Zhao Pinglan still wanted to say something, but Zhang Junzhong waved his hand and made the final decision outright.
“It’s because the family can’t help much. Third Girl doesn’t need to hand over eight yuan anymore—five is enough, at least until you get married.”
Zhang Junzhong had fled famine during the war years and settled in Pingcheng with absolutely no roots or connections.
Meanwhile, Zhao Pinglan’s family had lived in Pingcheng for generations, with deep roots and a powerful clan network.
The two met by chance, started seeing each other, and eventually became a couple. Zhao Pinglan’s parents couldn’t win against their daughter’s stubbornness and reluctantly agreed to the marriage.
Throughout all their years together, Zhang Junzhong had always been grateful that Zhao Pinglan was willing to marry beneath her status. As a result, he rarely interfered in family matters, big or small.
If Zhao Pinglan said east, he never went west.
This time, however, because of the guilt he felt toward his youngest daughter, he unusually voiced his own opinion.
Zhao Pinglan felt a lump rise in her chest, but she couldn’t explode in front of the children.
She could only glare at Zhang Junzhong. “You’re the only one playing the good guy now, making me look like I’m not their real mother.”
“She just graduated high school—not even twenty yet—and you want her carrying that much money around? What kind of joke is that?”
“That’s enough,” Zhang Junzhong interrupted. “Third Girl may be young, but she’s always been hardworking and obedient. As her father, I trust her.”
Zhang Yunqing raised her brows in surprise. She hadn’t expected the original owner of this body to seem so reliable in her father’s eyes.
It seemed that in every parent’s heart, they knew perfectly well which child was clever and which one was honest.
Sometimes they simply couldn’t be bothered to interfere.
As long as someone did the work that needed doing, it didn’t matter who ended up suffering a loss.
At this point, if Zhao Pinglan continued insisting, she would only be undermining Zhang Junzhong’s authority in front of the children.
Over all these years of marriage, although Zhang Junzhong had always obeyed her, Zhao Pinglan also cared about preserving his dignity as a man. She had never embarrassed him publicly, especially not before their children.
“Fine. Five yuan it is.” Zhao Pinglan gritted her teeth and snorted before turning to lecture Zhang Yunqing. “Keep a tight hold on your money. Don’t spend carelessly. Save where you should save. Later, when you marry into another family, having money in hand will make your life easier.”
In her opinion, giving a young girl more than ten yuan a month was completely unreliable. Who knew what nonsense she’d spend it on?
Thinking about the recent scandals involving young people desperately trying to avoid being sent to the countryside, Zhao Pinglan warned sternly, “Now that you have a job, stay away from those unemployed social youths waiting to be sent down. Don’t let yourself get sweet-talked into doing something stupid again.”
The implication in her words was obvious.
Zhang Yunqing knew exactly who she meant and nodded. “Don’t worry. Even if I date someone, I’ll find somebody properly matched to our family. Anyone without a job is automatically out of consideration. Happy now?”
“You’d better remember that.” Zhao Pinglan sneered.
She had already decided that if her youngest daughter really did something foolish, she had plenty of ways to deal with her.
After dealing with her youngest daughter, she turned her attention to her eldest son.
“You and Jinfeng should talk and find a time to sit down with her parents and settle your marriage.”
Although she wasn’t particularly satisfied that Li Jinfeng was only a temporary worker at the textile factory, children grew up and stopped listening to their parents. The two had already been dating for over a year. If they still didn’t finalize things soon, people would start gossiping.
Besides, temporary workers still had a chance of becoming permanent employees.
“Mm, I’ll ask her later,” Zhang Hongwei replied distractedly.
Clearly, he still hadn’t fully processed the fact that his younger sister had managed to find a job entirely on her own.
Early the next morning, before Zhang Yunqing had even fully woken up, Zhao Pinglan dragged her off the heated brick bed.
“Mom, look at the sky—it’s barely even dawn yet,” Zhang Yunqing said helplessly, pointing at the pale bluish-white light outside the window.
“It’s not early. Your father and brothers are already up. Doesn’t breakfast take time? Today’s your first day at work. Go early, pour tea and water for the leaders, leave a good impression.”
While folding the bedding, Zhao Pinglan kept urging her to wash up and eat breakfast.
Now that her sleep had already been interrupted and there wasn’t enough time left to fall back asleep properly, Zhang Yunqing rubbed her drowsy eyes and reluctantly got up.
Breakfast was egg-drop soup with coarse grain buns.
A huge iron pot on the stove was filled with boiling water. Two eggs were cracked into it, the egg ribbons spreading through the entire pot. Before serving, chopped scallions were sprinkled on top for garnish, making it smell wonderfully fragrant.
These days, everyone lacked oil and meat in their diet. To make sure the family’s laborers had enough energy for the day, the Zhang family always included at least a little bit of meat or eggs in breakfast.
The coarse grain buns had already been prepared beforehand. Cornmeal mixed with bean flour and wild vegetables was kneaded with water into fist-sized balls and steamed until firm and heavy.
Before eating, they were reheated over the steaming rack. By the time the egg soup was ready, the buns had softened somewhat too.
They still scratched the throat going down, but at least they weren’t as rock hard as when cold.
Even though Zhang Yunqing wasn’t used to such rough food, she had no other choice.
This wasn’t her previous life, where she could buy all kinds of food whenever she wanted and even pick and choose based on taste.
In the Zhang household, if she skipped this meal, then she’d simply have to wait until noon for the next one. There was no extra food in between.
Expressionless, Zhang Yunqing gnawed on the coarse bun, stretching her neck halfway across the table before gulping down some soup. She felt her greatest strength was being practical enough to recognize reality and abandon unrealistic fantasies.
After washing the dishes, double-checking that all the paperwork needed for her onboarding was complete, and making sure nothing had been forgotten, Zhang Yunqing greeted Zhao Pinglan and headed out carrying a small patchwork cloth bag.
Unfortunately, the moment she stepped out of the alley, she ran straight into the person she least wanted to see right now.
When Shen Changlin spotted her, he abruptly halted his steps. His eyes swept over Zhang Yunqing from head to toe with a strange expression.
Frowning, he said, “I heard everything from my mother about yesterday. It was just one bucket of water. Yunqing, when did you become so irresponsible?”
What nonsense.
Zhang Yunqing had merely refused to become free labor for his family, yet somehow her moral character was now being questioned.
Rolling her eyes, she replied, “You and Uncle Zhang don’t bother filling the water tank early in the morning while it’s cool, but instead make Aunt Huaihua haul water around at noon.”
“The husband and son in the family are the ones without responsibility, yet somehow you’re blaming me, an outsider? What kind of logic is that?”
A communal water tap had been installed in the alley a few years ago, but fetching water was still inconvenient.
So everyone still kept water stored in tanks at home.
Even Zhang Hongbing—that unreliable brat—knew to take turns with his second brother filling the family water tank.
Yet the Shen father and son acted like masters at home, never helping with chores and useless when it came to physical labor.
And despite all that, Li Huaihua still thought her husband and son were exceptionally outstanding, while looking down on the hardworking original Zhang Yunqing as a potential daughter-in-law.
She really had no self-awareness at all. Her bias filter was unbelievably thick.
Shen Changlin was stunned speechless by her barrage of words. His eyes widened in shock, as though he no longer recognized the girl before him.
“You… my father is still your elder! Zhang Yunqing, how can you be so uncultured? I even said good things about you in front of my mother.”
“Thanks, but no need.”
Just flapping his lips a little, and he acted like he’d made some huge sacrifice.