As dawn broke, Xu Lixia got up and saw that Zhan Chunlan had already prepared breakfast. After staring at her for most of the day, she finally couldn't hold back: "You stay up all night and don't get up during the day. You're fifteen or sixteen years old. Can't you be a little more sensible? You always have to cause trouble. Do you have some kind of grievance with your parents? Have we not satisfied you with anything?"
"Your father and I work from dawn till dusk every day, selling everything we own to send you sisters to school, and we've made enemies? We just said a couple of things to you during the day, and you start banging and hitting us at night. Do you want to turn the world upside down?"
In the past, she would have gotten up early to cook, and if someone kept nagging her, she would have retorted no matter who they were. But now that she's happy, she doesn't hear anyone else at all.
Zhan Chunlan tested the space all night and found that although the space was small, it was actually able to retrieve objects remotely.
This discovery thrilled her, as it gave her more room to maneuver. She kept going back and forth like this until dawn, when she got out of bed to cook.
Looking at the nearly empty rice bin, she suddenly remembered what Li Xiuxiu had said yesterday and immediately interrupted Xu Lixia's verbal attack: "Mom, Xiuxiu said yesterday that a batch of rice arrived at the grain station today. Give me the grain coupons later and I'll go queue up to buy it."
"A girl should act like a girl..." Xu Lixia's speech on girlhood was interrupted before she could finish. She was pointed at and about to continue lecturing, but she forcibly stopped herself: "You... I'll give it to you later. Remember to buy the food before class."
After finishing their meal, everyone else left. Zhan Chunlan looked at Zhan Chunyun, who put down her bowl and ran outside, and was very puzzled. She had already graduated from high school and had not found a job yet. She didn't know what Zhan Chunyun was running around for all day.
The parents of the Zhan sisters have no plans for their daughters. The three sisters can only rely on themselves. Zhan Chunhua has a job and a boyfriend, so she definitely won't go to the countryside. She herself is still in high school and will graduate next year.
Only Zhan Chunyun is unemployed and has no boyfriend. It's estimated that it won't be long before the educated youth office comes to her door to persuade her to resign. I wonder if she has any plans.
Never mind, Zhan Chunlan finished cleaning up the dishes and ran to the grain station, where a long queue had already formed. Sure enough, when it comes to livelihoods, everyone is well-informed.
She quickly joined the end of the line, and in just a short while, two more people lined up behind her.
I don't know what's going on, we've been in line for ages and the line hasn't moved an inch. It's so boring, another day of wanting to use my phone...
"Sister Wei, I heard your Xiaolei found a girlfriend?" She was so bored that she could only listen to other people's conversations.
"Yes, it's only been a few days, and you've already heard about it?" The speaker was a middle-aged woman around forty years old. She had a plump figure, which was rare for this era. She had a round face, narrow eyes, and a familiar smile on her lips as she spoke.
"I heard from my Huihui that she works in a state-run restaurant. She's a very hardworking girl." The two were already close, and she was happy for Sister Wei. She even patted Sister Wei's hand lightly twice as she spoke, saying, "You're so lucky!"
“We’ve been observing this girl for a long time. We noticed her when she went to the state-run restaurant. She has a good personality, and we’ve wanted to introduce her to my son, Xiaolei, for a while, but we’ve been too busy as young people. That’s why we’ve finally met recently.” Sister Wei said happily, with a hint of pride showing in her eyes.
Zhan Chunlan didn't take it to heart at first. But then she heard "Xiao Lei" and "state-run restaurant," so she wondered if they were talking about her older sister.
"You heard from Huihui that she was still a temporary worker?"
"Yes, it's been three years and he's still a temporary worker." Hearing the other person's slightly disparaging remark, she didn't feel embarrassed at all that her child had been hired as a temporary worker; instead, she smiled broadly.
"I don't understand. Your Xiaolei is so well-off. Someone introduced him to a sales clerk position at a department store, but you didn't like it. Why did you choose a temporary worker?" The woman was full of doubt. Jiao Lei's father was a head chef at a state-owned restaurant, his mother was a textile factory worker, and Jiao Lei himself was a truck driver at a cannery. His family was well-off. The key question was why they didn't choose a sales clerk position but instead found a temporary worker at a restaurant?
“We don’t care about those things, as long as the child is happy.” Zhan Chunlan observed carefully and found that when she said this, she was very happy, as if she had a lot to say but swallowed it back, with a secret sense of pride.
"Sister Wei, you guys are so open-minded! If someone marries into your family, they'll be marrying into a lucky nest."
The people queuing around overheard this, and many turned around to look at Sister Wei, nodding in agreement. Everyone thought that Sister Wei was an open-minded and kind mother-in-law who didn't care about social status.
Some people thought she was foolish, that she shouldn't listen to her child in everything, and that marriage should be between people of similar social standing. However, these were just whispers among a minority; no one was stupid enough to shout them out loud.
Seeing the reactions of those around her, Sister Wei's smile widened, and she waved her hands repeatedly: "It's not as good as you say, it's just that the kids like it, how can we adults go against their wishes?"
Only Zhan Chunlan, who listened from beginning to end, felt that Zhan Chunhua was in trouble this time, having such a mother-in-law who could play high-level games.
He acted as if he valued his child highly in front of outsiders and didn't care that his wife was a temporary worker.
But as she just said, she took a liking to Zhan Chunhua the moment he arrived at the state-run restaurant. This era isn't like later times, where you can date for several years. Usually, if you meet someone through a blind date, you can get married. How could she possibly wait three years before letting Jiao Lei meet her again?
Moreover, Jiao Lei is already 21 years old. Many men his age already have several children.
They just wanted to find a daughter-in-law they could control, and they took a liking to Zhan Chunhua. These past three years have probably been a test of her obedience.
As the head chef of a state-owned restaurant, he kept suppressing her application for permanent employment, preventing her from becoming a permanent employee. He coldly watched as she was the first to arrive and the last to leave every day in order to get a permanent position, doing everything she was supposed to do and everything she wasn't supposed to do.
This pressure has lasted for three years. Now that Jiao Lei has reappeared this year, Zhan Chunhua has no choice but to hold on tightly to this lifeline!
However, Zhan Chunhua had no other choice but to take this step. No one in her family was looking out for her, and she had found this temporary job at the state-run restaurant on her own.
The job paid 400 yuan, but Zhan Chunhua didn't have that much, so she had to ask Zhan Zhiqiang and Xu Lixia for it. They initially disagreed with giving her the money, thinking they could just marry her off and collect a dowry.
Finally, Zhan Chunhua said that after she started working, she only took 5 yuan out of her 18 yuan salary each month, and gave the rest of her salary to her family. It wasn't until she got married that Zhan Zhiqiang reluctantly agreed.
Right now, she can only figure it out on her own, and it's uncertain whether she can break through this predicament.
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