He was so angry that he dragged Guo Haifeng over to criticize him overnight. After this incident, the two girls in the team finally saw the true face of Guo Haifeng.

Families with daughters in the team ordered them not to get close to this male educated youth, lest they be deceived by this vixen.

But Xu Caixia still looked infatuated. Not only did she bring him food, she was also willing to work and put the work points in Guo Haifeng's name.

People in Dashuping said that they were dating and would get married sooner or later.

Jiang Li ate roasted sweet potatoes while listening to Aunt Geng's spit-filled speech, imitating it as if she had seen it with her own eyes.

When the days were free, the villagers loved to come to the old lady's place to listen to the radio.

But the old lady was reluctant to part with the batteries and didn't use them often. Occasionally she would use them for half an hour to give the older kids in the team a taste of their own medicine.

As for Chen Xianyun, she became one of the most influential people in the team because of her sewing machine. Whenever someone needed to do some hard sewing work, they would bring an egg or two steamed buns to ask Chen Xianyun for help.

Chen Xianyun accepted it happily. Five cents and a dime was not too little for her. Any money earned was good, not to mention that she enjoyed it.

At the end of the year, everyone has a happier look on their face. Whether they have money or not, they all think of ways to make something delicious to sweeten their mouths.

As the days drew closer to New Year's Eve, Chen Xianyun kept thinking of different ways to prepare food at home: deep-fried fish pieces, deep-fried fruits, ground tofu, pounded rice cakes, stir-fried dried bacon with garlic sprouts, and stewed pheasant pieces with cabbage.

The aroma spread to the Zhuang family next door. Zhao Xiangyu no longer had the urge to curse. She even took a few more breaths of the meaty aroma and imagined the sweet potatoes in her bowl were pork.

Zhuang Dabao found that there were sweet potatoes in the bowl, so he put down his chopsticks and kicked his legs, clamoring to eat eggs.

Zhao Xiangyu felt sorry for her child, but she was also heartless. All the family savings had been invested in the pig-raising business, and when the New Year was approaching, she couldn't even get money to buy salt.

If the brigade hadn't distributed food, there would have been fewer mouths to feed at home and we would have starved to death.

Zhao Xiangyu hugged Zhuang Dabao and coaxed him, "When the New Year comes, I'll make you a steamed egg."

Zhuang Dabao refused to give in, "I want to eat now. You naughty grandma, I don't want you anymore, I want to find my mother!"

Zhao Xiangyu tried her best to coax him but it was useless. For the first time, she got angry at Dabao, "Your mother doesn't want you anymore. She remarried and she will have another child soon. You are the child of our Zhuang family. Why do you always think about that heartless woman?"

Zhuang Dabao couldn't believe it, "You are lying!" He pushed away Daya, who was eating from a bowl, and ran away.

Zhao Xiangyu wanted to chase him, but Zhuang Guoliang shouted, "Let him go! He's so old, and he doesn't understand anything!"

Zhao Xiangyu was angry and sad, and she cursed Cheng Yanyan and the ancestors of the Cheng family eighteen times. Daya poured her a bowl of water and said carefully, "Grandma, have a drink of water."

Zhao Xiangyu slapped Daya's hand. Daya didn't hold the bowl, and the broken bowl broke into pieces. Daya was terrified. Zhao Xiangyu picked up the broom beside her and hit her. "You stupid girl, you loser. You've ruined everything in the house. I'm going to beat you to death."

Daya did not dare to resist, she just held her head and face with tears in her eyes and took the beating. Zhao Xiangyu was tired after only two beatings, and she put down the broom and gasped. It was really because she had no food in her stomach, and even the beating was too much.

But she hadn't vented her anger yet. She stared at Daya, wanting to eat her alive. "Kneel down! You are not allowed to get up. You don't have to eat!"

Zhuang Guoliang was annoyed, threw away the dishes and went out to smoke. Daya knelt for more than an hour, her legs bleeding, and she didn't get up until the evening.

Jiang Hongmei rolled her eyes and gave Zhao Xiangyu an idea, "Da Ya is already 14, and Er Ya is also 12. They will just be idle if they stay at home. It would be better to send them to your family as child brides, and you can also get some money for the betrothal gift."

This was exactly what Zhao Xiangyu wanted to hear. After all, the family was barely able to make ends meet, so what was the point of keeping these idle little girls around?

"I heard that if you marry someone from the mountains, your family will give you a lot of money as a dowry."

Zhao Xiangyu remained calm on the surface, but actually took the words to heart and went looking for a husband that night. She found out that there was a husband named An in Xiaoxingling. The two brothers were both in their twenties and had no wives. They were willing to take the husband in for ten yuan.

Zhao Xiangyu decided to get married immediately. She just happened to have some money, so she bought some eggs for her two grandchildren during the New Year. They had been worried about her these days.

Since she was getting married, she naturally had to pack up a little. Zhao Xiangyu found a set of mending clothes and gave them to Daya, "Don't go out for a few days. I've found a good family for you. Go there and be honest and work hard. Don't think about running back home."

Daya was trembling. She was already grown up, and she was very sensitive. She realized that what was waiting for her was not a good thing, so she consciously refused, "Grandma, don't go. You will do a lot of work for the family. Please don't send you away."

"If you have any conscience, just listen to me. You have been eating and drinking at home these years, now it's time for you to give back."

Zhao Xiangyu closed the door with her backhand and locked it. Erya's face turned pale. She saw her sister banging on the door and asking to come in. She wanted to go up to open the door, but Zhao Xiangyu scolded her to go wash clothes.

Erya bit her lip, looked at her sister, and walked out the door holding the wooden basin. She stumbled to her grandmother's house in Zuojiawan, but did not find her mother.

The uncle was impatient and chased Erya away, "We don't have any food at home, go away, you are a farmer, don't come to our Wu family anymore in the future."

Zhuang Erya refused to give up, "Uncle, grandma wants to sell my elder sister off, please go and save her."

Uncle Wu was stunned for a moment, then his heart sank. What's the point of rescuing the child? Should he take him home to raise him?

My family is barely making ends meet. There was already a huge quarrel at home because of my sister's return visit to her parents' home.

Zhuang Erya returned empty-handed and went home in a daze. When she was almost home, she felt dizzy.

When I woke up again, I felt warm all over, and the aroma of firewood and rice reached my nose. "Are you awake?"

Liu Lixin touched her forehead and said, "The fever is gone." The people around her breathed a sigh of relief.

Jiang Li looked at Zhuang Erya's dirty face. Her exposed hands and feet were covered with purple scars. There was no fear in her red eyes, only doubt. She was a brave girl.

As soon as she opened the door, Zhuang Erya fell in front of her. When she touched her, she found that the child was hot. She quickly called Qi Shaoqiang to carry the child to Liu Lixin.

"You saved me? Thank you. I want to go home."

Zhuang Erya touched her aching stomach and struggled to get up and go home.

The eldest sister didn't know what was wrong. She hadn't been home for so long, and her grandmother would definitely be angry. She might even get angry with her mother. She had to go home quickly.