Chapter 23 Argument
Gu Yihan resumed her routine of attending classes during the day and writing and revising manuscripts at night.
During her lunch break, she ran to the school gate and asked, "Grandpa, do you have any mail for me?"
The old man guarding the gate saw Gu Yihan and said, "Yes, I have two letters for you."
She was overjoyed and immediately followed the gatekeeper into the house to retrieve the mail.
Having received the letter, Gu Yihan took out two hard-boiled eggs from her pocket and said, "Grandpa, here you go. I'll need your help again in the future."
The gatekeeper declined, saying, "This is my duty, I can't accept it."
She threw the eggs on the table and ran away, saying as she ran, "If I don't accept them, I'll feel bad asking him to help me collect mail in the future."
Gu Yihan looked at the two letters excitedly. One was from the Youth Daily, which contained a sample copy and 5 yuan. The other was from the People's Daily, which also contained a sample copy, 2 yuan, and a grain coupon.
Gu Yihan mailed a total of 5 letters, and she was happy that 2 of them were published in the newspaper. She wasn't greedy at all, really.
She was so excited that she cried; she was finally able to earn money herself.
This era is too difficult. She has her own space, but she is timid and dares not go to the black market. She can only be extremely cautious. In this era, spies are rampant, and she is afraid that someone will kill her as a spy.
Knowing that she could earn money by submitting articles, she was so excited that she couldn't sleep all night.
The next morning, Gu Yihan went to the state-run restaurant, bought five large meat buns, put them in her backpack, and used the food coupons given to her by the People's Daily.
After getting on the oxcart, Gu Yihan usually didn't speak, so she didn't see Liu Zhaodi's eldest daughter, Lai Di, on the oxcart as well.
We arrived at Gujia Village after a leisurely stroll.
"Grandpa, I'd like to take your oxcart on Monday morning. What time do you depart?" Gu Yihan said, handing him the fare for the ride.
The old man carrying the oxcart chuckled as he accepted the money: "6 a.m.
Gu Yihan nodded happily and said, "Thank you, sir. I rode in your car that day too."
On the way back.
Gu Yihan was thinking about sharing her joy with her grandmother when suddenly she felt a strong push on her back and fell down.
Excruciating pain in my palms and legs.
Gu Yihan slowly turned her head to look at the person who pushed her from behind, and found that it was Liu Zhaodi's eldest daughter, Lai Di, whose eyes were full of malice.
Gu Yihan didn't say anything, but stood up on her own and slowly walked towards her: "Have I offended you?"
Lai Di looked at Gu Yihan with a gloomy expression and said, "You deserve to die. Why can you live such a glamorous life? Why can you go to school? You should be like me."
Then, looking at Gu Yihan, he burst into laughter and said, "Tell me, what would your family do if they knew you weren't their biological child? Would they still let you go to school? You're such a waste of money!"
Because of her height, Gu Yihan suddenly kicked Lai Di in the knee joint. Taking advantage of the other party's carelessness and kneeling on one knee, she raised her hand and slapped her without hesitation. The sound of the slap fell.
Lai Di covered her cheek, her voice filled with anger: "You dare hit me."
Gu Yihan slapped him again with her backhand.
"Who do you think you are? I'll hit you anyway." Gu Yihan said, and then "slap." Another slap landed on her face.
Lai Di was so intimidated by Gu Yihan's imposing manner that she dared not speak.
She slapped Lai Di's face with her palm and said mockingly, "Even if you tell the whole village that I'm not my family's biological daughter, who will believe you?"
Gu Yihan saw Liu Zhaodi from afar and walked straight towards her.
"Is your eldest daughter sick? She actually said I'm not our biological daughter."
Gu Yihan looked at her meaningfully and said, "If I wasn't born to my mother, then what about the children my mother gave birth to? If you spread this around the village, people will think that your family switched my mother's children."
Upon hearing this, Liu Zhaodi's cheeks, which had been flushed from her haste to leave, immediately turned deathly pale.
She grabbed Di and started hitting and cursing her: "You jinx, you ingrate, you should have married off to that old bachelor who's dead, you liar!"
Lai Di covered her head and ran away: "Mother, I clearly heard you say she's my sister, and you still said..."
With a twisted expression on her face, Liu Zhaodi began slapping Lai Di repeatedly, "slap, slap, slap," until her face was swollen.
With such a commotion, how could it not have alerted the villagers? The villagers watched from a distance.
Aunt Chen, the wife of the brigade accountant, said, "They wouldn't really make us switch babies, would they?"
Jiawang's wife scoffed, "Laidi must be jealous of Hanhan. I've seen her staring at her fiercely several times."
People around sighed and said, "Hanhan is beautiful, but she doesn't look like Zhou Jianguo's family at all."
Ignoring the farce the mother and daughter were putting on, Gu Yihan went straight home.
Grandma Gu was washing vegetables when she saw her granddaughter return. She wiped her hands on her clothes and said, "Why are you a little late today?"
Gu Yihan was not affected at all: "I was delayed a bit on the way, Grandma, I brought you some good things."
As he spoke, he pulled Grandma Gu directly back into the house, took out the meat buns from his schoolbag, and handed them to Grandma Gu.
"Eat quickly, I bought it from a state-run restaurant," Gu Yihan urged.
Grandma Gu held a meat bun in her hand, tears welling up in her eyes, and said, "Okay, Grandma will eat it. It has a thin skin and lots of meat, and it's really delicious."
"This is the first time Grandma has ever eaten meat buns from a state-run restaurant. We're so lucky to have such good food from our little granddaughter."
"Grandma, it's delicious, so eat more. I bought five, all for you." Gu Yihan was even happier watching her grandma eat than when she was eating herself.
Grandma Gu ate one but couldn't bear to eat the rest: "Where did you get the money to buy this?"
Gu Yihan deliberately raised her head and said with a smug look, "Grandma, look at this sample newspaper. I earned 2 yuan by submitting an article to the People's Daily, and I also have a food coupon. I'll take care of you from now on. What do you want to eat? I'll buy it for you."
Gu Yihan didn't mention the 5 yuan from the Youth Daily. Nor did she mention that she should submit articles more often in the future, for more than that amount of money.
With little money, no one was jealous. But if the gap between rich and poor in the family became too large, she dared not test human nature. She didn't want to risk destroying the last bit of family affection.
Grandma Gu happily took the newspaper. She couldn't read, so she asked her granddaughter where she had written it. Gu Yihan pointed it out to her and read it aloud to her with great expression.
Grandma Gu held the newspaper tightly, reluctant to let go, and said, "You have a good name. It's all thanks to Grandma Gu for giving you this name."
"Grandma, don't worry, I will study hard and earn money to buy you delicious food and clothes when I get a job," Gu Yihan promised earnestly.
Grandma Gu doesn't care about the future; for now, she's being fed a lot by her granddaughter's promises.
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