Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Juicy Gossip, the Educated Youth Ran Away
In Yun Jiao’s mind, now that they had money to build the house and had bought a boat, the family was more willing to keep some of the delicious food for themselves.
As for the money to buy other things, they could just save up slowly. Now that they had a house and a boat, there was no rush.
’Although, having a small boat makes one want a big boat.’
Yun Xiaowu and the others also looked at Granny Yun.
"Grandma, Little Sister wants to eat," Yun Xiao Liu piped up first, his eyes fixed on the morels.
Yun Jiao shot him a glare. ’Sixth Brother obviously wants to eat them himself.’
However, coming from her small, delicate self, the glare looked more like a pout.
Granny Yun chuckled and patted their heads.
"You kids, every single one of you is such a glutton. Alright, we’ll keep these morels. They’ll be absolutely divine cooked in the Dragon-Phoenix Soup."
Besides, it was very nourishing.
Her family had suffered too much in the past. The boys had grown up so dark and thin; it would be good to help them build up their strength.
Granny Yun was busy in the kitchen. She was used to this kind of work, and before long, the meal was ready.
Yun Xiaowu bolted outside to call Mr. Yun and the others back to eat.
As soon as Mr. Yun and the others returned, they were hit by a rich, fragrant aroma.
It was so tantalizing it even had the neighbor’s kids crying out for a taste of chicken.
"It smells amazing! Mom, what did you cook today?"
"Do I smell chicken?"
Yun Xiaoqi raised his chin smugly. "We went into the mountains today and caught a big snake and a wild pheasant. Little Sister caught them both!"
Yun Xiao Ba and Yun Xiaojiu, their eyes glued to the fragrant Dragon-Phoenix Soup on the table, nodded enthusiastically like a comedic duo.
"That’s right!"
Yun Jiao was drooling too, but she sat obediently with her little bowl and wooden spoon, waiting for the whole family to be at the table before she moved.
"Jiaojiao, have some more."
Beside her, Eldest Brother Yun put a large portion of meat into her bowl.
The snake meat was tender, but there were a lot of bones, so you had to nibble it slowly.
"Jiaojiao ran into a snake? Is she alright? What were the rest of you doing, standing around doing nothing?"
Everyone was worried about whether Yun Jiao had been bitten. She was so little; it would have been disastrous if it had been a venomous snake.
"It was a black-tailed snake."
Black-tailed snakes aren’t venomous, so that was a relief.
"How could Jiaojiao get bitten? She’s incredible! She smashed the snake’s head flat."
Yun Jiao, her mouth glistening with oil from the food, explained, "Its head got smashed flat against a rock!"
’I’m not that strong yet.’
The adults all looked at her with a laugh. "Our Jiaojiao can catch a snake. How is that not incredible?"
Yun Jiao had to agree with that logic.
Her little legs swung back and forth happily.
Granny Yun, preoccupied with her plan to hatch some eggs, went for a stroll in the village after dinner.
The two women of the house sat by the door mending fishing nets. Now that the family had bought a boat, the nets would be put to good use.
The men went back to work on the new house, trying to finish it as soon as possible so the family could move in.
Yun Jiao ambled along beside Granny Yun, and they arrived at a house and knocked on the door.
The person who opened the door was a petite old woman, about the same age as Granny Yun.
"Cui Fen, do you have any eggs for hatching?"
Yun Jiao poked her head out from behind Granny Yun. "Hello, Grandma Wu."
When the old woman, who was about Granny Yun’s age, saw Yun Jiao, her eyes instantly crinkled into a smile.
"Well, well, well... Jiaojiao’s here too! Quick, come in and sit down."
"You want to hatch chicks? I have some, but only ten."
"That’s more than enough."
After they took the eggs, Grandma Wu also grabbed a handful of raw peanuts from inside and handed them to Yun Jiao.
"Thank you, Grandma Wu."
Yun Jiao thanked her in a sweet, childish voice, then found a small stool and sat down to diligently shell the peanuts.
She knew from experience that Grandma wouldn’t be leaving for a while.
Whenever they visited someone they knew, no matter the reason, they would always sit down for a chat before leaving.
"Cloud Big Girl is getting married the day after tomorrow. Who from your family is going to the banquet?"
"I’ll go. The men are all too busy to get away."
"That Cai Jinhua is a real piece of work. Cloud Big Girl isn’t even married off, and she’s already eagerly spreading the word that her second daughter is prettier and more capable than the eldest. She’s demanding a two-hundred-yuan bride price to marry her."
Granny Yun frowned. "Isn’t that just selling her daughter? Which of those girls hasn’t she raised to be rail-thin? They don’t have an ounce of flesh on their faces, so how can anyone tell if they’re pretty?
Besides, the bride price is so high, and everyone in the surrounding villages knows what kind of family they are. Who would dare marry into it? She’s just going to ruin the girl’s prospects."
Even if Cai Jinhua’s second daughter were a great catch, that family of hers would be a constant drag, and the high bride price alone is enough to scare anyone off.
She’d probably only attract men like the one her sister married—someone with a physical disability, a questionable character, or a widower looking for a stepmother to raise his kids. The kind of men no one wants, who have to ’buy’ a wife.
How could Cai Jinhua not know this? But she simply doesn’t care whether her daughters have good lives in the future.
In that couple’s eyes, all their daughters combined aren’t worth more than their son’s little finger.
Old Mrs. Wu added, "She’s been blinded by the bride price they got for the eldest daughter."
Old Mrs. Wu suddenly leaned in and whispered, "Enough about them. Did you hear? Yun Xiu’s husband ran away."
Granny Yun’s eyes widened. "Ran away? He just ran off after they already had two children? Didn’t the Third Team Leader’s family go look for him?"
"Of course they looked! Lin Zhiqing fled in the middle of the night, and they only realized he was gone the next day. It’s been so long now, who knows where he’s run off to."
"Maybe he went back home? Do they even know where his family lives?"
"That’s the problem. It turns out none of them know where Lin Zhiqing’s family lives."
"Then what’s to be done? Those two kids are fatherless now? That Lin Zhiqing is a cunning one. I’ve always said that marrying an educated youth, whether you’re a man or a woman, is unreliable. The Third Team Leader’s family used to show off so much about it. And look at them now."
During the height of the movement to send educated youth to the countryside, many of them were assigned here from the cities.
Some of these educated youths were good-looking and talented, attracting the admiration of many of the village’s young men and women.
Some female educated youths married local village men, and some male educated youths married local village girls.
But in those cases, it was basically the same as the man marrying into the wife’s family.
Then, once the college entrance exams were reinstated, almost all the educated youths took the test, although very few were actually admitted to a university.
The ones who weren’t accepted stayed behind. But soon, they could leave even without passing the exam or getting a letter of introduction from the village. That’s when the educated youths still in the countryside started getting restless.
Some female educated youths abandoned their husbands and children and fled. The men did the same.
In their village—or, to be more precise, their production brigade—this was already the third one.
Previously, two female educated youths had run off together. For their two families, looking at the children left behind, it felt like their whole world had collapsed.
Ever since then, anyone in the brigade who had married an educated youth became nervous and started keeping a much closer eye on their spouse.
Who would have thought another one would run off, and this time it was the son-in-law of the brigade’s former Third Team sub-leader.
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