Chapter 7: Educated Youth Abandoning Their Wives and Children

There was a big table of dishes at dinner, and everyone ate with great relish.

After eating, everyone sat together and chatted.

The women were cleaning up the leftovers and washing the dishes. Accountant Chen was in a good mood today and even had a couple of drinks with his two sons, the wine of which was bought by his son-in-law.

"Chunya, stop busy and come over and talk to me." Accountant Chen saw her little grandson sitting by the fire, not making a fuss and looking very cute.

Chen Chunya wiped her hands on a rag: "What's wrong, Dad?"

"Xiaotian is almost of school age now, what are you parents thinking?"

He hadn't dared to mention it before, afraid of touching on his daughter's painful past.

After all, Ji Huaizhi hadn't contacted his family for so long. Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, it's time to think about the children's schooling.

“Huai Zhi told me on the phone that he would pick us up and take us to the city so that we could arrange for Xiao Tian to go to school.” Chen Chunya repeated Huai Zhi’s words.

Mr. Chen nodded, "It's good that you have this idea."

“Huai Zhi is right, it’s not good for the couple to separate.”

Aren't there enough people who abandon their wives and children? Chen's father is a man, and he knew that Ji Huaizhi was unreliable before.

But what can be done? My dear daughter likes it.

He was actually reluctant to take the college entrance exam at the time, what if he didn't come back?

Ji Xiaotian's ears twitched, and he said like a little adult, "I'm not going, and neither is my mother."

"Why don't you want to go to the city? You can stay with your father." Chen's mother felt that the child hadn't spent enough time with Ji Huaizhi.

If this continues, I won't be close to my father anymore.

"I don't want to be with him." Ji Xiaotian poked the flame with a small wooden stick.

Chen Chunya also noticed that her son disliked Ji Huaizhi. She wondered if Huaizhi would blame her if things continued like this.

"Xiao Tian, ​​that's your father."

Ji Xiaotian didn't speak and fell silent again.

After wiping the table, Sister-in-law Chen said, "I think Xiaotian is probably reluctant to part with his brother Gou Dan. Why don't we send his cousin to school in the city together? That way, Gou Dan can keep an eye on his younger brother."

Chen Chunya frowned: "Sister-in-law, you make it sound too easy."

"Everything in the city costs money; we won't have any income at all."

Tang Aiju looked at her sister-in-law speechlessly; she was really good at thinking.

"How can there be no income? I heard from your brother yesterday that your brother-in-law started some kind of tutoring center in the city, right? What's that?"

"You must have made quite a bit of money by now, right?"

If only we could get Gou Dan'er to go to school in the city, it would save us a lot of trouble.

Chen Chunya was surprised that his sister-in-law was so shameless, and looked at his older brother who hadn't said a word.

The older brother was also embarrassed: "What are you saying? Little sister, don't pay attention to your sister-in-law."

Chen's mother was also unhappy. She glared at her eldest son, saying that he couldn't keep anything to himself and would tell his wife everything as soon as he turned his back.

Zhang Pandi was unhappy to see them like this: "What's wrong? We're all family. Your sister's husband is successful, so of course he should help us out."

“Sister-in-law, we should help each other out as a family, but Huaizhi’s tutoring class has only just started, and he still has to go to school. Taking Xiaotian with me would only add to his burden.”

Chen Chunhua said anxiously, "Little sister, don't listen to your sister-in-law. Gou Dan'er is doing well studying at the village primary school now."

Chen Chunsheng remained silent. He used to think that Ji Huaizhi was scheming and neglected her family, and that his younger sister had never had an easy time since marrying him.

Especially during the time he was studying, my younger sister was exhausted.

Fortunately, the girl's hard times are finally over. I heard that Ji Huaizhi sent her a lot of money before.

"Alright, they're all good kids. Money in the city isn't so easy to earn." Accountant Chen said, puffing on his pipe, "Huaizhi isn't very popular outside, so he'll definitely only report the good news and not the bad."

"We'll ask him when he gets back."

Chen Chunsheng glanced at his wife speechlessly; this brother-in-law wasn't the type to only report good news and not bad.

He usually comes to our house complaining about how poor he is and how hard things are, and then says a few nice things before scavenging for food.

Tang Aiju knew what her husband was thinking.

I gave him a look, signaling him not to say anything inappropriate.

"Mom, let's not go to the city. Isn't it better to stay in the countryside?" Ji Xiaotian tried to persuade his mother: "The city is too dangerous. There are human traffickers."

He had a very long dream in which he and his mother encountered bad people on a train.

Dad also got another aunt.

Chen Chunsheng pulled his nephew over and said, "Little Tian, ​​you know so much, you even know about human traffickers."

"So you, your older brother, older sister, and younger sister must not run around. Kidnappers love children like you."

Ji Xiaotian said anxiously, "And Mom, the traffickers will also kidnap Mom."

Chen Chunya said helplessly, "No, we won't go to the city now. Dad will come back and take us with him. Dad will protect us."

Ji Xiaotian pouted, looking aggrieved, stubbornly refusing to let her tears fall.

"Dad won't protect us, Dad will only protect the other aunties."

Chen Chunsheng was taken aback: "Xiaotian, did someone say something to you?"

"Your uncle will teach them a lesson! But your dad has to protect you and your mom, otherwise your eldest uncle and I will beat him up."

Chen's mother smiled and said, "Xiao Tian is quite filial. I guess he's been listening to what other people in the village have been saying lately."

"The child is probably frightened. We'll comfort him when Huaizhi comes back."

No one took Xiaotian's words seriously. Chen Xiao saw his father hugging his brother and refusing to let him go.

He climbed into his father's arms after being put down by his father.

Everyone was amused by the little girl's action. Chen Chunya hugged her son and said, "Chen Xiao is jealous."

She patted her son's head and noticed that he was looking at his uncle and sister with envy, which made her feel very uncomfortable.

It seems that her separation from Huaizhi is having a significant impact on the child.

~

When Ji Huaizhi saw Chun Ya's letter, he felt a little melancholy. The child might not have suddenly become so abnormal, but rather there had been some underlying issues in his heart because of the original owner's lack of attention.

I stopped what I was doing and went to the department store for a stroll.

Ji Huaizhi chose a pair of white shoes for children, as well as some tin toys that children like.

Thinking of the small bookstall near the elementary school, I decided to send Ji Xiaotian a few more comic books.

Since he was already there, Ji Huaizhi decided to browse around the department store a bit more. Seeing that there was still some face cream on the counter, he thought for a moment and took two boxes.

The face cream has the words "Shanghai Woman" written on it, which looks very characteristic of this era.

Just as I was about to leave after taking the items from the salesperson, I suddenly heard a familiar voice calling my name.

"Ji Huaizhi?" Jiang Li was pleasantly surprised to see him.

Ji Huaizhi turned his head and saw Jiang Li. The two girls next to her were also classmates. He nodded politely to them.

"Jiang, are you here to go shopping?"

The group nodded, their eyes falling on his hands.

"Ji Huaizhi, did you buy this for your wife?" one of the girls asked casually.

Ji Huaizhi nodded: "I'll be going now, you guys take your time browsing."

"To be honest, I think Ji Huaizhi is my ideal type. He is polite and has good manners. The teachers all speak highly of him. And the tutoring class he runs outside of school is something that not just anyone could come up with."

The girl's words were full of praise for him.

As Jiang Li watched his retreating figure, her heart stirred with emotion.

Then, remembering that he was now married, she suppressed her unrealistic fantasies: "Let's go, let's go see the new clothes."

After leaving, Ji Huaizhi was about to return to his dormitory when he couldn't help but turn back after passing an alleyway.

Inside, several young men wearing fishermen's hats were holding clothes and talking to the girls opposite them.

The other party noticed him and quickly prepared to pack his things and run away.

Ji Huaizhi realized they had misunderstood and quickly reached out his hand: "Don't misunderstand, I just happened to be passing by and came in out of curiosity."

"You're not here to arrest us?" the young man asked warily.

Ji Huaizhi knew they had misunderstood: "No, I'm not one of those people."

The man was relieved to hear this: "Sorry, brother, there's nothing I can do. Those people are cracking down hard. Come and see if we have any men's clothing here."

Do you like the suit and shirt?