Help others? It's better to help yourself - Chapter 8

Regarding Xu Jianguo’s marriage, both sides finally reached an agreement.

However, no one bothered to ask Xu Jing’an for her opinion.

Xu Jing’an just listened quietly and didn’t speak up—after all, she had no say in this household.

After the lights were turned off, Xu’s mother was still fuming over Xu Duoduo’s suggestion that she give up her job to look after the children.

Give up her job to take care of the kids? What a joke! Back in the day, she had six children, four of whom survived.

Neither her own parents nor her in-laws could be relied upon, so she raised her children on her own. She worked and took care of the kids at the same time—it was exhausting!

She muttered a few complaints to Xu’s father about how the one who gives birth should be the one to raise the child.

Xu’s father understood the situation—Xu Jianguo was about to get married and was starting to have his own priorities.

However, he didn’t say this to Xu’s mother, as they had both been through similar experiences in their younger days.

Xu’s mother just hadn’t come to terms with it yet and hadn’t thought about it from that perspective.

She still saw the eldest as her child, believing that they were on the same page.

But the reality is, the child has grown up!

“Alright,” Xu’s father patted Xu’s mother, “Let’s go to bed early; it’s been a long day.”

He wrapped his arm around Xu’s mother’s shoulders, gently stroking her hair which was beginning to turn gray. “You should focus more on the fourth child. He needs to settle down and stop playing around. He’s already repeated the ninth grade for a year, and if he doesn’t get into high school this time, it’ll be embarrassing.”

After nearly a year of back-and-forth, Xu Jianguo finally convinced Xu Duoduo to go through with the marriage.

After all, no female protagonist can be without her share of challenges, and in this story, the female protagonist’s family is full of them.

The Xu family was only interested in the bride price and hadn’t yet decided who she should marry—they were still waiting to see what happened.

Xu Duoduo couldn’t afford to wait any longer.

The Xu family had a notorious reputation for being difficult and was well-known for it in the area.

Because of this, she knew that finding a better family to marry, like Xu Jingping’s, was out of the question—no one wanted to risk being exploited.

Another factor was that Xu Duoduo wasn’t as pretty as Xu Jingping; at best, she could be described as “decent-looking.”

She was willing to aim higher, but the other party wasn’t interested. Xu Jianguo was the best option she could secure.

Speaking of the recruitment at the No. 1 Cotton Factory’s publicity department, she only found out about it after seeing the list.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have a high school diploma; otherwise, she would have definitely tried to apply.

She knew about it so clearly because a coworker, Guo Xiaomi, had told her.

Guo Xiaomi only had a middle school diploma, but her mother worked in the personnel department. Although they worked together, Guo’s job was much easier.

She was on good terms with Guo Xiaomi and had even asked how many people were applying. When she did, Guo’s expression changed.

It took a lot of persuading, but eventually, Guo Xiaomi agreed to tell her who was taking the exam.

She didn’t quite know why, but she just had to find out.

To get the information, she even did Guo Xiaomi’s laundry for a month.

But when she finally saw the list that Guo Xiaomi brought over, she felt an inexplicable emptiness inside.

She vaguely sensed that things shouldn’t be this way.

After Xu Jianguo’s marriage was settled, the matter of the second child, Xu Jingping’s, marriage became urgent.

Watching her mother and Yang Hongbing’s mother—her future mother-in-law—argue over the dowry, each probing the other’s limits, Xu Jingping felt extremely suffocated. She desperately needed a place to breathe. But there wasn’t one, because she had no confidence or support.

In the end, the dowry was agreed upon: two new outfits, 10 feet of cloth ration coupons, 100 yuan, and a ticket for a sewing machine.

Although Xu’s mother thought it was too little, she didn’t push further.

After all, Xu Jingping’s job was found by the groom’s family. She wanted more dowry, but she didn’t want to strain the relationship. She still hoped that her daughter would be able to support her natal family in the future.

The wedding was set for January 8, 1965, the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month.

In the evening, after seeing off Yang’s mother, Xu’s mother discussed with Xu’s father how to use the dowry money and coupons.

“Now that we have the sewing machine ticket and 100 yuan, if we add a bit more, we can buy the sewing machine.”

“The cloth coupons will be enough to make new clothes for the eldest and his wife.”

“What about the second child?” Xu’s father asked.

“We’ll give her 10 yuan as pocket money when she leaves,” Xu’s mother considered. “Let her wear the two outfits from her in-laws when she goes. We’ll also buy her a new washbasin and two towels. She can take her current clothes and bedding with her. Isn’t that enough?”

Xu’s father nodded, “Yes, that’s quite a bit.”

“In a couple of days, we’ll finalize the eldest’s wedding arrangements. That way, we can find some time to tidy up the house.”

“Won’t forget,” Xu’s mother said with a smile as soon as the topic of the eldest’s marriage came up. “Soon, we’ll have a grandchild to hold.”

Xu’s father also smiled broadly upon hearing this.