The people at the old house had ill intentions. Cuihua and Cuimei had been on guard all along. Cuihong stayed at home, focusing on growing vegetables. Even when she went out to dig for wild vegetables, she would lock the door tightly. She was strong and no one could do anything to her. She didn't like to communicate with people. Unless the other person was particularly friendly, she would nod and greet them. The people at the old house were often ignored by her.
People with disabilities like Cuihong were looked down upon by the residents of the old house, so she was the first one they excluded.
Cuihua and Cuiju are old, but they are principled and capable, but not easily fooled.
The fifth and sixth children are still studying, so they are even harder to fool.
Looking at it this way, it seems that only Tang Cuilian, the third sister who works at the county winery, is the most suitable.
Cuilian goes home once a week, basically just to visit her godparents and then they ride back to the city together in an oxcart.
Because of the tight schedule when she went home, the people at the old house who wanted to scheme against them thought it was a good job.
Being busy is good; you make money when you're busy, and it's when you're not busy that you worry!
However, the factory was strictly managed and not just anyone could get in. So when Li Qingqing and Tang Youjin came to the factory gate under the pretense of being relatives and asked to see Tang Cuilian, their bodies instinctively protested, and even the alarm bells went off.
Cuilian was usually low-key at work, and she claimed that her parents had died and her sister was in charge of the household. So when her coworkers heard that a relative had come to visit her, they came over enthusiastically to watch over her. However, they noticed that Tang Cuilian's brows were furrowed, so they asked her with concern.
"What's wrong? Didn't the gatekeeper tell you your relative is here? Hurry up!"
When Tang Cuilian thought of her sisters' warnings, she immediately looked terrified and shook her head desperately with tears in her eyes.
“I have no relatives, they are not my relatives. They want to take me back and sell me so that they can find a partner for their son.”
This wasn't Tang Cuilian framing them; it was something that actually happened in the book Tang Cuimei mentioned.
Over the years, she had been constantly on guard, but she never expected this day to come so soon. As soon as news of the seventh and eighth children in their family broke, these relatives who couldn't stand to see them doing well started to cause trouble.
"What? What kind of relatives do you have? What right do they have to sell you out?"
“My uncle and aunt have never treated us sisters well since we were little. Especially my aunt, she beats us every day and makes us do this and that. If she is not satisfied with us at all, she will beat us with a stick. My uncle is not a good person either. He looks all smiles, but he is more calculating than anyone else. Their three sons are all in their twenties, and even their only daughter is twenty years old, but none of them have been able to find a husband. A few days ago, they came to my house and blocked the door. Since I have many daughters, they wanted to target us. They couldn't find an opportunity with my eldest and second eldest sisters, so they came to me.”
Seeing Tang Cuilian trembling with fear, the workers immediately went to the team leader to report the matter. The leaders took it very seriously.
They immediately summoned Tao Changyi and Zhao Lingli. The Tao family, of course, knew the true nature of the Tang family's troublesome relatives, and nodded in agreement.
“No wonder this child always comes with us every time we go home. She’s such a big girl, all her uncles and aunts are eyeing her. The Tang family has seven grandsons in total, but none of them are married. They’re all calculating the dowry, unwilling to give the girl a dowry, so they’re trying to get their hands on Xiaolian. They won’t spend a single penny. I’ve never seen such shameless elders.”
With the Tao family paving the way, Tang Cuilian arrived at the factory gate under their escort. As soon as Li Qingqing saw Tang Cuilian, her eyes lit up. Cuilian was now fair-skinned, tall, and slender, with a high ponytail, and looked beautiful no matter how you looked at her.
If you have good looks, you can sell yourself for a higher price, right?
So when she saw Tang Cuilian's pitiful appearance, she started plotting something, and the wrinkles on her face almost obscured her eyes.
Cuilian looked at them calmly and asked, "Uncle, Aunt, what brings you here?"
Tang Youjin was also stunned. He hadn't seen Tang Cuilian for a long time. He didn't expect that this little girl had grown up so much. Even wearing blue overalls, she couldn't hide her fair skin. With such good looks, she could indeed fetch a good price. Born in 1940, she was exactly eighteen years old this year, the perfect age for her!
Tang Youjin, increasingly satisfied with what he saw, unconsciously softened his voice and began to give instructions in a serious tone, as if he were an elder.
"Oh, I just came to the city for a visit. I heard you were working at this factory, so I came to see you. How are you doing? Are you settling in alright? It's getting late, do you have time to come with us for a meal? We can have a good chat, and I'll bring you back later."
Seeing the couple looking at her with shining eyes, Cuilian recalled a phrase that Lao Wu often said.
Would such stingy people really be so kind as to invite her to dinner?
Something unusual must be going on!
Tang Cuilian had no interest in their food. She had never eaten it before. She still vividly remembered being beaten black and blue for eating an extra piece of cornbread when she was a child. So when they laughed like the wolf in the story, alarm bells went off in her mind, and she politely declined.
"I'm sorry, Uncle and Aunt, I'm still at work and can't take leave. If you don't have anything else to do, you can go back. I'm fine, don't worry about me. I'll come to see you when I get back."
Anyone can say polite words.
After saying this, Tang Cuilian greeted her coworkers who were hiding in the shadows. Sure enough, before Tang Youjin could say anything more, shouts from her coworkers could be heard from afar.
"Cuilian, Cuilian, hurry up, let's get to work!"
Tang Cuilian responded with a nod, then turned and nodded to the couple, "I'm leaving. Be careful on your way back."
Don't do too many things that you have a guilty conscience, or you'll fall into a ditch!
Before the couple could respond, Tang Cuilian ran away.
The couple opened their mouths, "Hey, hey, wait a minute, I haven't finished speaking yet. When you go back this weekend, you must come to my house. We have something to tell you."
Cuilian heard it, but pretended not to.
Tang Youjin's face turned somewhat grim after failing to lure the man out, while Li Qingqing, standing to the side, calmly nudged the man's arm.
"Look at you, so petty. How can you wear your heart on your sleeve? What if that slut notices something? Wouldn't all your efforts be for nothing?"
"It's a bit of a shame we couldn't trick them out today, but that cripple didn't come either, did he? Tomorrow, tomorrow you call him over directly, let him hide in a corner, and when we call Cuilian out, let him see how pretty she is. Maybe he'll take a liking to her right away? As long as he likes her, and she's in our house, we won't have to worry about tricking her."
Tang Youjin frowned. "You make it sound so easy. Have you forgotten that they also have Tang Cuihong? That woman is strong. She can't even handle a cripple like him. Don't let her cripple his other leg too, or we'll have to pay for it!"
"We need to plan this carefully. As long as this cripple takes a liking to Cuilian, we can work with her family to get her a sedan chair. It's just a matter of spending a little more money, right? We can knock her out, trick her into getting into the sedan chair, and once she wakes up, we'll have her back to her."
Listening to his wife's rambling, Tang Youjin wasn't stupid. He wasn't fooled by her grand plan and instead raised his own questions.
"How are you going to confuse people? How are you going to keep it from everyone? How are you going to trick Tang Cuilian out of Cuihua's clutches? How are you going to guarantee that she won't report it to the police afterwards? Do you really think Tang Cuihua is easy to bully now? If she were easy to bully, would she have taken Cuiju and Cuilian and left that house back then? If the three of them hadn't run away, she might have been sold by the third brother to get himself a wife long ago. How could you possibly have gotten a chance? Your words clearly make it seem like you're treating everyone like fools. But are they fools you can manipulate at will? Obviously not. Just look at how wary Cuilian was just now. She doesn't trust us at all."
Li Qingqing stared at her husband, wanting to retort, but found that what she would say would be a joke.
Yes, those girls now are not like when they were little, when she could do whatever she wanted with them. Now they are all capable, and they would rather tear the roof off their house than let her do as she pleases.
Even if Tang Youjin didn't mention it, she could sense Tang Cuilian's wariness towards them just now.
She didn't even leave the front door, clearly showing she didn't trust them, and every time she came back, she did so quietly that they hadn't seen her for a long time.
If the villagers hadn't told her, who would have known she had this skill—being able to find a temporary job in the county town?
Even if it's just a temporary job, you can still earn ten or twenty yuan a month. Isn't that better than staying at home and eating for free?
Her eldest daughter is still unemployed and just lounging around at home. Why should Tang Cuilian get a temporary job?
This job should have been hers, the eldest daughter.
Yes, as long as this girl is married off, then this job will become Cui Cui's.
If Cui Cui gets a job, won't she be able to find a good husband in the city?
Li Qingqing, who was getting more and more excited as she thought about it, gritted her teeth and said.
"Even if it can't work, I'll make it work. I refuse to believe that a few girls can outmaneuver us!"
"And then there's Cuihua and Cuiju. They can still get married when they're older. As long as we marry them off to other places as second wives, there will be plenty of men who want them. They're both young women, beautiful and capable. What's there to be afraid of when they're older?"
Tang Youjin looked at his wife and said, "You really have wild ideas. There are nine daughters in the third wife's family. You're thinking of selling them all?"
"Nine? So six won't be coming back? Six is enough. The two at school are still young, no rush. Let's sell the older ones first. Without these older ones as the backbone, the younger ones are nothing. What good is Tang Cuihong's fighting ability? She just hasn't met a tough one yet. Find her a tough one, someone who can control her. Even if she's mute, we can still sell her!"
Tang Youjin was at a loss for words. Although he knew his wife was wrong, he had three sons. If he were to marry three women from well-off families, he would need at least a thousand yuan in dowry. They had worked themselves to the bone their whole lives and didn't even have two or three hundred yuan. Where were they going to get a thousand yuan?
If you don't want to sell your own daughter, then you have no choice but to...
Besides, he has three sons; the money from selling one daughter wouldn't be enough!
——
Cuihua and the others were unaware that Tang Youjin and his wife had already found their way to the county town. They were still setting traps in the fields of the town to catch sparrows!
Judging by the time, it was almost time for the Great Leap Forward, so the two sisters had Cui Mei and Cui Hong hide a lot of the iron pots and farm tools at home in advance, leaving only the ones that were visible to make up the numbers.
Not only them, but also the Tao family and the families in Taoyuan Village were carefully selected.
If everything is arranged in advance, there's nothing to fear when that day actually comes.
There were too many sparrows, and they came to peck at the crops every day. The people hated them to death, but they couldn't do anything about it.
Not only sparrows, but also rats, flies, and mosquitoes came out as the weather got hotter.
Sparrows can be caught and roasted for food, but only heroes would dare to eat rats; the sisters, in any case, could not stomach them.
Digging for wild vegetables is something they have to do after work, and all the sisters in the family have developed this habit over the years.
Whenever they had a spare moment, they would go for a walk in the fields. If they couldn't finish the wild vegetables they brought home, they would dry them. Cui Mei and Cui Hong would then hide the dried vegetables away.
Even the food at home is only enough for one week, and never more than that.
Being prepared for a rainy day is a survival instinct for those who are reborn, transmigrate into books, or travel through time.
The saying goes, "Many a little makes a mickle." The money they had was only enough for their daily needs. They used the rest to buy food, and the cheapest kind, just enough to fill their stomachs in the future. They simply wanted to live, without pursuing any quality of life. Of course, they didn't have extra money to ask for those things.
Cuihua and Cuiju stayed in the town every day, and Grandpa Tao and Grandma Tao never mistreated them. They not only frequently sent them money, grain, and vegetables, but also gave them 20% of their annual harvest.
Of course, it's not that we don't give them more, but rather that they won't accept more even if we do.
There are many ways to repay kindness, and they used this cheapest way to do so. They had already gotten a good deal, so why would they dare to ask for more?
Without the Tao family, none of the sisters would be where they are today, especially Cuilian, who has benefited the most.
Last July, Tao Zui failed the college entrance examination and was not admitted to her desired school, Harbin Institute of Technology, by two points.
This July, I plan to take the college entrance examination with Tao Ran and Zhou Yue.
Tang Cuimei will be a high school sophomore this fall.
Tang Cuixiang was older than Tang Cuimei in school, and those who studied medicine were all top students. She had been a cook before, so her foundation wasn't as good as Tang Cuimei's. That's why she only took the high school entrance exam this year. Fortunately, she studied hard and had a foundation from her previous life. The moment she walked out of the exam hall, she let out a long sigh of relief.
The principal and the director walked towards her at the same time, and after receiving a knowing look from her, their expressions brightened.
"Haha, we have a good chance of getting into a top high school this year! Even if there's only one spot, it will still make our township school proud!"
"Cuixiang, don't worry, I keep my word. As long as you can get into the top high school in the city, our school will support you through your high school years, just like we supported your sister."
Tuition fees, not living expenses.
Although it wasn't much, over four semesters, it amounted to thirty yuan, which was all Tang Cuimei contributed back then.
Even if it's only thirty yuan, it's still a support from my alma mater.
She gratefully accepted it; with these thirty dollars, she could save her family an expense.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com