The door creaked open... and Zhao Dahu reluctantly released Wei Shuqing, looking at the door and laughing as he cursed, "Zhao Aiguo, you little brat, come out here!"
Zhao Aiguo first shuffled one foot in, then revealed a fair and delicate hand, followed by his large head emerging little by little like the sunrise, and finally a big smiling face appeared. Zhao Dahu sat on the stool, looked at him, and asked, "What do you need?"
With a thick nasal tone, Wei Shuqing said, "I've made up my mind. I'm never going to bother with you, you little bastard, again. Whether you go to work in a factory or do heavy manual labor, it's none of my business..."
Zhao Aiguo's massive body squeezed through the crack in the door, and he said with a smile, "Mom, what era are we living in now? I've heard that school admissions are all by recommendation. If you have a good family background, you can go to school. I even saw the teacher assign me to No. 2 Middle School, which is a top-notch junior high school, right next to my grandpa's factory."
Wei Shuqing's head throbbed with pain. She pointed at the door and said, "Get out of here, get out right now!" Turning back to Zhao Dahu, she took off her shoe and started hitting him, head and feet indiscriminately. Zhao Dahu reacted quickly, grabbing Zhao Aiguo and running away. In the end, the shoe hit the door hard.
The father and son ran out and exchanged a glance. The mother tigress's wrath was no joke, so the two of them were too embarrassed to go into Zhao's parents' house. It was still light out, so they wandered around outside. Zhao Aiguo said, "Dad, what's going on? Why is Mom so fixated on studying? What's the point of studying anyway? That scoundrel in our class used to be such a good student, but now he hasn't even finished junior high and is just staying home! Qian Xiaotian went to live in the cowshed with his parents. I heard from Da Ming that his life is over."
Zhao Dahu frowned, looked at Zhao Aiguo and said, "Keep this to your family, don't go around spouting nonsense and you'll get yourself into trouble. Anyway, learn as much as you can, it won't hurt you."
Zhao Aiguo sighed. As he and his son were strolling, they saw about a dozen policemen arresting six or seven of Hu Daming's group of teenagers. Zhao Aiguo was stunned. Just as he was about to speak, Zhao Dahu covered his mouth. After a while, the neighbors whispered among themselves, "That old Hu kid is finally caught." "He's a troublemaker; now he'll get some government education." "What happened?"
"Shameless! Such a young age and already chasing after women. That little hussy isn't exactly innocent either; she's had several boyfriends. When they were discovered, a brawl broke out, and these guys were involved!" "Sigh! They should be arrested!"
Zhao Aiguo and Zhao Dahu exchanged a glance before heading home. Once inside, Zhao Aiguo sighed and said, "I knew that woman wasn't a good person. I even told Brother Daming. And look what happened, she's in jail now. I wonder how many years she'll get."
Zhao Dahu patted Zhao Aiguo on the shoulder and said, "It's a good thing you didn't go. If you had, you would have been the one in jail."
Zhao Aiguo said with deep sorrow, "I'm not stupid! My grandma said fighting is bad, fighting means going to jail. Sigh! Even if Da Ming gets out, he'll be ruined. That's why I still have to rely on my grandma. She said a woman's virtue lies in being docile and obedient, while a man's virtue lies in doting on one person. When I grow up..."
Zhao Dahu frowned and spat, "You're not even 12 yet and you're already thinking about getting married? Wait until you're all grown up! And you call yourself a man or a woman? You know quite a lot!"
Zhao Aiguo retorted, "What? How come I don't know? Restless women are troublemakers who bring chaos to the family. My grandma and my mom are perfect! They don't have to be beautiful, but they have to be plump. You have to marry a plump woman. Even if you're not rich, she'll still bring peace to the house! Look at those slender waists, swaying left and right as they walk...tsk...tsk...that's a menace!"
Zhao Dahu sighed and said helplessly, "You talk too much. Saying less would make you seem profound! Go back to your room and go to sleep!"
The Zhao family had a quiet day, but as for the Qi family, Qi's mother waited until the day after Wang Dong received his salary. Qi Zhifang came to their door with two cans of meat and a bag of candy.
Looking at the thin and dark-skinned Qi Zhifang, whose face and hands were still covered in chilblains with pus in some places, Qi's mother sighed. She turned on the stove and boiled a little water with salt dissolved in it. While it was still hot, she washed and applied the solution to Qi Zhifang. Qi Zhifang silently shed tears. Qi's mother calmly said, "You're still feeling wronged? Look what you've done to the whole family."
Qi Zhifang choked back tears and said, "I know I was wrong, Mom, I know I was wrong, please don't abandon me!"
After Qi's mother finished washing up, she waited for her to finish crying, then sighed and said, "Dongdong has gone back to work, but what about Honghong? Have you thought about it? Do you want her to go to the countryside?"
Qi Zhifang stood there stunned. Her mother wiped her eyes and said, "She's already 16 years old (by Chinese reckoning), and she's about to graduate. If she doesn't get a job, she'll have to go to the countryside."
Qi Zhifang lowered her head sadly. Seeing her like that, her mother sighed and said, "Fangzi, you are a mother. You can't just think about your own comfort. You can live the first half of your life on your own, but you have to live the second half for your children!"
Qi Zhifang said self-deprecatingly, "How could I possibly live for them?"
Mother Qi said with a gloomy face, "You only care about giving birth and not raising them? Look at the mess you've made of the children after Yanda left! You're so focused on finding a man that you don't care about anything else. You left Fangfang and Honghong to Dongdong to raise, and that's not all, you even ruined Dongdong's livelihood. You're not happy until you kill them, are you!"
With tears streaming down her face, Qi Zhifang said, "What can I do? Mom, tell me, what did I do wrong? Is it wrong for me to like someone?"
Qi's mother was too lazy to talk to her, "With your current mindset, there's not much hope of you keeping this job. If you have any conscience, give this job to Honghong and don't let her go to the countryside. They can take care of you when you get old!"
Qi Zhifang stared wide-eyed and said, "Mom, this is the only job I have left. If I don't have this job, what will I eat and drink?"
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