Keeping a daughter’s bride price in her natal home was disgraceful if word got out.
And if, because one daughter found a job and brought benefits home, they mistreated another daughter who had no job and was about to be married off—if that spread, it would be even more disgraceful.
Liu Chunhua was clever. She didn’t mention the bride price. Instead, she talked about how hard the third daughter worked, how her hands were red from labor, how her arms ached. As the elder sister, how could Jiang Xing lie around all day without feeling sorry for her younger sister?
If that got out, where would Jiang Xing’s dignity go?
Jiang Xing slammed something down and got up to cook.
Liu Chunhua pulled Jiang Zao to sit and fanned her with a palm-leaf fan. “How’s work at the food factory? Is it tiring? Are you getting along well with your coworkers?”
As she asked, Jiang Jun perked up his ears nearby.
He was seventeen, with one year left before graduation. His mother had already told him privately—either his third sister would give him her job, or she would help him get into the food factory.
While his classmates worried about jobs and feared being sent to the countryside, he already had one lined up.
Once his third sister got married, he could also get the bride price from the Xiao family.
After graduation, with a stable job and money in hand, he could raise his standards for choosing a wife.
His original standards: average looks, urban registration (not mandatory—wealthy rural families were acceptable), good personality, few brothers in her family, and the bride price given should partly return.
Now that his conditions improved, so did his expectations.
His new standards: she must be pretty, not short, fair-skinned with double eyelids, and have wide hips—his mother and grandmother both said wide hips meant she could bear sons.
Since he would have a job, his future wife must have one too. Most of the bride price given should come back; otherwise, he’d find ways to reclaim benefits after marriage.
He wouldn’t let her visit her natal home often. After a couple of years of being worn down under his mother’s control, she would naturally become obedient.
…Though ideally, he still hoped for a wife who was sensible, obedient, pretty, and employed—so he wouldn’t have to bother.
There was a girl in his class named Li Mei. Every time she saw him, she blushed shyly. She often gave him buns she had worked hard to get—though she clearly craved them herself, she pretended she was full and gave them to him.
As the man of the family, Jiang Jun couldn’t eat buns every day—but each time, he pretended not to notice and ate them anyway.
They were still classmates and hadn’t made anything official yet, still in the testing phase.
Li Mei had average looks and urban registration, but her job prospects seemed uncertain. Aside from her grandfather, her family favored her brothers. Before, Jiang Jun thought her conditions were decent—but now…
She was far inferior to the class beauty, Qin Shuangshuang.
Qin Shuangshuang had urban registration, a wealthy family, long legs, a slim waist, and wide hips.
She liked wearing a white blouse under a maroon top. Her looks were slightly inferior to his third sister’s, but her eyes were far more alluring.
More than half the boys in class thought her eyes could captivate souls.
Since learning to cook, this was Jiang Zao’s first time watching Jiang Xing cook while she sat waiting to eat.
She noticed Jiang Jun’s smug, calculating expression and sneered inwardly.
What rotten schemes was he thinking of now?
Out loud, she replied to Liu Chunhua, “The work at the food factory is fine. My master is teaching me how to knead dough. It hasn’t been long, so I’m not familiar with my coworkers yet.”
Looking at the brown and white sugar on the table, Liu Chunhua felt pleased. Everything Jiang Zao said sounded good to her. “That’s normal. Just don’t be too honest. When you see leaders, remember to greet them politely and build relationships. When your younger brother graduates, you’ll bring him in.”
As she finished speaking, she gave Jiang Jun a meaningful glance.
Jiang Jun, who usually ignored Jiang Zao, awkwardly rubbed his hands. “Third sister, I’ll be relying on you from now on!”
As for the night a few days ago when he slammed the door after offending Feng Miao because of Jiang Zao, he conveniently forgot.
But there was still something he wanted to know. “Sis, how much do you earn?”
At the mention of money, he became especially attentive.
He took a glass from the enamel tray, turned it upright, lifted the kettle, poured a bit of hot water to rinse it clean, wincing at the heat but not letting go.
After rinsing, he poured the water onto the ground, where it quickly soaked in, leaving a dark stain.
Then he filled the glass with fresh hot water and respectfully placed it in front of Jiang Zao.
Liu Chunhua praised him, “Look how good your brother is to you. Zao’er, you’re a girl without roots—after marriage, you’ll rely on your brothers. Your younger brother is such a good child, always respectful to you.”
“So, how much is your salary?”
Jiang Zao almost laughed.
When useful, they bowed and scraped; when not, they cast you aside.
She didn’t touch the water and answered plainly, “Eighteen and a half yuan a month.”
Who would dare drink it?
One sip today might cost a pound of flesh tomorrow.
She had no interest in it.
That salary wasn’t low at all. Jiang Jun exchanged an excited glance with Liu Chunhua.
Liu Chunhua gave a thumbs-up. “Zao’er is amazing—just like your father’s daughter!”
Of course, she didn’t forget to flatter Jiang Dashan.
Jiang Dashan showed a typical “patriarchal” smile.
The second brother, Jiang Ming, watched the family’s harmony with discomfort.
He wasn’t jealous of their closeness—no matter how good it was, Jiang Zao was still a girl and wouldn’t take anything from him.
What bothered him was the fourth brother.
Jiang Zao’s salary wasn’t much lower than his. The fourth brother would have a job after graduation, and there was also Xiao Shuisheng’s bride price.
In every way, the fourth brother would get more than him.
Jiang Zao noticed the resentment flickering in Jiang Ming’s brows and lowered her head slightly.
This was only the beginning—there was much more suffering ahead for them.
In the kitchen, Jiang Xing crouched by the stove, baking sorghum flatbread and making a pot of vermicelli soup.
At dinner, Liu Chunhua first placed a flatbread into Jiang Zao’s bowl. “Zao’er, eat more. You have work tomorrow. Eldest girl, wake up early tomorrow and cook for your sister. When you marry out, I’ll praise you to your mother-in-law for being virtuous.”
Jiang Xing’s face darkened. Her stomach churned, and she couldn’t eat.
She shot Jiang Zao a sideways glance, not believing she could swallow this.
Making her own elder sister wake early to cook—wasn’t she afraid?
Jiang Zao ate heartily.
What was there to fear?
For over ten years, she had done the cooking—everyone else ate just fine.
This elder sister of hers could take advantage of others, but wouldn’t tolerate being taken advantage of. If she were a man, she’d be even harder to deal with than Jiang Ming and Jiang Jun.
In her previous life, Jiang Zao only recognized Jiang Xing’s malice at the very end.
At that time, she was gravely ill. Jiang Ming and his wife refused to pay for her medicine, and Jiang Jun even wanted to drive her out.
Her “good” sister came back, held her hand, and said she pitied her.
Using her as an excuse, she harshly scolded Jiang Ming and his wife, Jiang Jun and his wife—even Liu Chunhua.
At first, Jiang Zao was moved.
But what happened afterward left her sleepless for days in anger.
Jiang Xing’s marriage to Li Ming was not happy.
Her bride price had been withheld by her natal family. After marriage, she suffered endless disdain. She gave birth to two daughters in three years, and only in the eighth year managed to have a son.
During her postpartum confinement, she discovered Li Ming was cheating—the mistress’s son was even older than her own.
For the sake of her three children, Jiang Xing endured and stayed.
In the following years, she fought constantly with the mistress. Li Ming favored the other woman. Eventually, Jiang Xing met her own destined partner—a 65-year-old Hong Kong businessman—and in the early 1990s, she divorced Li Ming.