As Sun Manting finished her words, Zhou Yunwan clearly felt Shen Yanli's obscure eyes looking at her, with imperceptible eagerness and expectation on his handsome face.
Looking at his face, Zhou Yunwan sighed silently. It seemed that the sense of security she had given him before was not enough, and now he suspected that she would hide the relationship between them.
Zhou Yunwan rolled up the hair beside her ears, and her eyebrows curved into a thin hook at the end of her eyes. She was extremely charming and smiled, as if she was filled with endless tenderness: "He is not my brother now, he is my boyfriend."
Her tone was gentle and frank, without any intention of hiding anything, and even revealed a sense of pride and pride.
Hearing this, the arc of Shen Yanli's mouth couldn't help but deepen a little.
Sun Manting was surprised at first, looking back and forth between the two of them, and then she remembered what Zhou Yunwan had said to her at the social dance party.
She was outspoken and said whatever came to her mind: "So you weren't lying to me when you said you liked your brother."
Chen Yanli raised his eyebrows slightly, and became interested: "At the beginning? When?"
Zhou Yunwan's memory went around in her mind, and she guessed what time Sun Manting was referring to. She couldn't help but clench her fingertips, put her fist to her lips, and coughed softly.
...
...
Hearing this disguised reminder, Sun Manting stopped talking at the right time. Zhou Yunwan whispered in her ear, "Don't say it, or he will show off."
Sun Manting blinked her eyes and glanced at Shen Yanli, whose expression was as quiet as water. She couldn't imagine what he looked like when he was "showing off".
Seeing that he didn't get the question he wanted to hear, Shen Yanli casually turned his gaze to Zhou Yunwan next to him.
But Zhou Yunwan didn't even look at him, she left him aside and started chatting with Sun Manting, asking her why she came to see her.
When talking about this, Sun Manting's face became sad for a moment, and her eyes turned red.
Seeing that something was wrong with her, Zhou Yunwan frowned, held her hand, and asked anxiously, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Sun Manting shook her head, pursed her lips for a moment, took a deep breath, and forced a smile: "I came here to say goodbye to you."
Zhou Yunwan pursed her lips and asked doubtfully: "Goodbye? What do you mean?"
Sun Manting explained: "The art troupe has two places for exchange and study in the northwest for two years. After returning, they will be directly promoted to civilian cadres and receive various welfare subsidies... I plan to give it a try."
The Northwest region was relatively backward in the 1970s. Its living environment and level of development were completely incomparable to Beijing. Everyone wanted to develop in Beijing, and few people would take the initiative to work in the Northwest.
Even though there was a much-anticipated movement to send educated youth to the countryside in response to the country's call, there were some city dwellers who could not bear the hardship and were unwilling to go.
Precisely because no one wants to go, the higher-ups offer various policy subsidies to increase attractiveness. Those who go there and come back are like having their resume gilded, and are sought after everywhere.
It’s hard to say for others, but there is absolutely no need for Sun Manting to go for this gilded look.
She is now the leader of the art troupe. She is an outstanding person in terms of both talent and ability. What's more, she is humble and hardworking, and is highly regarded by the leaders of the art troupe. Why should she suffer that hardship?
Zhou Yunwan looked at the absent-minded Sun Manting, who was obviously worried about something, and was afraid that something might happen if she kept it to herself, so she winked at Shen Yanli and asked him to step aside first. After the people left, she whispered, "Can I ask the reason?"
At this point, Sun Manting has nothing to hide. She will feel much better if she can find someone to talk to.
"My family has arranged a marriage for me, but I don't want it, so I can only use this method to hide for the time being."
As she spoke, Sun Manting told him about how her parents introduced her to the son of her workplace leader. Perhaps because she had been holding back grievances and resentment for too long, her tone was filled with sarcasm and mockery.
"That man is already in his thirties, ugly, old, and short. It would be fine if he had better character, but he is also a domestic abuser with a bad temper. His brain seems to be underdeveloped, and he is full of vulgar things."
When she thought of the way that man looked at her, she felt so sick that she couldn't eat for three days.
"He also wants me to be a stepmother to his seven or eight-year-old son. Haha, smug, it's just like a toad wanting to eat swan meat. What a wishful thinking!"
Zhou Yunwan couldn't hide her shock. After she blurted out a few traditional Chinese sayings, she calmed down and asked, "That man has a son? Why would your parents let you marry such a man?"
Sun Manting curled her lips sarcastically and murmured, "Yes, any parent with a normal mind would not let their child marry such a thing."
What's more, she is only twenty years old and her life has just begun. How can she die at the hands of such a person?
She could tolerate everything that happened before, but she couldn't tolerate this matter anymore.
Thinking about how she had been living a life worse than having no home and having parents worse than having no parents for more than ten years since her grandmother passed away, she couldn't stop crying.
Zhou Yunwan held her in her arms with heartache and wiped her tears. The fact that the strong Sun Manting could cry like this showed how much of a blow and grievance she had suffered.
The last time she went to her house, she could tell that she was not valued at home, but she didn't expect it to be this serious.
"Through this incident, I finally understood that my mom and dad are nothing! They actually forced their daughter to become someone else's stepmother and traded their daughter's happiness for her future. Do they deserve to be called parents?"
"I don't want such a family. I just want to stay away from them... Fortunately, the approval from the higher-ups has come down, and I will leave next weekend."
Seeing that she had made up her mind, Zhou Yunwan thought of something and said worriedly, "Do your parents know about this? If you leave like this, won't your parents go to the art troupe to make a scene?"
If the parents went to the art troupe to make trouble, the troupe would not be able to withstand the pressure and might let her come back.
Sun Manting wiped her tears and sobbed, "You don't have to worry about this. I gave them all the dowry that grandma secretly left for me. It's worth it to exchange money for freedom."
Zhou Yunwan frowned and said, "You gave it all to them? You didn't leave any for yourself?"
Sun Manting smiled and said, "Don't worry, I still have some private money."
If the money wasn't enough, they wouldn't let her go so easily.
The reason why they were willing to let her go was probably because they thought to themselves that she was their daughter and would not want to leave home, and would have to go back and beg them two years later.
After observing people's words and expressions for so many years, she knew exactly what they were thinking.
Hearing this, Zhou Yunwan knew that she had made a complete plan. After a moment of silence, she sighed softly: "Manting, you are so brave. This step you have taken makes me look at you with new eyes."
Sun Manting sniffed. If she wasn't forced to do so, who would want to leave her hometown? She believed that after leaving the people who made her feel internally drained, everything would be fine.
Thinking about the future, her eyes revealed an unprecedented determination.
The two of them talked a lot of heart-to-heart talks, and time passed by unknowingly. Zhou Yunwan asked her to stay for one night before leaving, but Sun Manting said that she had not asked for too long a leave from the art troupe and had to go back soon.
"I'll see you off at the station."
Sun Manting didn't want to trouble her, but when she thought that if she stayed well there, she might not come back, she didn't refuse her kindness.
"I may not be able to come back for your wedding. I hope you don't mind. I will send you a wedding gift when the time comes."
"You can give me the best gift by settling down there and taking care of yourself."
The sky is high and the road is long. If something happens, no one can help anyone.
"I hope you are well."
"The same to you."
The two girls held hands and smiled at each other, with friendship in their hearts.
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