Chapter 507: Gossip Survival System (6)

"Hey, who are you people? You're not from this alley, are you?"

Qiu Yingying was on her way to the State-run Market to have her father cash in on a Tape Recorder when she saw two suspicious people following the twin children of her neighbor across the street. Suspecting the two were human traffickers and worried about the neighbor's children, she hurriedly gave chase...

Xie Yang, who had inadvertently witnessed the scene of one adult and two children being drugged and stuffed into a crate: "..."

She had just been praising the good public security of this era, having encountered neither terrible people nor human traffickers during her four days on the train, yet she had run into them the moment she got off...

Truly, one rat dropping ruins a whole pot of porridge!

Xie Yang clenched her fists and gave chase...

Hongken Farm, Dongjiang County.

This was the largest State-run Farm in the south. Excluding the Educated Youth and the laborers undergoing reform, the farm staff alone numbered over Wanyi, making it effectively a medium-sized Commune.

The Chen Family had been farm staff for three generations; their life was not as good as the best, but better than the worst.

Unfortunately, over the past six months, they had emptied their family savings for their little grandson's illness, and with the autumn harvest yet to arrive, they were already over two hundred work points in debt to the farm.

The crucial thing was that the little grandson's illness showed no signs of improvement.

The doctors at the county hospital said the illness was congenital and could only be managed, not cured. At the very least, the local hospital lacked the conditions to treat it.

Management only provided relief for a while after taking medicine; if the seasons changed or the weather turned, and prevention wasn't up to par, it would still flare up repeatedly.

The Chen Family was truly at their wit's end, which was why they had written a letter to Beijing.

"Calculating the time, the letter should have reached Beijing by now. I wonder what the Xie Family thinks, and if they will come to pick up Xiao Shitou."

Chen Lao looked at the sky; the sun was about to set, and another day was coming to an end.

He took a puff of his stifling cigarette and, while exhaling a smoke ring, fiercely spat out the pent-up frustration in his heart.

"Dad, I told you there was no need to write to Beijing."

Chen Yongqiang sat by the well, cleaning the Rice Field Eels he had caught in the irrigation ditch after work, and took up the conversation:

"If they really cared about Xiao Shitou over there, they would have sent someone to pick him up immediately after a telegram. If they don't care, no matter how specific you are in the letter, it's useless. They might even resent that Xiao Shitou was a 'medicine jar' from the moment he left his mother's womb, and that taking him in would cost money and grain; they're probably acting as if they don't have this grandson at all."

"Grandpa! Dad! It's bad! The family of Young Aunt's mother has come to pick a fight!"

Chen Yongqiang's seven-year-old son, Gouwa, ran home from the village entrance, panting as he delivered the news.

"!!!"

Before the Chen father and son could even stand up from their stools, they saw a group of people burst into the courtyard.

"I say, in-laws, my daughter Wang Fang married your Lao San, but she hasn't enjoyed a single day of happiness and still has to help the family pay off debts—what is the meaning of this?"

"Exactly! When Chen Yongkang begged to marry our little sister, he spoke so nicely, guaranteeing she would live a good life without worrying about food or clothing. Is this your 'good life'? Owing the farm work points, and the family is so poor that you haggle over eating a bite of meat? You are guilty of marriage fraud!"

Seeing the young daughter-in-law's family rush in and point fingers at the Chen Family, Chen Lao suppressed his anger and said in a conciliatory tone, "In-laws, is there some misunderstanding? Let's sit down and talk it over slowly."

"Pah! Misunderstanding my foot! I've already found out everything. That daughter of yours who married an Educated Youth—the little sickly brat she gave birth to after a difficult labor has been raised by your family the whole time. Who knows how much medical money has been poured into him? Even the doctors say he can't be cured, yet you keep on treating him. It's only been a few months, and you're already in debt to the farm for hundreds of work points. What will it be like by the end of the year! I'm taking my daughter away right now; we're done serving your family!"

As she spoke, Wang Fang's mother shoved her daughter: "Hurry up, Xiaofang, pack your luggage and come with Mom! This Chen Family only looks good on the surface; once you're saddled with a little sickly brat, you'll have a lifetime of suffering ahead. While you don't have children yet, listen to Mom, get a divorce quickly and let your brothers pick someone else for you. It's hard to find a three-legged toad, but are you afraid you won't find a two-legged man? Even your cousin managed to marry a city worker; your conditions are much better than hers. Mom will definitely help you find someone better."

Wang Fang's lips twitched, and she turned to look at Chen Zhikang, who had hurried over.

Seeing his pant legs rolled up high, his feet and calves covered in mud, it was clear he had gone to the river to catch River Snails after work. Was this what he called "treating her well"?

Wang Fang curled her lip in disdain.

Then she thought of her cousin's husband, who would return home after work with his shirt crisp and his Leather Shoes gleaming, and who would take her cousin to the park, the market, or the movies on his days off.

In what way was she worse than her cousin? When she was in school, she had many more suitors than her cousin.

Just because she had been hot-headed and taken a fancy to Chen Zhikang's face, she had married a mud-legged peasant. Compared to her cousin, her married life was like heaven and earth.

"Wang Fang."

Chen Zhikang stepped forward and called out to Wang Fang, who was about to enter the house, staring at her with tightly pressed lips.

She had made a scene more than once over the family using money to treat his little nephew's illness.

He had told her more than once about the family's plans: once the little nephew was better, his parents would divide the family property among the brothers, and life would get better; it wouldn't be this difficult forever.

However, this morning, after seeing his mother feed the little nephew a bowl of millet porridge, she had made a scene with him again, saying that she, a new bride, didn't even get to eat such fine grain, yet it was being fed to an outsider.

After arguing with him, she had dropped the word "divorce" and run back to her mother's house.

He had thought she was just speaking in anger, so he wanted to catch some River Snails she liked and then go to his mother-in-law's house to pick her up.

He hadn't expected her to bring her family back to move her dowry. Was she really not planning to live with him anymore?

"Have you thought it through? Are you really not going to live with me?"

"I'm not!"

Wang Fang retorted stiffly, and without looking back, she lifted the door curtain and went inside to pack her dowry.

Seeing this, the rest of the Chen Family rushed forward, wanting to persuade them to reconcile, but Chen Zhikang raised his hand to stop them.

He lowered his eyes and said, "Since she is determined to leave, then let her leave."

A forced melon is not sweet; he did not want to spend his whole life living in arguments with her.

In the Dongjiang County area, it was popular to hold a wedding banquet; getting a marriage certificate was not the most important part.

Chen Zhikang and Wang Fang had married before the New Year, and they still hadn't registered the marriage.

Divorce was naturally simple: take away the dowry, and have a Cadre from the farm act as a witness, and that was it.

But Wang Fang's family also wanted to convert the work points Wang Fang had earned since marrying into money and take them away, not realizing that apart from a few days during the spring plowing, Wang Fang had been lazy at home and basically hadn't done any work.

With no money, they simply moved away everything valuable in the house, including the radio, enamel basin, and thermos that Xie Jianbing had brought back from Beijing.

"You are not allowed to move these! These are not your daughter's dowry!"

Chen Danniang, while coaxing the little grandson who had been woken up, tried to block them.

Chen Yongqiang and the other men started to walk over, but were blocked by Wang Fang's mother, who stretched out her arms:

"So what if it's not dowry? My daughter married your son and was slept with for so long for nothing; it's already a bargain for you that we didn't make your family pay!"

"..."

Seeing the righteous and confident manner in which Wang Fang's mother spoke these words, everyone present was speechless.

Is this something a mother should be able to say?

What did she take Wang Fang for?

A prostitute?

Yet the Wang Family members did not seem to realize this, scrambling to grab things and run.

The Chen Family courtyard was silent.

At this moment, the rumbling sound of a tractor approached from afar.

"Uncle Chen! Uncle Chen! You have guests at your house!"