Ren Jin saw that Gu Yueji's eyes were filled with a lot of emotions, which seemed to be about to overflow, like a flood about to burst its banks.
He nodded. "Okay."
Gu Yueji smiled, then paused, organizing her thoughts for a moment before speaking softly.
"There was a little girl born in a poor village in a county where boys were favored over girls. From the time she could remember, she carried her younger brother on her back, taking him wherever she went. I remember one time, when the girl was still very young and hadn't even started elementary school, she tripped and fell while carrying her brother. Afraid of hurting him, she instinctively reached back to shield him as she fell, and then her face hit the ground directly, instantly bleeding profusely. She didn't even dare to cry, afraid of frightening her brother, and carried her wailing brother all the way home. When her parents heard her brother crying, they came over and comforted him. They wondered why she had made her brother cry, and only then did they notice the injury on her face. Her mother took her to the tap to rinse her face, checked her eyes and mouth, and found that she had broken her teeth and broken her face, but her eyes were unharmed, so they left her alone and carried her brother away."
After nine years of compulsory education, the girl's parents refused to pay for her to continue her studies, so she went to work in town, washing dishes and cutting grass for one yuan an hour—she did all sorts of jobs. She finally managed to scrape together enough money to pay tuition, but her parents still disagreed, believing that she would get married in a few years and that education was useless. Fortunately, her junior high school homeroom teacher found out and came to persuade her, allowing her to continue her studies. From that moment on, the girl understood that she had to study hard and leave that home, otherwise she would be trapped in that village for the rest of her life. She devoted herself to her studies. The teaching conditions in her hometown were poor, and the teachers' lessons were often only partially understood, so she memorized every single word in the textbooks. She studied Chinese, math, English, physics, chemistry, history, geography, and biology day and night. When she couldn't afford practice questions for the college entrance exam, she borrowed from classmates and wrote the answers on the practice paper. In this way, she achieved the highest score in the entire town in the college entrance exam that year, becoming famous at the time. Everyone in the village praised her. Her parents were happy to hear the news, and just as the girl secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking she could finally talk to her parents about tuition… She discovered that her parents were happy because they had already arranged a marriage for her. Her good college entrance exam score meant they could ask for a larger dowry, which would be used to pay for her younger brother's university education. The little girl wanted to run away, but she couldn't, because her university acceptance letter would arrive home. Her parents, knowing this, didn't lock her up or confine her; they even discussed the marriage with the groom's family in front of her. They planned to hold the wedding banquet before her acceptance letter arrived. The girl's mother even tried to persuade her, saying that after the marriage, her in-laws would support her university education, so both she and her brother could go to university. The little girl cried every day, not knowing what to do. She remembered seeing others post their experiences online and ask for help when she worked at an internet cafe in town. So she went to the internet cafe in town and posted her own story, hoping someone could help her. Soon, her story attracted attention online, and then the media contacted her to report on it.
"The day before the wedding, staff from the town's civil affairs department and police came to the girl's home. The girl's parents were terrified to see the police. When they learned that the girl had brought them there, they beat her in front of the police. When told that forcing a minor into marriage was illegal, they were frightened, but still refused to return the betrothal gifts. In their view, their daughter's marriage meant both money for their son's education and someone to support their daughter's studies—a win-win situation. They even persuaded the police and government officials to wait until the girl turned 18 to hold the wedding. Only when the police said they were going to take them to the police station did they reluctantly return the betrothal gifts to the groom's family. The parents felt their daughter had disgraced them and said they would no longer care for her and would not pay for her university education."
"To earn tuition, the girl worked 14 hours a day in a factory, eating only free rice soup every day. With the help of the civil affairs department, she received her college admission notice, but two months' wages were still not enough to pay the tuition. The civil affairs department staff in the town helped her obtain a certificate so that she could successfully apply for a student loan. From the age of 18, the girl has been supporting herself. She has also complained. When she saw her roommate's mother making her bed, when she had to work two part-time jobs every day to barely make ends meet, while her roommate could have her parents buy her a new computer and a new phone with just one phone call, she complained. She just lay in bed and silently shed tears, not knowing who to blame."
Gu Yueji paused, and Ren Jin noticed tears welling in her eyes. She swallowed hard, took a few sips of her wine, and continued, "Later, the girl met a boy. For the first time, she realized that someone could like her, be kind to her because of that liking, make her happy, and take care of her. At that time, she truly felt she could give that boy anything, just hoping he would like her and treat her well. So when he said he wanted to start a business, she tried everything to raise money to support him. She didn't feel bitter no matter how hard the business was, because the boy promised her a home, and that they would get married as long as their business succeeded. When the girl found out that the boy had married someone else, you know what? Her first reaction wasn't sadness or pain, but rather, 'It was just as I expected,' a feeling that she wasn't surprised or taken aback at all by being abandoned. She continued to eat and sleep as usual, and streamed for over ten hours a day to sell goods and make money."
“Perhaps girls are just naturally stronger than others, able to withstand blows and beatings, so when she meets a man again, she still longs for him,” she turned to look at him, “longing for someone to be good to her. That person doesn’t need to be rich, handsome, or outstanding. She can even take care of him and work hard to earn money to support him. As long as he is willing to give her a home and be good to her, that’s enough.”
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