Nowadays, schools don't have any self-introductions or anything when they start school. Qian Xiao's classmates don't know how old she is. Although she looks short and has a small face, no one would have thought that someone under ten years old would be able to attend junior high school.
In their rural area, many people get married at sixteen or seventeen. They don't even need to get a marriage certificate. The two families agree on the date, and when the time comes, the girl is taken back to the man's house. That's considered a marriage.
Qian Xiao nodded, realizing she had overlooked something. In their village, most of the children started school at seven or eight, and many didn't start until they were ten or so. By the time they reached middle school, they were already sixteen or seventeen. But was getting married so early really a good thing? They were still immature children.
"Hurry, hurry, it's probably that girl's family looking for us." If we're too late, we won't be able to see anything.
How big could the commune's school be? Before long, they followed the flow of people to the school gate, where there were so many people that all they could hear was their voices.
"You brat, you think you're all grown up now? You even dare to sneak out like this. We've fed you, clothed you, and raised you all these years, just so you can come here and drive us crazy?"
"You're coming back with me today. You're not allowed to go to school anymore. Look around the village, which other child can get so much education? What? You can't even make a living without studying?"
"I think you've become too wild from all that studying. What's the point of a girl like you reading so many books? If we didn't feel sorry for you, would you be living such a good life now?"
My deskmate pulled Qian Xiao through the crowd, and after a long struggle, they finally got inside. There they saw a middle-aged woman pulling a little girl. She looked thin and small; if you didn't know she was sixteen or seventeen, she would look like a twelve or thirteen-year-old.
Qian Xiao's lips twitched. This was clearly still a child, and they were going to marry her off like this? She was probably not even as tall as her. What kind of heartless parents were they?
As the woman spoke, she seemed to get angry and slapped the girl hard across the face twice: "You have to go back today whether you want to or not. I've already asked your older brother to expel you from school. The date is set. If you dare to run away again, I'll break your legs."
The little girl didn't say a word the whole time, her head down like a soulless puppet, being pulled around by the woman.
At this moment, a young man squeezed in and walked towards the woman in the middle: "Mom, it's done, let's go."
The middle-aged woman grabbed the little girl and walked away, cursing and swearing. The onlookers shook their heads and dispersed. This was a family matter, and no one should interfere. Even if they felt sorry for the little girl, they would only discuss it briefly at most.
Qian Xiao sighed. It was fortunate that her parents didn't discriminate against girls over boys, otherwise her life would definitely not be easy.
Her deskmate pulled her to meet up with a little girl, and the two chattered about what had just happened. Qian Xiao also pricked up her ears to listen.
"You found out what happened?" The one who asked was Qian Xiao's deskmate.
"I found out that there's someone in our class from the same village as her. He's the older brother from that family, the guy from earlier. He's found a girlfriend who wants to marry into the family, but she wants a dowry of fifty yuan and also can't let his sister go to school."
"No way, what business is it of hers if her sister goes to school? That's too domineering. She's not even married yet, and she already dislikes her sister-in-law? That's too domineering."
"Oh dear, it's not just because of that. They can't afford the dowry, so they thought that if they married off their eldest daughter, they could get the dowry money. This is perfect for their eldest brother to get married."
"My God, what's the difference between this and selling their daughter? Their family can afford to send that girl to school, they can't be this foolish, can they?"
Yes, they could afford to send an unloved girl to school, but they still had to sell their daughter because of their son's dowry. Qian Xiao is so anxious. Please continue the story.
"Hey, it's not like their family is supporting that girl's schooling. It's said that she earned her tuition by picking and selling wild vegetables herself. She also had to do all the housework. You didn't see how thin that girl was. It's said that she never had enough to eat."
"My God, so this girl isn't their biological child?" How could biological parents treat their own child like this?
Qian Xiao: It seems that her classmate's family treats her quite well, otherwise they wouldn't have asked such a question. There are many families like this in the countryside, some of whom don't treat their daughters like human beings.
"How could that be? If she weren't their own daughter, they wouldn't raise her at all. There are many like this in the countryside. They use their daughter's dowry to pay for their son's wedding."
My deskmate shuddered: "Really? That's terrifying. Luckily, my parents are very good to me and didn't make me exchange my brother's dowry."
Thinking of something, she turned to look at Qian Xiao: "Qian Xiao, your family is also from the countryside, is it really true?"
"Yes, but there aren't many like that in our village. The girls in our village are doing alright."
Qian Xiao looked at her with some disbelief: "Then why are you so short?"
That's a question that makes it sound like you're much taller than me.
"I'm only nine years old, and I'm already very tall, okay? When I'm your age, I'll definitely be very tall." Who's she calling short? Her dad is almost 1.8 meters tall, how could she be short?
"What? How old did you say you are?" The classmate's small eyes widened as if Qian Xiao's words were incredibly unbelievable.
Qian Xiao touched her little face. Did she grow up so fast?
"I said I'm only nine years old. I'm already quite tall for my age, okay? What, do you think I look like I'm almost twenty?"
My deskmate shook his head: "No, we thought you just had a baby face. Wait, how come you're in middle school at such a young age?"
You're quite good at grasping the key points: "That's a fresh question. You got in through the exam, you already know all the elementary school material, why would you study it all over again?"
"No wonder your family picks you up and drops you off every day, it turns out you're too small!" I thought you weren't favored at home, that's why you're short. She wasn't stupid enough to say even the last sentence.
As for picking her up and dropping her off every day, she thought it was just on the way. Anyway, she had never heard of any family spoiling their child like that, especially a girl. Even though she was considered pampered, she wasn't spoiled to the point of having to be picked up and dropped off at school every day.
"Yeah, my dad saw that it was a long way to junior high school, so he bought me a bicycle and had my second and third uncles take me to school."
"Then why doesn't your dad take you himself?" It would be better if your dad didn't do it. He's already bought a bicycle, so why doesn't he want to do anything?
"My dad is in the army, he's rarely home, how can he send me to school?"
"No, weren't we talking about that girl?" How did we end up talking about her? She's willing to listen to gossip, as long as she's not the subject of it.
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