"How is that possible? You've never even been to school. How can you possibly go to school!" Could just reading a few books be enough?
Yu Linyun's outburst came out of the blue, startling everyone at the dinner table.
Grandma Fang glared at her granddaughter disapprovingly. "What are you shouting about? What on earth do you want?"
Yu Linyun shrank back in fear, stealing a glare at Hua Qingqing sitting opposite, only to find that the latter wasn't even looking at her.
This made her even angrier.
She stabbed at the rice in her bowl with her chopsticks. There was a piece of meat that she had secretly buried at the bottom of the bowl. Looking at it, Yu Linyun suddenly lost her appetite.
Ever since Hua Qingqing hit her head, everyone in the family had changed, especially Grandpa and Grandma. Their changes were the most obvious!
Before Big Brother left home, they were lucky if they had meat once every three days. But now, there was meat on the table every day, and Hua Qingqing ate the most! Grandma, who was so stingy, had never said a single word to her.
And now, Hua Qingqing didn't do any of the farm work or the household chores for some unknown reason. All the work had fallen to her. She studied hard during the day and came back to work diligently in the afternoon. She was even more exhausted than the old ox in the field!
Moreover, this work had always been done by Hua Qingqing before. How did it suddenly become hers for no reason?
Yu Linyun was a sensitive person. She noticed that her status in this family was constantly declining, while Hua Qingqing's was steadily rising. Hua Qingqing even dared to provoke Aunt and Big Brother.
She had secretly overheard their argument before. Grandma bought new tables and chairs for Big Brother because Hua Qingqing had taken the ones from Big Brother's room to her own.
She had seen that table. It was so beautiful, covered with a flowery cloth and a whole piece of glass on top. She had secretly dreamed at night that the table was hers.
In this family, she always knew that girls were at the bottom of the food chain. So was her elder sister, and so was she. Her elder sister had been admitted to university but couldn't go. She probably wouldn't be able to go to university either if she got admitted in the future. The chance to go to university would only be given to Big Brother or her younger brother.
Yu Linyun had always accepted this fact. After all, it was the same in other families. It was not strange for their Yu family to be like this. But now, there was an outlier like Hua Qingqing. She was like a lively monkey, making everyone dance to her tune while climbing up the highest branch. In the end, she made it, and no one below could catch up with her.
Yu Linyun was very angry. Why should Hua Qingqing, a child abandoned by her parents, live such a good life now? And even get to go to school?!
It was so unfair.
After dinner, Wan Yindi asked Yu Linyun to wash the dishes. Yu Linyun said with a cold face, "Why do I have to wash the dishes? Why doesn't my younger brother wash them?"
Wan Yindi gave her a strange look and said matter-of-factly, "Your younger brother has to study. It's just a few dishes. What's the big deal..."
Yu Linyun slammed the stacked bowls and chopsticks on the table.
"I was born from the same womb as him and go to the same school. If he has to study, don't I need to study too? I'm not washing them. You can do it yourself."
With that, she ran straight back to her room.
Seeing Yu Linyang sitting at the small table on the bed reading a book, she clenched her fists and walked over. She knocked on the small table twice.
"Hey, Mom asked you to wash the dishes."
Yu Linyang wasn't angry at being interrupted. He scratched his head, said "Okay", put on his shoes, and went to the kitchen to wash the dishes.
Hua Qingqing didn't have a bike, so she went to school with Yu Linyun and Yu Linyang. After walking for a whole week, Hua Qingqing didn't feel uncomfortable at all. The original body used to do a lot of work, so her physical fitness was good enough. This journey didn't bother her at all.
But Hua Qingqing couldn't stand the thought that she had to walk to school while Yu Linsen rode the bike that should have been hers carefree.
...
In the military compound in the capital.
Wu Yunhua came back from shopping. When she reached the courtyard gate, the young guard waved to her.
She led her daughter over and smiled. "What, do we have a package?"
The young guard showed his white teeth and took out a flat mail.
"Teacher Wu, this was delivered yesterday afternoon. It's for Minister Hua. Could you please take it back for him?"
Wu Yunhua took it and looked at it. There was an unfamiliar yet familiar address on it.
"Five-Star Production Brigade, Nan County..."
She remembered that the child her husband had with his ex-wife was left in the countryside of Nan County to be taken care of. This was the first time the child had sent a letter. The last time the child called, she had told her mother-in-law and husband that night. She didn't know if her husband had called back in the end.
Hua Jia was in his second marriage, while she was in her first. She had known from the very beginning that her husband had a child with his ex-wife. Before the marriage, her mother-in-law had been very enthusiastic towards her. Maybe she had misunderstood that she disliked the daughter Hua Jia had left in the countryside. So she had told her that she would never let that child live with them.
In fact, she didn't dislike or resent that child. She was a teacher, and as an educator, she naturally liked children. But she was also a woman, and she was happy that her in-laws were so serious about this.
Everyone said that she was lucky to marry a young and capable cadre like Hua Jia.
Ten years had passed. After she gave birth to her daughter Miaomiao, she felt especially guilty about her previous thoughts. A little girl, without her parents by her side, living under someone else's roof, must have had a hard time.
She had once suggested bringing her stepdaughter to the capital to live. The learning environment here was better.
But as soon as she said it, her mother-in-law had glared at her and said that the stepdaughter was probably used to the life in the countryside, and changing the environment would be bad for a child.
So she didn't dare to argue anymore.
Since she gave birth to her daughter, her mother-in-law had asked her to quit her job and be a full-time housewife. All the expenses of the Hua family depended on Hua Jia's salary.
Most of the time, her words didn't carry much weight.
Wu Yunhua took the package back. When she saw her mother-in-law at home, she immediately tensed up. She put the package on the cabinet.
Grandma Lin looked over. The neat silver hair on her head didn't even sway.
"Why did you come back so late? A Jia is coming back for dinner today. Can't you go shopping faster? You're always so slow. You can't even learn how to take care of a man."
Wu Yunhua didn't dare to say a word. She let the old woman on the sofa scold her. Feeling that her daughter was a little scared, she quickly held her hand tightly.
Fortunately, Grandma Lin probably had something to do. After saying a few words, she was about to leave home and didn't focus her "energy" on her daughter-in-law. Passing by the entrance, Grandma Lin saw the package on the cabinet at a glance. Her drooping eyelids tightened. She picked up the package, looked at the address on it, and directly tore it open.
Wu Yunhua swallowed hard.
Grandma Lin opened the package and found that there was only a letter inside. It was quite thick. She directly tore it open.
Wu Yunhua said, "Mom, this is from Qingqing to A Jia."
Grandma Lin's face changed. "What are you trying to remind me of? This letter was written by my granddaughter to my son. Can't I read it? Do you need to butt in?!"