Shelly searched hard in the depths of the rice jar, and finally, his fingertips touched the last handful of rice grains.
He carefully took it out and put it into the pot.
He cooked a pot of porridge, which was so thin that you could almost see your reflection in it, but there was nothing he could do about it.
He handed the porridge to his younger brother and sister carefully, only to see them looking here and there with disgust on their faces.
"Brother? Is this all you give us to eat?" Xie Hai asked dissatisfiedly.
Xie Li glanced at Xie Hai and said, "It's good enough if you have something to eat. What are you still complaining about? If you don't eat, you'll starve."
Without Lin Rulan, they couldn't even eat rice.
Xie Yun hadn't tasted such bland rice porridge for a long time. Tears welled up in his eyes and he couldn't help but let them fall.
"This is all Lin Rulan's fault!" she complained angrily, "If she had taken good care of us, how could we have starved?
"That's right!" Xie Hai agreed, his voice revealing deep resentment. "We're already giving her a compliment by letting her be our stepmother, and yet she actually dares to be rude to us and even hit us!"
He still remembers how that woman threatened and bullied them in the past few days.
Shelly raised his eyes and glanced at them, his eyes holding a hint of sharpness and helplessness.
"Shut up!" he shouted. "Why don't you use your brains to think about it? It's been two or three days, and you still don't understand? Without Lin Rulan at home, we can only starve, let alone survive."
After hearing these words, Xie Yun and Xie Bao woke up as if from a dream. They lowered their heads in shame and fell into silence.
They also know in their hearts that their father is unreliable and only knows how to fool around every day.
Although it was refreshing not to go to school these few days, if Lin Rulan really didn't come back, they might not even have food to eat. What's more, if Lin Rulan really came back, they would definitely be forced to go to school again.
After a long while, Xie Hai timidly asked, "What should we do then?"
After a moment's thought, Shelly said, "Let's wait two more days. If she still doesn't come back, we'll spread the word in the village that she's cheating on us. We only ask that she come back to take care of us. If she still doesn't come back, then we'll make it happen."
"Okay! Let's do it!" Xie Yun and Xie Bao said in unison. They were quite proud of their plan, but they didn't know that their conspiracy had already been seen by Song Jiao.
Song Jiao sat on the bed, her eyes indifferent and deep.
She looked at the picture on the system screen quietly, and couldn't help but sneer in her heart.
It turns out that some people have been extremely vicious since childhood and are not corrupted by fate.
They clearly knew the harm and consequences that gossip could bring to others, yet they still tried to force her to go back in this way? How ridiculous!
Moreover, the country has now begun to vigorously promote the concept of freedom of marriage and prohibit any form of arranged marriages, marriage transactions and other acts that interfere with freedom of marriage.
This provides a strong legal basis for young men and women in rural areas to break free from the constraints of traditional marriage concepts of "parents' orders and matchmaker's words" and realize marriage autonomy.
Song Jiao also decided that once her job stabilized, she would go to court to defend her legal rights! She would never let these vicious people succeed!
The next day's work was a piece of cake for Song Jiao. With her knowledge and talent, she easily completed the assigned tasks. Her outstanding performance not only won recognition and praise from her colleagues, but also attracted the attention of many men.
Xiao Wang, who was sitting next to her, was the daughter of a newspaper company. She looked at Song Jiao's beautiful face without any makeup and her rustic country girl's outfit, and couldn't help feeling a little sorry.
"Sister Lin, you work here, how can you show your style by dressing like this?" Xiao Wang's words revealed a hint of concern, "Come, let me take you to buy some new clothes!" Her eyes flashed with enthusiasm and expectation, as if she wanted to lead Song Jiao into a new world of fashion.
Wang Lili thought that Song Jiao now represented the image of the newspaper, so this kind of dress was indeed inappropriate.
Her words revealed her concern and respect for Song Jiao, and also revealed her emphasis on the newspaper's image.
However, Song Jiao smiled calmly, shook her head and said, "No, I think this is fine."
Her voice was calm and firm, as if she was talking about a trivial matter.
Wang Lili noticed Song Jiao's persistence and unusual attitude, and when she recalled her job search yesterday, she suddenly understood a great deal. She suspected Song Jiao might be struggling financially, so she quickly shifted her focus and spoke in a more considerate manner, "Sister Lin, you're a leader at our newspaper right now. Consider this dress a gift from me." Her tone was filled with sincerity and kindness.
After returning from studying abroad, Wang Lili felt deeply that the status of women in China still needed improvement. She found that despite progress, the concept of favoring boys over girls remained deeply ingrained. Therefore, she had a special respect for knowledgeable and capable women like Song Jiao.
Although she didn't know how Song Jiao struggled against adversity and finally got into college, she could feel that Song Jiao was different.
She longs to exchange ideas and share insights with women like Song Jiao, because she believes that educated and thoughtful women will definitely understand and support her ideas.
At Wang Lili's enthusiastic invitation, Song Jiao finally agreed to go shopping for clothes.
In the 1980s, there were no large shopping malls with a wide variety of goods like today, and women could only go to the simple stalls in the town to look for the clothes they liked.
In the end, in order to make a living, they had no choice but to buy a few simple professional attires to meet their daily work needs.
The two of them walked out of the shabby door of the shop.
However, a fierce man suddenly rushed out from the front - Xie Xun. He stared at Song Jiao with wide eyes and bared teeth, like a wild beast about to go mad.
"You shameless bitch!" he roared, "You don't give me money to make up for your losses, but you dare to squander money here! I will beat you to death today!" His voice was full of violence and threats, making the air around them seem to freeze.
Wang Lili had never seen such a scene before. She was so scared that her face turned pale and she subconsciously took a step back.
She held Song Jiao's hand tightly, wanting to quickly escape from this dangerous place. However, she found that Song Jiao had no intention of retreating.
Song Jiao stepped forward, protecting Wang Lili behind her, and sneered, "You spend your days eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, how dare you ask me for money?"
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