Chapter 19 What Do I Have to Do with You

Chapter 19: What's That Got to Do with You

The next day, when Lu Yun met Li Pandi, in addition to the thirty pearl hair clips, she gave Li Pandi one extra one. Lu Yun figured the smooth sailing was partly thanks to Li Pandi.

Lu Yun heard that many people had been searching for pearl hair clips like hers after work but couldn't find them, and those who'd managed to buy them treasured theirs even more.

Lu Yun was counting cash in her room when her dad came in and handed her some money, asking her to go to the seafood market to buy abalone. He'd learned how to cook it and wanted to whip some up for them to try.

Both her father and mother were busy—one cooking and the other helping—so the job landed on Lu Yun. She biked over to the seafood market. Not every seafood stall sold abalone, but it wasn't that hard to track down. She quickly found a stall and, with the help of the vendor, picked out four abalone.

After buying the abalone, Lu Yun bumped into her cousin and the landlord.

Her cousin had chased after the landlord, still fixated on that courtyard house. "I'll give you money, and then I'll pay you in installments every month. You'll end up with way more than the full price of the house. Maybe someday everyone will buy houses this way!"

"Please, I'm begging you here!"

"I told you, my son's getting married and needs the money!"

"Why are you giving your money to your son? If you give it to him, what happens when you're old and he won't take care of you? Look, if you let me pay in installments, that's basically me supporting you in your old age!"

The landlord was trembling with rage at her cousin's words. Was he some childless old man with no son? Did he need someone like her to provide for his old age, with his own money, no less? She really had some nerve cooking up that scheme!

The landlord said, "Let me tell you, I've already found a buyer—a young woman with money. In a few days, this courtyard house is hers. Quit pestering me!"

Lu Yun's cousin went pale. "What did you say!"

The landlord said, "It's my own house. Do I need you calling the shots for me? These days, you really run into all kinds of weirdos!"

Lu Yun's cousin said anxiously, "No, I have to have this courtyard house! Is it nine thousand? Just wait till I scrape together the money, and I'll come find you!"

There had to be something about that courtyard house her cousin was after!

Lu Yun's dad cooked up the abalone and was pretty pleased with himself. He told his son and daughter-in-law that since they'd only bought four, they'd eat them first, and next time the whole family got together, he'd make more. Lu Yun's dad and mom each had one, and the remaining two went to Lu Yun, who seemed distracted.

Her dad asked, "What's the matter?"

Lu Yun said, "I'm wondering what's in that courtyard house that's got my cousin so worked up!"

The next day, Lu Yun went back to stroll around the courtyard house area. This whole neighborhood was full of these courtyard houses, just in different sizes. Besides the one her cousin was dead set on buying, there were other courtyard houses up for sale too. Lu Yun even went inside one to check it out—the layout was great, and the interior was nicely done.

When the landlord saw Lu Yun coming out of another courtyard house, he immediately rushed over all eager and asked how she was leaning.

The landlord said, "You never came back to me after checking out the courtyard house last time. I'm a man of my word—I've been holding out for you. You have no idea how crazy people have been going over my courtyard house! Chasing after me every single day. The other day, she even tried to grab my hand to get me to cave, but I refused. How could I, a married man, go along with something like that?"

Lu Yun didn't answer. The landlord said, "Eight thousand five hundred. How's that price for you?"

Last time it was nine thousand, now it's eight thousand five hundred. Lu Yun was deeply suspicious of this landlord.

The landlord also knew houses weren't easy to sell these days—not that they couldn't be sold, but that they took time.

Eight thousand five hundred was a real steal.

Lu Yun said, "Let me think it over."

The landlord said, "How about this—same time next week, we meet here again, okay? By then, you can let me know if you're buying or not."

Lu Yun said, "Fine."

When she got home, Lu Yun rubbed her temples over her savings of a little over eight hundred yuan. How could that cover eight thousand five hundred? If she'd started figuring out ways to make money earlier, maybe she could have earned some by now, but even so, it definitely wouldn't reach eight thousand five hundred, would it?

Lu Yun did have ways to make money, but having ways didn't mean she could immediately earn eight thousand five hundred yuan right now.

Early in the morning, when Lu Yun arrived at the office, she saw Sister He knitting even faster than before—her eyes were almost dizzy watching her.

Sister He said, "How is my husband faster than me!"

Sister He's whole family was rushing to finish orders. Now that the orders were almost done and they had no more work, Sister He was feeling a bit wistful. Lu Yun heard this and got an idea.

Lu Yun said, "Knit sweaters for me—make as many as you can. Two and a half yuan per sweater for labor. Are you in?"

Sister He said, "I'm in, definitely in. I'd do it for two yuan!"

Two and a half yuan was a fifty-fifty split. For the factory's orders, Lu Yun took thirty percent, but now with a fifty-fifty split, it was all for Lu Yun herself. It wasn't too much, but the important thing was that without this order, they wouldn't earn this money at all.

Lu Yun said, "Scarves, one yuan."

Sister He said, "Fine. Scarves are simple—we can knit those fast!"

Lu Yun said, "Hats, seventy cents."

Sister He said, "That's even less of a problem!"

At noon, Lu Yun went home to get money to buy yarn. Since the weather was cold now, she could make a profit. If she didn't, there was nothing to be done—business was never guaranteed to make money. But even if she didn't profit, Lu Yun certainly wouldn't lose money either, since she'd already made a profit from Sister He.

The courtyard compound was lively at noon.

Aunt Jiang was in the compound talking to Aunt Han about Aunt Li. Aunt Jiang said, "I really misjudged her. How could she do something like this? We're all neighbors, aren't we? How could she let her son marry Li Cai? Was her son unable to find a wife? Don't think I don't know—she had her eye on Lu Yun too back then, wanted her son to marry Lu Yun. She hung back and watched your family take the loss. She knew her son could never marry Lu Yun, so she didn't scheme against the Lu family."

Aunt Han said, "Weren't you pretty close with her before?"

Aunt Jiang said, "I was close with her, but I'm a reasonable person, aren't I? The things she's done make me look down on her. And you two—what a coincidence, how did you both end up liking Lu Yun?"

Aunt Han said, "Liking Lu Yun? When did I ever like Lu Yun?"

When Aunt Han and Aunt Jiang saw Lu Yun, they both fell silent—one went home, and the other went to cook.

Lu Yun had heard them mention her, though she hadn't caught everything they said about her. If she hadn't heard, she would have let it go, but since she had, she couldn't just go home.

Lu Yun went to find Aunt Jiang. "What were you just saying?"

Aunt Jiang immediately said, "It's Aunt Han, you know how she is. Don't mention it, don't mention it."

Lu Yun stared at Aunt Jiang. Aunt Jiang let out an "Aiyo" and said, "Don't worry. If Aunt Han says anything about you, I'll definitely speak up for you."

Lu Yun said, "You don't need to speak up for me. Just don't say bad things about me, and that's enough."

Aunt Jiang said, "You child, how can you talk like that?"

Lu Yun said, "Can't help it. There aren't many good people in this compound."

Lu Yun then went to the Han family. The door was opened by Zhao Lan, whose gaze had shifted from complicated to jealous and resentful. Lu Yun didn't care—she wasn't afraid of Zhao Lan. It was just that Zhao Lan's eyes sometimes made her hard to read.

Lu Yun said, "Where's your mother-in-law?"

Zhao Lan said, "What do you want with my mother-in-law?"

Lu Yun said, "Tell her to watch her mouth."

The jealousy in Zhao Lan's eyes grew thicker. Why could this bitch live so freely? She had married into the compound and had to play the role of a virtuous wife. The man she wanted was one Lu Yun had rejected. Not only had Lu Yun rejected him, but he was also a useless man. Why hadn't they made Lu Yun marry him back then, so she could taste what it was like to be a living widow!

Zhao Lan: "Why are you picking on my mother-in-law? Telling her to watch her mouth—why don't you watch yours?"

Lu Yun: "Now you and your mother-in-law both need to watch your mouths."

Zhao Lan: "Do you know what Sun Zhi told me? He said he used to like you, and now the thought of it makes him sick. He said he loves me, and that after marrying me, he realized how ridiculous he was back then."

Lu Yun: "That is pretty laughable. Life in the Han family's not easy, is it? Don't tell me your mother-in-law's sweet, your father-in-law's sweet, Sun Zhi's sweet—we've all lived in the same compound for years. We all know each other's true colors. You're telling me all this 'cause you're jealous of me, right? That's fine. Lots of people in this world are jealous of me. You're worse off than me, not as pretty as me, and the guy you married used to like me—it'd be weird if you weren't jealous."

Aunt Han watched the two of them warily as they talked. "What are you two doing?"

Lu Yun: "Zhao Lan is jealous of me."

Aunt Han: "Zhao Lan is jealous of you? What's there for her to be jealous of?"

Lu Yun: "She's jealous of me for everything. As for how she's jealous, you and your daughter-in-law can hash that out at home. Right now, let's talk about our issue. Auntie, you don't need to badmouth me—every nasty word you say just proves you hate me for not marrying your son. But things are different now than before. Before, it was simple resentment that I didn't marry your son. Now, it's not just that—you're also unhappy with your daughter-in-law!"

Aunt Han said angrily: "What are you talking about? How could I possibly be unhappy with my daughter-in-law!"

Lu Yun: "Satisfied, huh? Then good luck finding another granddaughter-in-law just like her."

Zhao Lan suspected Lu Yun was deliberately needling her—needling her about not being pregnant. Before she got married, her parents had told her to have a kid right away so she could secure her place in the Sun family. Zhao Lan agreed with them completely, but now having a kid wasn't entirely up to her!

Lu Yun: "Aunt Han, what's wrong? Your face looks a bit pale. Don't worry—your grandson will definitely find a granddaughter-in-law as considerate as Zhao Lan."

Her grandson would never want a woman like Zhao Lan. Whoever married such a woman into their family would regret it for life!

Once her son's health was sorted out, she'd have him divorce Zhao Lan. If they didn't divorce, that woman would have a hold on their family forever!

Aunt Han: "You're unmarried—what do you know? Zhao Lan is a good woman! A good woman like her, our whole family cherishes her! Lu Yun, it's not that I'm picking on you, but Sun Zhi is married now and might even become a father soon. You're still single without a partner. Don't keep being so picky and end up an old maid no one wants."

Best if she never marries—serves her right for looking down on Sun Zhi!

Lu Yun: "How does other people's family life have anything to do with whether I'm married? Auntie, since Zhao Lan is such a good woman, you should let her run the household. You only have one son and one daughter-in-law, right?"

What a vicious woman—Lu Yun was truly vicious!

Aunt Han: "Who runs our household—what business is that of yours?"

Lu Yun: "Then what I do, whether I marry or who I marry—what business is that of yours?"

If she wanted cheap yarn, the best place was still the yarn factory directly. Leaving the compound, Lu Yun rode her bicycle to the yarn factory. She actually knew someone there—her mother's friend worked at the factory, so she could get a better price on a larger quantity.

At the yarn factory, Lu Yun used the employee discount to buy nearly five hundred yuan worth of yarn in various colors and qualities. All of it would go to Sister He to be knitted into sweaters, scarves, or hats, plus she'd have to pay Sister He for the labor.

With over eight hundred yuan spent and little left over, Lu Yun felt a bit uneasy. Even back when she lived paycheck to paycheck, she'd never been like this.

Author's note:

None.