Five years passed slowly. Xu Lingling numbly took her children to work in the fields every day and was busy with housework. She lived like a walking corpse and there was no light in her eyes anymore. Even so, her mother-in-law despised her for not giving birth to a boy in such a long time and scolded her every day, and her sisters-in-law never stopped laughing at her.
The educated youth around her gradually began to return to the city. Her family also called and said that they had found a temporary job for her and asked her to return to the city first. The man could do some physical work first. It was better for the family to live in the city than in the countryside.
After Xu Lingling got the call, she was so happy that tears kept flowing. She ran home happily. When she excitedly told her in-laws the news, except for her, everyone else in the family had a sad face.
"My son has no job and is starving in the city. Where does he live and how does he get food and drink?" the mother-in-law asked first.
"You can live in my house first. It's no problem for you to eat and drink at my house," Xu Lingling said quickly.
"That's not marrying into the family. Sun Peng can't marry into the family. Let your family find a job for Sun Peng, and then you can come back." The mother-in-law immediately expressed her thoughts.
Xu Lingling: "How is this possible? With so many people returning to the city, it's hard to find a job."
"If you don't have a job, why go to the city? We farmers just stay at home and farm. Once you marry into our family, you are our member. Don't worry so much about having no parents. I'll find a job for you when you grow up." Sun Li refused directly. Xu Lingling looked incredulous that there would be people who refused to go to the city. They, the educated youth, dreamed of returning to the city, so how could anyone refuse?
"Mom, let's go back to the city. Xiaoyue can go to school in the city and receive a better education. Maybe she can get into college in the future."
"Why would a little girl go to university? She will be someone else's wife when she grows up. It's a waste of money to go to school. Wait until you give birth to a boy. You should stay at home honestly. You are our family's wife, so don't always want to fly away." Sun Yu glared at the mother and daughter with disdain.
Xu Lingling bit her lip, made up her mind, and looked at Sun Peng, "Will you come back to the city with me? If you don't leave, I'll take Xiaoyue with me."
Sun Peng looked at his wife and said, "I don't want to. I don't have any skills and I don't have a job. What can I do in the city? I want to go to your house and let your family look down on me. I don't want to do that."
"Hey, if you don't agree, we'll get divorced!" Xu Lingling pulled Xiaoyue and tried to walk out, but was stopped by her mother-in-law.
"You still want a divorce, you are so rebellious. I told you educated youths that you shouldn't get married. When you were a lazy bastard, you planned to marry to the village to enjoy life. Now that you can go back to the city, you want to dump your man and enjoy life on your own. You are such a bitch! Sun Peng, beat her to death, and see if she dares to run away again!"
Sun Peng's face turned red. His wife was going to dump him and take the child. He felt so humiliated that he started to beat Xu Lingling with his fists.
The mother-in-law was still giving instructions, asking Sun Peng to beat her hard. Once she was beaten, she would never dare to think about returning to the city again.
Xu Lingling knew that it was not a work issue at all. The Sun family was afraid that she would no longer live with Sun Peng after returning to the city, so they wanted her to stay in the village for the rest of her life and work like a slave for them.
Xu Lingling was beaten half to death and couldn't get out of bed for several days. Xiaoyue brought her a bowl of porridge that looked like water every day, just to keep her from starving to death.
She stayed in bed for a week. The pain from her injuries was no longer so severe, but she felt dizzy and shaky from hunger.
Xu Lingling cried out weakly, but no one at home paid any attention to her. When Xiaoyue brought her some porridge, she quietly slipped her a cornmeal steamed bun. It wasn't from her family. The food at home was limited, and Sun Yu always made portions according to the number of people, so there was no extra food. This was because Xiaoyue told the neighbor's child that she was hungry, and the neighbor's child gave it to her. She secretly brought it back to her mother and gave it to her mother when she brought her some food.
Xu Lingling wolfed down the steamed corn bread, and the porridge water flowed down her mouth. Xiaoyue hurriedly helped her mother wipe the crumbs from the corner of her mouth, whispered "Mom, I will bring it back to you tomorrow" and quickly took the bowl and left.
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