Chapter 17 A Village Girl in the 1970s

Whenever Yao Meimei's gaze fell on her daughter, it would always flash with jealousy and resentment.

Not only that, but when she looked at others, her eyes were also icy cold, and occasionally a trace of hatred could be caught in the depths of her eyes.

Yao Sheng felt a chill run down his spine; she had come to hate all her relatives.

If she hated her parents, Yao Sheng could understand; if she hated him as her uncle for not doing anything, he could also understand. But why did she hate his Zhenzhen, and why did she hate her aunt, uncle, and cousins?

Zhenzhen has never bullied her, and her aunt is even more so, treating her so well.

It's true that his sister prefers Zhenzhen, but she is fair in general. Every time she brings something home, each of her nieces gets one; if Yao Yunzhen gets one, Yao Meimei gets one too.

As for private matters, who doesn't have their own preferences?

But no matter what, his sister never wronged her, and his two nephews were still teenagers, so they certainly didn't wrong her either.

If someone can hate even their own cousin, then their family members probably won't be spared either.

But why?

His wife used to stand up for him a lot, and his parents often gave his younger brother and sister-in-law a dressing down.

But what was she doing at that time? She kept her head down and hid in the back, not saying a word or a thank you, and then turned around and fawned over her younger brother and sister-in-law.

In that case, what else is there to say?

None of her family members have wronged her, so why should she hate them?

The thought of having such a venomous snake beside him made Yao Sheng extremely uneasy.

No, we can't let them stay in the city any longer.

The city is not peaceful now. Many idle young people are loitering on the streets, and there are also Red Guards wearing red armbands. There are too many people who can be used. It would be bad if she had bad intentions.

Besides, he has to go to work and can't stay with his daughter all day. He can't prevent Yao Meimei from using any tricks she might. It's better to send her back to the village.

With neighbors in the village and her mother looking after her child, we should arrange more work for her to keep her fully occupied.

She can't even leave the village, so no matter how many little schemes she has, she can't carry them out.

Moreover, they couldn't stay at the girl's house for too long and disturb her, so Yao Sheng immediately decided to take leave and send her back to the village.

The next morning, Yao Sheng announced the news.

"I'm not going back!"

Before Yao Yunzhen could say anything after hearing that they were going back, Yao Meimei vehemently objected.

"If you want to go back, go back yourselves. I'm not going back."

She had just decided what she wanted to ask Lu Yikang, and hadn't even brought it up yet, so how could she go back already?

Out of caution, Yao Meimei did not tell Lu Yikang her address. Also, because she wanted to control him and have more initiative, she did not go to Lu Yikang immediately, but postponed it for two days.

Unexpectedly, Yao Sheng suddenly decided to go back.

What about her career?

Yao Yunzhen was initially reluctant to leave, but after seeing Yao Meimei's performance, that reluctance vanished completely, and she started watching the show.

It was morning, and the family hadn't gone to work yet.

Yao Hai was also there, of course.

Although he didn't plan to take leave to go back, he still had to come and show his face eventually.

Yao Hai was immediately embarrassed when Yao Meimei said that.

After all, she's his daughter; he's the one who's losing face now.

He was never a kind father in front of his daughters; he would simply raise his hand and slap them.

"Smack—"

"You little brat, you've only been in the city for a few days and you've already gotten all wild. You better get back here and behave yourself."

Enraged, Yao Hai showed no mercy, and Yao Meimei's face visibly swelled up.

She glared fiercely at Yao Hai, her eyes filled with hatred.

"I want to stay in the city, I'm not leaving!"

How could the chauvinistic Yao Hai tolerate his daughter's disobedience? He raised his hand to slap her again.

"Still dare to talk back? I'll beat you to death..."

The first slap came too suddenly; Yao Liuzhi didn't react in time. When she did, she quickly tried to stop it.

"Second brother, let's talk this out. Why hit the child?"

Yu Chunlai also said, "Yes, if the child wants to stay, let her stay. Don't beat her."

The more the two tried to persuade him, the less Yao Hai would stop.

Yao Meimei's actions really made him lose face.

The group started tearing things apart in the cramped room.

Yao Sheng watched coldly from the sidelines.

Normally, Yao Sheng would have stepped in to break up the fight, but after discovering that Yao Meimei harbored malicious intent, how could he treat her the same way as usual?

We're too busy being on guard.

Yao Yunzhen found it amusing, secretly thinking: How stupid.

If you really want to come to the county, just come secretly later. Why be stubborn now?

What's the point of being stubborn now? It only gets you a beating for nothing, and it's impossible for you to stay.

She doesn't know her father's plans yet, so once Yao Meimei goes back, she won't have a chance to sneak away.

Despite being stopped by Yao Liuzhi and Yu Chunlai, Yao Meimei still got slapped a few more times.

These slaps finally knocked the water out of her head, making her face reality. With her face bruised and swollen, she went back to the village with Yao Sheng and Yao Yunzhen.

Throughout the journey, Yao Meimei remained unwilling, with a long face and no word.

Of course, her face was expressionless at the moment.

Yao Yunzhen didn't seem to mind.

He had a lot of fun these past few days. He even took some time to visit her brother at school, brought him some things, and gave her two yuan.

Of course, the money was taken by her father; her secret stash was entirely her own.

Yao Sheng only breathed a sigh of relief after successfully getting the person into their home.

After seeing Yao Meimei go into the room, Yao Sheng said a few words to Miao Cuilan before returning to the county.

He only took half a day off, so he can't stay away for too long.

After her husband confirmed her guess, Miao Cuilan was furious and spat fiercely towards Yao Meimei's room.

"Pah, you ingrate."

She had taken such good care of her before, and yet she dared to harm her daughter. Let's see how she deals with her.

Next, Yao Meimei's life was plunged into utter misery.

In the past, only Yang Erni had tormented her, but now Miao Cuilan has also stepped in.

Every day, as soon as she opened her eyes, she was assigned work, all of which were dirty and tiring, but she had no choice but to do them.

She had no say in the family; if she dared to say no, Yang Erni would slap her hard across the face.

The elderly couple had become somewhat disheartened over the years and didn't say much. As long as the child wasn't beaten to death, they would turn a blind eye.

As time went on, Yao Meimei gradually panicked.

With her not showing up for so long, will Lu Yikang think she's playing a trick on him?

Thinking of the methods she had heard about, Yao Meimei couldn't help but shudder.

She wanted to sneak out, but she couldn't find an opportunity.

At home and outside, Miao Cuilan would call her for everything and make her follow her. Even when going to the toilet, she would be called out loudly. If she didn't respond, the person would just sneak into the toilet to find her.