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墨書 Inktalez
Ye Fangfei and Yao Feixue were talking when Gao Xiangchun was also lamenting to Gao Dachui and Sister Kui.
“Dad, Mom, I don’t want to go back. The farm work is too exhausting. It’s not just tiring; I’ve gotten used to it over the past two years. But there are always these good-for-nothings trying to take advantage of us female educated youths. Just the other day, a girl from the south was bullied and ended up having to marry the man who mistreated her. Now in the village where I’m assigned, there’s a woman eyeing me, wanting me to marry her son. Mom, I don’t want to marry him; he’s just a good-for-nothing.”
Hearing her daughter’s complaints, Sister Kui also hugged Gao Xiangchun and cried. “Xiangchun, my poor daughter, it’s all because your father and I are useless,” she sobbed.
Gao Dachui silently took a puff from his pipe, watching the two women weep together. “Enough crying; it’s New Year’s, and you don’t even know how to be ashamed,” he said.
“How am I being ashamed? My daughter is suffering, and I can’t cry?” Sister Kui retorted. “It’s all your fault for not being capable. If you could just find a temporary job, Xiangchun wouldn’t have to go down to the countryside.”
“Enough with your nagging! Why don’t you think about yourself? If you had a job like Aunt Zhao, you could have let her take your place and not go down to the countryside,” Gao Dachui snapped back, digging at Sister Kui’s heart.
“Aunt Zhao gave her job to her daughter so that she wouldn’t have to go down,” he continued. Gao Dachui didn’t want his daughter to go either, but this was how things were now—what could he do?
Besides, every family had children going down to the countryside; everyone was just an ordinary worker. There were no connections for finding jobs anymore. Jobs were scarce; even if someone wanted to help out, they couldn’t afford it.
And honestly speaking, even if he had enough money, he wouldn’t buy a job for a girl. Although he cared for his daughter, he still favored his son more.
With limited money at home, if everything went to his daughter, what would happen to his son? It wasn’t that Gao Dachui was biased against daughters; it was just how people were at that time. After all, once a daughter married out, she became part of someone else’s family.
The wages she earned would go to her in-laws; if her family spent money buying her a job, they wouldn’t gain anything from it. Sons needed money for their weddings in the future—without money at home, who would let their good daughters follow him?
In the end, it all came down to being too poor. The family had only this little money, and once they gave their daughter a dowry, there would be nothing left. If they had enough money, he would certainly be willing to help his daughter find a job.
Sometimes it wasn't that people preferred sons over daughters; it was simply a matter of practicality.
The younger sister was at a loss for words, overwhelmed by the towering figure of Gao Dachui. Thoughts of Zhao Qingyun flooded her mind, and a wave of sorrow washed over her. She and Zhao Qingyun were of the same age and had a good relationship. Now, Zhao Qingyun was working at the distillery's cafeteria under Aunt Zhao, while she had to go to the countryside to farm and deal with the advances of some good-for-nothings.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt her life was miserable, and her cries grew louder. This time, it wasn't just Ye Fangfei and her friends who heard her; everyone in the courtyard could hear her distress. With the New Year approaching, everyone was spending more time at home.
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