Doing It Over Again [Rebirth]

10: Number one in the county

What should come will always come; everything is ordained by heaven. Just a little while after Shen Shao returned to Shenjia Village, several men and women came to his house and crowded around the door. Their skin was tanned dark and their palms were rough and cracked. At a glance, it was clear they were used to hard manual labor.

"Auntie is begging you, child. Please tell your father to return our money. We really don't have a choice. Our family needs the money. A life is at stake!" The middle-aged woman wiped the tears from her face. In the past, they all worked in Linhai City. Three years ago, Shen JianBing told them his wife back home was seriously ill and dying. He wept and begged them to lend him the funds to save her life.

None of them had much money, but Shen JianBing had worked with them for three or four years. They believed he was a down-to-earth and honest man. When they saw this handsome man weeping pitifully in front of them, they couldn't just stand by and watch death tear his family apart. They pooled their money together and loaned him eight thousand yuan. When Shen JianBing got the money, he gave them an IOU and swore to return it within six months.

Then he left and they never saw him again. At first they thought he wasn't able to return because of family matters. But as things dragged on, more than half a year went by and Shen JianBing never came back. It became obvious something was wrong. They asked around about Shen JianBing's hometown and finally managed to locate it. However, when they heard what Shen JianBing had done, leaving a half-grown child alone at home, they left things at that.

But now one of their children was sick and had been in the hospital for several months. They really needed the money. They had no choice but be ruthless and seek out the child who was abandoned by his father.

It wasn't that they had no compassion, but the situation left them without any options. They were forced to act.

When the people of Shenjia Village heard the commotion, they ran over too. At first they thought it was immoral for these people to force a half-grown child to repay his father's loan, but when they saw the woman crying so hard and thought of her child in the hospital, they couldn't say anything. All they could do was scold Shen JianBing as an animal. What a pity that something like this happened to such a good child.

When Shen Shao saw the middle-aged woman about to kneel down to him, he hurriedly stopped her with one hand. He bit the corner of his lip and said, "Uncle, aunt, take out the IOU and I'll return the money."

"Xiao Shao, where did you get so much money?" Liu ShuLian felt anxious and helpless. "That's eight thousand yuan!" She knew her brother and sister-in-law had secretly saved some money over the years and left it to Shen Shao, but he couldn't have more than ten thousand yuan. Over the past three years, Shen Shao spent some of the money on school. If he paid back the eight thousand yuan, how would he pay his high school tuition?

Shen Shao shook his head and didn't say anything. At this point in his last life, he was blocked at the door by these creditors. Back then he was afraid and apprehensive, but he had no choice but to repay the debt. After all, in his previous life, eight thousand yuan was money for school, it sustained his dream. But for them, it was money to save a life.

He knew which of the two was more important. So although he was reluctant to give up his chance to continue studying, in the end he paid them the money. In this life, he deliberately returned to the village and waited for these people to come to his door. If he'd known their address, he would have returned the money voluntarily.

"It's OK. Money can be earned again, but these people need the money to save a life, and it should be returned to them. It's the Shen family that wronged them. They don't owe me anything. It's only right to pay back the debt." Shen Shao went into the house and returned with a metal box. Inside was no less than eight thousand yuan.