Xu Manman pouted, looking discontentedly at her mom, "Mom, how could a pig butcher be a good person? Those butchers are all big and burly, I definitely don't want one!"
"What's wrong with a pig butcher? Look at those people at the slaughterhouse, which one of them isn't slick and shiny? If you had a man like that, wouldn't you be able to eat meat whenever you wanted?" Wang Mingxia felt her daughter was foolish.
It's not that Jiang Chengxu was bad, his father was the deputy director of a food factory, his mother was a nurse at a hospital, and he was a publicity officer at a machinery factory. The key was, this marriage was arranged by her sister-in-law, Song Wanlin.
Earlier, she had already snatched a job as a projectionist for the second son. It wouldn't be good to let her daughter take this son-in-law too.
"I don't care, I'm not marrying a pig butcher anyway. You lost me for more than ten years, and now I've finally come back, and you're in such a rush to marry me off?" Xu Manman started to cry again.
Wang Mingxia felt deeply torn but was helpless, "Then what do you suggest? If you don't get married, you'll have to go to the countryside. Do you want to go to the countryside?"
Of course, Xu Manman didn't want to, "How did big brother and second brother get their jobs? And third brother, are you planning to send third brother to the countryside too? In this family, whether blood-related or not, why am I always the one sacrificed?"
After saying that, Xu Manman stood up and went to her room to cry.
The family broke up in discord.
Xu Qinghuan was about to enter the room when Wang Mingxia called her, "Huanhuan, come over here with your second aunt, your aunt has something to say to you."
She exchanged a glance with Xu Liqun, and the couple went into the room together, Xu Qinghuan following behind.
"Huanhuan, you see, this situation is indeed difficult. In the family, only your big brother and second brother have jobs. You three don't have jobs. You're a bit better off; you're about to get married, and once married, you won't have to go to the countryside.
Your third brother is a man; I don't worry about where he goes. Now at home, it's only Manman left..."
As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.
If Xu Qinghuan didn't know that Xu Manman went missing at the age of three because Wang Mingxia did it on purpose, she might have believed this display of a loving mother's heart.
But at this moment, she had to believe it. At the very least, between Xu Manman and her, Wang Mingxia chose Xu Manman.
"Second aunt, do you mean for me to do something?" Xu Qinghuan asked, lowering her gaze.
Wang Mingxia sighed with difficulty, "Manman came back late, and over the years, who knows how much hardship she has endured outside. She hasn't studied well and can't find a job. People look down on her when they hear she grew up in the countryside, making it difficult for her to find a decent man."
Xu Liqun added from the side, "Huanhuan, although your dad is gone, and your mom doesn't want you, you still have your second uncle and aunt. I hope that now that you and Manman are sisters, you can support each other in the future."
Xu Qinghuan asked puzzled, "Second uncle means you hope I go to the countryside with Manman?"
Although she had decided to go to the countryside, she didn't want to go with Xu Manman. She hoped to escape these people and in this time and space, make a few friends, latch onto powerful connections, and live a leisurely and comfortable life.
Unlike in the past, where life was tiring, trying desperately to prove herself, only for her parents to not care at all.
Wang Mingxia put on a smile, "Silly child, what nonsense are you talking about? How could I bear to let you sisters go to the countryside? I've raised you for fourteen years, and I'd rather send Manman to the countryside. I'm unwilling to send you there!"
Indeed, Song Wanlin gives them twenty-five yuan a month, equivalent to a regular worker's monthly salary.
Xu Qinghuan smiled, "I still don't understand what you really mean, second uncle and aunt. What do you want me to do? Just say it directly."
The original owner once believed that her second uncle, aunt, and three brothers cherished her deeply. After her father's sacrifice, she was abandoned by her mother but had a home to live in, treating these people as her own family.
Filial to her elders, attached to her brothers, she thought they also treated her well.
Until Xu Manman returned.
She realized the love and affection she imagined were just not worth mentioning.
Her monthly allowance was fifty cents, while Xu Manman got five yuan.
The big brother never bought her snacks; Xu Manman could eat the braised pork brought back by the big brother every other day.
When Xu Manman snatched her things, the second brother would slap her without asking questions, forcing her to give the things to Xu Manman and scolding her for being stingy and ungrateful.
When Xu Manman bullied her, the third brother would stand by coldly, his partiality towards Xu Manman evident. If Xu Qinghuan dared to resist, he would help without hesitation.
Xu Qinghuan finally understood that the peace she previously experienced, which tricked her into thinking she had a family, was because she didn't get in anyone's way in this household.
On the contrary, the Xu Family could use her to manipulate Song Wanlin.
After all, Song Wanlin married above her social class, and she didn't want Xu Qinghuan's existence to affect her life further. She especially didn't want the people of Yan City to know she once had a daughter.
Wang Mingxia said, "I'm thinking, you're still young, and there's no need to rush into marriage. About the Jiang Family engagement, my thought is to delay it a bit, especially since Jiang Chengxu's mother doesn't really like you.
If you marry, and mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relations aren't good, it could affect the marriage. Your aunt only wishes the best for you, please understand that."
Back then, she had abandoned Xu Manman once already, and over the years, she felt remorse in her midnight dreams.
Seeing her niece marrying above her station while her daughter is being sent to the countryside made her feel worse.
"This marriage isn't something I can decide," Xu Qinghuan spoke truthfully.
"You're a child of the Xu Family. Your father is gone, your affairs can be overseen by me, your second uncle. You're still young, and there's no rush to get married now. I will handle postponing this marriage," Xu Liqun declared resolutely.
Even though Xu Manman hadn't been raised under his care for fourteen years, and she wasn't even his biological child, at this moment he didn't know that and believed Xu Manman was his daughter, while Xu Qinghuan was just a niece.
Lying in bed, Wang Mingxia nudged Xu Liqun with her elbow, "Old Xu, will this be okay? What if the sister-in-law doesn't agree?"
"My sister-in-law is always smart. Her plan is that once Huanhuan gets married, she won't care about us anymore, so she's pushing for the engagement and rushing the wedding."
Previously, the jobs for the eldest and second sons were also arranged by the sister-in-law; these years, even farts had to seek her.
Anyone would be annoyed.
But she got married to her brother's comrade in less than three months after his sacrifice, leaving Xu Liqun both resentful and afraid of this sister-in-law.
"Let's take a look at this marriage with the Jiang Family," Xu Liqun thought of the third and Manman, along with the future money needed for three sons to get married, and decided instantly.
This was a decision of disagreement!
Wang Mingxia was secretly delighted, "We can't go and break off the engagement ourselves."
It would be best if this marriage could be swapped for her own daughter!
"You should first feel out the Jiang family's intentions, see what they think. It's them wanting to marry," Xu Liqun said.
"I'll meet with Chengxu's mom tomorrow to discuss it," Wang Mingxia thought. "No matter how strategic my sister-in-law is, if the daughter and she aren't on the same page, it's all in vain."
In the darkness, Xu Manman cried herself to sleep, letting out light snores. There was no moonlight outside, nor the ubiquitous streetlights of the future. Xu Qinghuan, less than a meter away, could only see a vague raised silhouette on the bed.
She touched the red mark on her left wrist, and with a slight warmth, she found herself in a familiar space.
Here, the mountains were majestic, the plains vast, the forests endless, and the sea boundless.
The soil exuded a fresh scent, and the bamboo forest swayed gently in the breeze.
Amidst the clouds, there were spiraling through bamboo glades.
And she stood in front of the Silver Light Hall's square, her feet on soil planted with herbs, mist from the sprayed water gently falling on the fields.
The halls stood tall among the clouds, enveloped in a misty embrace.
This space, hidden within the ancestral Red Jade, was given to her by her grandfather on his deathbed, merging into her wrist the moment she held it.
In the previous life, she was too busy with the abundance she had every day, working tirelessly, trying to prove herself, only to find that her parents did not care at all.
Unfortunately, in her past life, she was too wealthy, always struggling to prove herself, and the resources in the Silver Light Hall were incredibly scarce.
Even if she went to trade in the black market, the items in her space lacked much that was essential, like food and supplies, and in any case, the black market was dying out.