"I was sent to the countryside because I didn't study hard enough and failed the exam to get a job."

Actually, his family originally wanted his sister to give up her job and then let her go to the countryside.

However, he knew in his heart that the neighborhood committee had notified his family that someone had to go to the countryside because he had no job after graduating from high school.

Unless they can immediately arrange a job for him, he cannot escape the fate of being sent to the countryside.

At that time, there were opportunities to take exams for jobs, and there were also people selling jobs.

However, because he never studied seriously, no factory hired him.

Although buying and selling jobs was quite common at the time.

However, during the time when educated youth were sent to the countryside, the demand for jobs far exceeded the demand for jobs, which led to increasingly high prices for job openings.

Back then, only people with connections could quickly find out about someone selling a job.

By the time their family found out, the job opening had already been transferred.

Seeing that his family couldn't afford to buy him a job, they set their sights on his sister.

In their minds, since their daughter is about to get married, they can give her the job to him.

If his family could finalize his sister's marriage before the educated youth went to the countryside, then his family wouldn't have to send their children to the countryside.

If his sister is still stubborn and doesn't want him to get married in a hurry, then the only option is to send her to the countryside.

However, Xu Ji knew very well that his sister had started dating someone, a worker from the same factory as her.

That man was the only son in his family. Although his family's financial situation was similar to his, he knew that his sister would be happier after marrying into that family.

If he really takes his sister's job, her boyfriend might not even look at her, a woman without a job.

His sister not only lost her job, but also had to go to the countryside to suffer for him, and might stay there forever.

As the eldest grandson of the Xu family, even though he was sent to the countryside, his family was still worried about him and would often send him supplies or money.

In this way, he can live a very comfortable life in the countryside, and his life will be much better than his sister's after she went to the countryside.

After struggling for a while, he decided to take responsibility and followed the team to the countryside to Xinshan Brigade.

However, the heavy labor he endured day after day in the Xinshan Brigade over the past few years had long since worn away his edges.

Every time I go home, I see my younger siblings; some are studying, some are working, and they live their lives easily.

During the Spring Festival, they can chat with their relatives, talking about the interesting things that happened during their studies and work, while he can only watch them shine from the corner.

People have long since lost the initial novelty of going to the countryside and know how tough it is there.

In such a stark contrast, he longed to return to the city even more.

However, due to his long absence and the fact that his younger siblings had grown up, his family no longer doted on him as they had at the beginning.

They wouldn't spend a large sum of money to buy a job just for themselves.

In the past two years, his family has been neglecting him more and more, and even the money and coupons they used to send him every three months have stopped.

He understood perfectly well why his family's attitude had changed: he no longer had any value to them.

Xu Ji sighed as he thought about his previous aimless school life, which had led to his current miserable life.

His words of reflection instantly stirred everyone's emotions, making them all want to discuss the issue.

"Yes, I didn't cherish the opportunity to go to school back then. No company was willing to hire me, so I had to go to the countryside."

Wang Zhu's life trajectory almost overlapped with Xu Ji's; their situations were similar.

However, he didn't go to the countryside voluntarily; it was just that his older siblings were too noisy.

His mother originally wanted to give up her job, but his older brother and sister had all earned their jobs through their own efforts.

They were all unwilling to let their younger brother take advantage of them, and even if his mother was to give up her job, she would have to compensate them financially.

The compensation money must be enough for each person to receive a sum of money to buy a job.

Not only were his parents unwilling, but his family also didn't have that kind of money.

After half a month of back and forth, his parents carefully calculated the financial gains and losses, and finally decided to send him to the countryside.

"You two really don't know how lucky you are."

When Dingxiang spoke at this moment, she was indeed trying to mock the two of them and show that she looked down on them.

“I had a very hard life before and didn’t have the opportunity to study. I tried everything I could, but all I got was a primary school diploma.”

"I really envy you two for having such a happy family."

Dingxiang didn't say anything more, but Zhuang Xue understood her inner turmoil. She simply gently stroked Dingxiang's straight back with her own hand.

Because she knew that Dingxiang's seemingly carefree demeanor was a result of her past family background, which shaped her personality.

Dingxiang was born in Furong City, Sichuan Province. Her family was relatively well-off, as her father was the deputy director of a local food factory.

Logically speaking, her father's position should have provided him with a very good salary and benefits.

But she was never allowed to go to school since she was a child, and she never even had a full meal at home.

Because her mother died in childbirth when she was three and a half years old, along with her younger brother whom she had never met.

Before she even understood what death was, her father remarried.

From then on, she became a pitiful creature, unloved by her father and mother, practically an orphan.

Actually, at first, she had a very bad time at home, working as a nanny for the whole family and not being allowed to eat her fill.

But he had no intention of leaving his hometown and coming to Lingbei.

However, after she turned sixteen, she discovered that her stepmother was actually helping her find a husband.

Of course, the stepmother wasn't so kind as to find her a good family and marry her off; she just intended to squeeze every last drop of value out of her.

The families the stepmother found were either old, had disabilities, or were prone to violence.

Those men basically couldn't find wives, so they came up with the idea of ​​buying a wife at a high price.

She certainly wasn't so impulsive as to immediately try to escape.

She thought that even though her father hadn't cared for her much over the years, he would never allow his stepmother to treat her like this.

So she went to her father with high hopes and told him about it.

She hoped her father would be on her side in this matter, since it was a major life event that would affect the rest of her life.

However, her father ultimately shattered her last hope.

Because he didn't care about the matter at all, he just told her to be obedient and that her stepmother wouldn't harm her.

When she tried to reveal the person her stepmother had chosen for her, he simply interrupted her rudely, telling her to stop arguing.

From then on, she understood that her stepmother didn't want her to have a good life, and her father didn't care about her future.