Making Up a Story
As Xiao Sheng babbled on, Mr. Wang, who was following Xiao Sheng’s train of thought, was stunned and didn’t even think of the loophole in Xiao Sheng’s words. He felt that Xiao Sheng’s words sounded reasonable, so he nodded again.
Xiao Sheng immediately said, “This doesn’t even include my two sisters-in-law. They’re not as weak as my wife, but when they’re five to six months pregnant, my brother and the others won’t bear to let my sisters-in-law work anymore. The two of them need at least 200 pounds of flour together. That’s a total of 600 pounds!”
Xiao Sheng raised another finger. “After the house is built, won’t we have to treat the entire village to a meal? Everyone will get a steamed bun. This is the basic standard. There are more than 600 people in our village, so that’ll use up another 100 pounds of flour.”
Xiao Sheng deliberately discussed the topic of building a house along with the matter of his pregnant relatives’ food. He was afraid that Mr. Wang would be too clear-headed, so he continued to go off tangent.
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“By the way, my mother-in-law sent a letter a few days ago saying that there’s a shortage of food in the city. My wife has two younger brothers and a sister in addition to my wife’s grandparents, so the salary of only two people supports seven people. They’re so poor that they barely have enough to eat. As her son-in-law, shouldn’t I express my gratitude? Although my wife is petite, she’s not easy to appease when her temper flares up. I’m thinking of exchanging for 300 pounds.”
Xiao Sheng looked at his fingers and saw that he had only managed to make excuses for up to 900 pounds. He didn’t know how many pounds of flour Zhang Chao could collect, so he still had to continue making up stories.
Yu Bing was amused when she heard this. This was the first time she realized that Xiao Sheng was so good at making up stories. She covered her mouth as she snickered all the way. Now that she saw him stop talking, she knew he couldn’t think of any more excuses, so she immediately went forward to salvage the situation.
historical
Yu Bing strode forward and said to Xiao Sheng angrily, “You want to reduce the quantity by 200 pounds again?! My mother said that she needs 500 pounds!”
Now, there was an excuse for an additional 200 pounds!
In front of Mr. Wang, Xiao Sheng smiled apologetically at Yu Bing and said, “Yes, 500 pounds. I was mistaken just now!”
Xiao Sheng smiled at Mr. Wang helplessly and said, “Mr. Wang, we have to add 200 pounds.”
Mr. Wang looked at Xiao Sheng sympathetically. He understood the difficulty of serving his wife’s family!
Seeing this, Yu Bing said, “Also, my brother-in-law is preparing to get married after the new house is built, so we have to prepare 100 pounds of flour for the banquet. People have children after they get married, right, Mr. Wang?”
Mr. Wang nodded in agreement. “Of course.”
Yu Bing nodded seriously. “My sister-in-law has to be well-nourished when she’s pregnant and can’t keep eating grains. If we eat noodles but she doesn’t get any, won’t that be differential treatment? Won’t her brothers from her maiden family ask for an explanation? Therefore, we need at least 1,500 pounds.”
When Xiao Sheng heard how Yu Bing increased the quantity from 900 pounds to 1,500 pounds with such a vague excuse, he suddenly felt that he was too honest in comparison.
He was worried that Mr. Wang would realize that the numbers didn’t add up, so he immediately summarized the matter. “Mr. Wang, my family needs it very urgently. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have specifically come out to buy it. Can you help us?”
Mr. Wang was already confused by these numbers and was being led by the nose. Moreover, there were labor fees as well.
Mr. Wang recalled that the nurse had come to urge him to pay the fees yesterday, so he made up his mind and decided to take on this job. This way, the doctor said that he would have enough money to buy nutritious food for his grandson in the later stages.
Selling 500 pounds was risky, and selling 1,500 wouldn’t make that big of a difference anyway. In any case, since they were taking the risk, so they might as well do something big!
Mr. Wang replied to Xiao Sheng firmly, “Alright! I’ll help you guys collect it.”
The corners of Xiao Sheng and Yu Bing’s mouths curled up into relaxed smiles. Because this was the first time Mr. Wang had done this, Xiao Sheng secretly reminded him, “Mr. Wang, remember to look for those who are short of money and know how to keep secrets. Otherwise, we’ll all be in trouble if word gets out.”
Mr. Wang said with a serious expression, “Don’t worry about that. I was born and raised in the village, so I definitely won’t look for someone I don’t trust.”
Xiao Sheng smiled and said, “Then I’ll have to trouble you.”
The few of them chatted amiably for half an hour before arriving at the village where Mr. Wang was. Because Yu Bing and Xiao Sheng were unfamiliar faces and had done such shady things, Mr. Wang brought the two of them home on an uninhabited path.