Chapter 61 Daya's Choice A thousand miles and a thousand miles, but we'll eventually reach our destination...

Old Mrs. Wei knew so much about that family not only because she helped with the funeral arrangements, but also because she had some connection with Daya, who had become a widow.

Old Lady Wei was a middleman.

They weren't the kind of brokers who bought people to teach and then resold them for a profit. Instead, they were more like modern intermediaries, connecting people in need of work with potential partners and earning a little money. Occasionally, they would also act as matchmakers. Because of their strict recommendations, they gradually built up a reputation, and people with no other way to make a living would come to them looking for food.

That's how Da Ya came to be.

Just like now, things were very chaotic back then. Every year, there were families who couldn't survive and had to flee. Da Ya's family all died on the way to escape famine, and the little girl couldn't continue either. She somehow found out about Old Lady Wei and knelt in front of her, saying that she wanted to live.

Old Mrs. Wei had just finished a big business deal that day and believed that this young girl was a good deed that Heaven had sent her to do. Seeing that she had regular features and long arms and legs, she took her home and thought about finding her a kind and generous homeowner.

But this little girl was really capable. Although she didn't talk much, she could handle all the housework by herself. After experiencing the leisurely days without having to do housework, Old Lady Wei had the idea of ​​keeping the little girl.

Given their family's status, having a servant would be inappropriate, but finding a child bride for their youngest son would be perfectly normal. After confirming that her youngest son didn't reject the girl, Old Lady Wei named her Daya.

Once we've given each other names, we're family.

But as time went by, after her youngest son showed a talent for studying, Old Lady Wei felt that Daya was not good enough for her. However, she couldn't bear to send her away, so Daya stayed at home in an awkward situation. The family that chopped wood had long coveted Daya's ability, and seeing that Old Lady Wei was wavering... Daya thus became their child bride.

Unfortunately, he was unlucky.

...

Daya got up at the crack of dawn, first taking a carrying pole and a wooden bucket to the river to fetch water, filling the empty large vat at home, and also getting a water to fill her stomach. Ever since her husband, who was ten years younger than her, passed away, her in-laws only gave her dishwater to eat. She didn't starve to death only because the village had a good harvest last year, and not many people went up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables.

The last few drops of water were shaken into the jar, and Daya busied herself like a spinning top again. After the whole family had eaten, she hurriedly cleaned up the dishes, secretly poured a ladle of water into the pot, stirred it with a spatula, and then hastily drank it down. This was her breakfast.

The clean dishes and chopsticks were stacked up, and Daya took the clothes from the basin to the water to wash them. Originally, it was her job to feed the pigs and chickens, but ever since her mother-in-law saw her drooling over the pig and chicken feed, Daya could no longer do these chores. But farm work is never-ending, and she was busy until the afternoon before she carried a basket almost as tall as herself to cut pig feed.

This was the easiest job, and the only chance she could secretly find some wild vegetables and bamboo shoots to fill her stomach.

There were plenty of wild vegetables to eat in the mountains, and Daya also saw a lot of edible mushrooms. There was a nest of bird eggs on a tree that she could reach out and grab. She also killed two small snakes and had a taste of meat that she hadn't had in a long time.

Because of this unexpected gain, Daya carried the compacted pig feed down the mountain ahead of time, and then she found a somewhat familiar young man under the tree, who seemed to be telling a story to an old man.

Daya didn't want to get too close and invite bad luck, so she tried to sneak back from behind the tree, but her ears caught the first sentence of the story and she was immediately paralyzed.

"[...She convinced her grandmother that she could marry into a very good family, and then became the only girl in the family to go to school.]"

The man was still studying. Daya shrank even smaller, hoping to hear the story smoothly. She recognized the man; his surname was Wei. If he hadn't been studying, Daya's husband would have been him.

But she didn't care much about this missed opportunity. All of Daya's attention was focused on the story that was being told. She didn't stop until the last sentence was finished, and then she awkwardly ran away with her legs, which had gone numb from squatting. Dinner had already been eaten at home, and no one was waiting for her.

Lying on the straw, Daya, unusually, didn't fall asleep immediately. Instead, she recalled the novel story. Compared to the "bad woman" who was an official in the underworld, she was most impressed by another woman.

That woman was intelligent, hardworking, kind, honest, and virtuous. She was almost universally recognized as a good woman. She got up earlier than the chickens, slept later than the dogs, ate worse than the pigs, and worked harder than the donkeys. But she always felt that her life was better than that of "bad women"—"Such women are only comfortable while they are alive. When they get to the underworld, they will definitely not have a good life."

These were words she often uttered. Relying on this thought, she lived a virtuous and gentle life. Even the son born to her concubine willingly called her "Mother" when she died. She closed her eyes with a smile and then went to the underworld—that wicked woman had actually become an official?!

The "good woman's" mentality collapsed immediately: she suffered more than the "bad woman" when she was alive, and she was even lower in status than this person after she died. So, just because she could endure hardship, she was given endless suffering?

If she had known, she would have learned more from the "bad woman" type, and now she's not having a good time even in the underworld.

...

The ending of this "good woman" shocked Da Ya much more than that of the "bad woman," because the "bad woman" made her envious and made her realize that life could be lived this way. But she also knew clearly that she could never become a "bad woman."

But Da Ya is still a "good woman" even now. Before hearing the story, she was still hesitant about whether to be a "good woman"—her husband died, and she had five options: remain a widow, marry her brother-in-law, be sold, die, or run away.

But this was just an ideal choice. Poor people without sons couldn't stay widowed. Her in-laws also made it clear that they wanted her brother-in-law to marry a young virgin. Da Ya didn't want to die either, so she only had two choices: wait patiently to be sold or run away.

She was still conflicted because her in-laws had said that even if a woman who ran away could live a good life for a while, she would be drowned in a pig cage after she died. However, compared to the scene of the underworld described in The Jade Hairpin, her in-laws' words were not very credible.

She wanted to leave. She didn't want to be like the "good woman" in the story, working hard her whole life only to die without ever having a good life!

Daya made up her mind. Thinking of the dried wild vegetables and mushrooms she had secretly hidden, as well as the food she had taken from the squirrel hole, she suddenly realized that she had already made a decision. This story was just to help clear away the fog in front of her.

But where should we go?

The first thing the eldest daughter thought of was to find Granny Wei. Just a few days ago, she heard that a place far away needed female workers. She was used as a laborer by her in-laws, so she was sure she could do it. But when she thought of her uncles who already treated her like money, she gave up the idea.

"This story was extremely popular in Shanghai."

The voice of the Wei family man rang in her ears, and Da Ya's eyes lit up.

Yes, go to Shanghai. A place that can write stories like this will definitely be able to accommodate a widow like her.

Da Ya didn't know how far this place was from Shanghai, but she had traveled thousands of miles when she was a child fleeing famine. Now that she was grown up, it would only be easier for her to travel than when she was a child. She would walk thousands of miles until she got there!

Having decided on her destination, Daya only had one last problem to solve—how could she successfully cross the only dangerous road out of the mountains without attracting the attention of the villagers?

Three days later.

Because he had read a strange article, the man who was forced to flee early looked at the cart filled with his family's belongings and was moved to go back into the yard to say goodbye to his family again. While he was immersed in his reluctance to leave his relatives, a figure quietly climbed under the cart and followed them out of Weijia Mountain. Then, while the two were taking care of their business, the figure quietly climbed out and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

...

Yao Xiaoyu's life has been quite peaceful lately. She goes to work and comes home, and watches her mother cook for her. If she had to say what's bothering her, it's that the original owner of her job at the hospital is planning to come back, and she'll soon be unemployed again, continuing to stare at the Yao family. Also, she often wakes up hungry at night but can't get a hot late-night snack and can only eat cold food.

"If you have any jobs that don't require physical labor, remember to save them for me."

On the way back, Yao Xiaoyu sighed and told Tao Erniu that after the Yao family found out she couldn't continue working, they had been looking for other jobs for her. But Yao Xiaoyu felt that more people meant more options, and her requirements weren't high—as long as the job was presentable and symbolic, she was fine with even a small wage, and if necessary, she was even willing to pay out of her own pocket.

In other words, there are no companies that allow employees to pretend to work right now, otherwise Yao Xiaoyu would definitely be the first to sign up!

"I'll go ask."

If Yao Xiaoyu asked Tao Erni to help her find a dead-end job where she only gets paid but does no work, Tao Erni would rack her brains and not be able to think of anything. But if she looked carefully for a job that didn't pay or do any work, but only required a respectable title, she should have a few connections in her network.

"OK."

Yao Xiaoyu could stay in the hospital for a little while longer, so she wasn't in a hurry. After swallowing the last bite of her egg pancake, she saw a stall selling stinky tofu on the roadside and excitedly ran over there.

Half a mahjong tile-sized white tofu is fried in a small pot until golden brown, gradually releasing a fragrant aroma amidst the pungent smell. The angular tofu is sifted out and stuffed into chili sauce, then placed on a lotus leaf with small bamboo skewers. Garnished with chopped green onions and cilantro according to personal taste, each bite produces a crisp sound.

This is the taste!

Yao Xiaoyu ate the food with great satisfaction, one bite at a time. In modern times, there are pre-cooked dishes everywhere, and even stinky tofu has become uniformly black. She didn't know how long it had been since she had seen this kind of golden fried stinky tofu.

The only problem is that my breath smells a bit strong after eating, and I'm not even aware of it.

Yao Xiaoyu, whose family had given her a rather blunt hint that she needed to clean her mouth, hurriedly ran into the kitchen and brushed her teeth for the first time without having eaten dinner.

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Author's note: Does Little Fish have a referral code for her next job?

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