Their conversation did not stop Yuan Xiangbiao from lecturing her. He continued, "Your parents borrowed so much money, paid for the bride price and held the wedding banquet. They spent so much money to marry your sister-in-law. If she runs away without giving your brother a few children, wouldn't our family have lost out?"
It's true that like attracts like; the men in this family all share the same mindset.
Yuan Mengge has always deeply understood this.
She didn't say much to him, only responding sarcastically, "Yes, yes, I understand."
She knew these people; it was impossible to reason with them.
The ideas of male chauvinism and preference for sons over daughters are deeply ingrained in their minds. Even if you put a knife to his throat, he would still think he is right.
Even if you're right, he'll still say you're talking nonsense.
Seeing that she didn't argue back, Yuan Xiangbiao's expression softened slightly.
After all, she was his niece who had come from afar to visit, so he couldn't very well start a fight with the child as soon as they met.
Yuan Xiangbiao had no choice but to change the subject and ask her, "You're graduating from junior high this year, right? Are your grades good enough to get into high school?"
Seeing that he was changing the subject, Yuan Mengge replied, "I think I can pass the exam, but I feel like my parents won't let me go to high school."
“If you can get into university, then go for it. Girls need to study more so they can marry into better families, you know? Look at your sister Yun, if she hadn’t failed the university entrance exam, I would have sold everything I own to send her to university. These days, a university graduate is in high demand.” Yuan Xiangbiao continued.
His point was that a girl's high level of education increases her value, and a good education would allow her to marry into a wealthy and influential family.
That way, we can ask our in-laws for help if anything happens in the future.
Yuan Xiangbiao's idea was quite different from Yuan Xiangyong's. Yuan Xiangyong believed that as long as his daughter was good-looking, she would have the advantage of finding a good husband, and that education was not important.
But Yuan Xiangbiao was different. He lived in this county town, and his knowledge and horizons were broader than his second brother's.
He felt that it was useful for girls to read more books, at least when choosing a husband's family, they would have some leverage to raise the bar for the man.
Yuan Mengge knew that when his daughter got married, this fifth uncle was very picky. He felt that his daughter was a high school graduate and her household registration was in the county town, so she could only marry someone from the city or the provincial capital.
So he sent Yuan Shuyun to work in the provincial capital so she could find a partner with a provincial capital residency.
As a result, Yuan Shuyun fell in love with a boy from the countryside in another province. Yuan Xiangbiao absolutely refused to let her marry someone from a distant province, especially one from the countryside.
So they were forcibly separated.
Later, Yuan Shuyun finally married a man with a provincial capital household registration, but her in-laws looked down on her because she was from a small county town and was not good enough for their son.
Yuan Shuyun's marriage was also unhappy. Her husband later had several mistresses, and they eventually divorced.
Moreover, she was left with nothing after the divorce.
After returning from the divorce, she was severely criticized by her own family.
In this era and in this place, divorced women are the most shameful and disgraceful.
Just like in ancient times when a woman was divorced and sent back to her parents' home, if a daughter who had been divorced by her husband's family were allowed to enter the family, the whole family would lose face.
So Yuan Shuyun eventually got divorced and returned to the Yuan family, only to be kicked out by her parents, younger brother, and sister-in-law.
They said she disgraced their whole family, and yet she still dared to come back?
She didn't know what happened to her cousin after that, because she rarely came back there afterward.
Upon hearing this, Yuan Mengge's eyes darted around, and she said, "I'd like to go, but what if my parents won't let me?"
Yuan Xiangbiao waved his hand and said, "This is not a big problem. If you really pass the exam, tell your fifth uncle, and your fifth uncle will go back and have a good talk with your father."
Yuan Mengge silently replied in her heart: No need to trouble you, I can handle it myself.
He replied obediently and perfunctorily, "Okay, then I'll have to trouble Fifth Uncle."
If she really lets him do this favor, who knows how much more debt she'll be asked to repay later.
Yuan Xiangbiao continued talking, saying a lot of polite things to his elders, and then told her to go with her son to the village for a stroll and some fun.
But Yuan Mengge refused, and instead asked to borrow Yuan Shuyun's room to do her homework.
She didn't want to go out and play with that brat; she'd rather use that time to do her homework.
Hearing that she needed to do her homework, Yuan Xiangbiao nodded without saying a word: "Go ahead, go ahead, Ayun's room is here. You can do your homework, and we'll call you when your brother and the others arrive. If there are any questions you don't understand, ask your sister Ayun to teach you."
Yuan Mengge nodded: "Okay, I understand."
She entered Yuan Shuyun's room, which was also very simple. The room was small, about 12 or 13 square meters, with a single wooden bed, a wooden wardrobe, a desk and chair, and that was it.
The desk was covered with Yuan Shuyun's stationery.
Yuan Mengge took out her textbooks and homework from her schoolbag, placed them on Yuan Shuyun's desk, and then sat down.
Yuan Xiangbiao and the others were busy in the kitchen, while Yuan Shuyun would come in from time to time to check on her, bringing her fruit or a glass of water.
Her two younger cousins would come in every now and then to bother her, asking what she was doing.
Finally, Yuan Shuyun said to the two of them, "You two, don't bother Aping. Can't you see she's doing her homework?"
Yuan Mengge finally got a moment of peace.
After writing for two hours, I heard a noise outside.
Then they heard Yuan Dasheng and Li Xue'e greeting each other.
As soon as Yuan Mengge heard that they had arrived, she immediately put down her pen, put on her textbook and homework, stuffed them into her schoolbag, left the schoolbag in the room, turned around, opened the door and went out.
"Oh, you're here." She greeted Yuan Dasheng and his companion with a smile as they walked into the living room.
Both of them were taken aback when they saw her.
The two then displayed completely different expressions; one's face instantly darkened, while the other's face lit up with joy.
"How did you get here?" Yuan Dasheng's first reaction was to point at Yuan Mengge and ask her.
Yuan Mengzhi shrugged and said, "I came by car, didn't I? This is Uncle Wu's house, why can't I come? Who told you not to take me with you? So I came by myself."
When Li Xue'e saw her, she was first delighted, then breathed a sigh of relief.
She immediately moved closer to Yuan Mengge, looked at her, and asked, "When did you arrive? How long have you been here?"
Yuan Mengge: "I arrived here around nine o'clock and have been waiting for you until now."
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