The Lin Weishen family finished their meal in a rush, and Lin Weishen went to look for his eldest brother.
Lin Weimu and Xinghua had just finished arguing, and Xinghua was crying at home.
Mu Xiaocao tried to persuade her daughter, “Why don’t you break it off with him?! Look at how your mother married into the Lin family and was mistreated by your grandmother for so many years; haven’t you seen enough? You are a country girl—if you marry a city person, will they ever respect you? His mother will definitely make life difficult for you.”
Xinghua shook her head, “Mom, it won’t be like that. Sui Feng is not that kind of person.”
“Silly child, your mother has eaten more salt than you have eaten rice; all men are the same. Before marriage, he’s considerate of your every need, but once you give birth, they stop pretending.” Mu Xiaocao asked Xinghua, “Look at your eldest brother-in-law—isn’t he just like that? Before marriage, he was so good to your sister; he would even wash grapes for her and bring them to her. And now?! Does he wash them anymore? He doesn’t even come home all year round, and when he does, he acts like a spoiled master.”
Xinghua shook her head persistently, “It won’t be like that. Sui Feng won’t treat me that way.”
No matter how Mu Xiaocao tried to reason with her, her daughter simply wouldn’t listen.
Lin Weishen found Lin Weimu and urged him not to be so stubborn, “If you ask me, brother, you also have a problem. You were the one who taught Xinghua to be like this in the past, and now you regret it. It’s too late.”
“What do you mean I taught her to be like this?” Lin Weimu was unhappy.
“When she was at home before, you taught her to do laundry and cook, saying ‘if you don’t know how, no family will want you in the future.’ She has always been aiming for the goal you set. Now that she has found someone, you aren’t happy again. She is a human being, not an object—how can you manipulate her?” Lin Weishen urged his eldest brother to look at things differently.
Lin Weimu was silent for a while. He did indeed say those things, but—”I didn’t know back then that your sister-in-law would never be able to bear children again, and I didn’t know our house was going to be demolished.”
Lin Weishen clapped his hands, “There you go! You didn’t teach her well yourself, so it’s not wrong for her to want to marry out. Now she is no longer a child; she has grown into an adult, and it’s time for her to move on. If you keep ruining the relationship and Xinghua just up and leaves, let’s see what you do then!”
Lin Weimu glared, “She wouldn’t dare!”
Lin Weishen didn’t think there was anything she wouldn’t dare to do. If the relationship turned sour, a married daughter is like splashed water—all her loyalty would lie with her in-laws. She would only visit during holidays and would never come home otherwise. He wouldn’t even have a leg to stand on to complain; after all, it’s not reasonable for a daughter to run back to her maiden home every single day.
Lin Weimu sighed, “Why didn’t God give me a son?”
Lin Weishen was displeased, “What’s wrong with having a daughter?! I think my Qionghua is just fine. The key is how you raise her. You have to teach her principles and make her value her family. Let me tell you, my Qionghua told me just the other day that she doesn’t want to get married in the future. She plans to go to another city, find a man to date, and once she gets pregnant, she’ll come back, raise the child herself, and if anyone asks, she’ll just say the child’s father was a martyr. See? She’s only eight, and she’s already thinking of ways to stay home. You didn’t teach her well, so don’t blame others.”
Lin Weimu listened, dumbfounded. He opened his mouth wide and looked at his third brother, “This… this… isn’t this acting like a hooligan?”
Lin Weishen didn’t take it seriously, “It might be considered that here, but in Shenzhen, it doesn’t count. Things are very open-minded over there.”
On the other side, Lin Qionghua was in the same room with Xinghua; Song Lanfang had just called Mu Xiaocao out.
“Sister Xinghua, are you okay?” Lin Qionghua looked at her with concern.
Xinghua’s eyes were red from crying. She wiped her tears and shook her head, “I’m fine.”
Lin Qionghua also wanted to persuade her, “Sister Xinghua, isn’t it good to stay home? Your family has hundreds of thousands in demolition compensation. With this money, your life will be very comfortable. If you marry into the city and work yourself to the bone every day, living with a whole family squeezed into a seventy-square-meter house, how stifling that would be. Nowhere is as comfortable as being in your own maiden home.”
Xinghua wiped her lips, “But I don’t like Liu Guoqing.”
“He looks quite handsome, his skin is fair, and he’s quite interesting.” Lin Qionghua often set up stalls with her father and had run into Liu Guoqing several times; the man was very amusing, loved to eat, and was very simple-minded. Of course, he didn’t have any great ambitions.
Xinghua curled her lip in disdain, “A grown man who looks paler than a woman.”
Lin Qionghua sighed; everyone has different tastes, and there was really no way to persuade her, “I just think that if a country girl marries into the city, people will think you are climbing up the social ladder, and they won’t treat you too well. The old saying goes: a good marriage requires families of equal social status to last long. Besides, if you don’t get married, you won’t be bullied.”
Xinghua looked at her in surprise, “You’re so young, and you understand this?”
“My mom has a childhood friend who married into the city. She says she lives a good life, but I see dark circles under her eyes, and she looks haggard; she’s not living well at all.” Lin Qionghua pouted, “She is the same age as my mom, but she looks five years older.”
Xinghua was a little scared, “But I don’t like Liu Guoqing. I love Sui Jun.”
“If he loved you, why wouldn’t he move into your family, and instead insist on you moving into his? I don’t think he loves you at all. So why do you love him?” Lin Qionghua retorted. Although it was the norm for women to marry into the man’s family, just because everyone did it, did that make it right? That logic didn’t hold up.
Xinghua even forgot to cry, staring blankly at her. How could this little cousin of hers have so many unconventional ideas at such a young age?
Lin Qionghua paced around the room with her hands behind her back, “Sister Xinghua, love is just a way to fool people. Otherwise, look around you—whose marriage is based on love?”
Xinghua twisted her fingers, “Don’t my aunt and uncle count?”
Lin Qionghua shook her head, “My parents don’t count as marrying into a family. They are of equal status.”
Xinghua thought about it and realized it was true. She racked her brains for a long time but couldn’t think of a single example.
Lin Qionghua paused and continued, “And my parents are just an exception. Look at all the families in the village—everyone has their own troubles. Especially the young people; they were all free-love marriages, their parents didn’t stop them, and they chose each other themselves. But whose marriage makes you envious?”
Xinghua remained silent.
Lin Qionghua cupped her chin, “Sister Xinghua, you are actually very lucky. You just happened to catch the demolition, and it just so happens that our uncle and aunt have no sons, which allows you to have the same rights as a son—you can stay home and inherit the entire family’s property in the future. Other girls simply don’t have this opportunity. How many times in one’s life can you get this lucky? You are pushing away such good fortune; it’s a waste of heaven’s gift.”
Xinghua mumbled, “But other girls can decide for themselves what kind of person to marry; I can’t.”
Lin Qionghua blurted out, “And have they lived a good life?”
Xinghua was stunned, “What?”
“After they marry, they have to clean, have children, take care of the elderly, and make money—how hard they work. They appear to have the right to choose their partners, but they never had the right to stay in their maiden homes.” Lin Qionghua looked at her quietly, “In my opinion, being able to stay in your maiden home is the happiest thing. Because in-laws are outsiders, only parents are your true blood kin, and they are the only ones who will truly care for you.”
No one had ever said these things to her before. At first, Xinghua had treated her little cousin as a child, but hearing her speak like this was truly mind-boggling.
Xinghua only stayed at home for two days before returning to the county town. When she left, she was still at odds with her father, responding in an awkward and stiff manner.
Perhaps because he had lost hope, Lin Weimu was no longer eager to make money. He didn’t rush to move out and stayed at home every day.
Mu Xiaocao couldn’t do anything about him and just let him be.
Since he stopped running his stall, Lin Weishen’s popsicles sold even better.
He didn’t just sell them in the town; he took more stock and had his wife sell them at home.
Song Lanfang was very happy that she could earn money selling popsicles without having to run a stall.
When children ran over to buy popsicles, Song Lanfang would chat with them.
Lin Weilin’s youngest son, Dayu, told Song Lanfang that the village was about to hold a wedding.
Seeing his boisterous appearance, Song Lanfang found it amusing, “Who did you hear that from?”
Dayu licked an old-fashioned popsicle, drooling, and said with a smile, “Because my eldest brother is getting married.”
Song Lanfang opened her mouth in surprise, “Isn’t your eldest brother only 20? He isn’t even at the legal age for marriage yet.”
“He’s seeing someone.” Dayu dropped a bombshell.
Song Lanfang pondered to herself. Could it be that the second sister-in-law had introduced a girl to Dafeng? She asked curiously, “Which family’s girl?”
Dayu pointed in the direction of Dong Liang’s house, “…The sister of that woman who Uncle Dong Liang just married.”
Song Lanfang had indeed heard that this girl was very pretty, but she never expected that she would be dating Dafeng!
She was still musing to herself when the voice of her second sister-in-law came from next door.
“No! I won’t agree to it!”
Song Lanfang walked to the courtyard wall and poked her head in to look. She saw Dafeng chasing after his mother, acting spoiled, “Mom, just agree to it, okay? Fangfang really is a good girl. Once I get married, I will listen to everything you say.”
Zhao Cuilan felt as if she had swallowed a fly; her own son was actually defying her for the sake of another woman, and it just had to be the one she disliked the most, Yu Fangfang. She said impatiently, “What’s so good about this girl? Other than being pretty, she’s useless. The key is that her family’s dowry request is way too high. They actually want ten thousand. How could I possibly afford that?”
“Mom,” Dafeng said unhappily, “Our family received so much demolition money; what’s the big deal with taking out ten thousand for me to marry a wife? Don’t you want me to get married? Don’t you want to hold your grandson?”
Zhao Cuilan was choked speechless. She was a stubborn person, “You can marry anyone, just not her. Her maiden family is a bottomless pit. Never mind the dowry, you have to buy her the ‘four golds,’ which will cost another ten thousand. Every time she visits her parents after marriage, it’s more money. Does our family’s money grow on trees? No!”
The mother and son argued fiercely. Soon, the entrance was surrounded by villagers watching the commotion. Seeing that Song Lanfang next door was poking her head in to look, Zhao Cuilan didn’t want to become a laughingstock and said to her son, “It’s not up to me alone. Go ask your father if he is willing to let you marry Yu Fangfang.”
Dafeng asked, “Where’s Dad?”
“In the fields.”
Dafeng turned around and ran out of the courtyard.
Seeing this, Zhao Cuilan couldn’t help but mutter, “A pretty woman is a disaster. She hasn’t even married into our house yet, and she’s already turning the home upside down.”
Song Lanfang curled her lip, having no interest in listening anymore.
She turned and went back inside the house, seeing her daughter reading a fifth-grade math book, she felt somewhat surprised, “Why are you reading fifth-grade books?”
Lin Qionghua put down the book and looked at her mother, “I want to skip a grade!”
Song Lanfang picked up a popsicle, tore off the wrapper, and gave it to her daughter to help her cool down. Upon hearing this, the popsicle slipped from her hand. Fortunately, it fell onto the table and wasn’t dirty.
She didn’t bother picking it up and looked at her daughter in confusion, “Skip a grade? Your grades aren’t even that good.”
“That’s not true. I already know all of these.” Lin Qionghua thought for a moment, “Well, no. I can score about 95.”
Song Lanfang couldn’t believe it, “Is that true?”
She flipped through the fifth-grade book, picked out a problem, changed the numbers, and asked her daughter to solve it.
Lin Qionghua took it and answered the problem very quickly.
Song Lanfang picked up the popsicle and ate it herself. Seeing her daughter set down the pen, she took the homework over, “You finished it so fast? Is it for real?”
She looked over her daughter’s problem-solving steps and saw that they were actually correct.
She didn’t believe it and gave her a few more problems, all of which her daughter answered correctly.
Song Lanfang had no choice but to believe it. Her eyes widened like copper bells; she cupped her daughter’s face in both hands and looked at it over and over again. Finally, she suddenly slapped the table and laughed out loud, “I told you! You are a genius! And your dad didn’t believe me?! He’s just a blockhead! Such an obvious thing, and he didn’t even believe it!”
Seeing her mother believe her, Lin Qionghua also curled up the corners of her lips.
She had already planned it out: finishing grade by grade was a waste of time, so she was going to skip grades.
However, after not touching books for so long after her graduation in her previous life, she had forgotten all her junior high knowledge. Fortunately, she had spent some time reviewing the elementary school content, allowing her to recall most of it.
Sure enough, her mother believed she was a genius.