Chapter 55: Division Agreement
Xie Yun opened it and the first thing that caught his eye was the brigade's official seal. "It's even stamped on it?"
"Director Yan took it to the team leader to build it. The team leader was hesitant at the time. He asked us how we could live without our parents. I told him that we could live better without our parents.
My sister and I started doing housework when we were four or five. We did the laundry, cooked, cleaned, and fed the pigs and chickens—it was all our responsibility. We also had to go out to collect firewood and forage for the pigs. We earned work points whenever we could. My sister and I both dropped out of school after the second grade, and we didn't spend any money at all. For years, we worked like slaves at home, earning more than we spent, and it all went to my parents. We considered it like paying off a debt we'd owed them all those years.
Of course, they gave birth to us, and if they really can't work anymore in the future, I won't deprive them of a bite of food.
The captain thought about it and probably felt that what I said made sense. Moreover, since this matter was handled in front of Director Yan, he must have trusted Director Yan to do something reasonable, so he stamped my seal.
Xie Yun smiled and said, "The captain is quite open-minded."
She looked at the "Division Agreement" and saw this:
Wang Anfen, a member of Liushutun Brigade, his wife Wu Xiuhua, his eldest daughter Wang Qinghong, his second daughter Wang Qingli, and his son Wang Qingxiang.
Because Wang Anfen and Wu Xiuhua attempted to interfere with the marriage of their eldest daughter, Wang Qinghong, and were suspected of violating the Marriage Law, a conflict arose between the two parties. Wang Qinghong and Wang Qingli requested a separation of the family. With Yan Guixiang, the Women's Director of the Liushutun Brigade, as witness, the two parties ultimately reached a consensus on the separation agreement:
1. Wang Qinghong and Wang Qingli were only given their share of food rations and four chickens. This is the citizen treatment that every member should enjoy and is given by the government.
2. Wang Qinghong and Wang Qingli were not divided among the family's properties, including houses, money, and furniture, and were effectively kicked out of the house with nothing.
3. Wang Qinghong and Wang Qingli did not receive any share of the family property and therefore do not bear any responsibility for their parents' care. However, filial piety is paramount, and Wang Qinghong and Wang Qingli, mindful of their parents' kindness in raising them, are willing to visit them during the holidays to ensure they enjoy the joy of family life.
4. This agreement is made in four copies, one for Mr. and Mrs. Wang Anfen, one for sisters Wang Qinghong and Wang Qingli, one for the brigade, and one for witness Yan Guixiang.
Below are the signatures of all the members of the Wang family, the name of witness Yan Guixiang, and the official seal of the brigade.
After Xie Yun finished reading it, he returned it to Wang Qingli. She folded it carefully and put it away. "How is it? Not bad, right? I'm just working hard now to save up the money for building a house as soon as possible. I'm completely separated from them."
Xie Yun smiled and said, "Very good! Congratulations on escaping the sea of suffering. From now on, you will be free and unfettered."
Wang Qingli laughed, "You really are in high school. You speak differently."
———☆———
The three of them chatted all the way home, mainly Wang Qingli and Xie Yun chatting, and Wang Qinghong followed them and listened to their conversation.
During the conversation, Xie Yun also pieced together the complete story.
After Wang Qingli returned from training, she discovered her parents hadn't given up on trying to get her sister married. Luckily, her sister had listened and stayed. But she worried that if her parents kept urging her, her sister might not be able to resist.
So, she took a day off and missed work to go and ask the man about it. She found out that he was willing to come up with 180 yuan, a desperate move, scraping together money from everywhere to buy himself a wife. Besides having her serve them, he also had to make her work hard to pay back the money. There was no way a man like that would be good to her sister!
Her sister works like a slave at home, and she will work ten times as hard as a slave after she gets married!
In addition to the man and his four children, there is also an old father in this family. The mother died during the famine.
What Wang Qingli heard was that this family treated their daughter-in-law badly. During the famine, food was scarce for him, his father, and his eldest son. His mother starved to death, and his daughter-in-law almost died of hunger. If his eldest son was not still young and needed his mother's care at that time, they would probably have starved her to death.
The family wasn't well-liked, so it was easy for Wang Qingli to get information. Some people, perhaps having guessed her identity or perhaps out of kindness and not wanting to put a girl in a difficult position, told her everything they knew.
Wang Qingli was furious. She went home and told her parents about the situation, but they didn't care. They told her not to ask around and not to listen to other people's nonsense, saying that the man was willing to pay 180 yuan as a betrothal gift because he valued her sister.
Wang Qingli's heart sank at that moment. She had originally held onto a glimmer of hope, thinking that if her parents knew the man's true situation, they might completely abandon the marriage, as her sister was, after all, their own daughter.
Unexpectedly, the couple's hearts were harder than stone. They only cared about whether they could get 180 yuan and didn't care about her sister's life or death at all.
So what are you waiting for?
Wang Qingli took Wang Qinghong to the matchmaker's house. The matchmaker was not Lao Dai, but another person from the village.
Although Wang's parents agreed to the marriage, Wang Qinghong disagreed, and Wang Qingli firmly opposed it with a tough attitude. After all, the matchmaker was not a pure evildoer who wanted to harm others. Knowing that the Wang family had not reached an agreement on this matter, he never replied to the man.
He thought that he would wait until the Wang family reached a conclusion. By then, success or failure would be decided.
Then, Wang Qingli brought her sister to the house and told him clearly that she disagreed with the marriage. Even if her parents agreed, it wouldn't count. If her parents and the matchmaker had done something behind their backs, she would make a big fuss and demand justice.
Seeing her attitude, the matchmaker made it clear that he would tell the man about the Wang family's opinion and reject the marriage.
It just so happened that on this day, the man also came to the matchmaker to inquire about the news. It had been more than half a month and nearly twenty days, and this matter should have a conclusion. But he saw the Wang sisters there, and they were extremely disgusted with him.
The man went crazy on the spot and started to curse, "Don't you see what you are like? Who else would be interested in you except me?", "You are already in your twenties and no one is willing to marry you. If you don't marry me, you will be an old maid for the rest of your life.", "Look at yourself, from head to toe, you are not worth more than 180 yuan per pound"...
Wang Qingli punched him in the mouth, then kicked him in the crotch. When he bent over, she elbowed him in the back, and then started punching and kicking him.
As soon as the fight started, Wang Qinghong picked up a small stool from the matchmaker's house, but she never found a chance to attack. The man was beaten by her sister the whole time, and she circled around the two of them like a raider.
In the end, it was the one who took the initiative to call for a stop, and the one-sided fight came to an end.
After beating the man, Wang Qingli didn't forget to swear, "Don't think you'll bother my sister if you can't beat me. I'm warning you, if my sister loses a hair, I'll bother you. And you four bastards, if you dare to hit my sister, I'll beat them to death. If anything happens to my sister, regardless of whether it's you who did it or not, I'll take your name. If I can't kill you, I'll take your last name!"
Perhaps frightened by her attitude and her fighting ability, the man didn't dare to say anything else and ran away in shame. He is also a coward who bullies the weak and fears the strong.
After the matter was settled, Wang Qingli and Wang Qinghong returned home and told their parents not to think about the marriage anymore, as they had clearly rejected it.
Wang Anfen and his wife kept muttering to themselves, and I thought they were just talking like before.
Then, early this morning, Wang Anfen went to find the matchmaker and told him that he agreed to the marriage and asked the other party to pay the gift quickly, saying that his daughter's opinion was not important.
The matchmaker twitched his lips, rejected him, and told him that the two sides had already had a fight and were now mortal enemies.
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