Chapter 57 Finding a Good Husband
The Zhang sisters won a resounding victory in this battle, and no one cared about Lin Dahai's feelings at that moment.
When the two sisters returned home, Zhang Cui was holding a piece of yarn she had bought from the department store.
The yarn is purplish-pink, just enough to crochet a sweater.
"Sister, you have a lot of family members, and you don't have enough clothes, whether they are new or old. Don't waste them on Lu Bai. Don't worry about her clothes, I'll arrange them for her."
Zhang Lan put down her teacup. "No, that won't do. She's gone this time, and we don't know when she'll be back. You crochet a sweater for her, and I'll take the long johns. Winters there are much colder than here. I'll take apart an old pair and make her a thick pair of cotton trousers before she leaves. Anyway, she'll wear them underneath, so it doesn't matter if they're ugly or not."
The two sisters chatted for a while longer, then Song Lubai rode her bicycle to the county town with her aunt Zhang Lan.
The county town is close to the village where her father's grave is located. She can leave from the county town early tomorrow morning to avoid being in a rush and running out of time.
The bruises on Song Lubai's face wouldn't fade for seven or eight days, and people would stare at her a few times when she walked down the street, but she didn't care and didn't feel ashamed.
Vast fields of wheat have begun to turn from green to yellow and will be ready for harvest in about two weeks.
The group set off before dawn, riding their bicycles on the uneven dirt road, and finally arrived at the village where the Song family lived just before the sun was fully up.
In this village, most people share the surname Song, with only a few having different surnames.
At this moment, smoke is rising from every household's chimney, and in the distance, the villagers are busy digging irrigation ditches in the fields at the west end of the village.
“The village is different from the city. They don’t eat breakfast in the morning. They have to gather in the fields to work for a while. They go home to eat when the sun comes out, and then gather in the fields again to work until noon. This way, they can make the most of the cool morning hours to work. Let’s find a place to wait until everyone goes home to eat before we go to the fields.”
Listening to her cousin Chang Zhong's words, Song Lubai felt that life in the village was really hard. If it were her, she would either be exhausted to death from the heavy farm work or be baked to death by the sun.
Chang Zhong was more than a decade older than Song Lubai, and he looked honest and kind.
Song Lubai often heard her aunt say that Chang Zhong was not like her; he was simple-minded and honest like her uncle, and he also had a kind of cowardly streak.
Chang Zhong was right. The three of them squatted behind the bushes for less than twenty minutes before the main group of villagers who were working in the village all came back.
Every household began eating breakfast, and the four of them started looking for the grave of Song Lubai's great-grandfather.
The villagers' graves are not in the same area; each family's old graves are in a place chosen by themselves.
Each grave was covered with grass, and there were no tombstones on the graves to identify who was buried there.
Among the old graves of the Song family, the group spotted the only grave with a tombstone, hidden among the weeds. This was one of the few graves in the village with a tombstone.
Because Song Lubai's father was a hero and martyr.
The foxtail grass on the grave swayed in the breeze, as if sensing that someone had come and greeting them kindly.
Song Lubai took out a white steamed bun from the cloth bag, opened the oil paper and placed it in front of the grave, along with a piece of steamed meat.
The meat strips were prepared by Zhang Lan; she would have to take them back after the worship ceremony.
There's no way around it. These days, not every household is well-off. A few years ago, there was a famine, so we can't afford to waste food like this.
After kowtowing, Song Lubai began burning paper money, explaining that she was about to leave on a long trip and that she was capable of taking care of herself, putting her father at ease.
Strangely enough, when Lin Dahai hit her, she missed her biological father, whom she had never met, terribly and felt extremely wronged. Although she had no memory of him, she just wanted to see this father she had never met. She felt that her biological father would never hit her.
But as she knelt down, she felt that there was no need to express the many grievances in her heart, because those emotions inexplicably disappeared.
"Dad, I'm leaving now. I'll come back to see you later."
The group extinguished the sparks and returned to where they had hidden the bicycles.
The bicycle was hidden in the grass, and Chang Guangtao was guarding it.
Everything was going smoothly until they passed by a donkey cart while riding bicycles on a country road.
Although Song Lubai's face was covered in bruises, it didn't stop the old woman on the donkey cart from recognizing her at a glance.
"Stop the car! Everyone in front, stop the car!"
Seeing the bicycle going faster and faster, the old woman roared, "Song Lubai, you heartless brat, stop right now!"
The heartless Song Lubai continued to pretend she hadn't heard. She regretted it, regretted that she had just ridden to the donkey cart and made eye contact with the person on it.
She pedaled incredibly fast, and then karma struck: the wheels ran over a large rock, the bike became unstable, and it crashed, pulling Chang Guangtao, who was sitting behind her, down with it.
With four people on two bikes, this stretch of road was particularly difficult to travel. Sitting in the back seat was not a pleasant experience; it was much more bumpy and uncomfortable than riding a bicycle in front. Naturally, Song Lubai insisted on riding the bicycle.
The donkey cart soon arrived, and Chang Zhong and the others stopped, staring intently at the old woman with bound feet.
The old lady with bound feet couldn't walk fast, and she needed help getting off the donkey cart. When she finally reached it, Song Lubai was already standing up and straightening the handlebars.
"Grandma, are we going to the market?"
Song Lubai, with a face covered in graffiti, greeted her grandmother.
The old woman glared at her triangular eyes, which were surrounded by wrinkles, and said, "Why did you run away when you saw me? Don't you want to see me that much?"
Song Lubai lied through her teeth: "How could that be? Look at my face, it's been slapped. How could I dare to come down and talk to you?"
The old woman believed her immediately. She squinted, excitement in her eyes: "Who hit him? Your stepfather?"
Without needing a response from Song Lubai, the old woman with bound feet continued, "I told you back then not to let your mother marry him, and now look what's happened, she married a wife-beater and has suffered a lot."
"Oh dear, if your mother had stayed by your side, how could she have been beaten by other men? It's true that having a stepfather means having a stepmother, isn't it?"
The gloating in her tone annoyed Song Lubai.
Song Lubai nodded seriously: "Who can compare to my own father? Of course, my own father is the best!"
The old lady's eyes showed satisfaction. Seeing her satisfaction, Song Lubai deliberately said, "I signed up to go to XJ to support the border region. I came to tell my dad today. Grandma, could you give me some money for the trip? You love me so much, you can definitely give me some, right?"
The old woman with bound feet exclaimed in disbelief, "I haven't even received your filial piety, and you still want to ask me for money? You've really done something terrible!"
Song Lubai knew her grandmother wouldn't give her a single penny. "If you're not going to give me any money, then I'll be leaving now. I don't know when we'll meet again. I hope you live a long and healthy life."
The old woman grabbed her sleeve. "What? 'Supporting the border regions'? What's that? XJ? What are you going there for?"
After Song Lubai explained it to the old lady, she finally understood: what's the difference between going to such a far place and immigrating?
"No, I don't agree. Desheng only has you as his daughter. How can you go out? Once you go, you won't be able to come back. I've already found you a husband. Today I'm going to the city to talk to you about it."
The person supporting the old lady was Song Lubai's aunt from her father's side. She chimed in, "Yes, your grandma has already found you a husband. You'll be able to enjoy a life of luxury at home without having to do anything."
The old lady pulled Song Lubai, saying, "You can't leave. You have to come back with me. I've already found you a husband. You can stay with us from now on, and no one will dare to hit you."
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