Chapter 2 Sisters Meet
When Bai Jing woke up again, someone was whispering outside the house.
She listened carefully for a while before she was sure that it was her older sister and younger sister talking.
At that time, if she remembered correctly, her eldest sister Bai Ling was only thirteen years old, her youngest sister was only ten years old, not to mention her younger brother, who was only eight years old. It could be said that they were all weak women in the family.
Her father might not come home once a month, and even if he did, he would just pass by without entering the house.
Because he was injured and discharged from the army, the country arranged a job for him to guard a coal mine, far away on a coal mountain forty or fifty miles away, with a salary of sixteen and fifty yuan a month. In those days when meat was only forty or fifty cents, a salary of more than ten yuan was not low.
It has been six years since he was discharged from the army, and his family has never seen a penny of his money. Every time he gets his payday, his grandfather would invite him to his house for a feast.
Only after he handed over all the money he had on him would Father Bai be sent back by his uncles.
Her face was full of disgust as she cursed Bai's mother, "Sister-in-law, you too, big brother has worked so hard, and you, as his wife, don't know how to feel sorry for him. Apart from anything else, you should at least wash these clothes for him. Look at my clothes, they're all stained by big brother."
"That's right. I won't rely on you for food, but as a wife, you should at least be more clean. Isn't it embarrassing for your family if Big Brother goes out like this?"
After saying these embarrassing words, they just walked away without even entering the door.
Father Bai, who was drunk and unconscious, was helped into the house by his wife and daughter to rest.
Six years, a full six years, they have long been accustomed to the Bai family's shamelessness.
It is true that if you have a stepmother, you will have a stepfather.
Haha, if you have money, you can call me big brother.
If you meet them on a daily basis, just stay away from them and don't embarrass them.
Of course, these are referring to the sons born to Old Man Bai by his stepmother. The ones who are brothers from the same mother as Mr. Bai are still good, but unfortunately, they are unlucky and have a father like that, so their lives are difficult.
I can't help much even if I want to. I can only make sure that my eldest brother's family doesn't starve to death. It's not easy for them to have a meal of porridge.
Outside, the conversation between the two sisters continued.
Bai Jing didn't want to interrupt them, she just wanted to listen to what they were saying.
"Second sister, is the eldest sister really going to get married? I don't want the eldest sister to get married." This was the voice of the younger sister Bai Jing.
"It's better to get married. You know what life is like at home. Maybe you can have enough food to eat after getting married." The words of the second sister Bai Ling made Bai Jing in the room feel sad.
Thinking of what her mother said to her before she got married in her previous life, yes, no one's home is better than her own.
It's because her family has a father who doesn't care about anything. In ordinary families, they can't even support themselves, so how can they care about the children born by their stepmother?
It is right to provide retirement money for my father. After all, Yan State puts filial piety first. But our ancestors did not say that we should ignore the life and death of our wife and children in order to be filial to our parents.
The country has wasted my father's time training in those years.
"Can I really eat my fill? Second sister, what does it feel like to have a full meal?" Bai Jing asked her second sister with doubt and longing, "I want to have a full meal too. Second sister, please let mother marry me off too."
As soon as these words were spoken, Bai Jing cried out "ouch".
Bai Jing knew without thinking that it was her second sister who hit her.
As expected, the second sister spoke up, "What are you thinking about? How old are you? Who are you going to marry? Okay, hurry up and wash the vegetables. Mother should be back soon. I have to make some wild vegetable porridge."
The children all know that their mother works hard, and they all want to help her with more work so that she can have more time to rest.
Bai Jing couldn't sleep either, so she got up and planned to go out to help her sisters.
But when her feet touched the ground and she fell to the ground like a soft shrimp, her mind went dizzy.
She knew it was because of hunger.
She hasn't eaten or drunk anything since she came back yesterday, so how could she have the strength?
As a last resort, she called out to the outside, "Second sister, little sister, please pour me a glass of warm water."
Hearing the sound in the house, the two sisters immediately put down the wild vegetables in their hands and answered in unison, "Hey, sister, we are here."
After a while, Bai Jing saw her two younger sisters coming in with a ladle, and the ladle was held by the second sister.
"Sister, why are you lying on the floor? Are you out of strength?" Bai Ling saw her elder sister slumped to the ground and approached with a worried look on her face. "Hurry, drink some water. I added salt."
As he said this, he brought the ladle close to his elder sister's mouth.
Bai Jing didn't care and used the force to drink several mouthfuls of water, which tasted salty. Only after she finished the water did she feel a little stronger.
"Thank you, second sister." Her second sister was as thin as she remembered, with a head bigger than her body.
Not only the second sister, but also the youngest sister, are short, and their whole bodies are sallow, with white spots on their faces, which means they have worms in their bodies.
She remembered that one year her younger sister was sent to the village clinic because she fainted. An old man inside said that her younger sister's body was damaged by worms and needed to be dewormed.
My little sister, who was already thin, almost lost her life that time.
She didn't know how her mother got the money for the deworming medicine, but after her younger sister had the deworming, her mother went to the town several times.
It was only when they grew up that their mother told them that when they were young, she sold her blood to support them no matter whether they were in school or sick.
Because of this incident, they resented their father for many years, and only after his death did they resolve their resentment.
Precisely because of their poor family conditions, the sisters have been very strong-willed since childhood. Because of their strong-willedness, none of them has a good life in their husband's family.
The scumbag she met, her second sister married a man who listened to his wife, but his family was full of blood-sucking leeches, not to mention her third sister, who was kicked out of the house by the mother-in-law after she got married, and not only was she not given anything, but she also had to pay for the house she lived in.
In comparison, Sanmei had the hardest life. Her husband and son died early, leaving her with two grandchildren.
Before she died, her third sister was doing odd jobs to raise her grandchildren, planting flowers and trees for others, and competing with men for jobs.
His small stature had long been bent over.
"Big sister, please don't get married, okay?" Bai Jing looked at her elder sister who was struggling on the edge of the bed and couldn't help but tear up. "Big sister, I will pick more wild vegetables in the future. Please don't get married, okay?"
Seeing this little sister, Bai Jing felt deeply touched.
"Okay, elder sister won't get married and will always be with Xiaojing, okay?" Bai Jing raised her hand and touched her younger sister's short hair.
The family had no money to buy hair ties, so my youngest and second oldest sister both had short hair. My second oldest sister was better off, as she could wash her hair by herself, so her mother cut her hair short to the ears. Because the hair was frizzy and unnourished, it made her head look bigger.
My little sister's hair is like a boy's, short and standing on her head. It's so short that it looks like the yellow color dyed by people in later generations, which shows how poor her nutrition is.
Bai Jing walked out of the house with the help of her two younger sisters.
Seeing the wild vegetables they picked under the eaves, Bai Jing couldn't help crying. They were bitter, so bitter.
If possible, she really didn't want to go back to this time.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com