During this period of her rebirth, Jiang's father and mother had already returned for nearly two months.
One reason for their return was that Grandpa was seriously ill and Grandma had broken her leg. Grandma called her two sons back and returned the children to their parents, with the family taking turns caring for Grandpa over several months.
When it was Jiang Haiyang's turn, Grandpa passed away not long after.
Without this constraint, Jiang's father and mother certainly couldn't stay in their rural hometown.
But returning to S-City meant the two children couldn't attend local schools without social security contributions, and the quality of education at non-local schools was poor, making it impossible for them to take the high school entrance exams later.
Yet they also looked down on the junior high school in their hometown town.
Jiang Chao and Jiang Lu weren't accustomed to the village elementary school either and kept clamoring to transfer.
Liu Yan wanted to buy a house in the county town so she could run a small business while taking the two children to school.
Jiang Haiyang remained silent. The four-room bungalow they currently lived in had been built just a few years ago.
At that time, it was also Liu Yan's demand—she said she didn't want to be glaring at his mother during New Year visits and strongly insisted on building a house to separate completely.
Since the house was built, except for a few days during New Year, it had basically been left vacant.
During his father's illness these past months was the longest period the family had stayed there.
They had forty thousand in savings.
According to Liu Yan, buying a house in the county town was still far from enough.
But his wife believed they should buy even if they couldn't afford it, even if it meant taking out a loan.
If they bought a house with a loan, they'd have to repay the bank every month. Whether they could earn money in the county town was uncertain, the two children needed schooling, and their eldest daughter at home had to give living expenses to his mother. He laid out all these difficulties to Liu Yan, but not only did it not dissuade her from wanting to buy a house in the county town, it made Liu Yan turn her attention to Jiang Xue.
The eldest daughter was fifteen this year.
Her actual age was young, but her ID card showed eighteen.
When the ID card was processed, the one-child policy was strict. In rural areas, to have a second child besides the first being a daughter, there was also a requirement for a three-to-four-year gap between births.
Jiang Xue was just a girl—the couple definitely wanted to have a son next.
She didn't want to wait that long, so during the population census, Jiang Xue's household registration was made three years older than her actual age.
Jiang Xue had started school late anyway, only beginning at eight years old, making her a year older than her classmates.
When the school organized everyone to apply for second-generation ID cards, Jiang Xue only realized upon receiving hers that she was already an adult according to the ID—four years older than some of her classmates.
Back then, she had been mocked by classmates because of her age.
For many years afterward in her previous life, Jiang Xue actually didn't dare tell people her age—unsure whether to give the ID card age or her actual age. Giving the ID card age meant she was several years older; giving her actual age made her feel like she was lying.
Jiang's mother didn't care that Jiang Xue wasn't actually an adult, only fifteen. She felt many girls in the village her age had gone out to work to support their families. Since the ID card showed she was already eighteen, she should be treated as an adult—Jiang Xue ought to contribute to the family.
The key was that the eldest daughter was dull and not close to her.
Although her grades were decent, they weren't outstanding.
Thus came the idea of making her drop out and go work.
In her previous life at this time, she actually did go out to work—without much resistance, obeying Jiang's mother's words. She went to S-City with her aunt's sister-in-law Qiuxia and entered an electronics factory to work on assembly lines.
It wasn't that she didn't want to continue her studies, but Grandma had made it clear she wouldn't take care of any children, and her parents were eager to move to the county town. She didn't want to be a burden.
School was about to start for ninth grade, and no schools in the county town were willing to accept a student transferring in at that stage, especially one from a rural village with unknown academic performance.
Jiang's father and mother hadn't even considered asking around or pulling strings to help her.
Leaving her alone in their hometown would likely lead many people to start gossiping again about Jiang Haiyang and his wife playing favorites.
Jiang's father suggested waiting another year, farming at home for one more season. If their eldest daughter could get into a high school in the county town, the whole family would move there. If she didn't make it, they could bring her along then, feeling more at ease since she was growing up and they worried she might be deceived by men if left unsupervised.
But Jiang's mother couldn't wait. Years of city life had made her feel particularly uncomfortable living in their hometown again.
These past two months back home had been anything but pleasant for her.
So, sending Jiang Xue out to work solved two problems: the family wouldn't have to stay in the countryside any longer, and Jiang Xue could earn a decent wage to help support the household.
On top of that, with the other two children about to enter middle school, transferring them earlier would give her more time to focus on their studies, hopefully helping them get into a good school.
Her mother had thought of everything—except planning for Jiang Xue's future.
In her past life, when she first started working, she couldn't handle the intense assembly line labor.
She called her parents, crying and saying she wanted to go back to school, only to be coldly rejected. "Everyone else can endure it, why can't you? Work hard, send your wages home when you get paid, and don't waste money. Don't hang out with boys. If I find out you're dating someone, I'll skin you alive." The call ended, leaving her sobbing on the other end without a single word of comfort.
She numbly repeated the same tasks day after day, her mind wandering through books she'd read, problems she'd solved, and vocabulary she'd memorized.
Qiuxia said she was getting married after the New Year and wouldn't be working at this factory anymore.
She had brought Jiang Xue along when she went home for a blind date, hastily getting engaged.
In less than half a year, the groom's family pushed for the wedding. Her parents had already set the date; all she had to do was go home when the time came.
Qiuxia's classmate, Yu Juan, was pregnant. The father was the team leader from the neighboring assembly line. Yu Juan was also looking forward to visiting her boyfriend's family during the New Year to discuss marriage plans.
A girl from her dorm was dating a barber from a nearby salon and had recently been staying out every night.
After a few months at the factory, Jiang Xue's skin had grown noticeably fairer from being indoors. Though the hours were long and the work demanding, the meals were good, with plenty of meat and vegetables to fill her up. In those months, she gained over ten pounds, no longer looking so thin and frail, and even grew several centimeters taller. With her wages, she bought herself a few new outfits, and suddenly, she seemed to glow. The most obvious change was the increase in male attention.
Jiang's mother called regularly to warn her against dating. If she dared, and word got back, her mother would come and break her legs. Her tone was more serious than ever, so at the time, Jiang Xue didn't dare. In the future, she might end up like Qiuxia, set up by her parents to marry a stranger, or like Yu Juan, secretly dating someone suitable, possibly even ending up pregnant.
The thought of such a future filled her with dread.
One afternoon while working, she suddenly had an epiphany.
After her shift, she called her eldest cousin, Jiang Xian, from her uncle's family.
Her cousin had just graduated from high school this year and was admitted to university. While Jiang Xue was working on the assembly line, her cousin had already begun her college life.
That phone call lasted a long time. Jiang Xue eagerly asked about her cousin's life at university, and as she listened to the other world described by the person she had grown up with, she made a decision that would shape the rest of her life.
She decided to resign. She wanted to go back to school, to take the college entrance exam too. She didn’t want to end up like the other girls on the assembly line—dating a boy who also only finished middle school, or going back home at a certain age for arranged marriage, having children, and either keeping them by her side or leaving them behind in their hometown as left-behind children, just as she had been. She didn’t want that kind of life. She wanted to be like her eldest cousin—to see a bigger world and earn more money in the future.