Chapter 136
It rained heavily for several days, so they didn't end up going to Wangjiazhuang.
It wasn't that they didn't want to go; they were simply forced to work by their parents and couldn't leave the house. Instead of going, their injured third sister found her own way back home. Actually, it all started when someone else witnessed their argument with their eldest sister-in-law. Their father, feeling embarrassed, finally made up his mind to send Zhang Chunfen back. Unable to resist, the eldest sister-in-law went to find her third sister to mediate.
The third sister returned home with a wound on her forehead. Ye Di listened to the noise from inside the house, feeling an indescribable sadness. The third sister seemed domineering, but in reality, she was the most pliant, risking her life for a few words.
Ye Di felt very cold in her heart and didn't know what to say. Listening to the noise outside, she pulled the corner of her mouth and locked the door.
But that day was unexpected. Ye Di didn't expect that her third sister would become successful despite her head injury.
That day, the third sister came over, didn't give any money, scolded the eldest sister-in-law and her two sisters, and then left. Ye Di felt a sense of relief listening to this from inside the house. After falling down once, the third sister finally cleared her mind.
Days passed, and it rained continuously. The days of late spring cold were not easy to endure.
The thirty taels of silver for my third sister's marriage seemed like a lot, but in reality, it was barely enough to cover the cost. Doctors and prescriptions for my younger brother cost me a couple of taels each time. My second sister-in-law was the only one working at home, and we had to keep a few animals. That little money couldn't support such a large family. Add to that the expenses of my second brother's studies, which required pens and inkstones, and my eldest sister-in-law's attempts to dig up money to support her own family, and the thirty taels quickly ran out.
My parents were counting the days until the Jin family would come to propose marriage. As long as my fourth sister got married, the family would be rich again.
Ye Di stood outside the main house, feeling deeply saddened as she listened to her mother's words. She couldn't understand why her older brother and younger brother didn't have to work, could still learn to read, and eat the best food. Why did the three of them have to work like slaves since childhood and then, when they grew up, had to sell their bodies to earn money for the family? Didn't they all crawl out of their mother's womb? Were daughters not human beings?
Ye Di, though unconvinced, knew her ideas were unorthodox. All the girls in the village came this way; it was common for the poorer ones to be married off. It was already a good thing that their parents had taken the trouble to find a wealthy in-law for them.
Silently suppressing her resentment, Ye Di didn't know why she kept dreaming about that officer. If she were to marry him, she would be willing.
Ye Di couldn't help blushing when she thought of that man squatting in front of her and smiling at her...If she had the chance to meet him again, she would definitely ask his name and whether he was married.
Life in the Ye family was uneventful. While the food wasn't particularly good, they weren't starving. As long as the eldest sister-in-law and her two sisters didn't cause any trouble, the family was relatively peaceful. Ye Di hadn't expected that something bad would happen to her fourth sister, who she had waited patiently for her to marry.
And once something happens, it's a life-ruining accident.
On the day the incident occurred, it was Ye Di's turn to wash clothes at the river. The family's laundry was assigned to the two sisters, each washing a load. It had been sunny for two days, and seeing the good weather, Ye Di decided to bring the quilts out to dry. However, her eldest sister-in-law, seeing Ye Yuan's idleness, became displeased and, under the pretext of finding Zhang Chunfen a man, dragged her fourth sister out.
I was going to go anyway, but by going there, I destroyed the innocence of my beautiful fourth sister.
Fourth sister is getting married! In two months, she will be taken to the Jin family. Eldest sister-in-law has harmed Fourth sister like this, shouldn't she pay a price? Ye Di looked at Ye Yuan, who had fainted from crying, and thought of her mother, who was so angry that she vomited blood. She was so angry that she wanted to beat Zhang Chunfen and her sister to death. But when she rushed to Ye Wangshan, he drove her out before she could say anything.
"Dad!" Ye Di was incredulous. "Mom was so angry she vomited blood, and you didn't do anything about it?"
Doesn't Ye Wangshan want to manage things? It's difficult for him to manage things. Ye Zhang gave birth to five children for the Ye family, and the eldest son and his husband are both serving in the military. He took advantage of the absence of his children and grandchildren to drive them out. Wouldn't Qingshan be disappointed when he returns? Besides, the Zhang family is not to be trifled with. One Zhang brother can beat two Ye brothers. Without Qingshan, Qinghe is ruined. Qingjiang needs to study, how can he afford to make trouble?
Thinking of this, he looked at his trouble-making fifth daughter and became annoyed. "Get lost! You have no right to interfere in family matters?!"
Ye Di's heart suddenly sank. She stared blankly at her father in front of her. Was this old fool still trying to cover up for her sister-in-law?
Ye Di knew from a young age that her parents were unreliable. She was so angry that she burst into tears and trembled all over. There was really no moment that could make her feel colder than this moment. Her parents did not treat the three sisters as human beings. Even if they were raising animals, they would feel sad after raising them for so many years, right? But her parents really swallowed their anger because their eldest sister-in-law had given birth to so many children for her eldest brother. Ye Di felt that she had no hope in this life and might as well jump into the river. After all, she didn't want to stay and give the Ye family money for the betrothal gift even if she died!
"Dad, you can't bear to leave your sister-in-law, where is Zhang Chunfen?"
Ye Di stood outside the window of the main house, crying and shouting at the closed window, "Sister-in-law is our family's hero, but Zhang Chunfen is too? She pushed your third daughter into the water and ruined your fourth daughter's life, and you didn't say a word?!"
Ye Di felt like her chest was burning with fire, making her head dizzy. "Are you such a coward?"
As soon as she cursed, the tightly closed window swung open with a bang. A hand reached out from inside and slapped her across the face. This slap was so merciless that it almost made Ye Di see stars.
She couldn't hear what Ye Wangshan was cursing inside, and her ears were buzzing.
Ye Di sat on the ground for a long time before she recovered, then she got up without a word. She didn't even look at the person in the window, and ignored her mother's sobbing coming from the window. She covered her cheeks and turned away. The moment she turned back to the house and closed the door, Ye Di heard her father's gritted teeth and said, "Don't give her dinner tonight! I raised you, fed you, and clothed you, and you dare to scold her father!"
After receiving the slap, Ye Di went hungry for two days without saying a word.
...What can she say? What can she do? She is only fourteen years old. If she leaves the Ye family, she can't go anywhere.
Ye Di spent several days in a daze. The Ye family was in a state of quarrel, but in the end they did not send Zhang Chunfen away.
Ye Qingjiang didn't care about anything, just closed the door and read his own book. After Ye Yuan's accident, he hadn't left the house since then. Instead, Ye Qinghe, who had been bedridden at home for months, finally lost his temper. He dragged his broken legs off the wooden bed and crawled all the way from the toilet into the main room, pointing at his eldest sister-in-law and cursing at her, forcing his father to give an explanation.
Ye Wangshan didn't care about his daughters' lives, but he considered his youngest son his lifeblood. Qinghe grabbed a rock and tried to smash his eldest sister-in-law to death, so his father sent his second brother to Wangjiazhuang to ask his third sister and her husband to come back and give them justice in front of his two sisters.
This was the first time Ye Di saw her since Ye Jia's accident.
Her last feeling was indeed correct; her third sister had finally come to her senses. Ye Di stood in the corner, watching Ye Jia. She felt that her third sister had become a completely different person. She didn't care what had caused her to become like this, but it wasn't a bad thing. Ye Di maliciously thought, "Why don't you just take back everything Zhang Chunfen had stolen from you in the past?"
However, Ye Di also knew that the two sisters of the Zhang family were Pixiu, and once something entered their mouths, there was no way to take it back.
Ye Jia was quite capable, and he explained the matter clearly in a few words. After thinking about it, he went back into the house to look for Ye Yuan.
Ye Di felt that her third sister standing before her was unfamiliar, but since no one else in the family noticed, she kept quiet. She followed Ye Jia into the house. Ye Jia stared at Ye Yuan for a long time, his eyes quite meaningful. He asked a question, and Ye Yuan blushed instantly. Ye Di looked at her fourth sister, whose face was as red as a monkey's butt, and heard that she actually wanted to marry the man who had ruined her innocence, and suddenly a strange feeling welled up in her heart.
She glanced up at Ye Jia, who had a look of understanding on his face, and pursed her lips. Ye Di knew that her fourth sister's innocence had been ruined by that man, and marrying him was the best option. But subconsciously, she felt that this was wrong. Why?
But she couldn't explain it and just looked at Ye Jia.
"Well, since you think so, I'll go to Yujia Village." Ye Jia stood up and looked at Ye Yuan intently for a long moment. "But you have to think it through. Several days have passed since the incident, and that person hasn't come to the Ye family to propose marriage. You have to have a clear idea in your mind."
Whether it was an illusion or something else, Ye Di felt that her third sister had been disappointed for a moment. She didn't know what Ye Jia was disappointed about, but she seemed to have a feeling. She stood aside, her face thick with shame. Ye Yuan felt ashamed by Ye Jia's look, her face flushing as she suddenly burst into tears. Ye Di had no choice but to sit down and soothe her softly. But Ye Jia said nothing, turned around and left.
Ye Di stared at Ye Jia's back, and suddenly a strange thought came to her mind. Since she couldn't stay at home anymore, what if she went to live with her third sister?
However, she soon rejected this opportunity. The Zhou family was so poor that they could not even afford to eat and had no food to give her.
In the end, the man who ruined Ye Yuan wasn't found, but there was still some gain. Ye Di hadn't expected Ye Wangshan to deal with the Zhang sisters all at once. After all, if his father had the guts, Zhang Chunfen wouldn't have dared to bully them all these years. However, forcing Ye Wangshan to kick them out was a testament to the strength of the third sister and her husband.
Ye Di looked at her sister-in-law who was crying with tears and snot, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Feeling happy, she couldn't help but glance at Ye Jia a few more times, and was caught by Zhou Jingchen beside her. Ye Di's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and she immediately looked away. Ye Di always felt that her third brother-in-law was a little too good-looking, like a monster. She was afraid that this man would suck her soul away...
…
After Zhang Chunfen left, the Ye family finally found peace.
Without Zhang Chunfen's clothes, the housework seemed much easier. Ye Di had originally thought it was impossible to see that officer again, but fate was so wonderful that she ran into him again.
One day, Ye Di took the money given by Ye Wangshan to go to the shop to buy medicine. She met that man in the town.
She recognized him just by looking at his back.
He was in town for no apparent reason, standing in the alley, dressed in a respectable military uniform. Clutching the herbs she'd just bought from the pharmacy, Ye Di mentally encouraged herself countless times as she prepared to go up and ask the man's name. Her head was spinning, her heart pounding. She quickly walked a few steps to the alley entrance, adjusting her clothes and hair before speaking.
Before she could say anything, she saw a woman standing in front of the officer.
The woman's figure was blocked by him, so she couldn't see clearly. But her voice sounded very young and pleasant, as sweet as honey. Ye Di paused, feeling as if a basin of cold water had been poured down on her head, chilling her to the core.
She heard the woman ask the officer, "You are already past the age of twenty, aren't you planning to get married?"
Ye Di knew the woman was hinting at him, but it also meant she wasn't his for the time being. Her eyelashes trembled violently, and she couldn't help but prick up her ears to eavesdrop. His lazy, pleasant voice sang lazily, and with one sentence, Ye Di was thrown into the abyss. "Don't be ridiculous. Who can I marry? These are all illiterate, vulgar country girls. Even if I were down and out, I wouldn't get involved with them."
...a village girl who can't read or write and behaves rudely?
"That's right." Ye Di heard the woman agree, "The women here really do come from poor backgrounds. But, don't you have any that you like?"
"Looks good, who?"
"I heard there's a pretty girl in Yejia Village," the woman said, as if selecting a piece of meat. "She's the most beautiful girl in the whole town."
He said lazily with a joking tone, "Don't be ridiculous, isn't she just a country girl?"
Ye Di felt as if she were in an ice cellar. She looked down at her clothes, hat, and shoes. Then she raised her hands. From washing clothes and quilts in cold water in the dead of winter, her hands had become covered in chilblains, swollen like radishes. Even though she had worn her most respectable clothes since coming to town, her clothes, hat, and shoes were still shamefully shabby.
She was a country girl. She didn't know if she was illiterate or uncouth, but she did come from a poor background. Her third sister was the most beautiful girl in the area, but she wasn't even as pretty as her. Oh, it turned out she was overthinking it.
Ye Di shook the medicine bag in her hand, not wanting to ask the man's name, and turned away.
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