Chapter 54 Moving into the Siheyuan

After seeing the miserable plight of her three sisters, Sun Daying felt suffocated by the pain.

If the parents don't treat their daughter as a human being, how can the husband's family value their daughter?

She desperately wanted to escape from that home, run away as far as possible, and didn't want to be exploited by her parents and squeezed out of every last drop of value.

Xu Yao took a deep breath, her eyes turning cold.

She looked at Sun Daying, whose eyes were red, and said slowly, "Don't give the betrothal gift to your parents. Just tell them that it's not customary to give betrothal gifts in the city. If they want to come to the county town to make trouble with the Li family, you should talk about Li Jichang's conditions in a good way and tell them that Li Jichang can introduce them to odd jobs."

People in the countryside rely on their one and a half mu of land to make money every year, but a family only earns a few dozen yuan a year.

If you are lucky, you may occasionally get short-term work like building bridges or roads, and earn about thirty yuan a month. But every brigade wants to grab such good jobs. Even if a brigade wins the bid, the villagers will fight for a spot again.

Therefore, odd jobs at this time are extremely attractive to country people.

Sun Daying nodded with tears in her eyes.

She didn't want to give all the betrothal gifts to her parents, but she was worried that if she didn't, they would withhold her letter of introduction and not let her get married.

“What if they find out they’ve been cheated and come to make trouble?”

Xu Yao smiled slightly, "It's done, there's no point in making a fuss. When you get married, be sweeter, treat your parents-in-law as your own parents, and tell them more about your parents' inhumane deeds. They only have one son, and they hope you will break off ties with your family so that you can serve their son wholeheartedly.

If things get dicey, they will stand on your side. Besides, Li Jichang's sisters are not pushovers and they married not far away. ”

Li Wenhui said the amount of the bride price was 300 at that time. They probably were not particularly satisfied with Sun Daying, so they lowered the bride price a bit. Xu Yao did not intend to question anyone. Sun Daying was not dissatisfied with the bride price, and she, as an outsider, would not say anything.

Only then did Sun Daying burst into laughter, with an expression that showed she had learned something.

By six o'clock in the evening, the food was almost cold, and Xu Gang and Xu Weidong had not returned yet. Liu Mei was worried that Xu Jiaan had an upset stomach, so they ate first.

Sun Daying was washing dishes under the faucet.

The two men finally came back carrying the sacks.

Hearing Liu Mei's question, Xu Weidong wiped the sweat from his face and said unhappily.

"We were waiting for the bus in town when Gangzi suddenly remembered that his son-in-law asked him to collect some chickens. It's amazing that he didn't think of such an important thing earlier. We went to the nearby village to collect some chickens and missed the last bus. We had to walk back and our shoes were worn out."

Xu Gang, "You followed me here by yourself, who can you blame?"

It’s just a walk of more than 20 kilometers!

“I didn’t expect to miss the bus!”

After washing the dishes, Da Sun Daying gritted her teeth and served them the food. Xu Weidong picked up the chopsticks and started eating immediately. Xu Gang went to the back to wash his hands at the faucet. Xu Yao took a look into the bag and looked up in surprise.

“You brought so much cloth.”

"I bought them with money." Xu Gang rubbed his face vigorously with cold water. "She said she got these rags from the warehouse manager by paying him. She asked me for two dollars."

Xu Yao roughly estimated that this time the scraps of cloth were more than three times as much as last time, and she could earn about 19 yuan. "Two yuan is very affordable. Relationships are built on good relationships. Next time, ask her to bring some cakes that are not available in town."

Pulling Xu Gang, who was about to get up to eat, Xu Yao whispered, "I don't plan to do business anymore. You can keep the money you earn in the future."

In Xu Gang's surprised eyes, she smiled and said, "I am not short of money now, so there is no need to take risks. Ji Changyu has a special position. If people find out that his wife is speculating, his future will be ruined."

He was now familiar with the process and didn't need her involvement at all. It’s just that I’m not very good at arithmetic, but it won’t be a big problem if I practice more.

Xu Gang looked at Xu Yao with a puzzled expression.

This path was completely led by Xu Yao. Even if Xu Yao didn't participate later, according to the rules, he should give her a certain share or buy her out with a sum of money. There was absolutely no reason to take it for free. But Xu Yao didn't want it at all, letting him take advantage of her for nothing...

Xu Yao saw through his thoughts and chuckled, "Don't think too much. I still remember all the kindness you've shown me and An An. This is what you deserve. I wouldn't be able to handle this without you."

Everyone says that his sister is selfish, so how can others know her good qualities? !

night.

Liu Mei, Xu Yao and Xu Jiaan shared a bed, Xu Gang and Xu Weidong slept in the master bedroom, and Sun Daying slept on the small bamboo bed.

Xu Yao was afraid of heat, and with three people sharing one bed, she didn't sleep well the whole night.

When Ji Changyu came to pick them up in the morning to go to the west of the city, Xu Yao hesitated for a moment and then agreed.

Considering that Xu Yao had a lot of luggage to pack, Ji Changyu did not ride a bike and would take the bus when he returned.

While Liu Mei was reluctantly packing Xu Yao's luggage, she asked Ji Changyu and his family in detail about the situation. Knowing that the west of the city was not far from the county town and that they would be going there to hold a wedding tomorrow, her reluctance faded a lot. She turned around and told Xu Yao to be more diligent and keep her eyes open when she got to her husband's house.

"Hey, you can't even cook, what can we expect you to do? What if your in-laws dislike you?"

Xu Yao wanted to cover her ears, "..."

Xu Jiaan, who was squatting on the ground playing tic-tac-toe with himself, looked up and said, "I'll help my mother."

Liu Mei glared at Xu Yao, "You don't act like a mother at all. Hey, if your mother-in-law says something to you, just endure it. Don't talk back to her like you're your mother. I'll put the gifts you bought for them on the top, remember to take them out when you get back."

Xu Yao rolled over in pain on the bed, hugging the pillow.

Does the mother-in-law still mean what she said about taking care of them and their child? Help!

Ji Changyu lowered his eyes and stared at Xu Jiaan playing chess, then looked away and saw Xu Yao with a painful look on her face and didn't want to listen to anything, so he smiled.

"Mom, please don't force her. I married a wife, not a maid. If she wants to do the housework, she can do it. If she doesn't want to, my family won't have any objections."

Regardless of whether what he said was true or not, Ji Changyu's attitude was there, and Liu Mei felt much more at ease.

After packing up her things, she waved her hand in disgust, asking Ji Changyu to quickly take Xu Yao's big bag away.

Xu Gang took a few chickens and used the excuse of seeing them off. Then he walked out the door and parted ways with Ji Changyu and Xu Yao and went to the black market.

It took about forty minutes to reach the station. After getting off the bus, we walked for a while, passed through rows of tiled houses, and stopped in front of a courtyard house that stood out from the crowd.

From the outside you can't tell how many courtyards there are in this house. The building is grey-green in colour, with green bricks and grey tiles. It's a mixed brick-and-wood building that's warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and looks very impressive.

Xu Jiaan stared at this place without blinking.

The courtyard was different from any other courtyard he had seen before.

There are very few courtyard houses in the south. Ji Changyu explained that this courtyard was originally built by a wealthy family from the north who moved south and hired workers to build it. In the early 1960s, they realized that the situation was unstable, so they moved their family abroad.

Xu Yao remembered that some people had been rehabilitated by this time, and the state had returned some of the property and real estate that had been confiscated.

Looking at the magnificent courtyard in front of me, I feel a toothache as I realize that it might be taken away before I can live here for long.