Yingying did not pay the 50,000 yuan much attention. She didnât need no ghost to tell her that that was the betrothal money from Li Weiguo. The other 30,000 yuan was what was truly startling. She had always thought that her family was very poor and that her parents couldnât come up with the money for her brother, which was why they wanted to sell her off. But they had 30,000 yuan at home. All they needed to do was to take out a 10,000-yuan loan from relatives and they would have enough to build a house for the brother. Why did they need to sell her?
Her tears rolled down cheeks nonstop. âAm I really their child? Is there really that much of a difference between a son and a daughter?â
âOkay, letâs grab your household register and identification card and get out of here,â said Shu Yan with a sigh. In some parentsâ mind, that gap was truly that huge. In their mind, the son was the one whoâd be responsible for passing the family on whereas a daughter was water that one splashed out. They were only raising their daughters for others.
âWhoâs in my house?â They had just packed everything up when they heard the sound of Yingyingâs brother.
âWhat are you doing here? You brought strangers into our house to steal from us? What did you steal? Someone, come! I have thieves here!â Yingyingâs brother dashed out of the front door and shouted in the yard loudly.
All the neighbors came running over and stopped when they saw Yingying walked out with two others.
âThis is your sister. What do you mean thieves?â The woman next door was a blunt one. She had always been irked by how lopsided Yingyingâs family was when it came to their two children and gave Yingyingâs brother a stare.
âI donât have a sister whoâd call the cops on her own parents. She had just had her parents arrested and came straight home to steal. Speak! You stole money, didnât you?â Yingyingâs brotherâs eyes rolled around. There were 50,000-yuan betrothal money in the house. She better not have stolen that. That was money for his house.
âHad you no idea why I called the cops? Or do you not know?â Yan Shuyu looked around at everyone who had gathered around. Many of them lowered their head when she looked at them. Some of them still felt that Yingying was too cruel. âMy mother wants to sell me to 40-year-old crippled man just so she can get 50,000-yuan betrothal money for his house. You donât have the ability to buy your own house and get married and you resorted to selling your own sister. What kind of trash are you?â
â50,000 yuan? I thought it was only 20,000!â said one of the women from the crowd.
âI told you there is no way it is only for 20,000 yuan. Just look at those two. At least 30,000 yuan or above. I didnât think itâd be 50,000 yuan. That crippled man is quite wealthy.â
âWell, you can always marry off your daughter to him,â said the woman next door.
âOh, nevermind about that. My daughter is a working woman. She will marry a college student. That crippled man is already 40 years old. I heard that he hit people. Heâs not good enough for my daughter.â
âNow that you put it that way. Yingyingâs parents had gone too far on this one.â
After they have learned that the crippled man was 40 years old and would hit people, many families who had daughters felt that Yingyingâs parents were not choosey enough.
âShe still shouldnât have called the cops on her parents.â There were still those who didnât agree with Yingyingâs actions.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âWhat else could she have done? Marry that crippled man? Do you want to marry him?â The neighbor woman retorted again.
When Yingyingâs brother noticed that the direction of the discussion had shifted, he immediately said, âDid you take that 50,000 yuan? If you take it, you will have to marry Li Weiguo. You better think it through.â
âI did not take it but now I think I should.â Yingying stared at her brother and said coldly, âI am going to bring that 50,000 yuan to the cops so they can give it back to Li Weiguo when he is released.â Yingying suddenly said to her neighbors standing outside. âThis is my boss lady. She had her own company and her own shop and didnât care about this money that my family has. For the sake of my innocent and that my parents wonât make stuff up after my departure, I would like to invite a few uncles here to come inside with me as my witnesses. You will see how much there are in total and I am only taking with me the 50,000 yuan that did not belong to my family. I shall not touch a penny of the rest. Me, Yingying, will make say it clearly here today. I donât want anything or a penny from this house. All the money I had given them over the years will go toward their raising me. I will contribute my share to take care of my parents when they grow old. But not a penny more than my share.â
___
See Result of the First Vote Off