With the National Day holiday plus the weekend, there were only two days off. In this era, there was no concept of a Golden Week, and the two-day weekend system hadn't even been implemented yet.
In the afternoon, Feng Yu and his friends had finished shucking the corn. When the farmer arrived with a tractor, they loaded the corn onto the vehicle, and the activity came to an end.
Students from nearby farms and the county went straight home for the holiday, only needing to return to school on the evening of the 2nd, which was a Sunday. Feng Yu had already informed his father, and Feng Xingtai's small jeep was parked at the edge of the field.
Feng Yu and his three friends got into the car and returned to the farm. On Sunday afternoon, Feng Xingtai would take them back to Bingcheng.
The three young men sat in the back, while Li Na sat in the front passenger seat. Her face was red, and she kept her head down, not daring to look at Feng Xingtai, who kept asking her questions.
Wen Dongjun and Liu Kun were secretly laughing, while Feng Yu tried to change the subject. If Feng Xingtai knew that Feng Yu was in an early romance with Li Na, he would probably use the family discipline and beat Feng Yu's buttocks with a feather duster. After finally getting into the best high school in the city, he should be focusing on his studies, not just dating!
First, they dropped off Li Na and Liu Kun at the farm office, then the small jeep took a small road back to the team.
When Feng Yu got home, he saw several bicycles parked by the roadside outside his house. He found it strange—had someone come to visit?
Feng Xingtai's face changed when he saw the bicycles. Without stopping the car, he drove around and took Feng Yu to Wen Dongjun's house.
"Go play at Dongjun's place for a while. Come back in half an hour."
Feng Yu looked curious, "Dad, what's going on?"
"Never mind, just come back in half an hour, and do as I say!"
Wen Dongjun was also surprised to see Feng Yu come in. Hadn't Feng Yu just gotten home? Why was he here again, and wasn't he tired after working all day?
"Feng Yu, are your parents in the fields? Have some peanuts, and help yourself to water."
"Our field was harvested last week. Why would they be in the fields? I don't know what's going on, but my dad told me to wait here for half an hour."
Wen Dongjun's mother chimed in, "It's probably someone borrowing money from your family again. People come every day, and your dad is busier than Dongjun's dad, who is the team leader!"
"Borrowing money? For what?" Wen Dongjun looked puzzled. Feng Yu's family didn't have any relatives in the team, so who would come to borrow money?
Feng Yu understood at this point. This was the downside of living in a small team. When something happened in one family, the whole team knew about it within a day.
People in the team said that the Feng family was now wealthy. Their daughter had found a rich husband in the city. Look, Feng Xingtai even had a small jeep, while the team leader could only ride a small Jialing motorcycle (the earliest yellow Jialing 50).
Those who had a good relationship with Feng Xingtai would go to the Feng family and ask for 3,000 yuan, which Feng Xingtai would lend without hesitation. This confirmed to others that the Feng family was indeed very wealthy.
Some people came to the Feng family to borrow money, saying they wanted to buy a tractor and were short a few thousand yuan; others said they hadn't made money from farming this year and needed money to feed their families; and some even said they wanted to buy a combine harvester and only needed 100,000 yuan, which they would definitely pay back in a couple of years!
At first, since the Feng family had about 50,000 yuan, Feng Xingtai didn't feel bad about lending 3,000 yuan. But as more and more people came to borrow money, some even asked for it without interest and said they couldn't pay it back for three to five years, and others even said that Feng Xingtai owed them for helping him carry seeds in the past, so he should give them 3,000 to 5,000 yuan, which wasn't borrowing but demanding money!
Feng Xingtai was frustrated. The money his son earned didn't come from the wind. Why should he lend it to anyone who asked? The first few people were okay; they promised to pay back the next year with interest higher than the bank's. But later, who were these people? His family wasn't a bank or a printing press!
However, being neighbors, Feng Xingtai didn't want to lose face and just said the money was already lent out, and the rest was saved for the New Year. But those people didn't believe him and even said, "You lent it to XXX, why not to me?"
Feng Xingtai almost died of anger. "It's my money, and I can lend it to whoever I want. What's with your tone? It's like I owe you money if I don't lend it to you?"
Feng Xingtai was unhappy. Now, no matter who came to borrow money, his answer was always the same: "No!"
After half an hour, Feng Yu went home, and the bicycles were gone. He thought everyone had left, but when he went inside, he saw two people still sitting there, looking like they planned to stay for dinner.
"Hey, Xiao Yu is back. How's school in the city? Your sister found a rich husband, so you must be doing well too."
"Exactly, Brother Feng is so lucky. His daughter found a rich husband, and his son is talented. He'll surely become a leader after graduating from university."
Feng Yu suddenly asked, "Uncle Song, Uncle Zheng, why are you at my house? It's getting late; shouldn't you go home for dinner?"
The smiles on their faces froze. This kid was trying to get rid of them.
Fortunately, Feng Xingtai spoke up, "Xiao Yu, what are you saying!"
They smiled again, thinking Feng Xingtai still cared about his face and would invite them to stay for dinner, serve a few dishes, and offer some drinks. Then, in front of the child, they would ask for a loan, and he wouldn't dare refuse.
Feng Xingtai continued, "Do you think Uncle Song and Uncle Zheng don't know when to go home for dinner? Do you need to remind them?"
Their smiles froze again. Could they say they weren't going home and wanted to stay for dinner? If the host didn't invite them, staying would be useless.
"Yes, yes, we're leaving. Brother Feng, I'll come back tomorrow, and we'll continue discussing."
"I'm leaving too. No need to see me off, Brother Feng."
Watching them leave, Feng Xingtai sighed. Zhang Muhua came in from the outer room, and her worried expression disappeared when she saw Feng Yu. "Son, are you hungry? I'll cook for you. What do you want to eat?"
"Stir-fried potato shreds and salted duck eggs."
After his mother went to cook, Feng Yu asked his father, "Dad, how much money have we lent out, and to how many people?"
"We've lent out more than 40,000 yuan to about ten people. They all wrote IOUs, some to be paid back in one year, others in two. Sigh, having too much money isn't always a good thing!" Feng Xingtai lit a cigarette and took a deep puff.
"Dad, let's move to the farm office. Didn't they build a new building this year? We can buy an apartment there and stay away from these shameless people."
"No, if we buy an apartment, they'll think we're even wealthier and have more excuses to borrow money. At least not this year!"
"Dad, if we've lent it, we've lent it. Our family is indeed wealthy. It's not just 40,000 yuan; we have 4 million yuan. But lending money like this isn't a good idea, especially to people like Uncle Song and Uncle Zheng, who only know how to play mahjong and don't take care of their fields. Lending money to them is useless; they won't be able to pay it back. How about I think of a way for our team to get rich, and you can lead more people to earn money together!"
Feng Yu had a good idea. This might help get rid of these annoying people. ~~Recommendation, recommendation, recommendation~~