The little girl helped Xiao Jiu up: "Shall I take you to the hospital? Your head is bleeding!"
Then she glanced at the bicycle next to her, and then anxiously looked back at the alley she had just run out of.
When he saw someone chasing after them, his expression changed instantly.
"Quick, hurry up and get on, I'll take you to the hospital!"
Xiao Jiu followed her gaze and saw an old woman calling out "Yuanyuan's" name in the crowd, occasionally uttering a few curse words. She was clearly not a kind person.
Xiao Jiu pursed her lips, glanced at her little girl's long legs, and asked, "Can you ride a bike?"
The daughter nodded frantically, and Xiao Jiu gritted her teeth and made a decision: "Then you ride your bike and give me a ride!"
After helping her to stand up a little, my daughter went to ride her bike. After riding a couple of steps and feeling steady, she called out to the back.
"Quick, I'll hold the handlebars, you jump on, hurry up!"
Poor Xiao Jiu, he had already fallen hard, and now he's still in pain all over. But with this kind of old-fashioned bicycle, you either have to jump on it or clamp it on.
But we don't know where this rumor came from, but it says that this action of crossing your legs is equivalent to being a pervert?
No one looks good sitting like that, especially a young woman.
So even though she fell and bled, and her vision was blurred, she still gritted her teeth, ran a few steps, and jumped up.
When she got on the bike, the handlebars wobbled noticeably, and it almost veered into the ditch by the roadside. Luckily, she held onto the handlebars and kept the bike firmly in control.
"Emma, you scared me to death! It's a good thing you have long legs. How old are you? You're not short at all!"
Here, unmarried women are called "little girl," so it doesn't mean she's young; she looks older than her.
Xiao Jiu had just asked her, "Who's pursuing her?" She hadn't said a word. Now, she was riding her bike very fast, and soon she was far away from the alleyway. Only then did she turn back to Xiao Jiu and say something.
"I'm sorry, little sister, I've dragged you into this. It was my grandma chasing me just now!"
It was almost time for me to go to school, but she insisted on stopping me from leaving and made me go out with her to buy things.
It wasn't about shopping at all; they actually set me up on a blind date!
I'm only fifteen! Setting me up on blind dates at fifteen? They're taking advantage of me because I don't have a mother!
As she spoke, she broke down, her voice choked, and tears silently streamed down her face as she bit her lower lip.
Xiao Jiu tugged at the girl's clothes around her waist and looked ahead. She knew that this girl wasn't lying; her crying was too real.
"You're the Yuanyuan that the old lady was talking about?"
"My surname is Yuan, and my given name is Yuan. Yuan is the Yuan of grassland and Yuan is the Yuan of garden. My mother gave me this name, but unfortunately she passed away last year."
Famine combined with appendicitis caused him excruciating pain that ultimately led to his death.
To save money, he kept quiet, but it got worse each time, so he eventually left.
"My mother was a full-time employee at the cannery. After my mother passed away, my grandmother had my aunt take over the job because I was still in school."
They even said I was still studying and that my younger brother was too young to be given away to outsiders, ha...
As soon as I changed jobs, they immediately started eyeing me. I was too young last year, but now that I'm fifteen, they can't sit still anymore.
I was dragged out of the house by her tantrum and unreasonable behavior. I had a feeling then, and sure enough, nothing good ever came of it.
That man was in his thirties!
She was more than fifteen years older than me. I didn't want to leave, so I turned around and left. She actually locked the door.
The man clearly had ill intentions and tried to grope me. I was so scared that I screamed, smashed the window, jumped from the second floor, and ran out.
Yuan Yuan became increasingly angry and tearful as she spoke.
Xiao Jiu sat in the back, unsure how to comfort him.
"So they wanted to sell you?"
"Five hundred yuan, three turns and a ring, that's the dowry that man promised to my grandma."
He was the deputy director of the grain station, had two sons, and said his first wife had died of illness.
I'm almost as old as his son, how could he do that to me!
My grandmother, that old hag, was only trying to raise money for my uncle's dowry and the job that old man promised me. So she didn't care whether I was marrying a human or a ghost.
My dad is even more unreliable. I've always listened to my grandma since I was little, and he's the eldest son in the family.
The old lady controls all our family's money and food supplies. Otherwise, my mother would die.
Because she couldn't get the money, her family had long been terrified of having to go back to her family every few days to ask for help and borrow money.
After my maternal grandparents passed away, all contact was completely severed.
After hearing this, Xiao Jiu couldn't help but sigh. There are many similar plots in historical fiction!
Even in later films and television dramas, there are countless examples of things that are even more tragic than this.
There's still a famine going on, and you can tell how hard her life has been from how frail and destitute she looks.
So when the two arrived at the hospital, Xiao Jiu didn't ask her to pay a single penny.
Yuan Yuan blushed deeply, apologized profusely, and busied herself paying and waiting in line for bandaging.
The injury wasn't very serious; it didn't involve any bones or tendons, just some superficial wounds.
After the bandage was applied, I was told to come back in three days for another dressing change, and then I was discharged. The total cost was only three cents.
Seeing Yuan Yuan's guilty look, Xiao Jiu casually comforted her, "Yuan-jie, which school do you go to?"
"First year of high school? You're in the first year of high school now?" Xiao Jiu exclaimed in surprise, "My God, you're in the first year of high school too? Which class are you in?"
"Class Three," the voice finally caught on, "Also? Are you also from No. 1 High School?"
"Yeah, we're in the same class. How come I've never seen you before?"
Yuan Yuan was also startled. "I'm a day student, I don't live on campus. You're a boarding student, right?"
Thinking of this, as if remembering something, "Oh my god, you wouldn't happen to be that ten-year-old girl the teacher was talking about, would you?"
Xiao Jiu looked embarrassed and subconsciously straightened her spine. "I'm eleven years old now, not a baby anymore."
Yuan Yuan didn't care about any of that; she just looked at Xiao Jiu with admiration.
"I commute to school and have to work at home, so I'm always in a rush when I get home. As a result, I haven't had time to participate in many school activities."
I never expected to miss out on so much.
"You're only ten years old and you're already in high school? You might just create a legend at our school! That's truly amazing!"
Xiao Jiu ignored these formalities and said, "Let's go to school first. You're going to evening self-study too, right?"
"Yes, I'll go, but right now... you don't know how difficult my grandma is, I'm afraid she'll come to the school again."
Xiao Jiu thought for a moment and glanced at the state-run restaurant near the hospital.
"Are you hungry? Come on, let me treat you to a bowl of noodles. Let's eat first and then talk."
Without further ado, he dragged Yuanyuan to the state-run restaurant and ordered two bowls of vegetarian noodles. Each bowl cost one liang of grain coupons, or eight cents.
After Xiao Jiu paid the bill, while the two of them waited for their noodles, she gave Yuan Yuan some advice.
“Your grandma is difficult to deal with. I think you need to be even more difficult and assertive than her to keep your current school status.”
They're already in the first year of high school; it would be a waste if they didn't go to university.
Besides, this is a key municipal high school. If you persevere for another year or so, you'll be fine!
We absolutely cannot afford to fail at this crucial moment!
Wasn't she trying to set you up on blind dates, or was she trying to sell you off?
Go find the Women's Federation, the Trade Union, or the neighborhood committee. If all else fails, go to your father's workplace and complain to the trade union staff.
From what you're saying, your aunt isn't young anymore, is she? Is she married?
Yuan Yuan shook her head. "My aunt is twenty years old. She's my grandmother's darling. She has very high standards. How could she let my aunt marry that kind of man?"
Xiao Jiu sneered: "That's right. There's a woman of marriageable age at home who doesn't want to marry, but they insist on making you marry her. Isn't that blatant bullying?"
Just throw caution to the wind; if they're shameless, you have to be even more shameless than them.
"They say the tough are afraid of the reckless. If all else fails, try finding a place they'll fear and hurting yourself. That'll scare them to death!"
Once you've endured this year and a half, you'll be in college, and your student status and food rations will be transferred. Who cares about their family's fate then!
By the way, how's your relationship with your younger brother?
Yuan Yuan shook her head. "He's been led astray by my grandma. It's all thanks to my grandma's affection for him that he has no worries about food or drink and is even happier than my dad."
"Then you won't have any worries. Your mother is gone, and you can't count on your father. After you get into university, go as far away as you can."
I think you shouldn't go to evening self-study tonight. Go to school, explain the situation to the teacher, ask for leave, make a scene at home, and then you can stay at school tomorrow!
As for how to make a scene, the two of them, head to head, ate noodles and came up with a plan.
After finishing their meal, Yuan Yuan drove Xiao Jiu back to school. As soon as they entered the school gate, Xiao Jiu waved to Yuan Yuan.
"Go find the teacher, I'll go lock the car."
The school has a bike shed, but it doesn't even have a light. Once she could no longer see anyone, she casually put the bicycle away in her storage space.
She didn't even have time to go back to her dorm before rushing to class. As soon as she entered, all her classmates looked at her.
"Oh my god, what happened to you? Why is your face bandaged up?!"
The teacher also came over with concern, "Tao Tao, what happened?"
"It's okay, teacher. I just fell and it's bandaged up. There's just a little scrape, but don't be fooled by how big the bandage looks."
...
That night, she discovered that two people seemed to be missing from the class again, and they were Zhu Hongqi and Zhou Shengnan from her dormitory.
"What's going on? Neither my eldest sister nor my fifth sister came?"
After class, the girls in the dormitory immediately gathered together, and Gao Mingxia and the others shook their heads, looking completely bewildered.
"I haven't received any news, and I don't know how they are doing. I hope something came up."
But even after half a day of classes the next day, no one came. Even Yuan Yuan and Xiao Jiu from Class 3 didn't come to school.
"Due to the famine, half of the students in all five classes have left, and there are more girls than boys."
This is evident from the fact that the dormitory is about to be vacant, which shows how heartbreaking it is.
I finally made it to high school, but now I have to face this kind of predicament.
Xiao Jiu didn't know how to help everyone, so she could only try her best to help copy more test papers.
Zhu Hongqi arrived at school in a hurry on Tuesday afternoon. Facing everyone's concerned eyes, she forced a smile.
"It's alright now. My sister fainted and was taken to the hospital. They said it was due to malnutrition and overwork. I..."
I'll probably have to study at home after this semester, because I simply can't afford the money and food for next semester.
And my family is too difficult. I'm worried about home while I'm here, so I can't study well. I might as well go back and study while I work."
Xiao Jiu felt a pang of sympathy and wanted to say something, but Zhu Hongqi turned to look at her instead.
"I'm sorry, Tao'er, I can't pay you back the money I borrowed for the time being, but don't worry, I remember it. I'll send it to you as soon as I get home and calm down."
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