Song Erzhuang recalled the words his elder brother and sister-in-law had said to him last summer.
【Erzhuang, Baogen is a boy. He's going to study in another city and will marry a woman from another city and stay there. You've put in money and effort, but in the end, it's like you didn't have a son at all!】
When you get old, Baogen will be living in another city. Will he be able to come back and take care of you in your old age?
If we take you to another place, will Baogen's wife tolerate you?
Girls are different!
Girls are close to their mothers, and they will eventually get married when they grow up.
Send her to the provincial capital, and she'll marry a rich man there. You'll be the ones enjoying the good life!
My son absolutely must stay with me!
He told Qiao Guilan these words in his own voice, knowing that Qiao Guilan was most reluctant to part with her son.
After hearing this, Qiao Guilan stopped insisting.
The couple secretly burned their son's college acceptance letter, thus burning away his future.
"Don't mention burning Baogen's admission notice again. Just pretend it never happened!" Song Erzhuang whispered. "You absolutely can't let Baogen know. He'll hate you for the rest of his life."
"What do you mean you'll hate me for life? You're the one who burned the college acceptance letter!" Qiao Guilan said angrily, then complained, "Everyone else favors the boys, but you favor the girls!"
"When have I ever favored girls? If I were to favor girls, would I make Yinhua and Caixing drop out of school and make Yinhua support the whole family?"
"You're so biased towards Qiuxue!"
Qiao Guilan hadn't said this before because Qiuxue was closer to her family, but now that Qiuxue was closer to her great-uncle's family and had even become Tang Su'e's godmother, she felt even closer to Qiuxue than to her own mother. Qiao Guilan felt resentful.
They spent so much money on their third daughter, pooling the family's resources to send her to a university in the provincial capital, but now she's not close to them, only to outsiders.
"I didn't!" Song Erzhuang didn't think he was biased towards Qiu Xue at all.
"You still say you didn't? Then why did you make Yinhua and Caixing drop out of school, but not Qiuxue?" Qiao Guilan asked. "Back then, Xiao Si'er had the best grades, so why did you make him drop out? Don't think I don't know you secretly gave gifts to Qiuxue's homeroom teacher!"
Song Erzhuang was stunned, not expecting his wife to know about this.
"What else could this be but favoritism towards Qiuxue?"
"I gave Qiu Xue's homeroom teacher a gift because I hope that the teacher will take better care of our girl."
"Then why don't you give one to Baogen's homeroom teacher too? So that Baogen's homeroom teacher will take better care of our Baogen!"
Song Erzhuang was speechless.
"You're just biased towards Qiuxue!" Qiao Guilan now resented Song Erzhuang for insisting that Qiuxue study while Caixing had to drop out of school.
“Cai Xing is the prettiest. If she hadn’t dropped out of school and had gone to the provincial capital, she would definitely have married better than Qiu Xue.”
"Why are you saying all this? Who can Caixing blame for losing the lottery?"
Back then, my family couldn't afford to support four children.
The eldest daughter dropped out of school after graduating from elementary school.
Song Erzhuang couldn't remember whether Caixing was in second grade or some other grade, but in short, his family couldn't afford to support three children.
The older brother and sister-in-law suggested that the two younger children draw lots, and whoever drew the longest straw would continue their studies.
At that time, the eldest brother found two straws, one long and one short, and specially let the fourth sister choose first.
She grabbed the shorter one, so who can she blame?
"It's fate!" Song Erzhuang said helplessly.
Li Wenxiu, who was outside the door, overheard her in-laws arguing and covered her mouth in surprise.
My husband didn't fail his college entrance exam after graduating high school; his parents secretly burned his acceptance letter!
She composed herself and called out, "Mom, we have guests!"
The two people arguing in the room were startled when they heard Li Wenxiu's voice.
They were all afraid she might have overheard something.
"Judging from Wenxiu's voice, she probably didn't hear me. If she had, wouldn't she have made a scene?"
The couple comforted each other and then opened the door and came out.
Li Wenxiu stood at the entrance of the main room
"Dad, Mom, someone has come to propose marriage."
The couple felt more at ease when they saw Li Wenxiu standing at the door of the main room, thinking that she probably hadn't heard what they were saying.
You definitely didn't hear it!
"They've come to propose marriage to Cai Xing?" Qiao Guilan asked. "Which family is it? Quickly go to the bridal chamber and call Cai Xing over."
Li Wenxiu turned and ran out.
Huo Jianguo walked in carrying two hands full of gifts.
“The young man who gave me the fish!” Song Erzhuang recognized Huo Jianguo immediately. “Guilan, he’s the one I mentioned to you the other day. He’s fishing in the river. I was passing by after work when he gave me two fish.”
"What? This is the young man who delivered meat and grain coupons to my family!" Qiao Guilan remembered him.
Song Erzhuang: "Huh?"
"They're all mine." Huo Jianguo handed over the gifts in both hands.
"Why are you being so polite, bringing so many gifts?" Qiao Guilan's mood brightened immediately as she looked at the overflowing gifts. "I just heard from my daughter-in-law that you've come to propose marriage."
Looking at the tall, handsome young man in front of me, I realized he wasn't bad-looking either.
Cai Xing is indeed beautiful.
In the past two years, many people have come to her door wanting to arrange marriages for her, but she has rejected them all.
Because her family was poor, the men that matchmakers introduced to Caixing were either ugly, shorter than her, or had this or that problem. There was even a matchmaker who introduced an old bachelor to Caixing, but after she rejected him, she wanted to introduce him to Yinhua instead.
That infuriated her.
This time, at least there's a decent one.
"Yes, Uncle and Aunt, I want to marry Yinhua, and I hope you can agree."
Qiao Guilan and Song Erzhuang thought they had misheard.
"You mean my fourth daughter? Her name is Caixing, not Yinhua."
"I want to marry Song Yinhua," Huo Jianguo said coldly.
Qiao Guilan and Song Erzhuang were stunned.
-
At the foot of the mountain.
The three siblings were chatting and looking at the stars in the yard.
Delicious wild fruits were laid out on the table.
Three cups of clear tea.
The three chatted and laughed, and the atmosphere was very relaxed.
For some reason, Baogen and Caixing started playfully fighting around Song Yinhua.
When Li Wenxiu arrived, she saw this warm and harmonious scene.
For a fleeting moment, she wanted to fit in, but then she remembered what the fortune teller had said, and she became afraid.
She was a little angry. Her husband, Baogen, said he would go out for a walk to digest his food after dinner, leaving her alone at home to wash the dishes. But instead, he came here.
I've told him many times to stay away from his older sister.
"Baogen!" Li Wenxiu called out from outside the courtyard gate.
Song Baogen frowned, his eyes showing displeasure.
Why did she come looking for me?
"You go back first, I'll sit for a while and then leave."
"Why are you chasing Wenxiu away?" Song Yinhua beckoned to Li Wenxiu, "Wenxiu, come in and sit for a while. There's fruit here, just picked from the back mountain this afternoon."
"No, we have guests at home." Li Wenxiu wouldn't even go into the yard. "Mom told me to come and call Caixing back. Someone came to propose marriage to her."
"Brother Da Guang!" Song Caixing exclaimed in surprise.
"Who?" Song Yinhua asked.
Song Caixing quickly shut her mouth, "No, I'm leaving now!"
She left happily.
Li Wenxiu stood outside the courtyard, not in a hurry to leave.
She made an excuse to ask Song Baogen to go back with her, not wanting Song Baogen to get too close to his older sister.
Song Yinhua sensed a subtle change in Li Wenxiu's attitude towards her.
Song Baogen could only say goodbye to Song Yinhua and get up to leave.
The couple started arguing as soon as they left their new house at the foot of the mountain.
"I'm just having a cup of tea and chatting with my older sister, what's wrong with that?" Song Baogen asked angrily, "What's it to you?"
I don't want to become a widow!
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