Shen Mingzhu raised her head. Under the dim lamplight, tear stains still marked her face, but her eyes began to shine.
“I won’t regret it,” she said, enunciating each word clearly. “I’m not afraid of hardship. I just… don’t want to be treated like a piece of meat, picked over and sold for a good price. Sister, I don’t want to stay in the city anymore. The Shen family won’t let me go. Once you leave, they’ll definitely find a way to marry me off to that fool. You… please take me with you!”
Feng Wan looked at her for a long moment. Initially moved by a moment of compassion, she had thought of lending a helping hand. If Shen Mingzhu stayed with the Shen family, her life would surely be ruined. But… take her away?
Shen Mingzhu watched Feng Wan’s expression nervously, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes. She was filled with anxiety, thinking that if Feng Wan didn’t want her, she would sign up for the rural assignment herself. Since childhood, she had been called unwanted.
Anyway, death seemed unavoidable either way. It was already a great kindness that her sister had brought her out. The heavy silence gradually filled her with despair. Just as she was about to force a smile and say “It’s okay” to Feng Wan, she saw the other woman pat her shoulder.
“Alright,” Feng Wan said. “Then we’ll go sign up for the rural assignment tomorrow. We sisters will leave together.”
“Okay. I… I’ll listen to you from now on, Sister. I can do all kinds of work.”
Feng Wan smiled. The two ate a little something casually and then rested.
Exhausted from the day, Shen Mingzhu quickly fell asleep, though her hand still tightly clutched Feng Wan’s sleeve, as if afraid of being abandoned. Feng Wan, however, lay awake, listening to the wind outside the window, planning their next steps in her mind.
Going to the countryside was necessary; otherwise, they would become undocumented persons. The Jiang family’s region happened to be in Heilongjiang Province, where resources were abundant, and the harsh winter alone lasted two to three months. With Shen Mingzhu along, she could help with the work—it wouldn’t be a loss either way.
As for marriage, to hell with the eldest Jiang son. In her previous life, Feng Wan hadn’t married, and in this life, she had no intention of settling for just any man.
The supplies in her Spatial Dimension were enough to sustain them for a long time. But leaving just like that… she couldn’t accept it. She had to find an opportunity to go back to the Shen house one more time and take all their belongings. And that so-called logistics director—she wouldn’t feel at ease until she reported him too…
Lost in thought, she drifted into a hazy sleep.
In her dream, she returned to that brightly lit kitchen. The stockpot on the stove bubbled and simmered, the carp in the wok fried to a golden crisp. With a flick of her wrist, she poured the sweet and sour sauce—a sizzling sound rang out—
“Sister! Sister! Wake up!”
Feng Wan groggily opened her eyes. The sky was just beginning to lighten. Shen Mingzhu was pushing her in a panic.
“Outside… someone’s knocking at the door. It sounds like… Dad’s voice!”
Feng Wan snapped awake instantly. She rolled out of bed, grabbed the door bar leaning against the wall, and peered through the crack in the door.
In the courtyard, Feng Baoguo and Wang Xiulan had indeed come. They were arguing with Grandma Liu.
“Auntie Liu, it’s those two wretched girls who don’t know any better, disturbing you in the middle of the night. Don’t worry, I’ll take them away right now. I won’t let them disturb your peace!” Feng Baoguo’s voice was loud, as if deliberately speaking for outsiders to hear.
Grandma Liu stood blocking the main room’s doorway, neither submissive nor overbearing. “Don’t know any better? I think it’s you who don’t know any better. Young girls—what great crime have they committed that you’d drive them out? The two children were freezing and starving, nearly frozen to death. Now you want to take them back? What were you doing earlier?”
Wang Xiulan sobbed tearfully, “Auntie, please have mercy… Our Mingzhu is young and doesn’t understand things, she was led astray by her sister… If this gets out, her reputation will be ruined…”
Feng Wan sneered coldly. This was a tactic of both soft and hard approaches—not only demanding the person back but also trying to tarnish her reputation.
She turned around and made a silencing gesture to Shen Mingzhu, then took a deep breath and abruptly pulled open the door.
“What’s all this noise early in the morning?” she said, holding a door bar and stepping into the yard. “Still making a scene? Am I a steamed bun that you’re chasing after to bite?”
The few people in the yard were momentarily stunned by her words. Grandma Liu was the first to react, bursting into laughter—this sly girl was subtly calling them dogs!
Feng Baoguo glared and was about to step forward but was stopped by the stick in her hand.
Wang Xiulan paused, then rushed over with a tearful face: “Wanwan, Mom is begging you… Let Mingzhu come back with me… That marriage arrangement, I’ll go cancel it, alright?”
“Cancel?” Feng Wan scoffed. “You’ve already accepted the betrothal gifts, haven’t you? Can you really cancel it?”
Wang Xiulan was speechless. The betrothal gifts… indeed, they had already been accepted. Otherwise, they couldn’t have come up with so much money for Feng Wan yesterday. But that was the family of the logistics director—so many people wanted to climb that social ladder but couldn’t!
Shen Mingzhu mustered her courage and walked out, trembling as she stood beside Feng Wan: “I won’t go back. That fool… I’d rather die than marry him!”
“Mingzhu!” Wang Xiulan cried out. “Mom is doing this for your own good!”
“For my own good?” Shen Mingzhu’s tears streamed down, but her voice was clearer than ever before. “Selling me to a fool is for my own good? Not letting me go to school is for my own good? Forcing me to give up my job opportunity for your son is for my own good?”
Wang Xiulan frowned. Looking at this daughter she had raised for seven or eight years, it was true—a child not of your own flesh and blood could never be fully tamed. After feeding and clothing her for so many years, now that they were only asking her to make a small contribution to the family, she was unwilling.
Feng Baoguo’s face turned ashen, his fists clenched so tightly they creaked, but he ultimately didn’t dare to act. The image of Feng Wan holding a knife yesterday was still vivid in his mind, and today’s stick didn’t look harmless either.
The competition for workshop director was at a critical moment. This was Grandma Liu’s home, and her sons were all leaders. If things really escalated and they ended up at the police station, even a sure thing could slip away.
“You… you’re something else…” he said through gritted teeth. “You’re still young and don’t understand the hardships of adults. Your parents just want you both to have a good future. In these times, what does it matter who you marry? At the very least, your parents want you to live a good life!”
Originally, this was all the Shen family’s business, and Grandma Liu, as an outsider, shouldn’t interfere. But hearing this… something felt terribly wrong.
Marrying a child off to a fool was for her own good?
Even without having a daughter of her own, Grandma Liu felt a surge of anger. No wonder these two girls ran away from home—if it were her, she would run too.
“This isn’t right,” she said. “Parents shouldn’t act like this. This is a new society—you can’t force your children into reckless marriages. You’d better leave now, or I’ll go to the neighborhood committee!”