Chapter Sixty-Eight

On the other side of the staff compound, Luo Chunyan was also packing her luggage at home.

This was the first time she had ever traveled so far in her life, and to such a developed city as Zhejiang. Her excitement was palpable, and she couldn't wait to rummage through her closets and try on all her nice clothes.

The house has only two bedrooms and one living room, and is about 60 or 70 square meters. It's not enough for a family of five.

After Luo Chunyan's parents had her and her younger sister, they had a younger brother less than two years later. Just after her brother was born, the country began to implement the one-child policy in 1979.

Luo Chunyan's parents were overjoyed for a long time, saying that their son was a gift from God.

When Luo Chunyan heard this, she just pursed her lips and didn't say anything.

It was normal for parents in that era to have a preference for sons over daughters.

It's as if if they don't have a son, there will be no one to carry on the family line.

But don't you think about it? You yourself have a throne to inherit, why do you have to have a son?

In the end, it still depends on her, the eldest daughter, to earn money early and help support the family.

When her younger brother was little, he slept in the same room with her parents. Luo Chunyan could also share a room with her younger sister. But when her brother grew to be seven or eight years old, it was impossible for the three siblings to squeeze into one room.

So Luo Chunyan's parents came up with a solution: they knocked down the two square meters near the balcony and separated them from the original bedroom with a partition, turning them into two small bedrooms of six or seven square meters each.

Luo Chunyan and her younger sister shared a bunk bed, while her younger brother had his own room next door. The room was so cramped that besides a bed and a small cabinet, there was only room for a small desk for doing homework.

At that moment, her younger brother and sister were doing their homework. In order not to disturb them, Luo Chunyan shooed her sister over to her brother's side.

She tried on this and that dress, but no matter how many she tried, she was never satisfied with any of them.

Girls generally stop growing much taller after they start menstruating, around thirteen or fourteen years old; at most, they grow a little more in their chest and buttocks.

Luo Chunyan was 1.6 meters tall when she was 15 years old, and she is still 1.6 meters tall now at 18.

So, she hasn't bought any new clothes for almost two or three years. The dresses in her closet are all old styles that have faded from washing.

Moreover, many of the clothes that couldn't be worn or were too short had to be altered with a sewing machine before being given to my second sister.

The most pitiful one is the second sister. From childhood to adulthood, she has basically worn her older sister's old clothes. At most, her parents will buy her a new one for the New Year or her birthday.

Luo Chunyan felt sorry for her younger sister, but she didn't like her younger brother who had been spoiled by their parents since childhood.

At that moment, Luo Ermei pressed her little head against the door, watching her sister take out the few dresses in the closet that looked relatively tidy and try them on. She then asked, "Sister, aren't you only going for two days? Why did you bring so many clothes?"

Luo Ermei has always wanted her older sister's blue and white floral dress, but unfortunately she is too short to wear it now.

Perhaps because her family wasn't well-off when she was born, her mother didn't get much nutritious food and had to work in a factory every day, which was quite tiring. As a result, Luo Ermei was very thin and small, even shorter than her older sister by five centimeters, and looked malnourished.

But she's already fourteen years old and has long since started menstruating, so she probably won't grow much taller anymore.

This made Luo Chunyan feel even more sorry for her second sister.

Luo Chunyan sighed, "I'm going with Sister Wanmei from Uncle Ji's family this time. I can't dress too shabbily, can I?"

Luo Chunyan and Ji Wanmei are the same age and were classmates in elementary and junior high school, so Luo Ermei is naturally familiar with them as well.

Luo Ermei exclaimed "Oh!" and raised her head, saying, "I really envy Sister Wanmei. She's beautiful and has so many pretty dresses."

Luo Chunyan then said, "Second sister, be good and study hard at home. When I come back from Zhejiang this time, I will bring you a pretty dress."

"Really, sister!" Luo Ermei immediately laughed.

Just then, Luo Chunjie from the next room ran over, made a face, and said arrogantly, "What's so great about going to Zhejiang? When I grow up, I'm going to Beijing, to Tiananmen Square!"

Luo Chunyan glared at him and scolded, "Go back to your room and do your homework!"

"Hehehe." Luo Chunjie was the youngest child in the family, and a precious son who was "rushed to be born" before the one-child policy was implemented, so his parents spoiled him a lot at home.

He's always the first one to get the best food and clothes.

As a result, Luo Chunjie was spoiled and became a brat, impolite and very unlikable.

If he weren't her own younger brother, Luo Chunyan wouldn't bother with him at all.

Finally, Luo Chunyan chose the blue and white floral dress that her second sister also liked. Thinking that she would be going to the market to buy goods and might have to carry things, Luo Chunyan thought for a moment and then stuffed a pair of black cotton pants into her bag.

Knowing that the train journey would take more than ten hours and they would definitely go hungry, Luo Chunyan decided to steam a basket of buns and boil a few eggs to take with her and Ji Wanmei on the way. That should be enough for the two of them.

Finally, with utmost care, she carefully placed the fifty yuan she had painstakingly saved over the years, along with her ID card and other important items, inside her innermost pocket.

After packing everything up, Luo Chunyan tidied up the mess on the bed and went to the kitchen to cook dinner.

When Luo Chunyan's parents came home from get off work in the evening, they stopped by the evening market and bought some discounted vegetables that were almost wilted.

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