Zhou Jianhai's cousin's surname is Chen, and because she is the eighth child, she is named Chen Bamei.
Don't think this name is casual, it sounds much better than her older sisters. Because her eldest sister was the only child in the family, she was given a proper name, Xinghua. But it started to fail with the second sister. From Zhaodi and Pandi all the way to the sixth sister, Laidi, she finally got a younger brother.
Because she had an older brother, the character "di" was not included in Chen Bamei's name after she was born. But the Chen family had many daughters, and they had a precious son, so the youngest daughter was not taken seriously at home. She didn't have a proper name until she was four or five years old, and everyone called her "Eighth Sister".
After calling her that for a long time, "Bamei" became her name, and she didn't change it when she registered her household registration.
It can be imagined that in such a family, sons are treasures, while daughters are not even as good as grass.
Unlike her brother who had the best food and the best clothes since birth, Chen Bamei drank thin porridge since childhood and wore her brother's old clothes full of patches, even though they were of different genders.
When her brother was going to school with his schoolbag, Chen Bamei had already learned how to wash clothes, cook, raise chickens and feed ducks. When she was a little older, at the age of seven or eight, she started to work in the fields to earn work points like her sisters.
If it were just that, Chen Bamei might not have run away from home. After all, in this era, in most families, sons and daughters are treated differently.
However, even if most people prefer sons to daughters, they will not ignore their daughter's life or death. At least in marriage, they will try their best to choose a better husband for their daughter.
But Chen Bamei's parents were not like that. The quality of the husband they chose for their daughter depended on the family situation at the time and the amount of the bride price.
If the family was able to make a decent living at that time, and if life here was decent, it mainly depended on whether the needs of their beloved son could be met. If they could, and if the betrothal gifts were about the same, they would also be willing to choose a decent husband for their daughter.
But if the family needs money at that time, they will not care so much. As long as the bride price is high, they will agree no matter if the person is good or bad, healthy or disabled.
Chen Bamei has six sisters. Except for the first two sisters who were young and had no money to spend when they were engaged, so they married well, only her fourth sister married well because she was pretty and was favored by the son of the secretary of the neighboring brigade, who was willing to pay a high price.
Of the remaining three sisters, one was married to a divorced man when her precious baby was about to enter junior high school, and one was an old woman when her family was renovating their house, so she was married to a cripple with difficulty walking. Her sixth sister was the most miserable. When she was looking for a marriage partner, her precious baby wanted to move to the city, but she was married to a fool because of connections.
Of course, Chen Bamei was not much better off. Although she was not of marriageable age, her darling had fallen in love with a girl. In order to get a dowry for her son, Chen Bamei was betrothed before she turned 18.
On the surface, the other party's conditions seemed quite good. He came from a cadre family and he himself was a formal employee in a state-owned factory. Moreover, he is not much older than Chen Bamei, only 25. Although he has been married once, his previous marriage only lasted for a year before his ex-wife died. They also have no children, so it is almost the same as his first marriage.
Chen Bamei didn't think much about it at first, thinking that she had been hit by a lucky jackpot. However, right after the marriage was settled, someone came to her house and said that her partner had a violent tendency and that his ex-wife drank pesticide and died because she couldn't stand his beatings and couldn't get a divorce.
At first, Chen Bamei refused to believe it because the person who told her about it was the family of her boyfriend’s ex-wife.
But she was not stupid. She had seen how her sisters married. Besides, she is neither as capable as the eldest sister nor as pretty as the fourth sister, and she has a rural household registration. Why should a formal worker in a state-owned factory spend so much money to marry her?
After thinking it over, Chen Bamei was already 70% convinced in her heart, but she still had some thoughts and did not dare to tell her parents. She secretly went to her fourth sister's house and asked her to help find out.
Although her fourth sister had a bad temper, she had broken up with her parents a long time ago because they did not treat them as human beings. But she still felt sorry for her sister, so after hearing her request, she called her husband back home without hesitation and asked him to go to the next commune to inquire about the situation.
After finding out this, Chen Bamei was completely disappointed.
Her boyfriend's ex-wife really couldn't stand the beating and committed suicide by drinking pesticide.
Her boyfriend actually used to work in the commune. After the incident, his ex-wife's family sued him. However, because his ex-wife died from drinking pesticides and not from being beaten, he was not punished at all. He was just transferred from the government agency to a state-owned factory.
After being transferred to the state-owned factory, his temper became much better. As time went by, everyone gradually forgot about the incident until he found a girlfriend at the company.
When they first started dating, everything was fine with them, but one can only pretend for a while, not forever. Once, they had an argument and he got angry and slapped the other person.
The girl he was dating was also spoiled by her family. After being beaten, she refused to do it and wanted to break up with him.
The argument became more and more intense and eventually turned into a one-sided fight.
The girl was beaten until her bones were broken. Her family was so angry that they sued him again. At the same time, his almost forgotten past was also dug up.
In the end, it was his parents who stepped in to settle the matter.
But the matter was settled, and they became worried as they watched their son's temper grow increasingly violent. After worrying for so long, I decided to find him another marriage partner.
They always think that their son used to be a good person, and that he became like this now only because he did not marry a good first wife. Maybe if you marry him a good wife and give him a son, he will change for the better.
But after all these things happened, his reputation had already been ruined. In the commune, any family who loved their daughters would kick the matchmaker they hired out as their first reaction.
After several setbacks, they had to lower their heads and look for it in the surrounding rural areas.
After searching for a while, they found Chen Bamei.
At first, Chen Bamei thought that maybe her parents didn’t know about this, and maybe after she told them about it when she got home, they would agree to cancel the engagement. As soon as she said this, she was scolded by her fourth sister, who told her that if she had such an idea, she should go back and burn more incense sticks, and beg the King of Hell to take away this disaster before she was beaten to death.
Hearing this, Lin Wei couldn't help but say, "Her fourth sister is quite interesting."
Deng Xiangyun nodded and said, "Yes, from what I heard from her, it seems that her fourth sister has been smart since she was a child, but her family only cared about their son and didn't support her to study."
"Even if she didn't study, she has this brain, so her life won't be too bad." Lin Wei said and then asked, "Then why did Chen Bamei come to your place?"
"Actually, this idea was given by her fourth sister."
Fourth Sister Chen, also known as Chen Niandi, scolded her younger sister, then softened her tone and said, "If you want to find out whether they know about this, don't say it directly when you go back." She suggested that she test the waters first and not be stupid enough to sell herself out.
Although Chen Bamei was not as smart as her sister, she was more obedient. After going back and testing them, she completely gave up hoping on them.
It turned out that her parents not only knew that the man had forced his ex-wife to death, but also used this as an excuse to ask for a lot more dowry. As for her wanting to cancel the engagement, their attitude can basically be summed up in two words - no way!
Chen Bamei was desperate.
But she didn't want to accept her fate, and she knew she was not smart enough, so she went to her fourth sister again to ask her for help in making a decision.
"The idea of Fourth Sister Chen is to send her to you?" Lin Wei felt something was wrong after asking, and said, "That's not right. You need a letter of introduction to take a bus or stay in a hotel. She is a girl coming from far away. Can the leaders of their brigade not notify her parents to issue a letter of introduction? And if they notify her parents, her parents will know that she wants to escape the marriage. Will they let her go?"
Deng Xiangyun nodded and said, "It was Chen Sijie who came up with the idea, and she and her husband also went to get the letter of introduction. They told the leader of Bamei's brigade that she called Ah Hai to tell him about Bamei, and that it was his decision to send Bamei to the island, but he was afraid that my parents would stop, so he had to keep it a secret and asked him to help."
Lin Wei couldn't believe it: "Their team leader didn't confirm anything, but he believed what they said?"
"Chen Sijie's husband and Ah Hai's family were in the same brigade, and her father-in-law was the brigade secretary." Deng Xiangyun explained, "Her husband was the eldest son in the family and was a small team leader in the brigade."
Lin Wei suddenly realized that if only Chen Bamei and her sister went to ask for a letter of introduction, even if Chen Sijie used the banner of the secretary father-in-law, their team leader might not believe her. But with her husband's endorsement, the situation is different.
On one side are the members of our own brigade, and on the other side are the secretary, team leader, and a battalion instructor of the neighboring brigade. Even a fool would know how to choose.
Lin Wei sighed again: "This Fourth Sister Chen is quite an important figure."
After sighing, Lin Wei asked again: "Sister Chen sent her here just to ask you to find her a partner?"
Lin Wei didn't ask Chen Bamei why she couldn't find a partner in her hometown. There was no need to ask. She was engaged, and her partner was the leader of the neighboring commune. How could an ordinary person dare to marry her?
And why would such an extraordinary person marry Chen Bamei?
Even if there really is someone so foolish as to not care that Chen Bamei has a difficult marriage, given how cold-blooded her parents are, can they easily let them go when they see the huge betrothal gift flying away?
Impossible.
Staying in her hometown, Chen Bamei had nowhere to go.
"Almost," Deng Xiangyun nodded. "After asking about the situation this morning, Ah Hai called Fourth Sister Chen. She asked us to find a way to find her a marriage partner on the island if possible."
Chen Sijie's original words were: "The conditions don't have to be great, as long as she's honest and hardworking, and you don't mind if she has no parents, and it's OK if she's been engaged before. Anyway, it's better to live a miserable life than to die a good death."
Even Zhou Jianhai was speechless for a long time after hearing Chen Sijie's tough words "I have no father and no mother".
Lin Wei was silent for a moment before she remembered to ask, "She escaped from marriage and came here. Can the other party just let it go? What if they come looking for her? Will it implicate your old Zhou?"
"That family doesn't have to worry. Their son is not innocent, so they don't dare to come to us in a big way. As for Eighth Sister's parents, they have never left the county in their lives, so the chances of them coming to us are not high. And even if they come, it's okay. Eighth Sister came with a letter of introduction stating that she was visiting relatives."
Chen Bamei came here openly with a letter of introduction issued by the brigade where the Chen family worked. Deng Xiangyun and his wife took her in out of kindness at best, and it was useless for Chen Bamei's parents to be angry.
Chen Bamei herself doesn't have to worry too much. If her parents came now, they could ask them to cancel the arranged marriage on the grounds that Chen Bamei is not yet an adult.
It would have been better if Chen Bamei had already become an adult when they found her. As an adult, she had the right to decide whether to stay or go. As for the previously arranged marriage, she could have refused it on the grounds that we now live in a new society and marriage autonomy is the norm, and that her hometown is a small place and no one cares about it. But things are different after joining the army.
Hearing the meaning behind Deng Xiangyun's words, Lin Wei asked, "Have you decided to keep Chen Bamei?"
Deng Xiangyun nodded and said, "Ahai and I have discussed it. We will let her live in our house first and say she is here to visit relatives. When she comes of age, we will see whether to arrange a marriage for her or ask someone to settle her down so that she can earn work points."
Chen Bamei was not a military dependent, so she could not live in the army’s collective household and eat commercial grain. She could only find a way to live in a nearby brigade.
But she was a girl who was not yet an adult and was not an educated youth sent to the countryside. Even if she had a cousin, it would not be easy for her to settle down in a nearby brigade. Not to mention marriage, she is too young and cannot get married even if it is agreed now.
Moreover, Deng Xiangyun secretly wanted to wait until Chen Bamei's marriage failed before arranging a marriage for her. Otherwise, by then, even if she was right, she would be wrong.
Let’s talk about it next year.
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Second update
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