Xu Qingqing's Thoughts

Many of the dishes on the table were made with things Wei Donglai had brought over yesterday.

Clearly, Xu Qingqing had deliberately saved them to prepare today.

Wei Donglai sighed a little at that.

This girl really could be a bit stubborn sometimes.

As the two chatted, Xu Qingqing was a little surprised to hear that Wei Donglai had ordered a boat today.

Then she thought of how Wei Donglai would certainly need to prepare fishing nets, fish traps, and the like before heading out to sea. She could weave him a hand net, which would also count as repaying the favors he had done her lately.

So she looked at Wei Donglai. "When are you planning to head out to sea?"

"I'm going to tow the boat back tomorrow. If the weather's good, I should be able to head out the day after."

"Are you in such a hurry?"

Wei Donglai glanced at Xu Qingqing in surprise, and she clearly realized that what she had said seemed a little off.

Wei Donglai didn't think much of it, though.

"The sooner I head out to sea, the sooner I can make money. I can't afford not to hurry."

"Do you need money urgently right now? If you do, I have some..."

"Stop right there!"

Wei Donglai had no idea what was going on in this girl's head.

Was that what he had meant?

Seeing her puzzled look, Wei Donglai explained.

"I don't need money urgently, and even if I did, I wouldn't borrow it from you."

Xu Qingqing's expression abruptly dimmed a little when she heard that.

So even if he urgently needed money, he still wouldn't come to me?

She felt as though she couldn't help him with anything, while she kept owing him favors instead.

That feeling of desperately wanting to do something to help him, yet being unable to help at every turn, made her feel miserable.

At that thought, a sense of helplessness welled up inside her. "Then I won't ask you for help anymore either."

She regretted saying it as soon as the words left her mouth.

But she had already said them, and she couldn't take them back.

She didn't know whether she should be angry with Wei Donglai or with herself at that moment.

She felt both frustrated and dejected, and with all those emotions tangled together, her eyes reddened.

Seeing her like this, Wei Donglai realized she had misunderstood him.

He hurriedly waved his hands. "I'm not saying I don't want your help. I mean, you're not well-off yourself right now, and your younger brother and sister are still young. Their schooling and living expenses all cost money. In a situation like that, never mind that I don't need money right now-even if I did, how could I bring myself to ask you for a loan?"

Xu Qingqing seemed to feel a little better after hearing that, though she was still a bit upset. "But don't I have enough to get by right now?"

Wei Donglai was at a loss for words. "Shouldn't you save some money for emergencies? I mean, what if-what if your brother or sister got sick and you didn't have any money on hand? What would you do then?"

"But you've helped me so much, and I can't help you at all."

Hearing that, Wei Donglai finally understood. So that was the heart of the problem.

All along, he seemed to have somewhat overlooked Xu Qingqing's strong sense of pride.

He really had given her some help during this time.

Of course, as far as he was concerned, those things hardly counted as anything.

But perhaps Xu Qingqing didn't see it that way.

She accepted his help, but not without misgivings; she had simply been keeping it all bottled up inside.

And the more help she received, the heavier the burden on her heart would grow.

Having figured that out, Wei Donglai began to reassure her.

"You're selling yourself far too short. How could you not be able to help at all? There'll be plenty of things I'll need to trouble you with later."

"Really?"

Xu Qingqing was visibly skeptical. "Then tell me, what can I do to help you?"

Faced with her insistence on getting to the bottom of things, Wei Donglai felt a headache coming on.

But he knew that if he didn't resolve this, Xu Qingqing might really do as she had said and gradually stop needing his help.

"Never mind the distant future. Once I start going out to sea, I might have to trouble you to help process and dry the miscellaneous fish I can't sell each day. And if my fishing nets get damaged, I'll need your help mending them too."

Hearing that, Xu Qingqing finally nodded.

"All right, then leave those things to me from now on."

Judging by her enthusiasm, he probably wouldn't even be able to leave those things to anyone else after this.

And she didn't seem bothered by how tiring it would be.

When Wei Donglai nodded, a spark instantly returned to Xu Qingqing's eyes.

After eating and drinking their fill, Wei Donglai played with Momo and Yiming for a while.

Once Xu Qingqing had finished cleaning up, he saw that it was about time, so he got up, said goodbye, and went back to sleep.

Early the next morning, Wei Donglai first went to find his dad. Then the two of them went to Li Guowang's place, climbed onto the tractor, and set off for River Source Village.

Since they were traveling by motor vehicle this time, they were much faster than before and soon arrived at Zhou Huaimin's house.

Li Guowang had just parked the tractor, and the group hadn't even entered Zhou Huaimin's courtyard when they heard arguing from inside.

After going in, Wei Donglai saw three people standing in the courtyard.

The three were clearly a family of three. Of the married couple, the man was tall and powerfully built, while the woman was fat-faced and big-eared. There was also a young man who was fairly tall, but his eyes looked a little small and didn't quite match the rest of his features.

They were a bit like two sesame seeds sprinkled on a big flatbread.

The fat woman was arguing fiercely with Xu Lianyun.

"His second aunt, our family ordered this boat. What right do you have to sell it to an outsider?"

Hearing how she addressed her, Wei Donglai was a little surprised. Clearly, the three were related to Aunt Xu.

When Xu Lianyun heard the woman's words, she fired back without holding back. "Did you pay a deposit or hand over the money? And you call it your family's? Since you didn't want it, naturally I could sell it to someone else."

"Did I ever say our family didn't want it?"

"Save your breath. It's been so many days already. Even if you want it now, I won't give it to you. The boat's been sold, and the buyer happens to be here to tow it away today."

With that, Xu Lianyun apologized to Wei Donglai.

"Guoqing, A Lai, sorry about this. You've had to see us make fools of ourselves."

Wei Guoqing waved a hand. "Sister-in-law, don't be a stranger."

Before the two could exchange another word of greeting, the fat woman who had been arguing with Aunt Xu walked over and shouted directly at Wei Guoqing, "This wooden boat belongs to my family. You're not towing it away today."

Seeing that the woman's tone wasn't the least bit polite, Wei Donglai didn't indulge her either. "Is your name written on the boat?"

The fat woman turned to look at him. "Who are you?"

"I'm the one buying the boat."

"So you're the one who stole my family's boat."

The fat woman seemed utterly shameless, calling it her family's boat every time she opened her mouth.

No wonder Zhou Huaimin hadn't wanted to sell him the boat. With relatives like these, he was better off without them.

"If your family's boat is missing, why don't you go to the police? And you say I stole your boat? Does your family get everything for free? Don't you have to pay?"

"Donglai, don't argue with her. Go inside with your dad and the others and have some water. I'll handle things here."

With that, Xu Lianyun pointed a finger at the fat woman's nose. "Zhou Caihong, if you keep making trouble like this, don't blame me for not being polite."