As everyone sat down around the table, their faces beamed with joy. With the new year bringing new beginnings, everyone seemed to have changed.
"Happy New Year!" Several people raised their glasses, clinking them together loudly.
After finishing her drink, Li Xiyue gave a thumbs up and said, "The wine is good."
“Of course, I took it from my stepmother’s cupboard. She’s treasured it for a long time and couldn’t bear to drink it,” Zhou Yunxia said proudly.
Li Xiyue remembered that the situation of the brother and sister was similar to that of her in this life. Their father also married a stepmother and became a stepfather. The brother and sister were tortured and tormented by their stepmother.
When they first arrived in the countryside, they were so poor and wretched that it was unbearable to look at.
I never expected that this time when I went home, I would dare to take my stepmother's treasured wine.
Li Xiyue, with an air of detached amusement, said, "Yunxia, it seems you had a good New Year."
“That’s right, we’ve turned our house upside down. We’ve paid back tenfold for all the beatings and scoldings we used to endure, and we’ve taken back everything that was owed to us.” Zhou Yunxia held her head high, as proud as a victorious little white rabbit.
Zhou Yunze also laughed and said, "We even helped my stepmother's younger brother sign up for the rural service program and received his application subsidy. He should be in the Northwest by now."
"Well done!" everyone shouted in unison.
The brother and sister clinked glasses triumphantly, thinking about how they now had several thousand yuan in their pockets, and felt wonderful about life.
Next, Xu Shanshan recounted her achievements: "Dr. Li, Huang Zhiqing, thank you for teaching me how to fight back. This time when I went home, I wasn't bullied at all, and I even smashed up the home that had oppressed me for so many years."
Wow!
Everyone looked at her curiously, listening to her continue.
“They wouldn’t let me eat meat, so I put the bowl on their heads. If I don’t eat, then nobody else can eat either.”
They made me wash the dishes, so I smashed them all! And when they asked me to do the laundry, I tore all the clothes to shreds!
If they hit me, I'd hide in my room and wait until they were asleep at night. Then I'd hold a kitchen knife to their necks, and they'd be so scared they almost knelt down! Hahaha!
"I asked for money, and they gave me money; I asked for food, and they gave me food. They didn't dare say a single unnecessary word!"
happy!
Although I didn't see it in person, just hearing her say it made me feel relieved.
Xu Shanshan continued, "They do want to tell people what I did, but nobody believes me. You all know how cowardly I used to be, who would believe I would do something like that, right?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
The Zhou Yunxia siblings are in the same situation. They were bullied since childhood and dared not fight back. Now, even if they do something earth-shattering, no one will believe them.
Since no one saw it with their own eyes, they all assumed the scumbag father and stepmother were just talking to themselves.
"Come, let's toast to our new life!" Xu Shanshan raised her glass, her smile more confident and radiant than ever before.
Everyone laughed and raised their glasses, saying in unison, "To our new life!"
Outside, the cold wind howled, but inside the educated youth settlement, it was bustling with activity, filled with laughter and chatter.
A group of vibrant young men and women, each dreaming of the future, their hearts burning with passion.
Li Xiyue had drunk a bit too much tonight; her cheeks were flushed, and the dim yellow light of the kerosene lamp cast a soft glow on her face.
Looking at this room full of young people, she felt an indescribable surge of excitement.
When they first arrived in the countryside, they were so destitute, lost, and miserable.
But now, they have all turned their tragic lives around and regained the vigor and spirit that should be present at their age.
This is just the beginning; in a few years, their era will arrive.
At that time, they will shine on this land and realize their value in life.
And she was the same.
After a satisfying meal, Li Xiyue took Xiaobai back to the clinic.
Exhausted from the journey, everyone at the educated youth settlement washed up and went to sleep.
Zhou Yunze was digging out the sweet potatoes buried in the stove when he heard footsteps. He turned around and saw Xu Shanshan. He smiled and said, "Xu Zhiqing, why aren't you resting yet?"
Looking at the clean-smiling, handsome young man in front of her, Xu Shanshan clutched the hem of her clothes, her palms sweating profusely.
Seeing that she didn't speak, Zhou Yunze stood up with the fire tongs in his hand and asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Xu Shanshan shook her head, tightened her grip on her fingers, took a deep breath, and said, "Zhou Zhiqing, I like you, and I want to be your girlfriend!"
Zhou Yunze: "!!!"
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