removed her earpiece and said with a surprised face: "Haodong brother, how did you come back?"

  "I heard that wheat is being harvested at home, I'll take a look." Wang Haodong smiled and threw a bottle of green tea to Zhang Qian, asking: "Looking at you, it seems like you're reciting words, the college entrance exam is the day after tomorrow, are you ready?"

  "Uh-huh, I'm ready, but I don't really want to take the exam anymore."

  "What's going on?" Wang Haodong asked immediately.

  Zhang Qian's face showed some guilt and self-blame, "Our family is poor, can't afford the tuition, I don't want to let my sister work hard anymore, forget it, haven't you eaten yet?"

  It was just worrying about tuition fees, what's the big deal? Wang Haodong smiled and said, "It's almost 11 o'clock, I've had breakfast, but I haven't eaten lunch yet, haha."

  "It's so fast, I didn't even notice the time." Zhang Qian pursed her lips and said, "I'll go cook dinner."

  "Where's your sister?"

  "She was in the field, heard that it would rain in a few days, and the villagers were all rushing to harvest. It just so happened that this year, the village had a combine harvester, which no one had used before, as they usually cut wheat by hand with sickles. This year, hearing that it would rain, everyone was eager to use it, but there was only one machine, so each household had to wait in line."

  Zhang Qian said and entered the kitchen, Wang Haodong also followed in, Zhang Qian peeled potatoes and asked: "Is it my sister who told you something?"

  "Hmm, that's what I said." Wang Haodong looked at the electric stove on the stove and asked, "Is this thing easy to use?"

  "It's great, my sister said it's very satisfactory." Zhang Qian stopped peeling the potatoes and asked, "You bought an electromagnetic stove for our family, why did you also buy one for Xiao Yufen? Are you two still not broken up?"

  "This... haha." Wang Haodong couldn't explain it clearly and could only brush it off.

  "You men are all the same, thinking that having many beautiful women is a good thing. You want to have your cake and eat it too, with a red flag at home and colorful flags flying outside..."

  Zhang Qian muttered to herself, obviously blaming Wang Haodong.

  Wang Haodong hastily interrupted her, otherwise he would have let her continue talking. Her small mouth was like a machine gun, and he couldn't take it anymore. "You and your sister had a falling out, didn't want to go to the college entrance exam, just because of tuition fees?"

  "It's not just the tuition fees, I've inquired about it, once you get into university, the annual tuition fee is over 10,000 yuan, our family's savings will be used up all at once, and living in the city to study has a high cost of living, which requires a large sum of money."

  "I told my sister, if you want to do business in town, why not sell the land at home? That way, you won't have to bear so much financial pressure. She just wouldn't agree."

  "They also say that food is heaven for the people and land is the foundation for farmers. Alas, such outdated thinking, I don't even know how to talk to her, it's all so annoying."

  Listening to Zhang Qian's words, Wang Haodong finally knew the source of the conflict. No matter whether it was selling land or not, it all boiled down to the issue of tuition fees.

  Wang Haodong smiled and said, "In the past, you were very enthusiastic about reading. You said that you wanted to change your fate through reading, and after graduating from university, find a good job and let your sister live a good life. This small difficulty can be easily solved, how did it crush your faith?"

  Zhang Qian was rendered speechless by Wang Haodong's words, and was even somewhat annoyed. She threw down the knife and stopped peeling the potatoes, indignantly shouting: "It may be a small problem in your hands, but have you ever thought about us? Do we have the ability to solve it?"

  Wang Haodong was speechless. This girl actually had the nerve to speak up, "Indeed, tuition is a significant expense, but can't you guys borrow money?"

  "Who's going to lend us money? The villagers are all very poor, and those with some money are saving up to build houses, who'd be willing to lend?"

  "Hmm," Zhang Qian hummed, feeling that scolding Wang Haodong was not right, so she changed her tone and said: "Haodong brother, you don't understand. The people in our village are all very stingy. If it were someone doing business with strong repayment ability, maybe they could borrow money. But for my sister and me, it's not easy to borrow money. Even if someone is willing to lend us money, they must be thinking of taking advantage of my sister. I'd rather not push her into a fire pit."

  It can't be denied that Zhang Qian's words make some sense. With Zhang Shufang's beauty, many people have ideas about her. Didn't someone come to her door earlier because she borrowed 500 yuan from Liu Erzhu and wanted to sleep with her?

  Wang Haodong took a sip of red tea and said slowly: "It's really stupid, now there is something called a student loan, don't you know?"

  Zhang Qian shook her head, "I know, but it's a lot of trouble, need to go through various formalities, and also need the village to issue a certificate, ordinary people can't handle it."

  "Unless my grades can get me into Tsinghua or Peking University, with just one sentence, banks will be scrambling to lend me money, and they might not even charge interest. But I don't have that kind of confidence; at most, I'm confident I can get into a first-tier university."

  Wang Haodong smiled and said, "Don't worry about it, I'll help you solve this problem."

  "Hao Dong gege, it seems like you don't have much money either?"

  Wang Haodong had previously discussed his assets with Zhang Qian, although he was a city dweller, he now has no house or car, a typical poor man. She questioned his ability, which is also very normal. Wang Haodong nodded and said: "Indeed, I don't have much money, but the money to support your studies can still be taken out."

  "Really?" Zhang Qian looked like she didn't dare to believe it.

  Wang Haodong smiled and said, "I can still coax you, right?"

  "That's great, that's great." Zhang Qianxi couldn't help but say, "Ha, I'll cook lunch for you to eat, you haven't tried my cooking skills yet?"

  Wang Haodong nodded, although he had stayed at her house for a period of time, it was always Zhang Shufang who cooked, and Xiaoyu had never shown off his culinary skills. Was he going to cook today? Wouldn't he have trouble swallowing if he couldn't do it?

  Zhang Qian quickly got busy in the kitchen, peeled the potatoes, picked up a knife and started chopping, chop, chop, chop. The knife work was surprisingly skilled, and the cut potato strips were fine and dense, very uniform.

  "Hao Dong brother, you go out and wait for me, I'll cook quickly."

  Wang Haodong let out a sound, looking at her pale face, watching her cutting vegetables, shaking her hips, and couldn't help but feel hot-blooded, fortunately she didn't notice.

  What is this absurd idea of mine?

  Wang Haodong slowly backed out of the kitchen, slapped his own face, and got rid of that thought. He planned to go to Xiao Yufen's house to take a look, but when he went out of the yard, he saw that her front door was still locked, so he knew she hadn't come back yet.

  "I'll find an opportunity to buy her a mobile phone, so it's more convenient to contact her."

  Wang Haodong made up his mind in his heart, and just saw Zhang Shufang, who was wearing a sun hat on her head and holding a towel in her hand, walking back home with big strides. When she saw Wang Haodong, she hurriedly said: "Haodong, you're back?"

  "Ah, you're back." Wang Haodong walked up to her and looked at her face, which had been reddened by the sun, and asked with concern: "Is it hot outside?"

  "I'm dying of heat, it's over 30 degrees today." Zhang Shufang wiped her sweat with a towel, Wang Haodong was very close to her and could smell the faint scent of shower gel on her body.

  "Have you talked to Qianqian?" After wiping the sweat, Zhang Shufang used a tool to turn over the wheat on the ground and asked Wang Haodong.

  Wang Haodong nodded, "Alright, I roughly know what's going on with you guys, but there's nothing I can do about it."

  Zhang Shufang asked in surprise: "Didn't you persuade her well?"

  "She's got such a temper, I'm no match for her."

  When Wang Haodong said this, Zhang Shufang directly threw away the farm tool in her hand, "That won't do, I must persuade her well. After working so hard for so many years, if she doesn't take the exam, it will all be in vain."

  "Don't rush, don't rush."

  Wang Haodong saw her getting anxious, like an ant on a hot pot, and quickly grabbed her arm. "I was kidding you, I've already persuaded her, she agreed to take the exam."

  "Really?" Zhang Shufang asked Wang Haodong, her face full of surprise.

  "Of course it's true." Wang Haodong smiled, "I still have some ability after all."

  Zhang Shufang's impatience on her face gradually dissipated, and she only then noticed that Wang Haodong was still holding onto her arm. She lightly struggled a bit, but he didn't let go. Her face showed some shyness, and she didn't try to break free again.

  She looked like that, making Wang Haodong's adrenal gland secrete rapidly. However, it was the busy farming season now, and there were villagers harvesting wheat everywhere, or they would be seen by others, so he pulled her into the yard.

  Zhang Qian was cooking in the kitchen at this time, and the sound of the spatula hitting the iron pot kept coming out.

  Wang Haodong stretched out his foot to close the door, one hand hugged Zhang Shufang's waist and pulled her into his arms, saying: "Shufang, your affairs are my affairs, of course I will solve them for you."

  Zhang Shufang did not refuse Wang Haodong's hug, nor did she push him away. Instead, she said in a low voice: "Qianqian is worried about the tuition fees, I said it's okay, I can earn it, but she insists on selling the land..."

  "The land doesn't have to be sold, you're not developing it here and you can't sell it for much money anyway."

  Wang Haodong spoke as his fingers began to misbehave, slipping to her waist, feeling the soft and delicate skin at her slender waist.

  Zhang Shufang's body twisted a few times, and she quickly separated from Wang Haodong, saying: "Qianqian is at home, don't make trouble."

  So, in other words, when Zhang Qian is not around, we can get intimate?

  Wang Haodong smiled, and at this time Zhang Qian walked out of the kitchen, saw the two together, and asked in surprise: "Sister, when did you come back? Why didn't you make a sound?"

  Zhang Shufang suddenly came to a realization and hastily retreated several steps, keeping her distance from Wang Haodong far, far away...

  Zhang Qian looked at her sister's expression, which was like a startled kitten, and pointed at the two of them laughing: "Are you secretly doing something behind my back that can't be seen?"

  Zhang Shufang snorted, "Little girl, what nonsense are you talking about?"

  "Hey, what's with the blush?" Zhang Qian continued to tease.

  "Just you wait and see if I don't give you a good scolding." Zhang Shufang's face was stern as she chased after her younger sister, while Zhang Qian escaped into the kitchen.

  Listening to their giggles, Wang Haodong knew that the two sisters had made up. After all, they were biological sisters, and it was normal for them to have some disagreements and argue a few words, but they would soon make up with each other.

  Wang Haodong smiled, opened the door and walked out of the yard, took a look at Xiao Yufen's home, still locked tightly, guessing that she was busy in the field, so he didn't think much about it, turned around and entered the house.

  Zhang Shufang has come out of the kitchen and is looking for a bag at home to pack grain, while Zhang Qian is busy in the kitchen. Wang Haodong walks up to Zhang Shufang and asks, "Is the wheat dried?"

  "Ah, it's almost done, dried for a day yesterday, packed in bags this afternoon, and will be sold out in a few days."

  "Is the price reasonable?"

  Zhang Shufang shook her head, "If we wait until the end of the year, the price will definitely be a few cents more per kilogram. However, by the end of the year, the moisture will have evaporated, and one bag will weigh a few kilograms less. Calculating it out, the price is about the same. The main thing is that I plan to do business in town, so I'll need to live there. Qianqian also needs to go out and study, and with no one at home, I'm worried that the grain will be stolen if we leave it here, so let's just sell it."

  "Right, when a house is empty and no one's home, isn't it just like stealing from your own home?"

  Wang Haodong and Zhang Shufang chatted for a while, and Zhang Qian had already cooked the meal, calling the two to wash their hands and eat.