Aunt Wen, however, was not fooled by this argument. "It's a family matter. If we discuss it together, won't we be able to make a decision?"
"Besides, you're the one using this porcelain kiln, so your parents and brother will definitely be reluctant to sell it because you want to use it. If you move it to another place, wouldn't that solve the problem?"
"Aunt Wen, could you please help us find a ready-made porcelain kiln that we can buy for 50,000 yuan? Just the same size as ours!" Shen Qingqing ran back and saw the old woman's shameless manner, so she leaned close to Li Xunli and said with a forced smile.
"As long as you help us find one, and it's not far from our home, we'll sign a contract to sell the kiln immediately, so everyone can get the money! What do you think?"
Aunt Wen's face stiffened when she heard this. She wasn't stupid; how could she not know that 50,000 yuan couldn't buy a porcelain kiln of the same size or that was already usable?
Shen Qingqing didn't let her off the hook, continuing to accuse her: "Aunt Wen, you're a respected elder in our village. If you could find a porcelain kiln that could help us get by, wouldn't that be easy?"
"Besides, many households like to ask you for help with various matters. You can't just help other families with the issue of our family not signing a contract, but not help our family with the issue of changing the porcelain kiln in order to sign a contract!"
"Besides, if you find a suitable porcelain kiln for us, then the other companies that asked you to help them sign contracts with our company will also be resolved smoothly, right?"
Aunt Wen chuckled twice, glanced at Shen Qingqing, and didn't respond to her words, completely disregarding what the child Shen Qingqing said. Instead, she spoke to Li Xunli again: "Xunli, this matter is helpful for the development of the village. Our village only started to be evaluated as an advanced village a couple of years ago, but think about it, many people in our village have left over the years and never come back. You are also from our village, and you have lived in our village for so many years. We should have the hope that the collective will prosper, right?"
“Aunt Wen, of course I hope our collective will prosper, but the collective is also made up of us individuals. If individuals are not doing well, the collective will also be dragged down. My porcelain kiln has only just started to improve, and it was only with great difficulty that we caught up with the family conditions of other people in the village. Now you want me to sell this place that makes money? Wouldn’t I then become the one who drags down the collective again?” Li Xunli pushed the question back to her.
Aunt Wen's face darkened when she heard Li Xunli's words, but she suppressed her anger when she thought of Li Bo who had come to see her. "Xunli, tell me honestly, do you really not want to sign this document?"
“Aunt Wen, what you’re saying doesn’t make sense. My brother and I both think we can sign it, but we need to find a place to move our porcelain kiln now. We can’t afford to lose our own business, Aunt Wen, don’t you agree?” Li Xunli sighed.
“Aunt Wen, you put yourself in our shoes to solve our problems. Now, put yourself in our shoes too. Your kueh teow shop sells several thousand bowls of kueh teow a month. How much money do you make in a month? What you two earn is yours. Now, suddenly someone comes along and says they want to buy it for you for 50,000 yuan. Would you sell it immediately?”
“No way!” Aunt Wen retorted almost instinctively.
But after that rebuttal, she found herself in a difficult position.
Li Xunli looked at her with a smile and said nothing more, but everyone understood what she meant.
Seeing that she couldn't persuade Li Xunli anymore, Aunt Wen stood up with a stiff face, said "It's getting late, I'm going back to cook," and left the kiln without looking back.
Shen Qingqing watched her retreating figure, scoffed, and rolled her eyes in disgust.
The entire Li family village has a strong preference for sons over daughters, a fact Shen Qingqing knew from a very young age.
Although her maternal grandmother, Li Yuxing, also favored sons over daughters, her preference was different. She only valued her son, Li Xunjin, and did not value her husband, Zhang Mingfang.
In Li Yuxing's eyes, Zhang Mingfang and Li Xunli were both equal.
Shen Qingqing, the granddaughter, is even more special. She is the first child of Li Xunli and Li Xunjin after they each started their own families. Even though she is a girl, she is still the eldest child, so Li Yuxing dotes on her more than anything.
Although Li Chunchun is also a girl, she is Li Xunjin's only daughter, which makes her a different person.
The differences between Shen Yangyang and Shen Hong became more apparent later on.
But other families are different. Girls have to do all kinds of housework from a young age, while those with older brothers can go out to play every day after school.
The issue of discrimination against women due to the various sacrificial customs in the village is even more serious.
Aunt Wen was the first to be affected.
Despite being a victim of gender inequality herself, she defends this feudal dregs like a brainwashed pyramid scheme member.
Her mother was also a victim of the preference for sons over daughters, so why didn't her mother have this feudal and outdated bad habit?
Li Xunli couldn't understand where her daughter's hostility towards Aunt Wen came from. Seeing her roll her eyes, she covered her eyes and shook her: "What are you doing? How rude!"
At this time, Shen Qingqing probably didn't know Aunt Wen, and her great-grandmother was still alive and well, so Shen Qingqing couldn't explain why she had this attitude towards Aunt Wen.
He could only make excuses, saying, "It's her fault for being so arrogant. They don't even have a porcelain kiln, yet she came to our house and started talking nonsense, making herself look bad!"
“That’s no excuse for rolling your eyes at people behind their backs and being disrespectful. It’s their job to coordinate relationships between the women in the village. If I see you doing something so rude again, you’ll regret it!” Li Xunli poked Shen Qingqing’s head with a finger.
Shen Qingqing had a bad temper in her past life. She would remember anyone who made a bad impression on her for the rest of her life. She especially hated gender discrimination, let alone someone like Aunt Wen who had labeled her with a gender discrimination tag in front of her great-grandmother's funeral hall in her past life.
If she can't do it in person, then she'll do it secretly in her heart.
Anyway, she won't have a good impression of this kind of person, hmph.
Even Aunt Wen's intervention failed, and the news spread among the people who had already signed contracts within a single night.
To those who don't need porcelain kilns, the idea of selling a useless, broken porcelain kiln for 50,000 yuan is like getting free money.
Nowadays, those who work in the porcelain industry either go to work in big factories or starve to death. Who would really care about that broken porcelain kiln at home?
But now someone is stopping them from taking the 50,000 yuan, which is no different from taking their lives.
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