The convenience store was opened by Lingyun's grandfather, and after his and his grandmother's deaths, it was passed down to Lingyun's father, Ling Xuefeng.
Lingyun's mother, Zhang Huixiang, was the daughter of a farmer in the village. After marrying Ling Xuefeng, she gave birth to a son and a daughter. Normally, having both a son and a daughter would be an extremely happy thing for an ordinary family. Most parents would treat them equally, and even if they were not, they would not show a strong bias.
But Zhang Huixiang did not.
Zhang Huixiang favors her son Ling Yong above all else, which is evident even in the names she chooses.
There's a custom in the village that if two people have the same name, the person who chooses the name later will steal the good fortune of the person who chooses the name first. Ling Yong's birth was a case of stealing Ling Yun's good fortune.
Since Ling Yong was born, Ling Yun's status in the family has plummeted. From a young age, she did laundry, cooked, served tea and water, and took care of her younger brother.
Ling Yong could study peacefully, while Ling Yun had to stay at home to work and sell things.
During the busy farming season, I would go to the fields with my parents, and after school every day, I would stay at the small shop to sell things.
Lingyun always accepted everything passively, only wanting to work hard to please her mother.
Even so, Lingyun's grades were always excellent. After graduating from junior high school, he was admitted to a key high school with the second-highest score in the county.
Zhang Huixiang didn't like this daughter at first, but everyone likes honor. Zhang Huixiang was happy for a while, and finally felt that this daughter hadn't been raised in vain, and had made her proud.
However, when it came time to pay high school tuition, Zhang Huixiang was unwilling to pay a single penny. In the end, the village issued a poverty certificate, and the school waived the tuition for outstanding students, allowing Lingyun to attend school.
Lingyun thought life was finally peaceful and was full of hope for the future. But then Zhang Huixiang, having heard some strange rumors, decided that girls didn't need to study; they were just wives to be raised by their husbands and wouldn't earn any money for their own families. Lingyun barely managed to study for one semester, and then Zhang Huixiang locked her up at home for the second semester, refusing to let her go to school.
Lingyun's father, Ling Xuefeng, was not as sexist as Zhang Huixiang, but Zhang Huixiang was determined not to let Lingyun continue her studies. She not only fought with Ling Xuefeng, but also locked Lingyun in the room for three days and three nights until the school registration period ended, at which point she finally released Lingyun.
Lingyun's life at home returned to normal: washing clothes, cooking, serving tea and water, and selling things. When Lingyong made a mistake, Lingyun took the beating for him. When she turned seventeen, Zhang Huixiang married her off to Zhao Donghe, a man from the same village who ran a small restaurant.
Zhao Donghe had previously married a wife, but she later died. It was said that she drank laundry detergent because she couldn't bear being beaten by Zhao Donghe. Since then, no woman has been willing to marry Zhao Donghe.
Zhang Huixiang coveted Zhao Donghe's status as an orphan who owned a small restaurant, and despite the fact that Zhao Donghe was more than ten years older than Lingyun, she married Lingyun off to him.
After Lingyun married into the family, Zhao Donghe treated her well for a month. However, a month later, Zhao Donghe got drunk and beat Lingyun. From then on, being beaten and scolded became a daily occurrence. On one occasion, he even beat Lingyun so badly that she miscarried, despite her pregnancy. Lingyun never got pregnant again after that.
Several years passed like this, and Zhao Donghe finally got into trouble from drinking. He fell into the river and couldn't get up, drowning himself.
Ling Yun was heartbroken for Zhao Donghe for a while, but also breathed a sigh of relief.
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