Chapter 47 - 47 Officially Starting Work

The Zhou family felt a bit guilty, as the bride price they were asking for was indeed enough to buy two wives.

“You all stop spouting nonsense, I think you’re just up to no good.”

Thinking of his daughter’s honest demeanor, Mrs. Zhou’s eyes flickered and she said, “Baogui, if you really want to marry my daughter, then offer a bride price of two hundred yuan.”@@novelbin@@

Zhang Baogui rejected the offer without hesitation, as he had already seen the greedy faces of the Zhou family.

Let alone two hundred, he didn’t even want to give fifty yuan.

Zhang Baogui didn’t waste words with them and turned to enter the courtyard.

At this point, Granny Zhang had woken up and, upon hearing that her son wasn’t marrying Zhou’s daughter, felt as if the world was turning topsy-turvy. “Baogui, if you don’t marry Zhou’s daughter, when will you ever get married?”

Zhou Baogui, hanging his head, said, “Mom, the Zhou family is a bottomless pit. Since she can obey her parents and ask us for five hundred yuan.

Who knows what more they’d ask for after the marriage? We don’t have the money to give them!

With that much money, I could marry a much better wife. Mom, please stay out of this.”

Mrs. Zhou didn’t expect the Zhang family to give up so easily.

She had initially thought she could make a fortune, but now she got nothing and was filled with regret. If she had known, she would have asked for less.

Xu Ying’s mouth curled into a smile upon hearing that the marriage was off.

And weirdly enough, Xu Jiangmin and his wife felt very pleased about ruining this marriage alliance.

Xu Ying remained silent about the matter.

When it was time for Xu Shengcai to go to work, he dressed early in his new clothes, his face full of vigor, and after finishing breakfast, he hurried off to work.

He set himself a small goal to work hard and save money to buy a bicycle, so he wouldn’t have to walk to work anymore.

It was the same for the Lu family, as Lu Daya had become a teacher, and Mrs. Lu’s gaze towards her daughter had changed.

She splurged and made her daughter two sets of new clothes to alternate between.

Their Lu family had truly honored their ancestors by producing a teacher. If this were ancient times, her daughter would have been a private tutor, certainly on the level of a scholar.

Oh wow, then she would be an Imperial Decree lady. Mrs. Lu was thrilled and insisted on accompanying her daughter to school on her first day.

“Good morning, elder sister.”

“What are you up to?”

“My daughter has become a teacher, I’m sending her to work!”

Mrs. Lu was so boastful, making sure everyone knew as she walked and talked that her daughter was going to be a teacher.

Upon hearing all this, Mrs. Xu felt disdainful. Her son also became a teacher, but she hadn’t boasted about it.

The Lu family really lacked class.

When Xu Shengcai returned home from his first day of work, Mrs. Xu had been waiting at the village entrance early.

As soon as she saw her son, she immediately greeted him, “Son, how was your first day at work?”

“It was pretty good,” Xu Shengcai replied.

“Is eldest sister-in-law eating dinner?”

“What kept you so late?”

“My son’s first day at work, I was a bit worried, so I came to pick him up,” Mrs. Xu said with a smile.

On their way, they encountered many people. Now everyone knew that Xu Family’s second son and Lu Daya both became teachers.

Chen Yanran, dragging her tired body back from work, found Mrs. Xu’s smiling face particularly irritating.

The thought that she didn’t secure a teacher’s position and that it had gone to Lu Daya and Xu Sheng instead made her furious.

She wouldn’t let Xu Ying off the hook.

“Second brother, how was work?” Xu Ying considerately poured a glass of water for her brother and asked.

Xu Shengcai nodded and said, “It’s quite good.”

Hearing this, Xu Ying breathed a sigh of relief; she hadn’t yet told Second Brother Xu what Accountant Xu had said.

She was mainly worried that it might demoralize Xu Shengcai.

Looking at her brother, Xu Ying said, “As long as it’s good. I’ve heard that the commune recommends quotas every year; there might be a chance to teach in the county in the future.

Second Brother, you have to work hard. If you can teach there, you and Sister Qiu Ye can live closer and even Accountant Xu wouldn’t dare look down on our family anymore.”

Second Brother Xu took these words to heart and secretly vowed to work hard to get a teaching position in the county.

If he managed to teach there, not only could he be closer to Qiu Ye, but the salary would also be much higher than what Yushan Commune offered.

He was still in his probationary period, earning less than fifteen yuan.

Once he became a regular staff, he would earn twenty yuan a month, but if he could go to the county, the salary would increase significantly.

Thinking about this, he was filled with energy.

Xu Ying felt bloated from eating too much at dinner, so she got up to take a walk to aid digestion and decided to check on Lu Daya along the way.

Just as she reached the doorway, she looked up and noticed a familiar figure.

Dong Wenzhong, wearing glasses and neatly dressed, stood in front of a distant tree.

With a hurt look in his eyes, he watched Xu Ying.

Dong Wenzhong was really at his wits’ end; recently, without Xu Ying’s care, his time in the fields had been miserable.

Like usual, he looked at Xu Ying through his attractive glasses, thinking she would come out feeling sorry for him.

But Xu Ying didn’t even give him a proper look, and walked away briskly along the path.

Dong Wenzhong’s face turned pale with anger, and he clenched his fists, but it hurt so much that he had to release them. His hands were red on the edges, and several blisters had formed on his fingers.

This was a type of suffering he had never experienced before.

When he first arrived at the Youth Corps, Xu Ying had taken a liking to him, and while everyone else toiled in the fields, Mr. Xu had arranged the easiest tasks for him.

Since Xu Ying had fallen into the water, she hadn’t visited him once, and his previous easy job had been reassigned by Mr. Xu.

Now, he had to do the same hard and tiring work as everyone else.

He was filled with anger, simply because Mr. Xu, as the team leader, was abusing his authority to bully him.

Watching Xu Ying’s retreating figure, Dong Wenzhong finally couldn’t help but relent to authority.

“Xu Ying, wait a minute.”

Xu Ying ignored him.

Unwilling to give up, Dong Wenzhong chased after her and blocked her path. He challenged her, “Just because your dad is the team leader, he shouldn’t be mixing personal grievances with official duties, right?”

Xu Ying, her face frosty, replied, “How has my dad mixed personal grievances with official duties? Did he force you to do something?”

Dong Wenzhong, thinking she was sympathetic towards him, boldly claimed, “Your dad actually makes me work in the fields!”

Xu Ying looked at him as if he were a fool, “If you’re not working in the fields, where else should you be working?”

Dong Wenzhong said, “I was always in the cabin keeping track of work points.

Now why should this job go to your sister-in-law? This is exactly the mixing of personal grievances with official duties.”

Xu Ying scoffed, “Dong Zhiqing, you really are an ingrate.”

Dong Wenzhong’s face alternated between pale and flushed from the insult.

Xu Ying continued, “That job has always been my sister-in-law’s. Initially, it was only given to you and Chen Zhiqing because you two were frail and might not have been able to adapt immediately.

I never thought that after letting you work there for a while, you’d start to think the job was yours.

If you’re unhappy, you can go to the commune’s leaders, but let me be clear: keeping track of work points is a formal job, and it has always belonged to my sister-in-law.”

Initially, Eldest Sister-in-law Xu’s parents, fearing she couldn’t handle hard work, had cashed in several favors and paid some money to secure this job for their daughter.