Chapter 141 Running Away, the Favoritism is Too Obvious
“I shouldn’t have had so many children,” Aunt Song said to Song Fenglan. “They’re all such troublesome people. I originally thought Tang Lu would be better, but who would have thought she would turn out like this? Although it’s because she said something before that people found out, it’s also because she has a bad mouth and can’t keep things to herself.”
“Aunt, this has nothing to do with you,” Song Fenglan said.
"Of course it has nothing to do with me. I came to see you and see if you've been affected," Aunt Song said. "Won't your colleagues at work think you're using connections to get you a job?"
“No, that’s not true. They just asked me, and I said I didn’t know them and I wasn’t recruiting this student,” Song Fenglan said. “Sometimes there are these people who think they’re so smart. They think they can just give a hint and others will let them pass. What are they thinking? Our school has a limited number of graduate student places, and many people apply. It’s not like we only need them.”
"It's good that it didn't affect you," Aunt Song said. "Tang Lu still had the nerve to call me and say that her colleague's brother and sister-in-law made a scene at her workplace, thinking that she had taken money. Now, her colleague has been transferred to another place. Her colleague took the money and thought that if her nephew could get into your school, she wouldn't have to return the money. Nobody knows whether she pulled any strings for her nephew."
"It's nothing," Song Fenglan said to her third aunt. "It's just a small matter. Anyway, he didn't get into our school. His written test score was barely above the passing mark. There are many people who are better than him, and others have better scores. Of course, they should be admitted to others, not him."
The person stepped on the line, but felt it was unstable, which is why they made that move.
Song Fenglan knew perfectly well that some people didn't care whether you agreed or not; they just wanted to use their connections and at least get to know you.
It's not a one-to-one admission process, and given that person's undergraduate institution wasn't good, the interviewers at the school would inevitably consider the undergraduate institution. Plus, that student tried to pull strings, but it's the same old story. If they really wanted to pull strings, they could find someone to use connections inside and out, and without saying anything, their interview score would be much higher.
"Aunt, how have you been lately?" Song Fenglan asked.
"She's doing well, looking quite energetic," said Aunt Song. "After filming this series, she needs to take a break for a while and not do any of those things. She needs to be quiet and immerse herself in the role."
"Weren't you going to work on the script?" Song Fenglan asked.
“It needs polishing,” Aunt Song nodded. “The young people also need more experience, let them polish the script. After they polish it, I’ll take a look later. I don’t know how long this series can last.”
Aunt Song didn't believe that if she were gone, others couldn't do the job; others were perfectly capable of doing it. She had no objection if someone else took over. As for how well they accomplished it, that was up to them.
Tang Lu's matter did not affect Song Fenglan, and the matter was resolved quickly.
Aunt Song had lunch at Song Fenglan's house before leaving, and Song's mother came over in the afternoon. When Song's mother learned that Aunt Song's third aunt was there because of Tang Lu, she wasn't surprised.
“Your aunt values Tang Lu more,” said Song’s mother. “Tang Lu’s personality is more like your aunt’s. Tang Lu is also stubborn. She’s still not married and has no children. Your aunt says she doesn’t care about Tang Lu, but she still has some thoughts about it.”
Tang Lu is a pilot and now a policewoman; she doesn't always trouble Aunt Song. Among Aunt Song's children, Tang Lu is the most worry-free.
Although Tang Lu has her shortcomings, she is an ordinary person with desires. And it's true for everyone, not just Tang Lu; no one can live a life without making mistakes.
“It’s not that your aunt wants you to forgive Tang Lu, she just feels that her affairs have affected you. Tang Lu is her daughter,” said Song’s mother.
"My aunt and the Tang family..."
"It's still at a standstill," said Song's mother. "They're still trying to contact your aunt more, hoping she'll change her mind. Your aunt has donated all the money she's earned over the years to the country. She's afraid the Tang family will cause trouble, so she doesn't..."
It's a donation to a foundation established by an individual, given to the country; those people can't exactly cause trouble for the government.
"Don't they suspect that Aunt gave us the things?" Song Fenglan scoffed. It was impossible for the Tang family not to think that way.
"Isn't it because they're afraid of offending you?" Song's mother said. "They're afraid of offending us, otherwise they won't be able to survive. They're keeping an eye on your aunt, but they can still say they're mother and son, or grandmother and grandson, so it's easier to deal with them. If Tang Qiming weren't your aunt's grandson, would he have only been detained for fifteen days?"
The Tang family was fearless and knew that as long as they didn't go too far, the relevant departments would smooth things over. When it came to family matters and romantic relationships, many things could be easily overlooked and forgotten.
“That’s true,” Song Fenglan said.
“It’s not that your aunt is too soft-hearted; even a rabbit will bite when cornered,” said Song’s mother. “Your aunt is getting on in years. If she goes too far, those people will only cause trouble in front of her, preventing her from living in peace.”
Aunt Song always acted with a certain degree of restraint, preventing the Tang family from going too far and leaving them in a limbo. This limbo was the most difficult to endure. The Tang family always felt that they had a chance to inherit what Aunt Song had in her possession, and that Aunt Song would soften her stance. They didn't realize that once Aunt Song made up her mind, it was impossible to change it.
“My aunt has had a tough time,” Song Fenglan said.
"Who has it easy?" said Song's mother. "It's just that some things are easy to solve, and some things are not."
In Nancheng, Gao Xiuxiu's second daughter caused a huge scene at home.
Fang Erniu hated this family. These people always thought it was her fault. She wasn't a boy. If she were a boy, her mother wouldn't have drunk the folk remedy and wouldn't have gotten into trouble. If she were a boy, she would have received better treatment. It was her own fault for being useless.
Fang Daniu, despite her poor grades, still managed to get into high school, even after spending a lot of money to attend. Fang Erniu, who believed her grades were slightly better than Daniu's, couldn't continue her studies and had to find work. Because she was underage, finding work wasn't easy.
Gao Xiuxiu also demanded that her second daughter hand over her salary, how could Fang Erniu not be furious?
“I raised you,” Gao Xiuxiu said. “If I hadn’t given birth to you, and hadn’t had a single bite to eat, would you still be here saying these things to us?”
Gao Xiuxiu felt that her second daughter was completely immature. "Give me your salary, and I'll save it for you. You live and eat at home, and all of that costs money, you..."
"Then I won't live or eat at home, okay?" Fang Erniu said loudly.
"If you don't live or eat at home anymore, what about before?" Gao Xiuxiu said. "Does what you ate before not count? Fang Erniu, I think you're just asking for trouble!"
Gao Xiuxiu grabbed a broom and was about to hit Fang Erniu, but Grandma Fang saw this and didn't stop her. Grandma Fang didn't like girls. She was nice to Da Niu because she had cheated Da Niu in the past. What was Er Niu? Er Niu was just a worthless piece of trash.
“Hit me, hit me then,” Fang Erniu said. “All you do all day is hit me. Besides hitting me and scolding me, what else can you do? Do you think I want to be your daughter? If I could, I wouldn’t want to be your daughter at all.”
*Slap!* Gao Xiuxiu slapped Fang Erniu hard across the face.
Fang Erniu covered her cheek and glared at Gao Xiuxiu resentfully before turning around and running away.
Fang Xudong was at work and had no idea about this. Fang Erniu saw her father busy from afar but didn't go over. Fang Erniu knew that her father didn't have much say in the family. Because her mother had been seriously ill, her father had always spoiled her. At most, he would secretly give her financial assistance and tell her not to hold grudges against her mother.
But is it a matter of her arguing with her biological mother? It's that her biological mother doesn't like her, and her biological mother didn't want her to stay at home. Her biological mother was probably afraid that she would fight with her sister over those things.
Fang Daniu didn't care about Fang Erniu. She had been treated differently by Xiuxiu when she was very young. Later, she basically only cared about her own interests and didn't care whether Fang Erniu was doing well or not. As long as she was doing well and getting more things for herself, that was the most important thing.
When Fang Xudong returned home, he didn't see Erniu and asked, "Where's Erniu?"
“She’s gone!” Gao Xiuxiu rolled her eyes. “She’s grown up, she’s working, and she doesn’t respect her own mother anymore.”
Grandma Fang had already gone to her room after finishing her meal; she didn't care about these trivial matters.
Gao Xiuxiu spoke ill of Fang Erniu in front of Fang Xudong, saying, "We should have just given her away to someone else to raise back then; we shouldn't have raised her."
"What did you say?" Fang Xudong didn't believe that his second daughter would run away for no reason.
“I just told her to hand over her salary. She lives at home and eats at home, so she needs money,” Gao Xiuxiu said.
“Why…why are you telling her this? She hasn’t been working long and doesn’t have much money.” Fang Xudong said, “Girls need money to dress up too.”
"She's so young, she's not even old enough to get married yet, why is she dressing up like that?" Gao Xiuxiu said disapprovingly.
"I'm at work now," Fang Xudong said.
“Her sister’s schooling costs so much money, and she doesn’t even know how to help out a little,” Gao Xiuxiu said.
Fang Daniu's grades weren't good, so Gao Xiuxiu wanted her to repeat a year. If repeating for one year wasn't enough, she'd repeat for two or three years, until one of them would finally get her into a junior college. Once she got into junior college, Fang Daniu would go there to study.
Gao Xiuxiu placed all her hopes on Fang Daniu and didn't even think about Erniu.
“You don’t need Erniu to earn money for her sister’s education,” Fang Xudong said. “What you’re doing is so unfair to Erniu.”
“They’re all sisters. If she helps her older sister, her older sister will help her in the future. How come she doesn’t know that?” Gao Xiuxiu said. “Our brothers and sisters also help each other. How can she be so selfish?”
Fang Xudong felt that Gao Xiuxiu was truly selfish; what did her eldest daughter's education have to do with her younger daughter? Fang Danu's grades were genuinely poor, and others had even told Fang Xudong that if a child's grades weren't good, she should just go out to work early. Or they suggested that Danu should attend a vocational teacher training school instead of insisting on going to high school.
Gao Xiuxiu wanted her eldest daughter to go to high school, and to attend a better school, so Fang Xudong had no choice but to pay for it.
“Erniu just can’t do it right,” Gao Xiuxiu said. “If I say a few words to her, she runs away.”
"I'll go look for it," Fang Xudong said.
“No need to look for her. If she’s so capable, then she shouldn’t come back. She lives and eats outside.” Gao Xiuxiu said, “If you go to her, she’ll only make more and more unreasonable demands. Is this how a daughter should act? She clearly doesn’t respect us as her parents. She has a problem with us.”
“Stop saying anything to her. She’s all grown up now,” Fang Xudong said. “If you talk to her like that, she’ll naturally have a problem with it. She’s not a three-year-old child; she can’t keep letting you say whatever you want to her.”
“No matter how old she is, I am still her mother. I carried her and gave birth to her with great difficulty,” Gao Xiuxiu said. “Now that she has a job and money, she thinks she’s all grown up and doesn’t respect me. Does she think I haven’t worked much and that I don’t have much money, so she looks down on me?”
Because she lacked a uterus, Gao Xiuxiu harbored a deep-seated sense of inferiority, and she always disliked Fang Erniu. Even though Fang Erniu didn't mean it that way, Gao Xiuxiu insisted that Fang Erniu did.
“She’s your biological daughter, she couldn’t possibly think that way,” Fang Xudong said. “Don’t overthink it.”
Fang Xudong decided to go out and look for Fang Erniu; it wasn't safe for a girl to be out alone so late. Fang Erniu went to a friend's house and called Fan Yani, saying that Fan Yani had seen Fang Xudong come out.
“Your second daughter went to a friend’s house,” Fan Yani said.
Fang Erniu meant that if her father went to see her, he should have Fan Yani give him a heads-up.
Fan Yani knew that Fang Erniu and Gao Xiuxiu had probably had another fight, and Gao Xiuxiu was really awful to Fang Erniu.
"She said she's going to rent a place outside," Fan Yani said. "If you have time, pack her clothes and go to her workplace."
Fan Yani thought that Fang Xudong was, after all, a man, and a man couldn't manage so many things at home. It was too much for him to have to work and manage things at home. It was also difficult for a man like Fang Xudong to handle the relationships between women; his wife and daughter were caught in the middle, making things very difficult. It was definitely better for Fang Erniu to move out.
"Did she say anything else?" Fang Xudong asked.
“No, you’ll find out when you go to see her,” Fan Yani said.
The next day, Fang Xudong packed Fang Erniu's clothes and was about to go over to her when Gao Xiuxiu noticed his actions and stopped him.
"What are you doing?" Gao Xiuxiu snatched the bag from Fang Xudong's hand. "You're going to take the things to Erniu, right?"
"It's for her," Fang Xudong said. "She rents a place and doesn't have any clothes..."
“Isn’t she rich? Then let her buy her own clothes!” Gao Xiuxiu said. “Didn’t you say she wanted to dress up? Then she shouldn’t bring these old clothes.”
Gao Xiuxiu wouldn't let Fang Xudong take the clothes. Not only that, Gao Xiuxiu also searched Fang Xudong's pockets, fearing that Fang Xudong had brought a lot of money for Fang Erniu.
"That's enough," Fang Xudong said unhappily. "It's just some old clothes."
Fang Xudong pushed Gao Xiuxiu away, grabbed his bag containing his clothes, and walked out. He didn't want to waste any more words with Gao Xiuxiu. He didn't have much money, so he borrowed some from a colleague. Erniu needed money to rent a place, and it wasn't safe for a girl to rent alone. Fang Xudong needed to go with Erniu to find her a safer room. They lived on a street near the family compound, some distance away, so Gao Xiuxiu wouldn't be going to Erniu's place all the time.
"Dad." Fang Erniu works as a waitress in the restaurant. When she saw her father arrive, she quickly went over to him.
“I’ll go with you to rent a place,” Fang Xudong said. “The place needs to be somewhere safe.”
"Don't go for rent that's too high," Fang Erniu said, "and don't go for rent that's too close to home either."
Fang Erniu had had enough of her biological mother and didn't want to see her anymore.
“I know,” Fang Xudong said.
And so, Fang Erniu moved out and stopped living with Gao Xiuxiu and the others.
Song Fenglan was unaware of these matters; she had a few days off. She didn't plan to travel to other cities, just to explore the area near the capital, browse forums, read novels, and play some games.
Qin Yizhou understood that Song Fenglan's reluctance to travel to other cities was for safety reasons. While it wasn't impossible for her to go, proper security measures would be crucial. Song Fenglan herself understood that it was best to avoid troubling others. She had traveled extensively in her past life and had also visited other cities for exchanges in this life; that was enough for her.
"Try it." Qin Yizhou brought Song Fenglan a small cake. This cake was made by Qin Yizhou. "I made it. The cherries on top were just bought today. I washed some of them. You can eat it in a little while."
"Hmm." Song Fenglan nodded, shifting her gaze from the television to Qin Yizhou. "You're quite good at these things now."
"I learned it from Mom," Qin Yizhou said. "Try it."
Song Fenglan was on vacation, and Qin Yizhou didn't have to go to work either; he stayed by Song Fenglan's side. Qin Yizhou was several decades older than Song Fenglan, almost fifty years old.
Time passed by unnoticed, and many years went by. When the two got together, Song Fenglan was around twenty years old. Qin Yizhou was only three to five years older than Song Fenglan.
"These cherries taste good," Qin Yizhou said. "They're not too sour."
Qin Yizhou had tried them and thought they were a bit sour, but Song Fenglan could tolerate sourness better; she thought the cherries were quite sweet. The flavors were a mix of sweet and sour, but the sweetness prevailed.
“Send some to Zihang and the others,” Song Fenglan said.
“No need to send them, they’ll buy it themselves,” Qin Yizhou said. “We live nearby, so it’s not like we’re always bringing them food. As their juniors, they should be the ones bringing them food; that’s the right thing to do.”
Just then, Xu Yan arrived with chicken soup, a special stew made from free-range chicken. Xu Yan was very filial to Song Fenglan; she would always bring her anything good she had.
"Mom, I made some chicken soup and brought it over to you and Dad." Xu Yan said when she saw Qin Yizhou. "Dad's here too, perfect, you can have some together."
This free-range chicken was brought to her by Xu Yan from her mother's place. Her mother had arranged to buy it from someone, and Xu Yan thought the chicken looked good, so she told her mother she would pay for it. Xu's mother naturally didn't want Xu Yan to pay, but Xu Yan still gave her the money.
Xu Yan wasn't Xu's only daughter; she had other siblings. Xu Yan felt that since she had given money, even a few extra dollars, her other siblings couldn't say she was taking advantage of her mother's family, thus avoiding gossip.
Of the Xu sisters, Xu Yan married the best. She didn't spend money recklessly; she spent when necessary and saved when appropriate. When her siblings borrowed money, Xu Yan insisted they write down an IOU, clearly stating everything. Qin Zihang didn't care about such things; he felt it didn't matter whether an IOU was written or not, but Xu Yan disagreed. She believed that keeping things clear between siblings avoided many problems.
There were two large chicken drumsticks in the food box, and Xu Yan took them all out. It was just one chicken; if they wanted more drumsticks, they could just buy more—it was that simple.
Xu Yan ladled out the chicken soup, just enough for her parents-in-law to each have a chicken leg. Xu Yan looked at Song Fenglan, concerned most about her mother-in-law's opinion.
"Please try it and see if it's too salty or bland. I'll improve it next time," Xu Yan said with a smile.
"Not bad." Song Fenglan took a bite.
“My friend said to use less salt and keep it as is, but I said I still need to add some salt, not everyone can eat such bland food,” Xu Yan said.
“We need to add some salt; it won’t work without it,” Song Fenglan said.
“Yes, my friend initially said she didn’t want to add salt,” Xu Yan said. “She doesn’t add salt to boiled cabbage. I can only say that everyone’s taste is different.”
Qin Yizhou felt that he was only benefiting from his wife's good fortune; his daughter-in-law mainly wanted to cook for his wife.
“You all eat too, don’t worry about us,” Song Fenglan said.
"Yes, we have some to eat," Xu Yan said. "The food tastes alright, so I brought it over for you. I need to go back and prepare my lessons later."
“Okay, sure.” Song Fenglan nodded.
"I heard you're on vacation these days..."
"I'll rest with your mother, so please don't come over," Qin Yizhou said quickly, afraid that Qin Zihang and his wife would come over. He and his wife could just take a walk and have some fun; they didn't need Qin Zihang and his wife to be third wheels.
“Okay.” Xu Yan understood that since her in-laws had a good relationship, she didn’t need to come over and be a third wheel.
A while later, Xu Yan returned with the food box, just as Qin Zihang had returned home.
"Did you go to your parents' place?" Qin Zihang already knew how good his wife was at coaxing his parents. His wife would often cook some food and send it over, saying that it meant something different since she made it herself.
“Yes, I’ll go get you some chicken soup,” Xu Yan said.
Qin Zihang didn't see the chicken leg. "Did you give all the chicken legs to Mom and Dad?"
“That’s right, who else would we feed it to if not our parents?” Xu Yan said. “We’ll eat it, we’ll kill a chicken and stew it tomorrow.”
When Xu Yan was at her parents' house, her parents didn't eat the chicken legs; they gave them to the children instead. Xu Yan knew that there were elders who didn't eat chicken legs, but they just didn't have much food at home, so they prioritized the children.
"It's okay," Qin Zihang said. "I'm not going to argue with my parents. I think you're more like their biological daughter; I haven't done enough as their son."
“You’re supposed to be doing research and producing results, not doing this to me,” Xu Yan said. “The school offered me the job as a homeroom teacher, but I refused. I told them I’d rather take less money, it doesn’t matter. The school didn’t pressure me, and they didn’t assign me many classes. I have more time to do other things. My cooking skills have improved quite a bit, haven’t they?”
"It has improved considerably." Qin Zihang nodded.
“It’s just the two of us living here, so we don’t need to hire a nanny for now. We’ll just find a part-time cleaner at most,” Xu Yan said. “I’ve thought about it. We’ll hire a nanny after we have a baby.”
“You’ll need to take a car to the hospital for a checkup,” Qin Zihang said. “It’ll be more convenient if you have a car at home.”
“It’s not like we go to the hospital every day. Besides, my parents have a car,” Xu Yan said. “That’s easy. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll buy a car here. I’ll learn to drive later.”
Xu Yan thought these were all simple little things that she could do.
“My sister is so envious of me,” Xu Yan said. Her sister’s mother-in-law is very controlling and even asks her sister and brother-in-law for money. As for herself, her mother-in-law gave her so many property deeds and bankbooks. They manage their own money and don’t have to hand over their salaries to their parents-in-law. “My sister says her sister-in-law is capable, but I don’t let her come. It’s troublesome when relatives come to do things. If you speak too harshly, it’s not good; if you speak too softly, they won’t work properly.”
Xu Yan thought that would be terrible. She suggested finding outsiders instead of relatives to do the work, just pay them, it's simple.
"You arrange it." Qin Zihang had no objection to this; he let Xu Yan handle all the family matters.
Song Fenglan and Qin Yizhou went shopping and then to the movies. As they bought their tickets and were waiting to go in, someone called Song Fenglan's name.
"Fenglan, it really is you." Xing Baozhu works as a cleaner at the movie theater, which at least helps supplement her family's income.
Xing Baozhu and her husband live with their son in a cramped one-bedroom apartment. They would like to move to a larger place, but they don't have the money.
Unable to bear seeing their son earn money to support the family alone, the couple also went out to find work.
"Want to come see a movie?" Xing Baozhu asked.
“Yes, we came to see a movie.” Song Fenglan noticed the broom in Xing Baozhu’s hand.
"I work as a cleaner here, sweeping the floors," Xing Baozhu said with a smile. "I'm not going to talk to you anymore, I have to go back to cleaning."
With so many people around, Xing Baozhu couldn't just stand there and talk to Song Fenglan too much. She still had to continue cleaning, and with so many people, there was bound to be a lot of trash.
Song Fenglan and her husband bought popcorn and drinks and went inside to watch a movie.
Xing Baozhu thought that Song Fenglan was the most successful among them. A few days ago, some classmates mentioned organizing a class reunion. Xing Baozhu listened for a while, and then she thought about how many of her classmates were still in the capital, and how many had gone to the countryside as educated youth. Even when the educated youth returned to the city, not many came back.
Class reunions are rare; most classmates end up together because everyone is doing different things, working in different industries, and living in different places. When they do get together, it's usually just those classmates in the capital who manage to get together.
Xing Baozhu looked down at her calloused hands; she didn't really want to go to the gathering. Her classmates who had returned and stayed in the capital were all doing quite well; very few were worse off than her. Xing Baozhu longed to be like Song Fenglan. Song Fenglan looked very young; standing there, people probably thought she was under thirty. Xing Baozhu then thought of herself; standing there, people thought she was fifty.
"Auntie, please scan this side." someone said.
“Okay, it’s coming right now,” Xing Baozhu said.
Song Fenglan and Xing Baozhu lived in the same city, but they didn't communicate much. Song Fenglan felt that Xing Baozhu was like a resilient blade of grass, constantly searching for hope to survive. Like many other educated youth, Xing Baozhu sought opportunities to come to the city, only to have to work hard to support herself. But they were probably relatively happy inside, at least they had returned to the city instead of continuing to stay in the countryside.
The difference between the countryside and the city back then was huge. The situation in the city was much better than in the countryside, and few educated youth wanted to stay in the backward countryside forever.
After watching the movie, Song Fenglan and Qin Yizhou came out of the screening room, but they didn't see Xing Baozhu. Perhaps Xing Baozhu had gone to clean another screening room. The couple didn't stay there; instead, they went to find a place to eat.
Song Fenglan thought of Xing Baozhu, one of her old classmates. She was doing relatively well. The image of Xing Baozhu's smile flashed in her mind; Xing Baozhu must be quite happy now.
"What about your classmates?" Song Fenglan asked.
"Junior high, high school, or university?" Qin Yizhou asked. "Some of my junior high and high school classmates went to the countryside as educated youth. I went to university after joining the army, a military academy. Everyone is in different units now, some of them may have been demobilized."
Qin Yizhou occasionally went out to see his classmates, but not very often, as everyone was busy with their own things.
"The money we lent out before hasn't all been returned yet," Qin Yizhou said.
"Who asked you about the money you lent out?" Song Fenglan knew that Qin Yizhou wasn't the type to lend money to people casually; he usually lent money to people when they were in trouble. Lending money was fine, it wasn't a bad thing, "I just thought many classmates weren't here."
"There's nothing we can do about it," Qin Yizhou said. "Some people come back without a house or a job. How are they supposed to live? In the countryside, at least they have some land to make a living. But with wives and children, a whole family, so many mouths to feed, the rent and food costs are too high."
Not everyone earns a high salary. Some people clean the streets and earn a low monthly wage. When they were younger, their children had to go to school, and they needed money for various things. Now that they are older, it is even more difficult to find work in the city. Many people have no intention of returning and continue to stay in the countryside.
“It’s very expensive,” Song Fenglan said. She and Xing Baozhu didn’t look like classmates anymore when they stood together.
That evening, Xing Baozhu returned home quite late and told her husband about her encounter with Song Fenglan.
"Fenglan looks very young, and her husband even watched the movie with her," Xing Baozhu remarked. She added that while she did work at the cinema, she usually went in to clean after the movie ended; she couldn't possibly sit there and watch the movie the whole time.
Sometimes she would take a short break, since the movie theater tickets hadn't sold out yet, and Xing Baozhu would sit down and rest for a bit. But she couldn't rest for too long; she still had to go back to cleaning.
“Fenglan’s grades were exceptionally good in junior high school,” Xing Baozhu said. “She was always in the top three in her class, often first. I couldn’t compare to her; my grades were much worse. If only I had better grades and could have gotten into a junior college when the college entrance exam was reinstated, that would have been great.”
Xing Baozhu deeply regrets not studying harder when she was young. If she had studied harder and gotten better grades, she could have gone to a junior college, and her family's life would have been much better. Because of her poor grades and her son's poor grades, her family can only do manual labor and barely earn any money.
People with education tend to find it easier to earn money and do less strenuous work.
“Every time I see her, I’m so envious of her,” Xing Baozhu said. “When I greeted Fenglan, I wondered if she would pretend not to know me, but she didn’t.”
Xing Baozhu was wearing a cleaning uniform, and some relatives felt ashamed of her, so they ignored her when they saw her. Xing Baozhu didn't think being a cleaner was so bad; at least she had a job and could earn some money. The three of them worked together to earn money, and they could save more money quickly.
If Xing Baozhu and her husband don't do any work, then their son has to do it, because it's too hard on him.
"You've had a tough time marrying me," Xu Feng said with emotion.
“If I didn’t marry you, there was no other way; I couldn’t go back to the city,” Xing Baozhu said. “At that time, I had no choice but to get married.”
Life would be too hard if she didn't get married; the work in the fields was too arduous, and Xing Baozhu couldn't endure it.
At that time, Xing Baozhu worked during the day and cried in bed at night, her hands and feet covered in blisters. Not to mention the female educated youth, even the male educated youth couldn't bear it; they all wanted to return to the city. Later, when the quota for returning to the city was limited to single educated youth, some people said it was a fake divorce—actually, it was a real divorce—to return to the city, and they stopped thinking about their spouses back in the countryside.
“I’m lucky I can still come back. Some of my classmates are in the countryside and haven’t come back yet,” Xing Baozhu said. “Their parents’ home no longer has rooms for them. It’s easier for the male classmates to come back; their families value them more.”
It was even more difficult for female educated youth to return to their parents' homes. Firstly, they might not be able to bear abandoning their husbands and children; many chose to stay for the sake of their children. Secondly, their parents' homes didn't have rooms for them, and their families might not allow them to stay. Women were more likely to soften their hearts for their children, and thus more likely to be abandoned by their parents' families.
“I know a male classmate who was already married and had children in the countryside. After returning to the city, he married and had children again,” Xing Baozhu said. “I heard that his ex-wife even came to make trouble, but it was no use. His ex-wife wanted the child to stay, but he refused. Now, the son born to his second wife has died from illness, and he is now thinking about the son from his first wife. He wants the son from his first wife to come back, but his current wife is unwilling and is making trouble again.”
"How's the situation going?" Xu Feng asked in surprise.
“What can we do? If we can’t make it work, we can just get a divorce,” Xing Baozhu said. “Without a son, we can just get a divorce anytime. But with a son, isn’t that enough? He can rely on his son in the future.”
Xing Baozhu finds the thought terrifying; it's unfair to both his ex-wife and his current wife.
"What about his ex-wife's son?" Xu Feng asked.
“He stayed,” Xing Baozhu said. “If he stays, he can still get a share of his father’s house. If he doesn’t stay, we don’t know who will get those assets in the future. Naturally, he doesn’t want to stay in the countryside; he wants to stay in the city.”
The son whom his ex-wife raised with great difficulty now calls him "Dad" affectionately, as if he grew up with his biological father.
“I don’t know if he’s just pretending to be filial to his father. I’m afraid he’ll only be good to his father in the future and ignore his own mother,” Xing Baozhu sighed. “If that’s the case, it’s terrifying.”
“His father did give him some benefits,” Xu Feng said.
“You men all like to think like this,” Xing Baozhu said. “When someone gives you a little something, you think it’s amazing, and you can completely erase everyone else’s efforts, without caring how badly that person behaved before. A prodigal son who returns is more precious than gold, isn’t that right?”
Xing Baozhu felt indignant on behalf of her male classmate's ex-wife. She had worked so hard, but in the end, it was all for naught compared to a few words from her male classmate.
"Perhaps he wants to get the things first, and then he'll be filial to his parents later."
"Damn it," Xu Feng said.
“That’s not necessarily true.” Xing Baozhu shook her head. “He probably still thinks his biological mother is bad, that she didn’t give him a good life.”
Having a son like that is worse than having a barbecued pork.
Xing Baozhu only knew a little bit about it; she had heard about it from others.
"If he stays in the city, his father will provide him with a house and a wife. Why would he still think about his own mother?" Xing Baozhu scoffed. "His wife is unlikely to think about her mother-in-law in the countryside either."
Conflicts are common between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, and city wives are naturally less willing to have much contact with their rural mothers-in-law.
In the room, Song Fenglan applied skin cream and then turned off the music playing on her computer.
"This computer is really useful; it has quite a lot of information," Qin Yizhou said.
“Yes, you can even have online dating,” Song Fenglan said.
"Online dating?" Qin Yizhou asked. "Dating through the internet?"
“It’s not impossible. People can fall in love even if they write letters and are pen pals, so it’s even more possible online,” Song Fenglan said. “With chat software, you can chat anytime and you don’t have to wait many days to receive a reply. You can send a message and the other person will reply immediately.”
Qin Yizhou stared at Song Fenglan for a while, then Song Fenglan turned to look at him. "What's wrong?"
"You're really good at using computers," Qin Yizhou said, though he wasn't as good at it.
“They’re all just simple gadgets,” Song Fenglan said.
"You were chatting with someone online?" Qin Yizhou asked.
“Yes, but not many,” Song Fenglan said. “Do you think I randomly add strangers to chat with? I don’t need to look for excitement online.”
“I don’t look for thrills online,” Qin Yizhou said. “Watching TV dramas is enough; those things aren’t that interesting.”
Song Fenglan understood Qin Yizhou's thoughts. Computers require someone to sit and play with them, but if there were smartphones, Qin Yizhou might find it very interesting, being able to watch short videos, read news, and watch TV online anytime, anywhere...
Computers are more common now, but it's still not enough. When personal laptops and smartphones become widespread, there will be even more enjoyment. By then, they'll be much older, so they'll try to live as long as possible.
“There are too many melodramatic dramas lately,” Song Fenglan said. Every time she turned on a TV series, it was filled with all sorts of tragic love stories, full of bitterness and hatred, with the female lead suffering all kinds of torment, and they clearly had mouths but never explained themselves.
Song Fenglan felt heartbroken watching it all. She would immediately change the channel whenever she saw a melodramatic drama; she simply couldn't bear to watch it. Others in this era might enjoy those melodramas because they themselves had experienced much suffering. Song Fenglan herself had suffered, but she didn't want to relive that suffering while watching television, nor did she want to empathize with the female lead's pain.
"Let's watch martial arts dramas," Qin Yizhou said.
“In martial arts dramas, it’s basically the same story where several women are in love with one man,” Song Fenglan said. “It doesn’t really mean much.”
Song Fenglan still prefers reading novels, especially single-volume novels with one-on-one relationships and relatively fast development. As long as she avoids reading sadomasochistic novels, everything is fine.
Gao Xiuxiu's daughter, Erniu, moved out of the house, and Fang Xudong paid part of the rent. Gao Xiuxiu was very unhappy when she learned that Fang Xudong had paid part of the rent and wanted to cause a scene.
"Is this all the wages you're owed? Why did you give the money to Erniu?" Gao Xiuxiu complained. "Erniu is working; she can earn her own money. Why are you still giving her money?"
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