Chapter 3
When Ye Manzhi heard that Zhou Mu's cousin worked in the physical examination department of the Municipal Hospital and that she was the one who had handled the replacement of the physical examination report, she understood everything in an instant.
The Zhou family was not happy with her.
To be more precise, he is not satisfied with her now.
This marriage was arranged by Ye Manzhi's grandfather and Zhou Mu's father eighteen years ago.
At that time, her grandfather was the deputy director of the only large sausage factory in the province run by the Soviets, while Zhou Mu's father was just the repair team leader of an auto repair workshop.
Zhou Mu was really marrying above his station by being engaged to her.
Therefore, when they were young, the elders of the Zhou family were particularly kind to her and always told Zhou Mu to give in to her in everything.
However, after liberation, foreign investors withdrew their capital one after another, and my grandfather's situation became worse and worse, while Uncle Zhou's situation continued to rise.
As the status of the two families changed, Ye Manzhi gradually felt the change in the attitude of the Zhou family elders towards her.
The most obvious one was when Zhou Mu's mother advised her not to go to the amateur traditional Chinese music concert rehearsals all the time, claiming that playing the pipa and singing music were low-class and not suitable for a family like theirs.
Ye Manzhi's grandmother was a Pingtan artist in the old society, and the Ye sisters learned to play the pipa from her since childhood.
Aunt Liu knew all this when the two families got engaged.
Ye Manzhi's eyes were sore, but her self-esteem and pride would not allow her to cry at this moment.
She clenched her cold palms, calmed herself down, and asked, "If I don't ask, are you going to keep it a secret from me?"
"no……"
Zhou Mu slapped his head in frustration.
He was also shocked when he first discovered this.
The country invests a lot in training an international student. If a student interrupts his or her studies due to health reasons, the loss is national property.
But after struggling for a long time, he chose to remain silent.
Privately, he didn't want to go to the Soviet Union with Ye Manzhi.
Ye Manzhi has many advantages, she is beautiful, dexterous and passionate.
However, since they have known each other since childhood, these are the qualities that are most easily overlooked. After spending time together, each other's shortcomings will be infinitely magnified.
In his eyes, Ye Manzhi is arrogant and domineering, wantonly arrogant, and loves beauty and is greedy.
They bullied him when he was young, and when he grew up, they ordered him around, meddling in his affairs, and giving him orders.
Even the idea of studying in the Soviet Union together was decided by her!
Zhou Mu thought it would be a good opportunity to separate from her for five years.
Ye Manzhi is always full of vitality and radiance, and he wants to walk out of the place shrouded by the other's radiance.
Of course, no matter how good the reason is, it is still embarrassing when the truth is revealed.
He touched his nose and promised, "Don't worry about what my parents think. When I come back from the Soviet Union, I will definitely marry you!"
Ye Manzhi could no longer control his temper due to extreme anger and humiliation. He lifted up the black bread weighing four kilograms and smashed it on the other person's forehead.
"Zhou Mu, are you mentally ill?"
*
The news of Ye Manzhi and Zhou Mu's breakup could not be hidden from the Ye family.
That night, Chang Yue'e secretly inquired about the situation.
"I just saw Zhou Mu waiting for you downstairs. I asked him to come upstairs and sit for a while, but he didn't dare to come up. Did you two have a fight?"
"It's not that he doesn't dare come up, he's just afraid that I'll expose his family's scandals!"
Ye Manzhi was not the type to suffer a loss, so without waiting for his family to ask, he took the initiative to explain the whole story.
There was a nasal sound when she spoke, and tears were in her swollen eyes. Chang Yue'e knew at a glance that her daughter had suffered a great loss and been wronged this time.
She smoothed her daughter's messy hair and asked, "If Xu Yingxue is dismissed, will you be allowed to go to the Soviet Union?"
"No way. I only took the school's preliminary exam, not the provincial one."
Chang Yue'e nodded seriously and scolded the two families harshly.
This girl in her family is particularly good at making clothes, playing the piano, singing songs, and anything related to vanity.
As for academic performance, it’s just so-so.
I have studied for ten years and never ranked among the top three in the exam!
Even if she passed the physical examination and went to the provincial exam, she might not be able to pass.
The Zhou family went to the trouble of tampering with the physical examination process, most likely because they had already set their sights on Xu Yingxue, the daughter of the deputy chief engineer, and wanted to take the opportunity to allow the two young people to develop a relationship while studying abroad.
"Laiya, don't worry about what happens next. When your dad comes back from the Second Factory, I'll make sure he gets justice for you!"
"Yeah, call Lai Mao back when the time comes."
Lai Mao was the nickname of her fifth brother, named because he had sparse hair when he was a child.
Ye Manzhi's nickname was Lai Ya, and because he had no teeth, he was named after his fifth brother.
The brother and sister are of the same kind, neither of them is nobler than the other.
"Don't cry, I'll open a can of peaches for you later."
Canned peaches are the Ye family’s premium meal for sick children. If a child is sick or wronged, eating some canned peaches will make him almost whole again.
Ye Manzhi agreed while holding the can, but Old Ye would be away on a business trip for half a month before coming back. How could she wait that long with such a cowardly attitude!
So, that night she sat down at her desk, sobbing and writing a detailed letter of complaint to the Provincial Department of Education, using all her life's knowledge.
Signed and signed, branches full of leaves.
I am willing to sacrifice my life to bring down the emperor!
She would not do anything sneaky, she would report it with her real name!
How important is it to select talents for the country? Once the act of falsifying physical examinations is verified, it will be severely punished to serve as a warning to others!
Although her words were powerful, it was her first time to do such a big thing, so she couldn't help but feel worried after sending the letter.
Today she suspects that the address she filled in is wrong, tomorrow she worries that the letter was lost, and the day after tomorrow she is afraid that the Education Department will not take her report seriously.
I waited anxiously for half a month, and the days felt like years, but I still didn't receive any reply.
Just when she was wondering whether she needed to write another letter of complaint, someone from the Provincial Department of Education suddenly showed up without a word!
Xu Yingxue's face was pale and she was taken to the provincial hospital by two staff members for a second physical examination.
Given her physical condition, she naturally could not pass such a strict examination.
Zhou Mu's cousin who worked in the physical examination department was suspended from work to cooperate with the investigation.
Xu Yingxue's qualification for public scholarship to the Soviet Union was soon revoked.
Surprisingly, her high school diploma was also revoked!
At this time, the school system from primary school to middle school is a "ten-year system", and the second year of high school is the last year of school for this class of graduates.
On the day of taking graduation photos, Ye Manzhi happily stood on the bench, ready to take a group photo.
When he turned around to talk to Lin Qingmei, he unexpectedly caught a glimpse of Xu Yingxue, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.
The other party was standing in the team of the next class. He looked lonely, tired, and was looking at this side with resentment.
Ye Manyi was frightened by that look, but quickly glared back without losing face.
What are you looking at!
Lin Qingmei whispered, "I heard from the students in Class B that Principal Guo only gave her a certificate of incompleteness. She's the only one in our class who didn't get a diploma. She must be pissed!"
Upon hearing this, Ye Manzhi hummed in relief, and the smile on her face in the graduation photo was three times brighter than anyone else's.
After taking the photo, Ye Manzhi jumped off the bench and was about to discuss going boating on the river with her friends when someone suddenly grabbed her wrist.
Zhou Mu's angry voice exploded in his ears, "Ye Manzhi, what do you mean? Do you really want to break off the engagement with me?"
"Yes," Ye Manzhi broke free from the grip, "Didn't my grandfather and father already go to your house?"
A friendship of more than ten years cannot be let go just like that, but what the Zhou family did has touched her bottom line.
Although the physical examination was undertaken solely by Zhou Mu's cousin, everyone had their own opinion on what the truth was.
She was only eighteen years old and had not yet learned to live with a mask, and could not live with such a family wholeheartedly.
What's more, the arm cannot twist the thigh.
As the deputy director of a factory with 15,000 employees, the power in Zhou Mu's father's hands cannot be underestimated.
You can say she is a bully or she is just assessing the situation, but her father and brother still have to work in the factory, and they can't let the whole family be implicated because of her.
So, just do as the other party wishes and cancel the engagement!
Zhou Mu didn't expect this result.
They were engaged as soon as they were born, and even though they wanted to break up every time they argued, they never thought that this day would actually come...
Seeing her resolute attitude and cold expression, Zhou Mu felt embarrassed and uneasy. He blurted out, "Your father is just a foreman. After you break off the engagement with me, who else can you marry? Can you find someone better than me? With your bad temper, can you stand all the rumors in the compound?"
Ye Manzhi was originally feeling a little sad, but upon hearing this, her face turned cold and she said, "Don't bother with that! After all, I'm still beautiful. Next time, I'll have to find someone who can protect me when things get tough! Just for that reason alone, anyone can be better than you!"
Zhou Mu did everything without considering her feelings at all. Doesn't that mean he believed that she had no choice but him?
"Alright, alright!" Zhou Mu ignored the whispers of his classmates and angrily threatened, "You want to break off the engagement with me, right? Fine! Then forget about working at the factory union!"
"If you don't want to, then don't!"
She is determined to cancel the marriage without trying to save face!
Her attitude towards work has always been casual.
Zhou Mu wanted to control her through work, but he was really looking in the wrong direction!
Ye Manzhi snorted disdainfully, walked away with his tail raised and a haughty look on his face.
＊
When his classmates went to report to their new units one after another, Ye Manzhi was not in a hurry to contact the units and stayed at home most of the time.
Her house has two bedrooms and a living room, which is indeed a bit cramped for a family of eleven.
But my two elder sisters got married, and my fifth brother moved out, so the remaining few people can still fit in if they squeeze in.
Her parents lived in a small house with her nephew. A wall was built in the middle of the big house. The east side was given to her third brother and his wife, and the west side was for her use.
The small room is fully equipped with a kang, tables, chairs and a kang cabinet.
She played the piano in the house every day, accompanied Chang Yue'e to buy groceries, occasionally went to the drama troupe to watch her eldest sister's performance, and took time to visit her pregnant second sister.
She either works from sunrise to sunset, or eats and sleeps all day long. She really thinks it's nice not to have to go to work, and she can live like this for the rest of her life!
Until she saw the golden words on her sister-in-law's forehead again and again -
[Why hasn't Ye Manzhi found a class yet? Considering how greedy and lazy she is, is she planning to stay home forever?]
"Then it would be better to marry into the Zhou family. At least she can still work for a few years. After having children, she can gradually become like Ye Lao Si, who lives off his parents and stirs up trouble out of nothing..."
Ye Manzhi: “…”
I hurriedly took a bite of the Changbai cake to calm myself down.
After a period of adaptation, she has gradually accepted her third sister-in-law's uniqueness.
She had heard many strange stories as a child, and had even had her spirit summoned by a spirit-soothing fairy. Judging from her rich yet shallow experience with superstition, she was most likely possessed by a spirit like Wong Tai Sin or a fox spirit.
However, the other party always said that she was a troublemaker, and criticized her for being greedy, lazy, and stirring up trouble. Ye Manzhi still had a lot of opinions about this!
…
Well, recently, because of her, things at home have been a bit restless.
She canceled the marriage proposal from the deputy factory director's family and had no job. Many people laughed at her family behind her back, and some of them were so tactless that they even asked about it in front of the Ye family, making people unhappy for no reason.
She also discovered that after her third sister-in-law changed jobs, she seemed to be doing some creative work, and the environment at home was indeed not conducive to her writing.
Thinking that her third brother might get divorced three times because of her, Ye Manzhi really gave up all thoughts of being stubborn.
After finishing the last piece of Changbai cake in the iron box, she patted the white frosting on her hands. She felt a rare sense of ambition and decided to find a class as soon as possible!
One person's power is limited, so Ye Manzhi immediately mobilized her whole family to help her keep an eye out for job recruitment information.
I also made a special trip to my eldest brother-in-law's workplace to ask him for help.
However, most companies organize recruitment examinations before students graduate from high school.
There were a few employers, but they were either too far away from home or only recruited men. She was busy for more than a month, but still got no results.
"My dear relatives, my nephew is really amazing. He is the only son in the family, and the entire family business will belong to him in the future!"
Ye Manzhi had just returned from outside when she heard Aunt Xu's slightly exaggerated boasting.
Ever since she was entrusted with the tailor shop license, Aunt Xu had unilaterally severed ties with the Ye family for several months. Yet, now she was sitting in her living room, spitting and spitting. I wonder what she was talking about...
Chang Yue'e didn't hear the door open, and coldly interrupted Aunt Xu who was talking nonstop, "We don't plan to let our child get married too early, so don't mention this matter anymore."
"Eighteen is not too early! If you miss this opportunity, you may not be able to find a family with such good conditions in the future!" Aunt Xu looked arrogant, and her words were full of contempt.
Chang Yue'e declined again with a clear attitude.
She had seen Aunt Xu's nephew, a junior high school graduate with a pointed face and five older sisters.
She was not satisfied with any one of the above points alone, let alone the fact that the other party had all three.
But the fourth daughter-in-law held her back and whispered, "Mom, it's well-intentioned of the in-laws to help with matchmaking. Why don't we listen to her for details? My younger sister will get married sooner or later, and having one more candidate will give her another choice!"
At this moment, Shen Liangmei really wants her sister-in-law to get married quickly.
The Ye family's two eldest daughters, Manjin and Manyu, and their sons, Mantang and Mangui, have all started their own families.
Her husband Ye Mangui is the least capable among the four.
With little education and no proper job, the couple have been living in this small living room since the family moved into the apartment.
At night, I put the wooden boards on four chairs to barely make a bed, and then I took them apart during the day to make it easier for others to move around in the living room.
I have to make and take down the bed every day, repeating the same cycle. I can’t even take care of my son by myself. Life is boring.
Originally, her sister-in-law occupied a room all to herself. Although she was jealous, she never said anything. After all, her sister-in-law was going to marry into the deputy factory director's family in the future, and she also hoped that the other party could help Ye Mangui find a decent job.
But I don’t know what’s wrong with this sister-in-law. She insisted on breaking off the engagement with the Zhou family a while ago.
Not only did she ruin a good marriage, but she also lost the good job that she had begged for.
Things have come to this point, and Shen Liangmei doesn't want to endure it anymore. She and her husband have even thought about how to decorate the room, and are just waiting for her sister-in-law to make room for her to get married as soon as possible.
It is actually easier for girls like this who have broken off their engagement to find a husband. It is difficult to find a man with very good conditions, but there are plenty of second-rate men.
For example, Aunt Xu’s nephew in front of us.
When Aunt Xu saw that someone from the Ye family supported her, she immediately regained her confidence, straightened her back, and put on a serious attitude.
"My dear relatives, I know what you're thinking. Your youngest daughter is educated, well-educated, and not bad looking, and you're hell-bent on finding her a man from a wealthy family. If she hadn't been betrothed, it would have been understandable if your family had been more generous. But times have changed! After all, she's a girl whose engagement had been broken off. In the old days, she would have been sent to a nunnery. Now that someone is willing to propose marriage, don't be too picky!"
"You still want to send my daughter to a nunnery?"
Chang Yue'e immediately became furious and picked up the kang broom at hand to chase the man out.
It was the Zhou family who made the mistake, and it was also the Zhou family who was shameless. In the end, Zhou Mu got nothing wrong, but her daughter had to accept the guidance and judgment of outsiders!
The more Chang Yue'e thought about it, the angrier she became. She ignored her daughter-in-law's dissuasion and angrily drove the person out.
As they shoved and pushed their way to the door, they suddenly heard the little girl's clear voice ask, "Auntie, it's a new society now, why are you still thinking about the old society? What was so good about the old society that it makes people think about it so much?"
Aunt Xu staggered as she was pushed, holding onto the doorframe and spat, "Who's missing the old society? Stop distorting my meaning!"
If her nephew hadn't come to ask her to be a matchmaker, she wouldn't have wanted to let such a sharp-tongued girl into the house.
"In that case, you should talk more about what should be said in the new society! You have seen divorced couples, so what am I, a girl whose engagement has been broken off? Otherwise, you wouldn't have come to my house to propose marriage!"
Although Aunt Xu seems unreliable, she actually has some sense. She is here to act as a matchmaker for her nephew, so of course she cannot really anger the other party.
After a few harsh words, he let out the anger that had been accumulating for a long time, and then the situation died down.
"I don't mean to belittle you, but what I said is true, right? My eldest nephew is a very nice man. He has a formal job and doesn't mind that you broke off the engagement and don't have a job. However, I won't talk too much about this with a girl like you. This should be discussed between us adults."
Seeing her confident look, Ye Manzhi's eyes flashed with cunning, and he asked hesitantly, "Auntie, does your Xu Xiaosheng know that you came to my house to act as a matchmaker?"
Aunt Xu looked puzzled. "Why would I tell him this?"
"Why--"
Ye Manzhi raised her hand pretentiously to smooth her hair, then sheepishly twisted her clasped fingers into a knot...
She tried every shy gesture she could think of.
Then he lowered his head and said in a buzzing voice, "A while ago, Xu Xiaosheng said he wanted to date me, but I didn't agree. If he knew you introduced his cousin to me, he would be so sad!"
"..." Aunt Xu glared and said, "How is that possible! This kind of thing is not a joke!"
Ye Manzhi looked embarrassed, and he glanced at her twice with the corner of his eye. He said very shyly: "Hey, this matter... Hey, just take it as a joke."
Aunt Xu: “…”
I was confused by her behavior.
What’s going on?
Although it was outrageous, she really didn't dare to take any chances.
Before, Ye Manzhi was able to go to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau to get the business license for the tailor shop because that traitor Xu Xiaosheng helped him steal the household registration book!
Thinking of this, she completely lost the desire to help her nephew to make connections. She casually said, "Xiaosheng must be joking," and hurried home to find someone to verify it.
After everyone left, Ye Manzhi smiled at the shocked mother-in-law and daughter-in-law and said, "Xu Xiaosheng was just joking. Hehe, I just wanted to make Aunt Xu unhappy!"
Chang Yue'e: "..."
It’s better to keep my daughter away from Xu Xiaosheng in the future.
Xu Dajun and Xu Xiaosheng are brothers!
*
Chang Yue'e behaved normally in front of her daughter, but that night, three large blisters appeared at the corners of her mouth.
Ye Shouxin dipped his finger in some fragrant oil and rubbed it on her lips, saying, "Having Erya is enough. I can't possibly marry another daughter into the Xu family's hell. Don't worry about it."
"Hey, that's not what I'm worried about!" Chang Yue'e said, covering her mouth. "I've been looking for a job in Lai Ya for over a month! I've even been asking around for recruiting companies!"
"That's nothing. She can find a job slowly! She's graduated now, so she doesn't have to pay tuition and can earn money. Anyway, I'm quite content."
"When have you ever seen her so diligent?" Chang Yue'e sighed. "If you ask me, she must be hurt by the Zhou family and is now trying to get on their nerves!"
For girls these days, it is enough to have a primary school or junior high school diploma.
Ye Lai Ya was not a studious child. Getting her to get up early to go to school was more tiring than driving cattle to work.
But this girl was very smart since she was young. After she found out that her father never let her elder sister and third brother who were still in school do any work, she studied all the way from elementary school to junior high school.
After graduating from junior high school, I didn’t want to go to work, so I went on to high school.
As I was about to graduate from high school, I was thinking about studying in the Soviet Union. In fact, part of the reason was that I didn’t want to go to work in a factory so early.
The only thing that could make this lazy girl who is afraid of hard work to strive for progress is that she must have been hit hard by those Zhou family members who looked down on her!
Chang Yue'e listened carefully to the noises in the hanging bunk. After confirming that her grandson had fallen asleep, she whispered, "Xu Dajun's mother isn't popular, but she did give me a heads-up today. It's going to take a while for a job to be found, so why don't we find a partner for our daughter first to distract her!"
"The youngest one just broke off his engagement less than two months ago, and he's not that old, why is he in such a hurry to find a partner?"
"Why not? I heard that the Zhou family is already looking for a partner for Zhou Mu, so why shouldn't our Lai Ya find one too?"
Chang Yue'e heard a lot of rumors about their two families in the compound, and she would start a fight every time she heard one.
As a result, she became the new shrew in the compound. It was really inexplicable!
Ye Shouxin listened to his wife's mumbling, pondered for a long time, and then suddenly sat up from the bed.
"A few days ago, I heard from Old Chen from the Infrastructure Department that the organization wants to introduce a girl to Wu Zhengrong. Why don't we give our daughter a try?"
Chang Yue'e asked doubtfully, "Who is Wu Zhengrong?"
"That's our 656th Division's military representative stationed at the factory! The head of the military representative office!"
Hearing the word "military representative," Chang Yue'e's eyes suddenly lit up, and she asked curiously, "I heard from people in our hospital that the new military representative is a handsome man, even more handsome than Xu Jisheng from the drama troupe. Is that true?"
The military representative was transferred from Beijing last year. Because of rumors about her beauty, she became famous in the factory within less than a week.
Even a housewife like her was intrigued.
Ye Shouxin sighed. "They're all just two eyes and a big mouth. What's the point of having good looks? The most important thing for a man is to have ability and be able to provide for his family! This Captain Wu was specially assigned to our factory by the leaders of the General Logistics Department. The 656th Army representative stationed at the factory can't just rely on good looks to gain a foothold. He needs real ability!"
Unlike many illiterate military officers, Wu Zhengrong was a cultured man who gave up his pen to join the army.
In the past, the military representatives stationed in the factory were only responsible for supervising the production schedule of military supplies and signing the acceptance form.
Today, military representatives can propose modifications to products and improve delivery quality.
In his first month at the factory, he had already found fault with half of the military products, which had strained his relationship with the chief engineer and the deputy technical director. If he hadn't been effective, he would have been ostracized and sent back to Beijing.
Over the past six months, I have observed that Captain Wu is indeed very technically competent. I heard that his grandfather is Dean Wu of the Provincial University of Technology.
After listening to his introduction, the light in Chang Yue'e's eyes gradually dimmed, and she felt that her husband was just daydreaming.
"Because of my marriage to Zhou Mu, people in the compound have been muttering behind my back that I'm trying to climb the social ladder. If I let Lai Ya go on a blind date with the military representative stationed at the factory, that reputation of climbing the social ladder will be solidified!"
Ye Shouxin didn't like to hear such words.
His daughter is talented and beautiful, why doesn't she find someone with better conditions!
"Back then, it was the Zhou family that climbed up the social ladder! Besides, what's wrong with climbing up the social ladder? If Lai Ya finds someone inferior to Zhou Mu in every way, they'll start saying that Lai Ya's partners are always worse than the last!"
The eldest daughter found her boyfriend on her own, and the second daughter's boyfriend was introduced by her grandmother.
This time the youngest daughter broke off the engagement, and Ye Shouxin finally had a place to use his talents!
The more he looked at her, the more he felt that Wu Zhengrong was handsome and dignified. Together with his beautiful Lai Ya, they were truly a match made in heaven!
A hundred times better than that young brat Zhou Mu!
Now, everything is ready except for the east wind. All that’s left for the two of them to get married is to get to know each other!
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