Chu Yu never expected to see a real-life version of the long and short fortune slips. Don't blame her for being a conspiracy theorist; these days, the phenomenon of favoring sons over daughters is widespread. Many people believe that sons are the future of the family and should be sent to school, while daughters should drop out of school to support the family and earn dowry money for their younger brothers.
Chu Yu frowned. "Aunt Songhua, I remember that Qiaohong's grades are much better than her brother's. Even if someone has to drop out of school, it should be her brother, not Qiaohong."
Qiaohong, who had been keeping her head down, finally looked up at her.
Aunt Songhua sighed, "Qiaohong is better at school than her brother, but even her brother's teacher said that he can at least get into a junior college with guaranteed job placement. My husband died young, so I can't just ask her brother to give up his studies to support her education, can I? No matter how well a girl studies, she still has to get married. It's different for her brother. If he does well in the future, I can also have a few good days. In the end, it's just that Qiaohong is unlucky and drew a long lot."
That's an incredibly biased and unreliable statement.
Before Chu Yu could speak, Shen Jun couldn't stand it anymore. "Little sister, I'm telling you, daughters are much more filial than sons. When sons find wives, how can they have a place for their mothers? Daughters are different. After daughters get married, they will understand their mothers' hardships and be even more filial. If I were you, I would either have both children drop out of school or both children go to school. I wouldn't favor one over the other. Otherwise, when the children grow up, they will definitely resent you."
Aunt Songhua shuddered at the look in Qiaohong's eyes. She was afraid her daughter would complain and find out that she had tampered with the two slips of paper, making them both longer.
But she had no choice. Her son could also get into a junior college. No matter how good her daughter was, she had to prioritize her son, since only a son could carry on the family line.
“Young lady, it’s easy for you to talk when you’re not in my shoes. If I could support two people, I definitely could. But I don’t have that ability. I can’t afford to send my daughter to school. I can only find her a good job so she can earn more money and help me support her brother and send him to university.”
Chu Yu was inexplicably a little angry.
These families had daughters so that they could raise sons.
"She didn't even graduate high school, what kind of job can she find?" Chu Yu said, suppressing her anger. "I know a foundation that has been helping girls who can't afford to go to school. Why don't we register Qiaohong and have the foundation pay for her education? What do you think?"
Aunt Songhua's eyes darted around. "Then why not let my son register?"
Chu Yu choked for a moment, "Can't you afford to support him?"
“I can afford to support him, but I don’t have an easy life either. His father died young, and we don’t even have a house. If a foundation could provide funding, I could let my son ascend the throne, and my daughter could go out to work and earn money. That way, my son’s education wouldn’t cost money, and my daughter could send money back every month. In a few years, my family would be able to build a tiled house!”
Chu Yu was furious. This kind of person was both stupid and wicked, and he wished he could skin his daughter alive and suck her blood.
“Aunt Songhua, that’s not right of you. They’re all your children, how can you be so biased? Qiaohong is not even eighteen yet, she hasn’t graduated from high school, even if she goes out to find a job, she won’t earn much money. It would be better to let her go to university, after she finishes university she can earn more money to support the family.” Chu Yu advised her.
Aunt Songhua disagreed. She had her own theory that her daughter would become unruly if she studied too much.
If my daughter marries far away, how will she benefit from it?
It would be better to keep the daughter by our side, let her study less, marry her off to a wealthy family, give her a large dowry, let the family build a house, and earn money for her brother's education and marriage. That's the right way!
Aunt Songhua smiled strangely, "What's the use of going to university? If girls study too much, they'll become wild and hard to manage. I don't want my daughter to study so much. I came here this time to ask your second uncle to introduce Qiaohong to a job. As long as she can support herself and earn some money to help support the family, that's enough."
Chu Yu was furious. She pulled Qiao Hong aside and asked in a low voice, "You really don't want to study anymore?"
“I want to study,” Qiaohong glanced at her, “but my mother won’t let me study. You heard it too. Even if there’s a foundation to help us, my mother would prefer my brother to be sponsored, not me. She wants me to earn money and send it home so that the family can have a better life.”
Deng Fangping's voice came from outside the door: "Or, should I give Qiaohong some money? She still needs to continue her studies..."
Aunt Songhua was not happy. "Give me money? You don't have to pay back the money you borrowed? Fine, I just came here to ask for a job. You don't need to worry about anything else."
Chu Yu asked Qiao Hong, "What are you thinking?"
Qiaohong was incredibly envious of Chuyu. She envied Chuyu for being good at studying, getting into a good university, having seen the world, and having an unapproachable air about her.
Qiaohong also wanted to be a shining person like Chuyu, but she was plain and dull, with no shining points.
"Sister Chu Yu, I heard you own a clothing store in Beijing, and you even have... designers in your store? Can I become your apprentice? I want to be a designer and design clothes for girls."
"Qiaohong, being a designer isn't easy. If you want to design beautiful clothes, you need to have a certain aesthetic sense, and cultivating an aesthetic sense is a long-term process; it can't be developed in just one or two years. You'd better think it through. Studying is the shortcut you should take."
Qiaohong hesitated, "But my mother..."
“Girls need to learn to resist. Don’t be too sensible and just do whatever your family says. Studying is your right, why should you give in? Aunt Songhua values face the most, so go ahead and make a big scene and get the villagers, the school principal and teachers to persuade her… If it still doesn’t work after going that far, at least you tried.”
Chu Yu then told her about the foundation, saying, "If you want to continue your studies, I can sponsor you."
Qiaohong's eyes widened suddenly. "You really can sponsor me? But I'm not sure I'll have the money to pay you back."
"You don't need to pay me back, you don't even need to thank me, but I hope you can promise me that if you meet a girl who needs help like you in the future, you must lend her a helping hand."
Qiaohong nodded solemnly.
The days leading up to the Lunar New Year were spent visiting relatives and friends. Chu Yu was constantly on the go, going from one house to another. Each time, people would bring her a lot of treats, and she gained a lot of weight.
On the morning of the third day of the Lunar New Year, Chu Yu was still asleep when she suddenly heard a commotion at the door.
"This must be the Shu family home, right? Does Shu Hui live here?"
The voice sounded familiar. Chu Yu came out wearing a cotton-padded coat and bumped into Shen Jun, who was peeking out.
"Mom, who's here?"
"I don't know, a middle-aged woman with a young man, they look like they're here to argue!" Shen Jun wanted to go out and take a look, but when she noticed that Chu Yu was dressed in thin clothes, she tightened her clothes. "Don't get cold, go inside quickly and put on some clothes before you come out."
Chu Yu went back to change into a down jacket. Just as she reached the door, she heard a woman's voice:
"So you're Shu Hui? You're the one who instigated Luo Bin's father to disown his own son! You're a divorced woman, why aren't you staying home and keeping to yourself? What kind of woman are you, always trying to seduce other men? Have you no shame?!"
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