The captain's wife's face instantly darkened. "Xu Shengnan! Didn't you get injured in a fight? Where's your injury? Are you faking it again?!"
Xu Shengnan's heart pounded, and she forced herself to say, "I'm not faking it. I've said it before, I have thin skin, it turns red easily, so it would look terrifying if someone scratched me. I have a good constitution and recover quickly, so what's so strange about it being healed in half a day?"
The team leader's wife laughed angrily, "I'll take what you say as true. So you're not serious? If you're not serious, why aren't you working? You're acting like you're disfigured and just lazing around at home. Your behavior is a bad example!"
Xu Shengnan changed her mind and, too lazy to deal with these country folk, said impatiently, "My face is fine, but my body is killing me from being beaten. How can I have the energy to work? So many people saw it, I didn't lie. Perfect timing, I need to go to the city to find work, I'll ask for leave."
The group was taken aback. Song's mother tentatively asked, "Are you going to the city? To find work?"
"Of course, if my aunt can find someone, then of course I can find someone too. I even gave her the money myself." Xu Shengnan looked at the expressions on Song's mother and sister-in-law's faces, feeling smug. They used to look down on her, but now they're all soft-hearted at the mention of work.
Xu Shengnan deliberately feigned a pained expression and said weakly, "I can't take it anymore, my body hurts too much, I need to rest. This house is leaking and all wet, I can't rest here, I'd better go back to my parents' house. Song Xin, are you coming?"
Song Xin happily said, "I'm not going. You should go back to your parents' house quickly." Then she said to her mother, "Mom, I'll stay home tonight."
Song's mother nodded of course. Xu Shengnan was so angry that her face darkened. She went back to her room, put the important things into her spatial storage, grabbed a small bundle as a formality, and then walked out.
The brigade leader's wife hesitated for a moment, but didn't stop her. Xu Xiuzhen had indeed found a job, and Xu Shengnan might really be able to get into the city through this connection. She had no reason to stop her from pursuing a bright future.
After everyone left, she couldn't help but advise Song Xin, "Song Xin, although you didn't marry this woman of your own volition, you're now family. She has connections to find a job in the city. If she could find you one too, you'd both be working. How many people would envy you? Think about it, isn't that the truth? Stop arguing all the time."
Song's mother also asked, "Daxin, what are you thinking?"
Song Xin shook his head. "Mom, Aunt, please don't try to persuade me. I feel like throwing up whenever I see her. There's no way I can live a good life with her. To be honest, I have no hope for this marriage. Life is so dull and tasteless. She'd better stay at her parents' house and go live her good life. I'll be happy to be carefree."
The brigade leader's wife shook her head and sighed, patted his shoulder and said a few words of comfort before leaving. Song's mother wanted to persuade him, saying that a job is a secure job, more important than anything else. If he could get into the grain depot, his life would be set!
Sister-in-law Song also hoped that he could go to the city, so that he could definitely help their family in the future, or at the very least, help their children.
But Song Xin was very stubborn and wouldn't agree no matter what they said, so they had no choice but to give up and return to the Song family.
Xu Shengnan returned to the Xu family home and found Xu Xiuzhen. She bluntly asked her to help her find a job, on the condition that she would give her a 200 yuan reward or a bicycle.
These days, people who own bicycles are envied. Xu Xiuzhen was immediately tempted. Her classmate's father was the director of a grain depot, and her classmate became a permanent employee there right after graduating from high school. She had used this connection to get the job. She even gave her classmate's family 500 yuan. If Xu Shengnan had more money, she probably could have gotten a temporary worker in there too.
However, Xu Shengnan readily agreed to the 500 yuan bribe and the bicycle, but she was more curious about where Xu Shengnan got the money from.
Xu Shengnan, of course, didn't tell her, which made her so angry that she said coldly, "You can only be a temporary worker. There's no guarantee you'll become a permanent employee. If you don't do a good job, you'll be fired anyway."
Xu Shengnan didn't care at all, "Just let me in."
In a few years, there will be a wave of layoffs. By then, Song Xin will be forming a construction team to build houses. Who cares about getting a permanent position? He just wants to spend these few years leisurely.
Xu Shengnan settled into the main house of the Xu family. Xu Dajun and Liu Xia were worried about her, while others mocked her. The busybodies in the village went to the fifth team to inquire and heard that she had been fighting with someone and had also cheated to avoid labor, which was a disgrace to the fourth team. They all despised her.
Xu Shengnan ignored them all. She had figured it out now; she had gone astray before, oversimplifying things and thus getting herself into trouble. Now she should go to the city to enjoy life, become a wealthy wife in a few years, and get away from these ignorant country bumpkins. This was the life she deserved.
Xu Dajun was at his wits' end with his daughter. He couldn't eat anything and ran to find Xu Zifan before it got dark.
He peered out from the courtyard, not daring to make a sound.
Xu Zifan, reminded by Shao Hua, came out and asked, "What's up? Something wrong?"
Xu Dajun subconsciously shook his head, then immediately nodded, "Yes, something's up."
"Then speak." Xu Zifan didn't let him into the yard, but fed the chickens while gesturing for him to speak.
Xu Dajun said worriedly, "Dad, Shengnan went back to her parents' house today. I heard she's having a hard time at her in-laws' house. Song Xin is never home, and the house is leaking and uninhabitable. She wants to work at the grain depot now, and she asked my younger sister to find her a job. By the way, Dad, my younger sister found a job. She got a temporary job at the grain depot for 500 yuan. Did you hear that? How did she meet the person? 500 yuan is a lot of money. Could she have been scammed?"
And then there's Shengnan, who seems to be asking for another 500 yuan. Where is she going to get so much money? Dad, what should we do? Are they going astray?
Xu Zifan waved his hand with his back to him, "You can take care of your daughter yourself. If you can't, then forget it. As for my daughter, I've given her everything I can. Let her do whatever she wants. Anyway, she doesn't listen to me."
Xu Dajun stared blankly at Xu Zifan, bewildered and helpless. "Dad, are you still angry? You really don't care about us anymore?"
It's extremely rare for family members to sever ties. Sometimes they might argue or even fight, saying hurtful things that strike at the heart. But after a while, when they meet again, they silently back down and make up, at least on the surface, simply because they are blood relatives.
Xu Zifan understood that they never believed he would really be heartless; they always thought he was just angry and would calm down. So Xu Zifan didn't explain anything to him and just told him directly, "I don't care, go back, and don't come looking for me again."
Xu Dajun wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say. He looked at the seven or eight chickens in the yard, three eggs still lying on the ground, and a litter of rabbits nestled obediently by the fence outside the yard. There was a paved path and a grape trellis in the yard.
My father's life is much better than theirs, which means that he is capable. He can get rid of them, who are a drag on his life, and his life will be much better. They used to think that my father was selfish and didn't take care of his grandchildren. It turns out that it was all because they were useless. They couldn't provide my father with good food and clothing, nor could they provide a good life for their wives and children. It was all because of their incompetence.
Xu Dajun was filled with shame and had no face to ask his father for anything more. He said softly, "Dad, I'm leaving," and returned to the Xu family dejectedly.
Xu Zifan clapped his hands clean, feeling that this was good news. Song Xin had only been pretending for two days, and Xu Shengnan couldn't stand it anymore. Once Xu Shengnan entered the city, Song Xin wouldn't be discovered even if he engaged in speculation and profiteering, and he could do whatever he wanted.
Once the situation improves and people in the county start getting divorced, Song Xin can find a way to get a divorce. Although divorce is a big deal in this small town these days, these two people clearly never lived together, so no one will say anything if they divorce. The Song family didn't ask her for anything, so it won't affect her in the village.
Song Xin was a native of the village and had never thought about divorce. He was overjoyed that Xu Shengnan had gone to the city. The next day, he and Xu Zifan went into the mountains to hunt a lot of sparrows, roasted a big meal for him, and stewed a pigeon soup.
He thought Xu Zifan's idea was absolutely brilliant. Xu Shengnan, a country girl, couldn't bear any grievances at all. She was such a weirdo, which suited him perfectly. It would be better if she lived in the city for the rest of her life.
Xu Shengnan couldn't wait to take Xu Xiuzhen to the county town. Xu Xiuzhen found a classmate and asked Xu Shengnan to treat her to a meal. Xu Shengnan was beautiful, and the male classmate was immediately smitten. He then readily agreed to the treat, assuring her that there would be no problem and that she could rest assured.
Throughout the entire meal, Xu Xiuzhen barely uttered a word, and her face turned terribly pale when she got home.
Xu Shengnan glanced at her, secretly laughing to herself. That male classmate was actually Xu Xiuzhen's husband in her past life.
At that time, the old man wouldn't give Xu Xiuzhen money to buy a job, so Xu Xiuzhen hated him. Later, she married a grain depot worker and became arrogant. However, during the wave of layoffs, for some reason, her husband and father-in-law were both laid off, and their family's financial situation worsened. After that, she lost contact with them.
Now, the man was staring at her without even blinking, and Xu Shengnan felt incredibly smug. However, she looked down on this kind of useless man; at most, she felt a sense of superiority, thinking that everything was different now that she had a second chance.
Xu Xiuzhen naturally sensed it, and when she got home, she said stiffly, "I can go by myself next time. This kind of thing shouldn't be known by too many people."
Xu Xiuzhen was filled with regret. She shouldn't have jumped out to stop the division of the family property in the first place. Now everyone knew that she had paid money to buy a job. She didn't even want to think about what would happen if someone reported her.
As a result, Xu Shengnan asked her to buy another job. She was blinded by the bicycle and agreed. Xu Shengnan has such a bad reputation and is so annoying. What if someone reports Xu Shengnan?
Most importantly, Xu Shengnan even seduces men; she's shameless!
Xu Xiuzhen didn't wait for Xu Shengnan's reply, turned her face away, and stormed into her room, slamming the door shut with a deafening roar. Xu Shengnan, instead of being angry, laughed, touched her face, and went back to her room with a grin. If she drank the spiritual spring water every day, she wondered if she would become an unparalleled beauty, capable of becoming a star. A top-tier star, perhaps earning more than Song Xin.
Xu Shengnan felt happy thinking about the bright future. She hummed a song as she looked in the mirror in her room, waiting for good news from the grain depot.
A well-dressed man rode his bicycle into the village from outside. After asking for directions, he headed straight for Xu Zifan's courtyard, attracting a lot of attention. This man was clearly from the city, not an ordinary citizen. What did he want with the old man?
Everyone was instinctively a little reserved when they saw the city people, and they didn't dare to go forward. They all stood at a distance and watched silently. Then they saw that the man was very polite and courteous to Xu Zifan!
What's going on? When did the old man start having connections with city people?