First, there was the couple who came to cause trouble.
The morals of this era are conservative. It is extremely shameful for a girl to get pregnant before marriage, and abortion before marriage is even more unacceptable to the world.
Generally speaking, when a girl gets into this kind of trouble before marriage, her parents often choose to get her married quickly. Even if the man tries to control the bride price, they often keep quiet. After all, if the matter gets out of hand, it's usually the woman who gets embarrassed. If the man insists on not marrying her, the girl is in even worse trouble. She probably won't even be able to find a decent family to marry her. Even if she does get married, it will be a lifelong black record, and she won't be able to hold her head up in her husband's family.
Why did this couple do the opposite? Instead of asking her brother to marry their daughter, they asked for compensation. And they asked for a huge amount, one thousand yuan at a time.
Let’s talk about the man who came from Lingqiu County to get married.
In that era, the monthly salary of workers in the city was only 30 or 40 yuan. A worker would have to go without food and drink for three years to save up 1,000 yuan, which was not something many people could afford.
Lingqiu County was so poor that borrowing a thousand yuan was extremely difficult, so the man who wanted to get married had to pay for it himself. But since he was so rich, why did he come to Linwen County to find a wife? I was afraid that the local girls would keep throwing themselves at him.
What’s even more interesting is that just as the girl’s parents asked for compensation, the man from Lingqiu County came to propose marriage. It seemed like both parties had discussed it beforehand. Knowing that the Fang family couldn’t come up with 1,500 yuan, and knowing that her family had a girl who was eligible for marriage, they came together to help the Fang family solve the problem.
Seeing Fang Xiaoyan still crying, Cheng Maixiang took a handkerchief and gave it to her, comforting her, "Xiaoyan, don't cry yet. There is a solution to everything."
Fang Xiaoyan has always admired Cheng Maixiang. It seems that no matter how big the problem is, it can be solved easily with her without any effort. That's why she told her her story without reservation. Seeing that she was calm, she also calmed down and stopped crying.
Cheng Maixiang thought for a moment and asked, "Does your family know the couple who came to ask your parents for compensation? Where are they from? What's their family situation like? Besides their daughter, do they have anyone else?"
"My family doesn't know them," Fang Xiaoyan shook her head. "My parents told me that the couple were from Linwen County and worked in a factory. They have a son and a daughter. The son is married, and the daughter just started Linwen High School this year and happens to be in the same class as my brother."
"So, did your brother date that girl..."
Cheng Maixiang originally wanted to ask her brother whether he had really had sex with that girl, but when she thought about Fang Xiaoyan, who was just an inexperienced child, it would be inappropriate to ask her in front of her, so she changed the subject.
"Have you seen the man who came to ask for marriage? What's his family situation like? Why would he spend so much money and come to Linwen to find a wife?"
"I haven't met him, and he hasn't come in person either. I heard that his relatives came to help him propose marriage. His family is doing well. His father has passed away, and he and his mother are the only ones left at home. His relatives said that he is 21 years old this year and has a very high ambition. None of the local girls are interested in him. His mother had no choice but to ask someone to look for him in another place. She was afraid that others would not want to go after hearing about Lingqiu, so she offered such a high bride price."
This sounds reasonable, but upon closer analysis, it is full of loopholes.
Since that person has good conditions and high standards, and he didn't like any of the girls around him, why did he come to Linwen County to find a girl, and agreed without even looking at her, and even prepared such a high betrothal gift? Could it be that he just wanted to find a girl from Linwen County, regardless of whether he likes her or not, as long as she is of the same age and not married?
What kind of logic is this?
If it was just a guess before, then Fang Xiaoyan's words made her even more certain that the whole thing was a trap set up by someone else, targeting the Fang family.
"What's the name of the man seeking marriage, and where does he live in Lingqiu?"
"I heard his name is Peng Wenshen, and he's from Jinguang Commune in Lingqiu County. I don't know exactly which village he lives in." Fang Xiaoyan's face showed disgust. It seemed that she was really opposed to this marriage.
Jinguang Commune? What a coincidence! It's the place where Wu Jiahong got married!
Cheng Maixiang immediately had an idea and said to Fang Xiaoyan with a smile, "Xiaoyan, don't panic. Come with me to eat first. After lunch, I'll ask my partner to find out more about Peng Wenshen's situation for you."
"Sister Maizi, I don't want to know about his situation. I just don't want to get married, and I don't want to be sold by my parents." Fang Xiaoyan gritted her teeth, as if she had made a great decision, and then she said, "Sister Maizi, please take me back to the provincial capital. If we go there, my parents won't be able to find me, and they won't be able to sell me even if they want to."
"Xiaoyan, listen to me. No matter what happens, running away won't solve the problem. Unless you are determined to sever ties with your parents and never have any contact with them again in your life, then you can just leave."
As Cheng Maixiang spoke, she saw an indecisive look on Fang Xiaoyan's face. It was obvious that she had no intention of severing ties with her parents. She just wanted to simply escape. As long as she could escape to a place where her parents couldn't find her, she would be able to rest easy.
"Yes, of course you can just leave and come back after the storm has passed. But have you ever thought about whether your parents will hate you for leaving without saying goodbye when the family is in trouble? If they knew it was me who took you away, and they can't find me, will they come to the garment factory to cause trouble?"
Fang Xiaoyan was a very simple girl. She was so panicked when she encountered such a thing that she lost her mind. When she heard that it would bring trouble to the garment factory, she hurriedly shook her head.
"Sister Maizi, you and Aunt Cheng have been so kind to me, I will never cause you any trouble." Fang Xiaoyan's eyes, originally full of expectation, suddenly dimmed. "Sister Maizi, if it really doesn't work out, I'll just marry that guy. My parents raised me, I can't just stand by and watch them get into trouble."
Cheng Maixiang was both angry and amused.
How could she interpret my disapproval of her secret escape as there being no way to save her? What kind of train of thought is this?
"Come on, it's noon, let's go eat first. Even if the sky falls, we need to fill our stomachs to have the strength to deal with it."
Cheng Maixiang took the listless Fang Xiaoyan and inspected the factory building before walking out of the garment factory.
The restaurant was on the north side of the town, not far from the garment factory. It took the two of them about five minutes to walk there.
Cheng's mother and Lin Jiayu were chatting when they saw Cheng Maixiang and Fang Xiaoyan walk in. Lin Jiayu hurried to the window and brought the dishes to the table.
Fang Xiaoyan seemed to have completely lost confidence in the future. She ate the food as soon as it came, as if she was venting all her resentment on the food.
Cheng's mother looked at her in astonishment, not understanding what the two of them had said in the office to make such a good little girl feel as if the end of the world was coming and she would have nothing to eat if she didn't eat more.
Cheng Maixiang shook her head at Cheng's mother, telling her not to ask more questions, and then whispered a few words in Lin Jiayu's ear. Lin Jiayu looked at Fang Xiaoyan in surprise and nodded.
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