"Here, stop thinking about all that nonsense and eat up." Yu Qiuying stuffed a steamed bun into Zhou Cailian's hand and ate it as they hurried toward Xiaowan Village.
Zhou Cailian quickly perked up and followed Yu Qiuying's footsteps, but the big meat buns didn't taste as good as before.
The mother and daughter ate as they walked, neither of them speaking.
Only after they had left the town and entered the mountain road leading to Xiaowan Village did Zhou Cailian finally speak up, "Mom, how did you know that Yuan... he, he's that kind of person?"
Yu Qiuying casually made up a story: "I overheard someone talking about it when I went to the market last month. The person was from their village."
"Oh." Zhou Cailian didn't think much of it, but she found it hard to accept that the man she had been married to for three years would be that kind of person...
“You know, I asked you about your experience with him before, but you hesitated and wouldn’t tell me. You fooled him for three years. Now you know, it’s not your fault that you can’t get pregnant.” Yu Qiuying looked at Zhou Cailian with pity. Actually, she couldn’t blame her for being foolish. After all, she didn’t know anything before she got married. She had never seen a man’s penis, let alone what it felt like to actually have sex.
It's no exaggeration to say that most girls these days are like this before they get married. They have no idea what an adult man's penis looks like. Some girls even think that they can get pregnant just by kissing a man.
“Then, then there’s nothing wrong with my body, I can have children…” Zhou Cailian suddenly stopped in her tracks. Although her mother’s words made her feel very embarrassed, the thought that not being able to conceive was not her fault, and the thought that she could have children, filled her with uncontrollable joy.
Yu Qiuying thought to herself that even if she could have children, she would still need to find a man to help her. However, now was not the time to discuss whether her daughter should remarry.
She switched the cloth bag she was carrying from her left shoulder to her right shoulder and said, "Alright, let's hurry up and go. We've already wasted a lot of time in town, or we might miss lunch."
The mother and daughter quickened their pace to catch up.
Meanwhile, Zhou Jiahong and Zhou Caixiang were both woken up by hunger. When they woke up, the house was quiet. When they went to the kitchen, they found that the pots and pans were cold and there was nothing to eat.
"Mom locked the door. Third sister, why don't you go make something to eat?" Zhou Jiahong came out of the living room listlessly. He had wanted to go to his mother's room to find something to eat, but his mother had locked the door. So he went to Zhou Caixiang's room and asked her to make something to eat.
"Go make your own food if you want, I'm going back to school." Zhou Caixiang, with two red and swollen eyes, carried her schoolbag and her change of clothes as she came out of her room. She locked the door with a gloomy face, ignored Zhou Jiahong, and walked out.
She was hungry and also felt very sad. In the past, every time she came back, she would go to town on the last afternoon of the holiday to take the bus back to school. Every time, her mother would give her five yuan and cook some leftovers for her to take to school.
This time, nothing came of it...
Zhou Caixiang felt so bad she wanted to cry. She had thought that her mother had taken her anger out on her because her older brother had angered her the day before. She thought that since her mother hadn't eaten last night, she would regret it and feel sorry for her now that her anger had subsided. She would then give her money and prepare food for her to take to school, just like she always did.
But when she woke up, neither her mother nor her older sister were home, and they hadn't left her any breakfast. There was nothing at all. Her mother was really going too far. Even if she was still angry today, she shouldn't have done this. No food, no money, how was she going to get by at school this week?
Zhou Caixiang left home in a huff, but after walking a short distance, she suddenly turned and went to Wang Xiuying's house.
"Auntie, my mom and my older sister went out early this morning. She forgot to give me any money. Could you lend me twenty yuan first? I need to go to school. You can ask my mom to pay you back when she gets back."
"What? Twenty?! What do you need so much money for? I'll give you five yuan to use first, wait a bit." Wang Xiuying looked at Zhou Caixiang suspiciously, thinking to herself, "Old Yu is spoiling the child too much. He just asks for twenty yuan. No wonder everyone says that going to school is expensive."
However, she wouldn't lend Zhou Caixiang that much. The girl would only be at school for five days and would have to come back next week for the holidays. She wouldn't need twenty yuan at all; she felt that even five yuan was too much.
Wang Xiuying thought to herself that she would have to talk to Yu Qiuying later, and that she shouldn't spoil the child like this.
Although Zhou Caixiang didn't know what Wang Xiuying was thinking, she was still a little annoyed. What kind of person was she? She was just asking for money, not that she wouldn't pay it back. She could have just lent it to her. Why did she have to ask so many questions?
How stingy!
She wanted to say something more, but Wang Xiuying had already turned around and gone inside to get the money.
In the end, Zhou Caixiang only received five yuan, which made her even angrier.
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