nucmednet Chapter 344
Chapter 344
Zhao Tiesheng felt heartbroken. Only now did he fully realize that his own little family was the most important thing to care about.
Over the years, he had neglected his wife and daughter. Wang Guixiang would hand over the money to the government and use it to buy clothes for her third brother, while his wife wore the same floral jacket all year round. In winter, she would stuff cotton padding inside, and in hot weather, she would take it out. It wasn't until this month after they separated that Cheng Jinxiang bought new clothes.
Then there was his daughter, Zhao Da'e. She was skin and bones when she lived with her family, but after moving to her aunt's house, she became much plumper, clearly well-fed. While other daughters her age were being sent to primary school, his daughter was being prevented from attending by Wang Guixiang. Thinking of this, Zhao Tiesheng was filled with guilt and regret. If only he had been wiser, his family wouldn't have ended up like this, even to the point where Jinxiang wanted a divorce.
Fortunately, it's not too late; there's still a chance to salvage the situation.
“Jinxiang, in a few days I’ll go with you to Chunqin’s workplace to ask for the money. If we don’t get it, I won’t come back. I’ll sleep at Chunqin’s workplace and make her upset until she pays me back.” Zhao Tiesheng held Cheng Jinxiang’s hand and said to her earnestly.
Cheng Jinxiang wavered slightly, but when she thought of the stupid thing Zhao Tiesheng did yesterday, she was furious. She shook off Zhao Tiesheng's hand and said sarcastically, "Who knows if what you said is true or false? Don't say something nice, but then when you see Chunqin, you say she's your little sister and then abandon us, mother and daughter."
Zhao Da'e stood beside him, arms crossed, and gave a mocking snort.
Zhao Tiesheng felt extremely helpless. He tugged at Cheng Jinxiang and said seriously, "Jinxiang, I'm serious this time. I will definitely not hold you back again. Otherwise, don't talk to me anymore."
As he spoke, Zhao Tiesheng took the initiative to pull Cheng Jinxiang to sit down next to him and gave her a massage on her shoulders.
Cheng Jinxiang didn't say anything on her face, but she was pleased inside. She pretended to cough a few times and said, "Hurry up and help move the things. All these odds and ends need to be taken away."
There were many discarded bricks, planks, iron barrels and other things on the ground. The Zhao family had piled up all the things they didn't want here. Now these things had to be thrown away and the area had to be cleaned up before they could build a new house.
Seeing Cheng Jinxiang ordering him around, Zhao Tiesheng was overjoyed. His wife was willing to give him orders, which meant she was forgiving him and willing to give him a chance to prove himself!
Zhao Tiesheng, as if injected with adrenaline, began moving the discarded bricks from the ground into a small cart, looking full of energy.
Holding a small hoe, Zhao Da'e said excitedly, "Dad, come help me weed!"
Since you're so enthusiastic, it's fine for you to help me weed, right?
Zhao Tiesheng shook his head and said coldly, "Big Goose, do your own things. I'm only helping Mom because I feel sorry for her. You don't need to push the things you can do onto Dad."
Zhao Da'e seemed to hear the sound of her heart breaking. Fine, fine, she was just superfluous.
Three days later, Zhao Tingming came to find Zhao Dage, bringing with him a list of materials and a contract.
“Big Goose, I’ve already looked at the materials you asked me to check. Cement is 28 yuan a ton, bricks are 4 yuan a hundred pieces, concrete is 30 yuan a square meter, and river sand is 17 yuan a cubic meter. Then there are the tiles and steel bars. Just laying the foundation for the house will conservatively cost at least 4,000 yuan, and that doesn’t even include the materials for the subsequent construction. You also need to hire labor, get an excavator, and so on. I said you need 4,000 yuan for these materials, so you can’t just have 4,000 yuan; you need at least 5,000 yuan, with 1,000 yuan as a reserve. Labor costs, marking lines, digging the foundation, and laying the ground beams all need to be calculated separately. The preliminary work will cost at least 10,000 yuan. Big Goose, can you afford that much money?”
This wasn't Zhao Tingming exaggerating; it was a genuine need for that much money. He had seen so many people build new houses and knew a thing or two about it. A typical one-story house with only two rooms and a kitchen would cost at least 15,000 yuan. If you built an extra floor and added more rooms, it would cost at least 20,000 yuan, or even more. And then there would be furniture to add later. There were just so many places where money was needed.
Zhao Tingming knew that the Da'e family couldn't afford that much money right now, so he gently advised, "Da'e, why don't you reconsider and wait until you have enough money to build a new house?"
Otherwise, if they find they don't have enough money to continue building the new house halfway through, they'll have to abandon the project halfway through.
Zhao Da'e was also in a dilemma. Building a new house was more expensive than she had imagined, and she still had money to use for shop renovations, shop expenses, and buying goods in Jinzhou.
But Zhao Da'e remembered how subservient her mother was in the Zhao family. Even at her uncle's house, she was still living under someone else's roof. It would be much more comfortable and free to have her own house. Living under someone else's roof means you always have to be at the mercy of others.
Anyway, this new house will have to be built sooner or later, so why not build it now? If she needs money, she can just borrow from others. The sooner the house is built, the sooner her mother can enjoy her life.
After thinking it through, Zhao Da'e said to Zhao Tingming with a determined look, "Grandpa, I'll buy the materials and build the new house. Don't worry about the rest; I'll take care of it."
If Zhao Da'e needed to come up with 5,000 yuan, he had no cash, only a bankbook.
A hint of heartache flashed in Zhao Tingming's eyes. "Big Goose, are you sure you want to pay this money? Can you raise the rest of the money? Do you need your great-grandfather to lend you some?"
Zhao Da'e shook his head, a slight smile appearing on his lips. He patted his chest and said nonchalantly, "Don't worry, Grandpa. I'm still running a small business. It's only a matter of time before I can raise these tens of thousands of yuan. It's not difficult for me. Besides, building a new house takes several months. I'll have earned the money in a few months."
Zhao Da'e went to the wardrobe, took out a savings book and gave it to Zhao Tingming, "Grandpa, there is exactly five thousand yuan in this savings book. You can use it to buy building materials."
Seeing Zhao Da'e say this, Zhao Tingming didn't stand on ceremony and directly accepted the savings book. "Da'e, I'll take care of all your building materials. You can rest assured about my work."
Zhao Da'e laughed, "Grandpa, I trust you completely. You're much more reliable than my parents."
After resolving the issue of building materials, Zhao Da'e's next thought was to hire workers to build the house. Although many aspects of the construction could be done by his family, it's better to hire professionals for specialized tasks. If problems arise later after building the house himself, it will be very troublesome to resolve, so it's better to spend more money.
The next day
Zhao Da'e, Cheng Jinxiang, and Zhao Tiesheng boarded the car again and arrived at the entrance of Zhao Chunqin's workplace.
There are security guards at the entrance, and you can see the four-story building inside from the outside. Cars also pass by on the roadside from time to time.
Zhao Tiesheng and Cheng Jinxiang, who came from the countryside, were quite impressed by the changes in rural areas compared to the bustling county town.
The security guard at the entrance was a middle-aged man, dressed in casual clothes, thin, with thinning hair. He stopped Zhao Da'e and his group and questioned, "What brings you here?"
Zhao Tiesheng stepped forward and said, "Uncle, I came here to see Zhao Chunqin. I'm her second brother. I have something to discuss with her today. Could you please call her for me?"
The security guard looked Zhao Tiesheng up and down and saw that they came from the countryside. He thought that it must have been difficult for this family to come to the county town from the countryside, and that they probably had some urgent business to attend to.
"You're here to see Xiao Zhao, right? Then wait a moment, I'll make a call and ask."
After the security guard finished speaking, he picked up the phone and dialed the office number.
On the other end, after hearing the phone ring, Xiao Su, the assistant in the office, answered it and replied, "Uncle, why are you calling the office?"
The security guard glanced at Zhao Tiesheng and his family waiting at the gate and said, "Xiao Su, ask Xiao Zhao to answer the phone. Someone claiming to be her second brother is here looking for her. I need to confirm with her. Outsiders aren't allowed in the workplace, so she needs to come down to meet him."
There's only one person in the company with the surname Zhao, and that's Zhao Chunqin. So when people in the office call Zhao Chunqin "Little Zhao," they mean "Little Zhao."
Xiao Su glanced at Zhao Chunqin, who was busy working, waved her hand and called out, "Xiao Zhao, someone here said your second brother is looking for you. Do you want to go down and see your family?"
Zhao Chunqin stopped working with a start. Someone was looking for her? Her second brother?
Upon realizing what was happening, a look of shock flashed across Zhao Chunqin's face. It was Zhao Tiesheng! What was he doing here? Was he here to ask her for money?
These were the only reasons Zhao Chunqin could think of. She never expected that Zhao Tiesheng would dare to come looking for her again. Her mother had warned him not to cause her any trouble, but only a few days later, he came looking for her again.
Zhao Chunqin felt annoyed. She ran over and whispered in Xiao Su's ear, "Xiao Su, just tell her that I didn't come to work today and went out to do some errands."
Xiao Su hesitated for a moment, clearly not expecting Zhao Chunqin to say that, but she still did as Zhao Chunqin said, picked up the phone and continued, "Uncle, Xiao Zhao... didn't come to work today. Tell that person who calls himself Xiao Zhao's second brother to go back."
The security guard who answered the phone was surprised by this response. He asked in confusion, "Xiao Zhao isn't here? But I clearly saw Xiao Zhao come this morning, how come he's not here?"
Xiao Su glanced at Zhao Chunqin, who seemed somewhat embarrassed. Zhao Chunqin was certainly here, but she was unwilling to meet people from outside.
Helpless, Xiao Su could only cover up Zhao Chunqin's lie, "Uncle, Zhao had something to do and went back home, so she didn't come to the office. You can tell those people at the door to go back."
Seeing Xiao Su's words, the security guard had no choice but to hang up the phone and relay the exact words to Zhao Tiesheng and the other two. After saying this, he said with a puzzled look, "This is really strange. I saw Xiao Zhao come here this morning, but now he says he's not at the office and we don't know where he went."
"Gentlemen, the person you are looking for is not here. Why don't you leave now?"
Cheng Jinxiang said coldly, "This isn't about not being there; it's obvious they saw us and were just pretending not to be there and not wanting to see us."
I had seen this tactic used a few days ago when I went to see Zhao Chunqin.
Zhao Tiesheng's face was grim; he was clearly aware of the situation. Seeing the security guard's reaction, he figured Zhao Chunqin was most likely in her office, simply choosing not to come see him.
Zhao Tiesheng tried to resist, saying to the security guard, "Uncle, I know Zhao Chunqin is in the office. Could you please let us in? We really need to see Zhao Chunqin."
The security guard frowned and subconsciously waved his hand in refusal, saying, "I can't let you in. Outsiders aren't allowed in the unit. I'm just a security guard, following the rules. Don't make things difficult for me. Everyone inside says Xiao Zhao isn't here. What are you going in for? Go back home."
Seeing that things weren't going well with the security guards, Zhao Tiesheng felt frustrated and even more disappointed in Zhao Chunqin.
He, as her second brother, initially paid for most of Zhao Chunqin's university expenses. But now that she's successful, she doesn't acknowledge him as her brother anymore. She borrowed money from him but hasn't paid it back. He's gone to see her repeatedly, but she either pretends not to exist or says she has no money.
Zhao Tiesheng has now seen through Zhao Chunqin. She's an ingrate. He shouldn't have spent money on her. He only blames himself for not lending her more money and for not understanding why she asked him for money once or twice, but he doesn't understand how hard he's been lately.
Zhao Da'e tugged at Zhao Tiesheng's sleeve and blinked. "Dad, since Auntie said she's not here, let's wait for her at the gate. We'll ask everyone we meet if they've seen her. If we ask a few times, we'll eventually find her."
As more and more people asked, they all realized that their family had come to see their aunt. If anyone asked what they wanted to see their aunt for, they would of course tell the truth: they wanted to ask her for money.
She couldn't believe that Zhao Chunqin could still hide from the world after all this.
Cheng Jinxiang, of course, fully supported her daughter. "Just do as Da'e says. If we ask around, we'll eventually find out where Zhao Chunqin is."
This way, things can escalate.
Zhao Tiesheng hesitated for a moment, then, remembering Zhao Chunqin's resoluteness and evasion, he gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, let's do as Big Goose says."
Seeing the family like this, the security guard became curious and asked, "What do you want with Xiao Zhao?"
Zhao Tiesheng didn't mince words and said directly, "Uncle, I'll be frank. My younger sister borrowed 40,000 yuan from me. Our whole family came here to ask her to get the money back. We're really short of money lately, and we don't even have the money to send our child to school, so we wanted to come and get the money back."
Upon hearing this, the security guard exclaimed in surprise, "Xiao Zhao borrowed 40,000 yuan from you? Are you trying to scam us? The people working here all earn a decent salary. How could Xiao Zhao possibly borrow so much money from you? I'll ask you again, are you really Xiao Zhao's second brother? I don't think Xiao Zhao is short of money. Did I mishear? It's Xiao Zhao who lent you 40,000 yuan, not that Xiao Zhao borrowed 40,000 yuan from you."