âLan Hui was just helping her father by making living arrangements for the educated youths. The educated youths are all from the city and all of them are important. If they arenât well taken care of, they will write a letter to complain to the county government and the captain will get into trouble. Youâre just ignorant and donât even understand these principles!â The middle-aged woman with white hair rolled her eyes at Du Hong, then turned to Guang Ying with a fawning smile. âSister Ying, donât you agree?â
Guang Ying was the wife of the villageâs production team captain. She was very prestigious among the women and there were many people who tried to please her.
Du Hong saw that the people around her were obviously speaking up for Guang Ying and was instantly so angry that she could not speak.
Guang Ying glanced at Du Hong and said smugly, âOf course. Lan Hui is a filial child, so her father and I want to keep her at home for a few more years.â
Du Hong angrily placed the washed clothes into the wooden basin and smiled coldly. âI certainly hope she doesnât end up a spinster. She keeps looking down on others and acts as though sheâs some fairy from the heavens!â
With that, Du Hong turned around and left, ignoring the discussions behind her.
Not long after Du Hong left, Lan Hui arrived.
She saw Guang Ying chatting with the women in the village and called out sweetly, âMother!â
âOh my. Lan Hui, why are you here? The sun is hot today. Donât get sunburnt. Come to the shade of the tree.â
When she saw her dear daughter, Guang Yingâs face was filled with smiles. She smiled proudly at the women beside her. âMy daughter came to see me. I told her to stay at home and take care of her sister-in-law, but this child still came over specially to visit me. Lanhui is so filial!â
Lan Hui walked to the shade of the tree. The women around her immediately surrounded her and praised her. Although these praises were meant to please Guang Ying, Lan Hui was still very happy to hear them.
âMother, I donât have any new clothes to wear recently. Look, Iâm wearing old clothes. When are we going to town to buy new clothes?â Lan Hui hugged Guang Yingâs arm and said coquettishly.
âWhen your oldest brother gets his pay, Iâll bring you to buy cloth and find a good tailor from the neighboring village to make new clothes for you. What do you think?â Guang Ying looked at her delicate and cute daughter and smiled especially lovingly.
Only Lan Huiâs eldest brother worked in the city, and his salary was also the highest. Every time food stamps, cloth stamps, and fuel stamps were issued, Lan Huiâs eldest brother, Lan Ping, would give a portion to his parents. The cloth stamps were basically used to buy new cloth for Lan Hui to make clothes.
Hearing Guang Yingâs words, an old lady beside her asked curiously, âGuang Ying, youâre using your eldest sonâs cloth stamps for your daughter to buy clothes. Does your eldest daughter-in-law say anything about it?â
âHow dare she have any objections? Sheâs just an unemployed woman. She would never dare to have any problems about how my son spends his money, right?â Guang Ying rolled her eyes disdainfully.
In fact, Lan Huiâs sister-in-law was indeed very dissatisfied with this matter. After all, no woman wanted her husband to hand over all the money he earned to his family.
Lan Huiâs sister-in-law and her brother had quarreled countless times thanks to this.
She did not understand why her husband had to buy new clothes for his sister first with the money he earned. She hardly made any new clothes a year, but Lan Hui had to make four to five new sets of clothes every season. Lan Hui also had to make the latest styles found in magazines.
However, no matter how dissatisfied Lan Huiâs sister-in-law was with this matter, she could not change anything about it. She could not possibly divorce Lan Ping for it. She could only endure it and wait for Lan Hui to get married.
Hearing Guang Yingâs words, a young woman among the women fell silent.
Her daughter was almost 18 years old this year. She had originally wanted to find a matchmaker to matchmake her daughter with the youngest son of the Lan family. Now, it seemed that if her daughter married over, she would have to help her husband support Lan Hui.
Lan Hui was the little princess of the family. What would become of her daughter after marrying into the family? Wouldnât she be reduced to being a maid for Lan Hui?
She immediately dismissed the idea.
Lan Hui chatted with Guang Ying for a while longer. Finally, she whispered into Guang Yingâs ear about Chunxiuâs argument with her today. Of course, according to Lan Huiâs description, Chunxiu was the one who bullied her.
âHow could she do this to you? You were kind enough to take care of her at home, but she mocked you for not coming out to work. When she was pregnant, we didnât let her do any work, but she gave birth to two useless girls anyway! We havenât even blamed her for it, yet she actually dares to criticize you? Huihui, donât worry. Iâll take care of her when we get back!â Guang Ying said angrily.