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墨書 Inktalez
The farce ended with Zhou Xiaoying apologizing and softening her stance. Since that day, Ma Lianfa's nephew, Sanshun, stayed behind. Not only Sanshun, but also Ma Laotai claimed that Sanshun wasn't being watched, so she stayed as well.
In the past few days, Zhou Xiaoying had been quite obedient, but it was a pity for her three daughters. You wouldn't believe how Ma Laotai treated them—she would scold them at the slightest provocation. Ma Lianfa didn't care at all; Zhou Xiaoying was afraid that he would divorce her, so she didn't dare to speak up.
Aunt Zhao recounted the situation and lamented that Zhou Xiaoying had a hard life raising three daughters. "So does this mean Sanshun has been adopted by Ma Lianfa?" Ye Fangfei asked. "After all, Ma Lianfa is only in his thirties; he could have children of his own. Is there really a need to adopt now?"
"Who knows? As far as I know, Sanshun's household registration hasn't been transferred; it's still in the hometown," Aunt Gui said. "Who knows what will happen in the future?"
"Isn't Ma Lianfa just raising someone else's child for free? Why neglect his own daughters to raise someone else's son? I really don't understand what they're thinking," Ye Fangfei remarked, still puzzled.
"What else could they be thinking? They believe that having a male nephew means continuing the family line," Aunt Zhao replied.
Ye Fangfei scoffed, "But if Sanshun gets married and has children in the future, those descendants will belong to Ma Lianfa's brother, not him. What does it have to do with him?"
"Exactly! But some people still prioritize sons over daughters," Aunt Zhao said. "They'd rather raise someone else's son than take care of their own daughters."
"This isn't uncommon. Our street office promotes gender equality all day long, yet many people still refuse to accept it," Aunt Gui added.
Aunt Zhao nodded in agreement, "Isn't that right? But things are much better now than before. In the past, if a girl was born, many people would just throw the baby girl into a bucket to die."
"At least now they can survive," Aunt Gui said.
She had taken advantage of her break at work to come home and check on her children. With school not yet in session, the kids were all at home; the older ones were fine. But she worried about her youngest daughter, who had just turned two. Whenever she had time, she felt compelled to come back and check on her.
Fortunately, she worked at the street office, which was close to home.
"Stay here, I'll take this back and then head to work," Aunt Gui said as she turned to leave.
When she came out again, she was holding an oiled paper bag, which likely contained steamed rice cakes. Aunt Gui handed the bag to Ye Fangfei and hurried off.
Ye Fangfei chatted with Aunt Zhao for a while longer before taking the rice cakes from Aunt Gui and receiving a packet of red dates from Aunt Zhao in return.
As she passed by the back room, she noticed an elderly woman peering inside. When the woman saw Ye Fangfei come out, she didn't seem embarrassed about being caught; instead, she smiled and greeted her, "Hello, dear! Are you from this courtyard? I don't think I've seen you before."
This elderly woman must be the Mrs. Ma that Aunt Zhao mentioned. Although Ye Fangfei had heard from Aunt Zhao that this woman wasn't particularly nice, she believed in not being rude to someone who approached her with a smile. Since the woman hadn't done anything to offend her, there was no reason for her to respond coldly.
With a smile, Ye Fangfei replied, "Hello, ma'am! I'm also from the big courtyard; I live over there." She pointed to the small courtyard next door.
Upon hearing that the small courtyard belonged to Ye Fangfei's family, Mrs. Ma's eyes flickered with envy. She had been busy these past few days gathering information about the families in the big courtyard and knew well that most families were similar—many children living in cramped conditions just like hers.
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