After paying the compensation, Yan Jiecheng burst into tears at home. His situation had been quite good before, but within a few months, he had become like this.
Yan Jiecheng didn't know exactly what went wrong. It seemed like bad luck had never left him. And the culprit behind all this was his own father.
If he had taken her to a major hospital when she fell as a child, she wouldn't be infertile. If he hadn't been so petty, the Yan family wouldn't be so disliked. This time, he even stole Weihua's bicycle, causing her to be disciplined.
Yan Jiecheng never considered whether the problem lay with him. If he hadn't been mischievous as a child, how could he have fallen from the tree? If he hadn't tried to scheme against others, how could he have been beaten by Wei Hua and locked up in the police station? Besides, in those days, it was already a miracle if they could even raise him; how many people would be willing to send their children to the hospital? Getting medical care back then was incredibly difficult. Being able to take him to a regular traditional Chinese medicine doctor was already considered good.
Yan Jiecheng knew perfectly well that his family was in the wrong, yet he still came to cause trouble for Wei Hua; he deserved it.
After crying, Yan Jiecheng had no choice but to face reality. Seeing the impoverished state of the Yan family, he had no choice but to obediently go out and earn money. He knew that he could only rely on his two younger brothers for the rest of his life.
Given his current situation, leaving the Yan family wouldn't make a difference. He'd never find a wife, and even if he did, they wouldn't be able to have children.
Without children of his own, it doesn't matter whether he leaves or not. Now, Yan Jiecheng is placing all his hopes on his two younger brothers. He can only wait until they have children and then adopt one from them.
Otherwise, he would only end up as a lonely old man, exploited and left without descendants. Otherwise, given Yan Jiecheng's character, he would have left the Yan family long ago. The main reason Yan Jiecheng returned was because of the issue of having offspring.
Yan Bugui, due to family problems, returned to the courtyard house after a few days in the hospital. Thinking about how he had made such a mess of the house again, Yan Bugui lay in bed and cried.
What made Yan Bugui even more desperate was that the school actually dismissed him. Whether it's stealing or robbery, it's a serious moral issue. A school cannot possibly have a morally corrupt person teaching students. If it weren't for the fact that both of Yan Bugui's legs had already been amputated, the police station and the school wouldn't have handled the matter so simply. Yan Bugui's situation definitely warrants a prison sentence, but how can someone with two disabled legs serve their sentence?
The status of workers in that era was indeed very high. But that was assuming the workers didn't make any mistakes. Once they did make a mistake, the punishment was quite severe.
Yan Bugui never expected that Wei Hua's family would actually go to the neighborhood committee. He also never expected that he would get into trouble, and even less did he expect that the police station would report it to the school.
Thinking about how he had ended up like this because of the bicycle, Yan Bugui felt deep regret. But he hated Wei Hua's family even more for their heartlessness. What was a mere bicycle to Wei Hua's family? It was only a month and a half's salary.
No one else cared about the Yan family's thoughts; everyone went to work or stayed home to rest during pregnancy.
The Yan family's affair, aside from providing a topic of conversation, did not have any impact on the courtyard house.
Fortunately, supplies are slowly recovering. If the previous rations had continued, the Yan family might still have gone hungry.
Not only the Yan family breathed a sigh of relief, but the Jia family did too. With the rationing system in place, even if they didn't earn much money, they wouldn't go hungry.
Otherwise, Qin Huairu was truly worried that her family wouldn't be able to make ends meet. Since losing her job, her family's living conditions had been getting worse and worse, and her health hadn't improved yet.
Thinking about her family's situation, Qin Huairu didn't know what to do. If it weren't for the subsidies from the steel mill, her family would probably have been starving long ago.
But the subsidies from just two children weren't enough to make ends meet. This led Qin Huairu to turn her attention to her cousin.
"Jingru, do you want to find a job in the city? If you want to find a job in the city, you have to marry a city person. Once you have a city household registration, it will be much easier to find a job."
Upon hearing her cousin's words, Qin Jingru simply smiled dismissively.
"Cousin, you're not going to tell me you can help me find a job, are you? You yourself came from the countryside and married into this family. Don't you know that city men don't want to marry country girls like us?"
“I already asked. Nowadays, children all follow their mothers. No worker would want to marry a country girl because the ration for their children will follow the mother. They won’t have a ration in the future either.”
"It's unrealistic to think you can change your situation by getting married. You have to be strong yourself. If you want to marry into a good family, you'd be better off finding a job first. With a job, you'll become a city dweller, which will give you a stable income, and your children's situation will improve as well."
"As for the job, you don't need to worry about it. I already asked Yang Tao to inquire a few days ago. Wei Hua promised to reserve an apprenticeship for me if the steel rolling mill recruits on a large scale. Once I have a job, I will become a city resident, and then I will be able to support myself."
"Even Brother He promised me that if there are any openings in the cafeteria, he would recommend me first. You should think about your own family's problems!"
Hearing Qin Jingru's words, Qin Huairu was completely stunned. Qin Huairu never expected that her cousin would become so smart.
Not only did she speak logically and with evidence, but she also seemed to have thought everything through. This gave Qin Huairu a glimmer of hope. Once her cousin had a job, her family's situation would improve. The only problem now was how to get her cousin to help support the family.
Qin Huairu even considered having Qin Jingru pay her medical bills. She hadn't taken her medication for a month or two. If she didn't take her cancer drugs for a long time, her cancer might spread.
If she died, she feared her three children would be left without anyone to care for them. For the sake of her three children and herself, Qin Huairu was plotting against her cousin again.
If I didn't have any dirt on her, she probably wouldn't have raised my child for me, nor would she have paid for my medical treatment.
Now, she had to tie her to the Jia family no matter what, and make her support the family. But after thinking for a long time, Qin Huairu couldn't come up with any way.
Qin Huairu could only hope that Qin Jingru would show some familial affection and provide some financial assistance to her family. Otherwise, Qin Huairu truly didn't know how she would survive.
In order to get Qin Jingru to support the family, Qin Huairu decided to try appealing to Qin Jingru's emotions first. So she quickly climbed to Qin Jingru's side and helped her with some handicrafts.
Unfortunately, Qin Huairu's actions came a little too late. If she had been slightly more enthusiastic when Qin Jingru first entered the courtyard, perhaps Qin Jingru would have actually offered some financial assistance to her cousin.
Having lived in the courtyard house for four or five months, Qin Jingru had long since seen through her cousin's true colors.
"Cousin, you should stay in bed! If you get hurt anywhere, I can't afford to pay for it. I only earn a dollar or two a month after working hard. Don't make things worse for me here."
“Your family is in such a state, you should rest more. Your child can’t live without you. Get well soon so you can go out and earn money sooner. Then we won’t have to work so hard.”
Hearing her cousin's words, Qin Huairu was caught in a dilemma, unsure whether to do it or not. Tears slowly welled up in her eyes.
"Jingru, I just want to help you a little. I know you're having a hard time, so I just want to help you."
"Cousin, what kind of person are you? Others may not know, but do you think I don't know? You just want me to support your family."
"But sometimes you have to consider other people's feelings. You know my situation. Do you think a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl like me can support your family?"
"I'm just someone you hired to help you take care of your child. So I don't want to get involved in your family's affairs. Right now, I just want to make money. Now that we're sisters, please don't scheme against me."
Upon hearing Qin Jingru's words, Qin Huairu froze. Whether out of sisterly affection or because Qin Jingru offered no benefit whatsoever, Qin Huairu made no further move. Instead, she sat on the bed, watching Qin Jingru do her handicrafts.
Based on Qin Jingru's understanding of her cousin, she knew that her cousin was plotting against her again.
To avoid being schemed against by her cousin, Qin Jingru carried a pile of things and left the Jia family home, heading straight to the front yard.
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