mtl008 Chapter 12 Trust Her
Chapter 12 Trust Her
Upon waking, Deng Xiuzhen was in a state of utter confusion and could not fall back asleep.
She felt for a moment that this was a dead end, with no way to solve it, which is why she was worrying so much that she was daydreaming.
Then I thought it was a good thing to dream about those two arguing; at least it was better than figuring it out after it happened. Besides, there might be other ways to resolve the situation.
After racking her brains, she suddenly realized that her own written record wouldn't work, and she couldn't get Yuan Qiwen to write a written statement. So what if she recorded the conversation?
Recording should be possible, right?
But the tape recorder at home is so big. If I take it with me to record, wouldn't Yuan Qiwen know? Then what's the point of recording? Besides, the tape recorder is still at home.
Since the recording is valid, then...
A sudden thought flashed through Deng Xiuzhen's mind. She remembered that when she was learning beauty, there was an old man selling strange and unusual things not far from the beauty salon. She and her sisters had been there. There were all sorts of advanced things there, such as cell phones that they had never used before, and there seemed to be a small recording device, only as long as a pen, which I think was called a voice recorder.
If you had that, you could record it yourself, and Yuan Qiwen would never have known.
I only learned beauty techniques a few months later in my previous life, so I don't know if the old man still sells them now.
Yuan Qiwen didn't notice Deng Xiuzhen, but Qin Yanlin, who was sitting next to her and knew her personality well, did.
He didn't know what Deng Xiuzhen was doing, but he knew she must have been thinking a lot. Looking at her expression, sometimes frowning, sometimes looking dejected, and now staring ahead as if hoping the car would go faster, he knew she wasn't thinking about anything happy.
"Could you give me some money?" Deng Xiuzhen asked Qin Yanlin quietly. She was worried that buying that thing would cost money, and Qin Yanlin might not approve of her buying it.
Qin Yanlin looked at Deng Xiuzhen, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "How much do you want?"
"The more the better," Deng Xiuzhen said, looking expectantly at Qin Yanlin.
Qin Yanlin remained silent. Just when Deng Xiuzhen thought Qin Yanlin wouldn't give it to her, Qin Yanlin secretly started rummaging through his bag.
Qin Yanlin brought 20,000 yuan with him on this trip.
Qin Xiuwen told him that it would cost three to five thousand yuan to get a child into the first-grade primary school, and two thousand to three thousand yuan to get a child into the second-grade primary school.
He needs to transfer his three children to good schools, which, if all goes smoothly, will cost several thousand, or even fifteen thousand. He's willing to spend that money for his children.
He knew how he kept his own money. He rummaged through his bag and found a large envelope, which he quietly handed to Deng Xiuzhen. At the same time, where no one could see him, he held up five fingers to show Deng Xiuzhen.
Deng Xiuzhen took the envelope and squeezed it. Then, seeing Qin Yanlin's gesture, she understood that it meant there was five thousand in the envelope.
She quickly stuffed the envelope into her bag and whispered in Qin Yanlin's ear, "Thank you!"
Qin Yanlin smiled but didn't say anything.
He didn't give Deng Xiuzhen money before because she was confused and always wanted to help her family. If it were a good family, he would have helped, but Deng Chunsheng was clearly a lazy bum, so the money he gave her would have been a waste.
Why should you let others squander the money you've worked so hard to earn, instead of saving it for your children?
In the past few days, he has seen that Deng Xiuzhen has changed. She is no longer confused, no longer single-mindedly cares about her family, and has even fallen out with them.
Judging from her expression just now, she must have thought of something and is about to do something, and it must be something very important.
He felt he should trust her and support her.
Besides, this money wasn't earned by him alone; Deng Xiuzhen also had the right to dispose of it.
The bus arrived in Pucheng soon.
The difference between Pucheng in 1993 and Pucheng in 2024 is not small. In 93, Pucheng had no skyscrapers, no strange costumes, and no endless stream of cars.
There were old bicycles everywhere, bustling crowds, and bright, smiling faces.
Deng Xiuzhen was filled with mixed emotions. After going around in circles, she had returned to this place. Thinking of the past, she felt a little sad.
But before I could dwell on the sadness, reality interrupted me.
Qin Yanlin called to her, "Xiuzhen, come here, this way."
As soon as I walked over, I saw Yuan Qiwen take something out of his bag and walk to the side to talk to it.
Deng Xiuzhen knew that it was a mobile phone from that era, commonly known as a "big brother" phone. One cost 20,000 yuan, and only bosses, leaders of certain units or organizations could afford it. Ordinary people simply couldn't afford it.
A short while later, Yuan Qiwen came over and said that it was getting late and he had some things to do. He told Qin Yanlin and the others to go have lunch first, and then wait for him at the Education Bureau. He would go to see them before work and wouldn't delay their business.
Before leaving, I reminded them not to go too far and to remember to wait outside the Education Bureau, on the bench to the right, not inside.
Qin Yanlin was a little anxious, worried that he would be late and there would be no bus to get back.
However, he was worried but dared not speak up or offer any advice, for fear of upsetting Yuan Qiwen.
Deng Xiuzhen was delighted. She knew the Education Bureau was in the west of the city, not far from the old man selling unusual things. Letting them wait while she bought the recording would be discreet. It was like a godsend, perfect as could be.
Qin Yanlin and Deng Xiuzhen walked to the west of the city. It was not yet 11 o'clock, so it was still early for lunch and even earlier than the afternoon when the Education Bureau would start work, which was several hours away.
Deng Xiuzhen suggested, "We can't eat at this hour anyway. If the child's school transfer is settled, we'll definitely need to rent a place in the city. Why don't we go and look around now and ask how much it costs to rent a place?"
Qin Yanlin agreed. Given the time available for viewing and inquiring about prices, and considering their limited time, they decided to split up to look at the properties, meet up at 12:30, have lunch together, and then go to the Education Bureau.
Deng Xiuzhen told Qin Yanlin to go first. After seeing Qin Yanlin turn the corner and disappear, Deng Xiuzhen went straight to the alley where the old man was.
In her haste, Deng Xiuzhen didn't notice that Qin Yanlin, who had just disappeared around the corner, had returned and was quietly following behind her.
Qin Yanlin didn't distrust her, nor did he think she would do anything bad. He just felt that Deng Xiuzhen hadn't been to the city often, was unfamiliar with the place, lacked social experience, and had several thousand yuan in her pocket.
In those days, several thousand yuan was a huge sum of money for ordinary people.
A young woman carrying a large sum of money is both a target for thieves and an easy target for human traffickers.
Deng Xiuzhen was unaware, but he knew that not long ago, when he came to buy goods, he heard that several children had been abducted by human traffickers and some women had gone missing.
Following her memory, Deng Xiuzhen searched all the way there, but to her surprise, she didn't see the beauty salon. However, she was delighted to find that the old man's door was open.
Overwhelmed with excitement, she didn't think twice and happily ran over to greet him, "Hello, Uncle Zhao!"
The old man looked up at her: "Who are you?"
Deng Xiuzhen then realized that she had said the wrong thing. After all, she had come here a few times with her friends in her previous life and only then did she learn that the old man's surname was Zhao. This was her first time here in this life. She smiled awkwardly and said, "It's okay if you don't remember me. I'm here to buy something from you."
The old man glanced at her indifferently and asked, "What do you want to buy?"
"Do you have a voice recorder here?"
"Who said I have one?" The old man looked up at Deng Xiuzhen, his gaze somewhat intriguing.
Deng Xiuzhen's heart tightened. She belatedly realized that there was no one in the alley, and she could not hear anyone else talking. It was as quiet as a filming location for a murder that was about to occur in a TV drama.
She felt a chill run down her spine, and a thought of giving up welled up inside her.
But thinking about her child's schooling, she suppressed her fear and calmly said, "I know you have them, and I'm here to buy them sincerely. Can you please help me think of a way?"
The old man remained silent for a while, then suddenly smiled and said, "You really came here to buy something?"
Deng Xiuzhen nodded.
The old man asked, "What's that person behind you doing?"
Deng Xiuzhen turned around but didn't see anyone. She turned to look at the old man with a puzzled expression.
The old man looked up and shouted outside: Come out.
Then Deng Xiuzhen saw Qin Yanlin slowly walk out from the corner, looking embarrassed. After a long while, she managed to squeeze out a sentence: "I was worried about you."