To put it bluntly, a cashier controlled all the money flowing in and out of the factory. If there was ever a mistake, they feared that even if they were in the right, they wouldn’t be able to explain themselves. It was much better to just work as a lowly clerk. The monthly salary wasn’t bad, the work wasn’t exhausting, and there was plenty of free time.
"I support you too," Bai Xingguo said, patting his second brother’s shoulder to show his backing for the decision.
The tension in Bai Xingbang’s smile eased considerably. "I know."
Bai Xinghua was probably the only one in the family who couldn’t wrap his head around it. As the eldest brother, Bai Xingguo naturally took on the responsibility of educating his younger sibling.
After a thorough lecture, Bai Xinghua looked visibly shaken.
"Second Brother, you should stick to being a clerk. It’s safe," he said. Not only that, he realized he would have to be careful himself in the future to avoid falling into any traps. Whatever Bai Xingguo had said to him, it had successfully halved the kid’s courage.
Bai Jiu also mentioned that she would be returning to the village the next day. No one in the family could manage to get time off work to accompany her, so ultimately, Bai Jiu would have to go back to the village alone.
She had no objections to this, of course. What she didn’t expect, however, was that someone in the village was already scheming against her.
***
"Dad, Mom, what exactly is going on here?"
In the main hall of the Gao family home, a delicate and frail-looking man questioned Old Man Gao and his wife. Old Man Gao kept his head down and smoked his dry tobacco pipe, while Old Mrs. Song spewed a string of obscenities.
"That cheap tramp used to pretend to be so honest! Who would’ve thought she had such a vicious heart? Not only did she take away the third boy’s allowance, but she also extorted my money! What an ungrateful wretch!" Old Mrs. Song hated Bai Jiu to the core.
How could she not hate her? Not only had Bai Jiu taken the third son’s money, but she had also extorted the hard-earned savings Old Mrs. Song had painstakingly hoarded.
"In the old days, she would’ve been thrown into a pig basket and drowned in the pond!"
Seeing her words becoming increasingly outrageous, Gao Zhiguo hastily interrupted. "Mom!" How could she say such things out loud? If someone overheard, their family would be ruined. "Don’t ever say these things again. Have you forgotten the fate of those ’bad elements’ we saw in town earlier?" He had finally secured a firm foothold at the regiment farm; he couldn’t afford to be implicated by this nonsense.
Intimidated by her second son’s fierce expression, Old Mrs. Song gulped and muttered indignantly, "I was just talking about it at home. Besides, there are no outsiders in the house." She would never say such things outside.
Gao Zhiguo glanced outside and saw a figure moving about. He looked exasperated.
Old Mrs. Song naturally saw it too. "Eavesdropping, are we? Who gave you the nerve to eavesdrop on my conversations? You reckless fools! Sooner or later, I’ll slice your ears off!"
Cursing, Old Mrs. Song threw open her door. "Lin Guihua, what are you doing? Is the food ready? Have the pigs been fed? Is the chicken dung swept clean? You do nothing but slack off all day! Why don’t you just die of laziness? Useless at work, but always first in line to eat!"
Seeing her eldest daughter-in-law passing by the front of the house, the old woman had launched right into a tirade.
Although Lin Guihua was afraid of her mother-in-law, she had suffered plenty of grievances at home lately. Not only were all the chores, big and small, dumped onto her shoulders, but she never even received a single word of appreciation. She had been bottling up her anger for a long time. Now, hearing her mother-in-law’s vicious screeching, she simply couldn’t endure it anymore.
"Do I have eight hands or something? You call me for this, you call me for that—why don’t you just work me to death! You don’t order around the ones who do nothing but eat; you only know how to boss me around! Does she really think she’s some precious young miss?"
Lin Guihua had long harbored a grudge against her sister-in-law. Now that it was winter and they didn’t have to go out for fieldwork, Gao Yulan didn’t even sweep the floors at home, let alone help with the cooking. She was even lazier than before.
"What nonsense are you spouting? Who are you trying to drag into this?" Old Mrs. Song shrieked. "You better watch your mouth! If I hear another foul word from you, I’ll strangle you to death!"
Just as the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were on the verge of a full-blown brawl, Old Man Gao barked from inside the room. "Enough! Arguing every single day—haven’t you embarrassed us enough?"
Hearing Old Man Gao’s voice, both Old Mrs. Song and Lin Guihua instantly snapped their mouths shut. Old Man Gao rarely spoke on regular days, but when he did, there was no room for negotiation. Because of this, everyone in the family was quite afraid of him.
"Dad, don’t be angry." Gao Zhiguo was very perceptive. He stepped forward to pat his father’s back, helping him soothe his temper, and then lit his tobacco pipe for him.
He was the one who had brought this local tobacco back for him. It cost a whole ten cents per catty.
After taking two deep drags, Old Man Gao glared at his elderly wife. "Close the door."
Old Mrs. Song didn’t dare utter a peep and promptly shut the door.
"Second Son, why didn’t you bring An’an back with you this time? It’s been almost a year since I last saw my precious grandson." Not daring to provoke her husband, Old Mrs. Song could only strike up a conversation with her son.
Seeing this, Gao Zhiguo was more than willing to give her an out. "We just haven’t had the time. Hongxing and I still have to work, so he went to my father-in-law’s house. It just so happened that my mother-in-law had a day off, so she helped look after him. I haven’t even gone over to see him myself yet."
He wanted to bring the boy back, but his wife wasn’t willing. Moreover, his mother-in-law’s family didn’t like An’an interacting with the Gao family either. He still needed to rely on his father-in-law, so he didn’t dare push the issue too far.
"Hmph! That’s my own flesh-and-blood grandson! Even on his break, you didn’t think to bring him back so I could dote on him." She couldn’t bring herself to resent her son, so she could only vent her anger on her daughter-in-law’s family. "That mother-in-law of yours is no easy target either. She’s only getting close to An’an so he’ll be close to her in the future! I can’t believe that I, his paternal grandmother, lose out to a maternal grandmother. If you ask me, An’an never should have been sent to her place."
Gao Zhiguo listened to his mother’s complaints, but he didn’t share her sentiments. His mother-in-law’s home was at the regiment farm, which was much more prosperous than the town. The living conditions were better, and it was under military administration. With his father-in-law holding a high position, the people An’an interacted with at his maternal grandparents’ house were of a completely different caliber. Gao Zhiguo still planned on relying on his son in the future.
So, bringing him back here? Absolutely impossible.
If his mother hadn’t claimed that the family had been miserably ruined by his third sister-in-law, he probably wouldn’t have even come back this time. After all, it wasn’t even the season for grain and meat distribution yet.
Seeing his son’s displeased expression, Old Man Gao glared at his wife. "Enough, keep your mouth shut. The second son’s family will be back for the New Year anyway."
However, he wasn’t entirely satisfied with his second son’s actions either.
"When are you coming back for the New Year this year?" Old Man Gao asked, tapping his tobacco pipe.
"Dad, I’m afraid I won’t be able to come back until the first month of the lunar year. My father-in-law is taking me to pay New Year’s visits to the leaders this year." This had been arranged long ago, but he simply hadn’t informed his family. Coming back this time was perfect for taking back the supplies they needed for the New Year, saving him another trip. It was just a pity that the meat hadn’t been distributed yet, otherwise, bringing some meat back would have been ideal.
Hearing about paying New Year’s visits to the leaders, both Old Man Gao and Old Mrs. Song’s eyes lit up. "Your father-in-law is finally willing to take you out with him?"
How should one put it? If Gao Zhiguo hadn’t gotten her pregnant before marriage back then, he probably never would have been able to marry into the Li family.
It was all thanks to that face of his. Who knew who he had inherited it from? Out of the four children in the Gao family, only the second and third sons were good-looking. The other two couldn’t exactly be called hideous, but they definitely weren’t much to look at.
Take Gao Yulan, for instance. She had a flat nose, monolids, and her eyes were spaced so far apart a river could flow between them. She had a broad, flat face, stood at one point five-five meters tall, and weighed a hundred and twenty catties.
It was truly... a tragic sight.