Liu Fengying’s smiling face lasted only until she caught sight of the woman living across from her, the black-hearted Liu Heini.
“Oh, if it isn’t Liu the Squint? You surely don’t think that now that Mingyuan is married, Yunxia will be available for your Xiaohu at a bargain, do you?” Liu Fengying’s eyes were slightly crossed, especially when she looked at people, so Liu Heini had given her the nickname “Liu the Squint.”
“Our Xiaohu has plenty of girls who like him; he doesn’t need one Li Yunxia. But you, Black-heart, you’re not just black-hearted, you’ve got a poisonous tongue. No wonder your family can’t even produce a grandson. It’s all karma.” Having fought for decades, Liu Fengying knew exactly what mattered most to Liu Heini.
Sure enough, a grandson was Liu Heini’s lifeblood. Although she didn’t have one yet, she would never allow anyone to curse her family like that.
“And what kind of good person are you? You’re the kind who sells her own daughter. You’re the first person I know who actually broke off ties with her own child. And what’s this about Xiaohu having plenty of girls who like him? What a load of nonsense! Your family can’t afford a bride at all. There aren’t any more daughters for you to sell off anymore!”
“That’s still better than you. I gave birth to a son in one go, and my two big sons stay by my side every day. What about you? You spent half your life giving birth to that waste of a person. You have the nerve to talk—as if you didn’t sell yours either! If it weren’t for your five daughters helping out, could your son have ever afforded a wife? But what’s the use of marrying a wife if she can’t produce a child? You deserve it!”
At these words, Liu Heini was so enraged that she immediately started a physical fight. Liu Fengying had expected this move and blocked her instantly.
“A fight! There’s a fight!”
The ones shouting were the educated youths. Everyone else in Liu Jia Tun was used to it; these two women seemed miserable if they didn’t have a fight every now and then.
Finally, the women’s director pulled them apart. “It’s always you two. Look at how old you are—your grandsons are almost old enough to marry, yet you aren’t ashamed at all.”
“Director, look at what you’re saying. Some people don’t even have grandsons yet.”
Liu Heini moved to strike again.
“Enough! A grandson-in-law is still a grandson.” Wang Sanni spoke too quickly and forgot about the sensitive topic. She glared at Liu Fengying. “Shut up. You’re the first to laze around at work and the first to start a fight.”
For years, Wang Sanni had been exhausted by the constant bickering between these two at the east end of the village.
“Are you going to work or not? If the brigade leader comes and scolds you later, don’t blame me.” As soon as Wang Sanni brought up Lin Guoqing, the crowd began to disperse.
Li Baoling and Lin Mingyuan, who had witnessed it all, quickly rode away. Although they could technically get away with being lazy today, they didn’t dare show off in front of the brigade leader.
With only two days left until the wedding feast, the Lin family was incredibly busy. Sun Zhaodi hadn’t gone to work either; she was busy scouring for supplies. Baoling and Mingyuan had also been sent out to buy things.
“You’re back? Let me see if you bought everything,” Sun Zhaodi greeted them.
“Yes, Auntie. On our way back, we saw a fight. It looked like two of our neighbors,” Li Baoling said curiously. She was sure she hadn’t misidentified them; those two houses were right on the street she had to pass every time she went to the Lin house.
“You mean Liu Fengying and Liu Heini? Get used to it. Come to think of it, they haven’t fought in a couple of days; it was about time,” Sun Zhaodi said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Why?” Li Baoling’s large eyes were wide with a hunger for gossip.
At this, Sun Zhaodi perked up. Thinking that Baoling was about to marry into the family, she decided it was time to tell her about the neighbors.
“I’m not exaggerating, Baoling. In this area, everyone is a character!”
“There are five households in this alley. Ours is right in the middle. In front of us is Lin Cungen’s house. Behind us, a landlord used to live, but the house has been abandoned since he died. Across from us is the Li family. In front of the Li family is the Zhang family, and behind them is Mei Yufen’s family. Lin Cungen and the Zhang family live across from each other right by the street.”
“Let’s start with the Zhang family. The head of the house is Zhang Fengshou, who married Liu Heini. They were married for years without a son, but they had five daughters in a row: Dahua, Erhua, Sanhua, Sihua, and Wuhua. They were often mocked until they finally had a son, Zhang Baogen, in their old age. They dote on him so much they’re afraid he’ll melt if they hold him too tight. With five older sisters, he’s truly pampered.”
“In reality, Zhang Baogen is even more useless at work than Mingyuan. He rarely goes to the fields and constantly dreams of finding a job in the city. So Liu Heini pressures her daughters to find work for their brother. Later, when he reached marriageable age, the Zhang family was very picky. Eventually, Baogen took a liking to a girl from Houliu Village named Liu Ling. Liu Heini was strongly against it but married her in anyway. Speaking of Liu Ling, she’s had a hard life since marrying into that family. You’ll find out more about that later.”
“Then there’s the family across from them, Lin Cungen. His grandfather and your uncle’s grandfather were brothers, so we’re technically from the same clan. But he and his wife, Liu Fengying, are famous lazybones in the village. They don’t earn many work points all year round. A few years ago, when their eldest son needed money to get married, they sold their daughter—well, it wasn’t exactly selling; it was a marriage exchange. The other party was a cripple. Xiaoshuang refused, and after a big scene, she found someone else to marry and left. She didn’t come back for years and only started visiting again after she had a child.”
“The two you saw fighting are these two. Liu Heini and Liu Fengying are both from Houliu Village and haven’t gotten along since they were kids. Later, they both married into Liu Jia Tun and became neighbors. Liu Heini married in first, but since she didn’t have a son, Liu Fengying mocked her. Later, when Liu Heini’s house couldn’t produce a grandson, Liu Fengying’s tongue became even sharper. They fight for all sorts of reasons.”
“Right, a few days ago they fought over the name of Liu Fengying’s eldest grandson. I heard Liu Heini had picked that name for her own grandson, but Liu Fengying snatched it first. Then they started splashing water and throwing trash in front of each other’s doors. They don’t fight every single day, but it’s close enough.”
“After those two, there’s the Li family across from us. Their eldest son is capable; he found a wife from the city, and his father-in-law introduced him to a city job. Of course, the Li family paid some money back then too. So the Li family is very proud of having a worker in the family and is quite arrogant, looking down on most people. However, the Li children are all quite good. Shitou and Mingyuan grew up playing together.”
At this point, Sun Zhaodi thought of Yunxia. She knew the girl’s feelings for Mingyuan. The family had originally thought they would end up together, but Mingyuan wasn’t interested, and Li Xiuli looked down on their family. One thing led to another, and fate played its hand.
“Finally, there’s Mei Yufen. She’s a matchmaker and is quite famous for miles around. People often come to her to arrange marriages. That’s why our area is so lively. Mei Yufen is a formidable woman; she’s the absolute boss of her house. Your Uncle Mei—wait, not Uncle Mei, his surname is Lin. Even though he has the same surname as us, there’s no relation. Lin is a common surname in our village.”
Sun Zhaodi said a great deal, leaving Li Baoling a bit dizzy. “The relationships are a bit messy; I don’t quite understand.”
“Haha, you don’t need to understand now. You’ll get to know them sooner or later living here. Even if you don’t, you’ll understand eventually as everyone keeps fighting.”
“Alright.” Li Baoling truly loved watching the drama.
Li Baoling didn’t stay at the Lin house for dinner today. It was a busy time, and if she stayed, Sun Zhaodi would have to go to the extra effort of cooking for her. Knowing she wouldn’t be eating there, Sun Zhaodi gave her an egg before she left, fearing she might get hungry at night.
Li Baoling didn’t refuse, telling herself she would repay them later. She really couldn’t handle a life of eating only husks and wild vegetables.
When she returned to the educated youth point, she found everyone was just starting to cook. Bai Xiujuan didn’t expect her to be back and asked, “Have you eaten?”
Li Baoling understood the implication—there was no food for her. But that was normal; she had been returning after eating lately. “I’ve eaten. You guys go ahead.”
As soon as she spoke, several people nearby curled their lips. They were all educated youths, yet look at the life she was leading. Not only did she avoid work every day, but she also ate better than them. It was hard to take.
“Educated Youth Li has such a good life,” someone whispered.
“Exactly. I feel like her face has turned even fairer after not working for two days,” Geng Jiajia agreed, nodding.
Bai Xiujuan, however, noticed that the one who spoke first was actually Wang Xiuxiu.
“Hey, have you heard? They’ve already registered their marriage. I heard there’s a feast in a few days. After that, Educated Youth Li will leave here completely.”
“Of course. They moved so fast, getting married just like that.”
“I think Educated Youth Li might have lost her mind. No matter what, there’s a gap between life in the countryside and the city. She’ll find she can’t stand it sooner or later.”
“Yeah, we’re just here for the Down to the Countryside movement; we aren’t real country folk. She’s just young and can’t handle any hardship.”
Only Bai Xiujuan remained silent, quietly cooking her food. Looking at those speaking sourly, many were people who usually seemed indifferent to worldly affairs. It was hard to tell, but gossip is human nature after all. She just found it a bit ironic.
Li Baoling didn’t care about what was happening outside; she was focused on eating her egg.
Just then, Zhang Lihua walked in and saw the eggshells Li Baoling hadn’t had time to clear away.
“You really are living a good life.”
It was obviously a sarcastic remark, which Li Baoling ignored.
Finally, Zhang Lihua was the first to lose her patience. “Li Baoling, are you crazy? You actually registered your marriage! Do you know what this means? It means you’ll be stuck here for the rest of your life!”
Zhang Lihua hadn’t expected that only a few days after coming to the countryside with Li Baoling, the other girl would find a boyfriend. Just when she thought it was a simple relationship, Li Baoling had gone and gotten married. Of course, her biggest worry was what would happen to her if Li Baoling continued to live a good life.
“And so?”
“Do your parents know? Do they agree?” Zhang Lihua began to regret not writing to the Li family from the start to let them stop Li Baoling. But she had been too busy and tired lately to manage it, and now it was too late.
“It’s my marriage. What does it have to do with them?” Li Baoling said intentionally.
“They are your parents! You just got married like this; Uncle and Auntie Li definitely won’t agree.” No, she had to tell the family.
“Whether they agree or not, didn’t they send me here anyway?”
Zhang Lihua knew about their family situation. Wait—could Li Baoling have decided to marry out of resentment towards her family? If that was the case, she definitely had to write the letter.
Li Baoling didn’t even have to guess; this girl was surely up to no good and might even notify the Li family. But that was exactly what she wanted. She was worried she wouldn’t have a reason to ask the Li family for money. If she wrote herself, they might not believe her, so it was perfect to have someone else do it for her.
She was actually looking forward to seeing the Li family go crazy.
Before bed, as was her routine, Li Baoling stuffed paper in her ears. Although it didn’t help much, it gave her some psychological comfort. Fortunately, she would be leaving soon. The thought of staying and doing so much work every day, only to sleep poorly at night, would drive her insane. Her nervous exhaustion was her greatest pain.