Upon hearing this, the men's expressions changed slightly; this old woman was truly shameless.
"I don't."
Zhang Hong blushed and quickly shook her head, but was glared at fiercely by her mother, causing her eyes to redden and her head to lower.
Ji Zhijun frowned and glared at Zhang's mother with a dark expression. At this moment, all the affection he had for the Zhang family had been worn away.
Chen Jing sneered repeatedly: "Your daughter agreed to transfer the job to you, so let her do it. What does it have to do with Xia?"
Ji Xia had been coldly observing Zhang's mother and daughter. In just forty or fifty days of autumn harvest, Zhang's mother had lost weight, becoming dark and thin, with prominent cheekbones that made her look even older.
Her second daughter, Zhang Qing, not only shares a similar personality with her biological mother, but also looks exactly like her.
She was no more than twenty years old, with a slightly fuller face than her mother. She was dark-skinned and thin, more than one shade darker than Zhang Lan and Zhang Hong. Her eyes held a hint of resentment as she looked at her sisters.
No wonder she was resentful. Zhang Hong married into a good family. Before the marriage, she was even darker and thinner than her. After a few years of marriage into the Ji family, she not only gained weight in her face and body, but her complexion also became much fairer. It was obvious that she was living a very good life.
Zhang Lan has changed even more. Before her older sister went into postpartum confinement, Zhang Lan was as thin as a matchstick. After only a month and a half in the city, she has grown up and gained seven or eight pounds. Her skin has also become fair and rosy.
Of the three sisters, she used to be the one who had the best life, but now, compared to her older and younger sisters, she has become the oldest and most disabled one. No wonder she feels unbalanced.
But what does this have to do with her? What does it have to do with the Ji family? The Zhang family doesn't treat their daughters like human beings, and now that their three daughters are barely recognizable as human, they expect the Ji family to compensate them? What kind of logic is that?
Ji Xia walked into the inner room as if nothing had happened, and smiled faintly: "Yes, does your sister-in-law also have a job in the city? If you want to transfer it, you can do it yourselves. I won't interfere in your Zhang family's affairs."
As she spoke, she waved the things in her hand at Ji Zhijun: "I'm planning to go home. I bought two catties of meat for my parents. Brother, are you going home now? I heard the brigade is preparing to distribute grain."
Before Ji Zhijun could speak, Zhang's mother couldn't help but say loudly, "The job Ah Hong mentioned is the same job you have now. She just gave birth to two sons, how can she have time to work? Besides, working and earning money is a man's job. Your Ji family is really heartless, making her work to earn money to support her children."
"Yes, Sister Ji, my sister has two children, and they're still so young. If something happens to them, my brother-in-law will be left without an heir."
As soon as Zhang Qing finished speaking, he noticed that his older sister's face had darkened considerably. She belatedly realized that she had cursed her nephew and quickly apologized.
Ji Xia gave Zhang Qing a sinister look. Her older brother had been married for two or three years and finally had two sons, but his aunt had cursed him.
She stared at Zhang Qing with a look as if he were dead, sneered a few times, then sat down in the rattan chair in the living room, pulled Chen Jing down to sit as well, and then lazily responded.
"Want a job? Sure, the Ji family paid for it. This position would normally cost 1,200 yuan elsewhere, but since we're relatives, I'll give you 1,000. Once you deliver 1,000 yuan, I'll transfer the job to you immediately."
"What? You want more money? A thousand yuan? How could it be so expensive?"
Before Zhang Qing could even smile, his face immediately fell after hearing this, and a fierce glint appeared on his dark, thin, and mean-looking face.
Upon hearing this, Zhang's mother said with dissatisfaction, "Ji girl, my daughter just gave birth to two big, healthy grandsons for your Ji family, and you still want a thousand yuan? Isn't that going too far? We're all relatives."
"If we weren't relatives, would I stay here to listen to your nonsense? I would have kicked you all out long ago. You think you can work for free? Why should I? Just because you're so shameless and tough?"
Ji Xia scoffed, her contemptuous gaze sweeping over the mother and daughter: "Speaking of children, our Ji family hasn't settled accounts with you yet!"
"You accepted so much betrothal money, but didn't give a single penny of dowry. All you sent was a sickly child. Our Ji family raised him for several years before he had two children. How dare you even mention it?"
"You sold your daughter a few years ago, what? Now that you have two children, you want to sell your daughter again? Are you really her mother? Are you afraid she'll have a good life, so you have to make things difficult for her and make her unable to hold her head up in her husband's family?"
Hearing Ji Xia's words, Zhang Hong's eyes involuntarily welled up with tears. When she married into the Ji family a few years ago, no matter how much money Ji Xia spent, she didn't dare to utter a sound. Why? Because she lacked confidence.
The dowry of nearly two hundred yuan was all pocketed by her family. She married into the Ji family with only two pillowcases. She hadn't had any children in the two or three years since she got married, and many people laughed behind her back, saying that they were waiting for the Ji family to kick her out.
Ji Xia continued, "In the past two years, a large number of educated youth have returned to the city, and they can't find jobs anywhere. Which job doesn't pay more than a thousand yuan? Not to mention the supply and marketing cooperative. If you think you can get something for nothing, you're dreaming. Why don't you just fly to the sky?"
Zhang's mother and Zhang Qing tried to refute her several times, but Ji Xia's rapid and urgent voice made their faces turn red and then pale, and they couldn't help but get angry at Zhang Hong.
"My dear girl, watching your sister-in-law berate your mother like that, she has no conscience! How could I have given birth to such an unfilial child? Heavens—"
Seeing that she couldn't out-argue Ji Xia, Zhang's mother got so angry that she reached out and desperately twisted Zhang Hong's arm, hitting and cursing her.
Zhang Hong was still holding her child when she was driven to depression by her mother and sister early in the morning. Tears streamed down her face, and her mother even hit her. She could only hold her child and keep dodging.
Zhang Qing chimed in from the side, "Big sister, you're supposed to be the eldest daughter-in-law of the Ji family, yet you're so useless. You have to be mindful of your sister-in-law's feelings even for the smallest things—"
The screams and curses of the group mingled with Zhang Hong's sobs, and the child in her arms immediately began to cry.
When one child started crying, another child in the room heard the crying and immediately started crying too, causing a great commotion inside and outside the room.
"Enough!"
Ji Zhijun shouted, took a few steps forward, snatched the child from Zhang Hong's arms, and pushed his wife: "The child is still crying in the room, why don't you go in and comfort him?"
Zhang Hong lowered her head and mumbled in response. Just as she was about to go back to her room, her mother and Zhang Qing blocked her way.
"You can't go in, young lady. Have you forgotten what I told you a few days ago?"
Zhang's mother desperately tried to signal to Zhang Hong with her eyes, but Zhang Hong kept her head down, her eyes red, and remained silent, ignoring her mother's words.
Zhang's mother glared at her daughter, then turned around and angrily shouted at Ji Xia, "I don't care, this job must be given to my daughter. If not, then make our eldest daughter come home with us."
"Go home with you? What does that mean? Are you suggesting they get a divorce?"
Ji Xia slammed her hand on the table and stood up, laughing disdainfully: "Threatening me with divorce? Do you think your daughter is some kind of stunning beauty? Or do you think my brother can't find a partner after a divorce?"
Chen Jing scoffed and chimed in, "With a family like that, if it were me, I'd be happy to get a divorce and find another one. With my brother's character and the Ji family, so what if he's remarried? Plenty of young women would come knocking on his door."
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