On the morning of July 27, the eldest sister, Chen Chunhua, returned home from Beijing.
Two days later, Chen Xiuhua, the fourth sister who was going into her senior year of high school, returned to school early for classes.
On August 5th, the third sister, Chen Meihua, received an admission notice from the provincial vocational and technical college, majoring in performing arts, which is a newly added major at the school.
Chen San San was overjoyed for several days. She had been a little worried before, fearing that she would be assigned to the major of operating excavators.
When I was filling out my college application, my homeroom teacher said that if my grades were just above the cutoff, I would likely be assigned to another major.
If that's the case, then she might as well not study at all.
"Third sister, operating an excavator is very profitable! My classmate's dad drives an excavator, and his family has a TV, a refrigerator, and all kinds of appliances." Chen Xiaoliu curled her lips, a little disgusted. Her third sister was like a fool, always smiling happily, even laughing like an idiot while cooking in the kitchen, and almost put salt in instead of sugar.
The person who brought the game console to school before was Du Hang, a classmate of Chen Baohua. His family recently bought a computer, which I heard was quite expensive.
Several male classmates who were close friends with her were very envious.
During the summer vacation, Du Hang also brought several male classmates home to play computer games.
Chen Baohua was also invited, but he didn't go because he and his fifth sister spent the whole day practicing calligraphy at Old Man Qin's house.
Yesterday morning, after practicing calligraphy, my fifth sister went to Fanghua Garment Factory. On her way home, Chen Baohua ran into another male classmate who had just come out of Du Hang's house playing computer games. He said he hadn't gone to play and missed it.
The male classmate spoke so vividly that Chen Baohua was tempted to go and see for himself.
"Xiao Liu is right, Third Sister. Nowadays, people who operate excavators are all highly skilled and well-paid. Don't look down on them." Today it was Chen Xihua's turn to cook. She was busy stir-frying vegetables in the kitchen when she came out of the living room and heard what Chen Xiao Liu said.
“Those are all driven by men. Me, a girl, driving an excavator? Ugh, no way!” Chen Meihua wrinkled her nose, looking very resistant.
Just then, Li Yumei's smug voice came from the corridor outside.
“My Chunhua works in an office at Fanghua Garment Factory. She's a college graduate, and the factory manager was willing to hire her. Your Shuiqin is just a sewing worker; how can she compare to my Chunhua?”
"Tch, he's just a temporary worker, only working for a month during the summer vacation, and his salary is only a little over three hundred yuan. My Shuiqin is a team leader now, and her salary is over seven hundred yuan." Li Juan's voice was unconvinced and mocking.
"What's so great about it? When my Chunhua graduates from university, the factory manager said he'll hire her as an accountant, and she'll get a salary of eight hundred or a thousand." Li Yumei's momentum weakened a bit. Just a few days ago, she heard Chunhua say that she had found a temporary job at Fanghua Garment Factory.
Li Yumei was very happy. After supporting her studies for so long, she was finally going to start working. Although it was a temporary job, she would still have an income, right?
Next semester she'll be a junior in college. Nowadays, many college students work part-time to earn money during winter and summer vacations. Li Yumei is happy that she won't have to spend money on her eldest daughter.
But when I got back to the family quarters and ran into Li Juan, that woman next door, I felt annoyed. That woman was going around bragging about how her daughter Shuiqin had been promoted to team leader and how high her salary was. She even made sarcastic remarks about herself, saying that the Chen family's daughters only knew how to spend money—it was infuriating!
Li Yumei walked into the living room with a displeased look on her face. Chen Xihua and her two siblings pretended not to hear and went about their own business, starting to set out the food.
“Third girl, why is your tuition for junior college more expensive than your two older sisters’ tuition? Why don’t you just give up your studies? You’re not a college graduate anyway. Why don’t you go work at Fanghua Garment Factory and earn some money?”
After washing her hands and coming out, Li Yumei saw Chen Meihua at the dinner table, and her face darkened even more. Another one going to university and costing money. The little money she earned from her pastry shop wasn't even enough to support her daughters, but Chen Lao Er insisted on sending them to school. It was really annoying.
"Mom, I have... Dad!" Chen Meihua looked at Chen Lao Er, who had just walked in a few steps behind, with a touch of coquettishness. She had originally wanted to say that she would earn money to go to school, but since her parents could pay for it, why should she spend her own money?
Xiao Wu said that it's not advisable for parents to have too much money, since she and her sisters won't abandon them in the future anyway.
“We’ll support your studies, of course we’ll support them! I’ll go to your uncle’s house later and ask him to return the remaining four thousand yuan to us.” Although Chen Lao Er was speaking to Chen Meihua, his eyes kept glancing at Chen Xihua, and he smiled ingratiatingly.
As parents, they should pay for their children's education.
Otherwise, he'd have a hard time getting Xiao Wu's money back, and he'd wanted to buy a color TV for a long time. These days, who doesn't have a TV? Chen Lao Er planned to ask Xiao Wu for money to buy a refrigerator, washing machine, and furniture for their new house.
Chen Xihua noticed it, of course. She glanced at Chen Lao Er and knew without guessing what he was thinking.
However, she wasn't upset. Having a little cleverness was a good thing; it meant that Chen Lao Er wouldn't cause trouble outside.
Two minutes later, the eldest sister, Chen Chunhua, also returned. During the meal, Li Yumei had a long face, but she didn't mention the tuition fee again.
Actually, she had a vague feeling that her daughters had secrets. The fifth daughter was definitely one of them. This girl had money, quite a lot of it, but she didn't know where she got it from.
Perhaps her mother really did teach Wu Yatou how to make money. Her mother had said she would teach her, but what was she doing then? Fighting with that woman Zhao Yuqing. No, during that special period, she couldn't do business either.
Li Yumei also heard Xiao Bao's admiring expression whenever he talked about Fifth Sister, and he would unconsciously reveal that the girl was not short of money.
Ugh, how infuriating! She has money but doesn't even know to keep it at home for her.
...
As if by prior arrangement, before leaving home in the afternoon, Aunt Chen came to find Chen Lao Er, intending to ask Uncle Chen for money.
When she entered, she was incredibly kind to Chen Xihua, exchanging pleasantries with a smile and warmly taking Chen Xihua's hand.
She happily talked about her clothing store, saying that business had recovered and her former uncle's store was no longer deliberately lowering prices, but the two stores were still fierce competitors.
Chen Xiaogu also gloated, saying that the mistress had given birth to a daughter, and that bastard Sun Pingkai and his parents were going to visit his cousin Sun Haoan from time to time.
Chen Xihua listened to the gossip for a while, her expression indifferent, and she didn't intend to say anything. She subtly pulled her hand away from Chen Xiaogu's grasp, smiled, and then took Chen Xiaoliu to Old Man Qin's house.
In the evening, when I returned home from Old Man Qin's house, both Old Man Chen and Aunt Chen were there, and they looked very unwell.
Chen Xihua thought to herself, "Could it be that these two siblings are so sullen just because they didn't get the money? It can't be that bad."
Did they have a falling out with Uncle Chen's family?
However, before she could even ask, Chen Lao Er, who was the most perceptive, noticed Chen Xihua's somewhat puzzled expression and spoke up directly.
"Xiao Wu, your second cousin, Chen Jianhua, is going to become a live-in son-in-law. Your grandparents are furious..."
It turns out that Chen Jianhua has returned from Guangdong Province these past two days. He said that the daughter of the mold factory owner where he works has taken a liking to him and wants to recruit him as her son-in-law.
Saying he became a live-in son-in-law isn't quite accurate; it just meant that Chen Jianhua's family could live in Guangdong Province, where the boss owned a villa.
If there is only one child, the child will take the mother's surname. If there are two or more children, one of them can still take the Chen family surname.
The Chen family members are all good-looking. Chen Jianhua has regular features, is refined and handsome. At the beginning of the year, the factory owner's daughter happened to go to the factory and took a liking to Chen Jianhua.
Grandpa and Grandma Chen disagreed and got angry, so they lay in the room without saying a word.
Uncle Chen was tempted, because Chen Jianhua came home dressed in a suit and tie and immediately paid back the remaining money owed to Chen Lao Er and his sister. However, seeing how angry Grandpa and Grandma Chen were, he didn't show it directly.
Finally, there was the attitude of her aunt, Wang Fen. Even though she was more open-minded, she didn't want her son to become a live-in son-in-law and hid in her room, refusing to come out.
Despite his family's disapproval, Chen Jianhua was determined to leave, and he went back to Guangdong Province alone that afternoon.
Chen Xihua sighed a little after hearing this. She thought about her second cousin, whom she had met a few times. He wasn't talkative, and he was selfish, just like her eldest cousin. But she also remembered that there seemed to be something different hidden in Chen Jianhua's eyes.
The older cousin's selfishness was evident, while his coldness and ambition were not.
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