"Hmph, don’t mention him. He’s just a spineless man, completely controlled by his wife. Zhao Dongxiu tells him to go east, and he wouldn’t dare go west. She’s got him wrapped around her finger, and even I, as his younger sister, have suffered quite a bit of grievance in his house."
Yuan Chun sat across from Mr. Wei, wiping her tears, and lamented, "Dad, Mom, you have no idea how awful Zhao Dongxiu is. When my brother goes on a business trip, she locks the cupboard at home, so I can’t cook. She herself goes to eat at the cafeteria. That time when my brother was on a two-day trip, I nearly starved."
Mrs. Wei’s heart ached, and she wiped away tears, "No wonder you’ve lost so much weight! That damn Zhao Dongxiu, how dare she treat you like that! You went there to help with the children, not to freeload. She..."
"Mom, she thinks I’m just freeloading at her house. I take care of Da Bao every day and do all the housework, even wash Zhao Dongxiu’s clothes. But in her mind, I don’t have any credit and am just a freeloader. Moreover, I owe her gratitude because, without her calling me to the provincial city to help with Da Bao, I’d have to do farm work at home to earn work points. So as a little sister-in-law, I end up being a free nanny at my brother and sister-in-law’s house, and still owe them. Dad, Mom, you tell me, how wronged am I."
Mrs. Wei was overwhelmed and held her daughter, crying.
Mr. Wei sighed deeply in anger, "Your brother, that spineless man, can’t even control his own wife, and lets you suffer there."
Mrs. Wei cried enough and then started to worry about her eldest grandson, "You silly girl, was it because you couldn’t bear the grievance your sister-in-law gave you that you came back out of anger? Now that you’re gone, who is going to take care of Da Bao?"
Yuan Chun pouted, "Zhao Dongxiu got into a fight with someone and caused trouble at the factory’s union department, and was fired."
"What..."
Mrs. Wei was furious, "Such a good job, and she got herself fired. Zhao Dongxiu truly is a jinx."
"Mom, this is not the time to call her a jinx. If someone hears it, they might spread rumors about you."
Mrs. Wei quickly glanced towards the door, lowering her voice, "Everyone’s home for dinner now, no one heard that."
"From now on, we have to be careful with our words. My brother working at the provincial steel plant already stirs jealousy among many in the village, everyone’s keeping their eye on our family. We must be cautious with our every word and deed."
Mr. Wei also said, "She’s right, you should be more careful with what you say in the future."
"Got it, I won’t call Zhao Dongxiu a jinx anymore."
Mrs. Wei then asked, "Yuan Chun, you’ve been at the steel plant for so long, hasn’t your brother tried to help you find a good match there?"
With the daughter being beautiful, a high school graduate, neither Mr. nor Mrs. Wei wanted her to marry a rural man and spend a lifetime doing farm work.
Apart from being registered as a rural resident, their daughter was not inferior in looks or education compared to city girls. If they looked carefully, surely she could find a suitable city man to marry.
Yuan Chun pulled out a piece of paper from her bag, happily saying, "Dad, Mom, I found a temporary job at the steel plant. Though it’s just some helping hand at the cafeteria, doing tasks like washing and chopping vegetables, it pays eighteen yuan a month. If I do well, I could become permanent, and if other positions open up in the factory, I can apply for them, and by then, I might even make money from this position."