Chapter 2 The Family's Debt—I'll Repay It!

"Repay!"
"And how are you going to repay it?"
"Such arrogance! Your father couldn't do it in years, and you think you can do it in a week?"
The villagers grew even more agitated, their disbelief stemming from how young Chai Jin was.
His sister, Chai Fang, tugged at his sleeve, her eyes full of worry, silently pleading for him to stop, afraid her seventeen-year-old brother couldn't withstand the mounting pressure.
Their seven-year-old sister, Chai Xiaoshan, understood nothing, her wide eyes and round, delicate face full of fear as she hid behind their father.
Their family had been through too many moments of being scolded and besieged like this.
Once again, Chai Jin stepped in front of Chai Minguo.
He faced the villagers and said, "You all know in your hearts how my father’s debt came about."
"If you won’t even give us a week, if you insist on driving our family to the edge—"
"Fine! We have two hatchets at home. My father and I will each take one and wait for you to come for us!"
"Let's go home!"
Chai Jin led his family away.
Behind them, the shouting grew harsher, but everyone eyed the sickle in Chai Jin’s hand, trembling—no one dared block their path.
They needed to repay nearly nine thousand yuan in just one week.
In an era when the average monthly wage was barely a hundred yuan, this was an astronomical sum for a rural family.
"Was I too impulsive?"
Back home, Chai Jin muttered to himself in front of the old locust tree.
Of course it was impulsive, but he did not regret it.
Because at that moment, he had seen his father on the edge of a mental collapse, teetering on the brink.
Chai Minguo slowly returned to his old self.
A man who had to be both father and mother, while tending several acres of land—he had borne more hardship than most men ever could.
When Chai Fang finished cooking, she called the family for supper.
Turnips, cabbage, barely a trace of oil.
Such was the poverty of their daily life.
Yet Chai Jin ate with particular relish.
No one mentioned the events of the afternoon, but the shadow of anxiety hung over the family, threatening to break them at any moment. The atmosphere was stifling.
After a long silence, Chai Minguo set down his bowl. "Later tonight, I’ll go to your aunt’s house."
"There has to be a way out. Even if I have to kneel, I’ll borrow the money. Second son, you must stay out of this."
Chai Fang, the eldest, a beautiful and sensible girl, spoke up: "Dad, after the late rice harvest, I’ll go south to work."
Chai Minguo said nothing.
Chai Jin ate quietly, offering no opinion.
As for little Chai Xiaoshan, her big eyes gazed blankly at her second brother, a mouthful of rice forgotten. The little girl clearly had no idea of their family’s desperate situation.
Chai Jin put down his bowl.
He said, "Dad, I’ll help you figure this out. The river always finds its way; there’s no obstacle we can’t cross."
Even as he ate, he had been pondering how to gather the money.
But so far, no solution had come to mind.
Chai Minguo looked back at his son with a complex expression.
Then he stubbed out his cigarette on the floor. "Forget it. I’ll head to the county right now."
"Fangfang, look after your brother and sister. I won’t be back tonight."
Chai Fang nodded silently and went to wash the dishes.
Chai Jin wanted to say something, but in the end, only said, "Be careful, Dad. I’ll walk you out."
He didn’t truly expect to borrow the money—he knew his aunt’s character all too well.
His grandfather was buried in the village, but his aunt’s family lived in town.
Every year at Qingming, they came to pay respects at the grave, but never set foot in their house.
Now that his family was drowning in debt, they avoided them even more, fearful of requests for loans, and looked down on their country relatives.
When Chai Xiaoshan saw Chai Jin stand, she threw down her bowl and hurried after him.
After they saw their father off, Chai Xiaoshan couldn’t wait to speak:
"Brother, I’m still hungry."
"But didn’t you just eat? How can you be hungry again?"
"But Brother, I want wild jujubes!"
The little girl glanced at the decades-old jujube tree in front of the house, her mouth watering.
Chai Jin’s heart softened. He remembered his little sister’s fate in the psychiatric hospital in another life, and a wave of sorrow washed over him. "Alright, I’ll get them for you. Even if you wanted the moon from the sky, your brother would get it for you in this life."
The siblings ran to the old jujube tree, and soon Chai Xiaoshan’s delighted squeals echoed back.
Inside the mud-brick house, Chai Fang watched her brother and sister with a weary smile.
How would they overcome this crisis?
Just thinking about it made her heart ache.
That night, Chai Xiaoshan insisted on sleeping clinging to her brother.
The Chai family had only two rooms—one served as a kitchen, tool shed, and storage, while the other contained three beds for the four of them.
Their house was bare, with not a single electrical appliance, as they were too poor to even have electricity.
Cradling his sleeping little sister, Chai Jin stared at the ceiling, deep in thought, and suddenly remembered something.
He sat up. "Sis, do we still have those stock certificates Dad got years ago?"
"The papers that tricked Dad?" Chai Fang had never been to a city. She’d stopped school after primary grades due to poverty, and had no idea what stocks were—she’d always thought they were a scam.
"Yes, those papers. Can you find them?"
"I think…maybe," Chai Fang replied uncertainly, getting up and lighting the old kerosene lamp.
Chai Jin was nervous.
He had just remembered—back in 1984, shares of Feiyue Audio had been fifty yuan each. After all these years, could they possibly still be worth only fifty?
It was 1985! Let alone in the countryside, even people in many banks didn’t know what freshly issued stocks were!
When the villagers first got those stocks, they took them to the bank only to be told the bank didn’t recognize them.
So they treated Chai Minguo as a fool, returned the shares, and forced him to sign IOUs.
They had no idea those scraps of paper had multiplied in value many times over!
The siblings searched for a long time before Chai Fang finally found them in a metal box.
"Xiao Jin, is this it?"
Chai Jin looked them over and breathed a sigh of relief, afraid his father had thrown them away. Thankfully, they were intact.
He counted them carefully.
A thick stack—135 certificates!
One certificate per share, that made 135 shares!
This was a huge fortune!
Chai Jin kept his composure, closed the box, and asked, "Do we have any money at home?"
Chai Fang frowned, her delicate face strikingly similar to a Hong Kong starlet.
"What do you need money for?"
His heart clenched again—his sister deserved more than a life ending at thirty.
"I’m going to Zhonghai to cash in these stocks and come back to pay our debts."
"Isn’t that a scam?" Chai Fang asked, bewildered.
"A scam?" Chai Jin sneered softly. "Not only can we pay our debts, but we can also escape the fate of living on our knees."
"Sis, trust me this once. This is our family’s only chance."
Chai Fang was gentle and soft-hearted. After gazing at her determined brother for a long time, she made up her mind.
She picked up the candle and retrieved a cloth pouch from the bottom of her clothing chest.
"This is fifty yuan I saved from catching loaches and fishing for crayfish. Dad doesn’t know—I was going to use it for travel money after the harvest."
"Xiao Jin, don’t let yourself be fooled."