Chapter 2504: Miao Jing and Zhai Yaohui (5)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Mother Li, it’s late and I need to go get my work done. Otherwise, my uncle and auntie are going to get angry.” Miao Jing didn’t deny that Mother Li’s words were the truth. The problem was that she would have had nowhere to go if her second uncle hadn’t taken her in.
Because of that, no matter how tough it was in her second uncle’s family, Miao Jing dared not overthink it. She could only accept her fate and work as hard as an ox but eat less than a dog.
Miao Jing had never considered her personal issues, but others in Second Uncle Miao’s family had already done so.
“How’s it going? Which family are you sending your niece to? How about the one next door? All three generations of the family are poor, just like us. If you send your niece there, they’re willing to give us forty-five kilograms worth of food.”
“That family’s quite good too. They’re in the production division and are in charge of slaughtering pigs. If your niece marries into the family, she won’t have to worry about having nothing to eat.” Of course, as their niece, it would be alright for her to be filial to them too. “Besides, if your niece marries him, he’s willing to pay fifty yuan as the bride price. To be honest, your niece is really valuable. Look at all three families I’m showing you. None of them have poor conditions. She’ll live comfortably once she marries into their family. I think I’ve done my part as her second auntie by doing this much.”
Second Uncle Miao listened to Second Auntie Miao praising herself. He didn’t need his wife to tell him what kind of families his wife had chosen for his niece, Miao Jing.
Yes, all three generations of the first family were poor. The grandpa was a thug, the father was a slacker, while the son was a cripple. Was a family like that good?
It was because his son was a cripple and couldn’t get married that the family was willing to fork out forty-five kilograms of food to marry his niece.
As for the second family of butchers… Sigh…
The butcher was already in his twenties and almost ten years older than Miao Jing.
A few years ago, this man had been engaged, but when he saw his fiancée talking to another man in school, he had beaten up both the man and his fiancée because of his bad temper and had even scolded the woman, saying that she was flirtatious and easy.
In the end, the young lady decided that she would rather stay single her whole life than get married to someone like that.
As for the third…
Second Uncle Miao didn’t want to say anything. While the second man was almost ten years older than Miao Jing, the third was more than ten years older than her!
This man was getting a second wife and already had two sons and a daughter. His first wife had died from exhaustion.
Yes. Fifty yuan sounded like quite a lot, but there were rumors that this man was involved in illegal dealings.
If he was caught by Little Red Soldiers, the whole family would be brought down along with him.
As such, Second Uncle Miao felt that it had indeed been tiring for that man’s first wife. She had been the only one taking care of the household while bringing home the bacon at the same time while her husband indulged himself in illegal dealings. How could she not have been exhausted?
The combination of fear and exhaustion would wear down the toughest of people.
“I’ve talked for a long time and my mouth is getting dry. Hurry and give me a response. Miao Jing is your niece and you’re closer to her as her biological uncle. Hurry and make a decision. They’re waiting for us to respond.” Second Auntie Miao nudged Second Uncle Miao, wanting him to give her an answer.
No matter how much the families were willing to give them, it would be free money for them.
Since they were taking advantage of others, Second Auntie Miao didn’t mind how much she would be able to get. What she cared about was marrying Miao Jing off as quickly as possible so that she could find a good partner for her own daughter, Miao Lanlan.
As long as Miao Jing remained in their family, those visiting would always only mention Miao Jing. It felt like they had all forgotten about her daughter’s existence.
Second Auntie Miao might have such calculations in her mind, but Second Uncle Miao was no fool either. Otherwise, he couldn’t have enjoyed the benefits of the hard work that Father Miao had put in.
Second Uncle Miao puffed on his cigarette. “None of these families is suitable. Of course, if you want to make a decision, I can’t stop you either.”
Miao Jing had been living with their family for so many years, and many in the production division talked about how he was like a nasty landowner for treating his own niece as a servant.
It was his elder brother who had paid for his house and given him the money to get married.
He was only living a comfortable life because of his elder brother and had even gotten hold of the ginseng that his elder brother had given up his life for. Even so, he was so harsh on Miao Jing. He was no different from landlords who exploited the laboring people’s efforts and achievements.
Second Uncle Miao remembered clearly how intense the struggle and fight had been over the past few years.
Second Uncle Miao had no intention of getting himself and his whole family entangled in that mess just for some small benefits they could gain from Miao Jing.
Once Little Red Soldiers caught wind of Miao Jing’s situation, their lives would become even more miserable than death.
Thinking about situations he had witnessed, Second Uncle Miao shivered and turned his back to face Second Auntie Miao, expressing his unwillingness to participate in the matter. “If we don’t do this well, it’ll become an arranged marriage. I won’t stop you from doing what you want to do. But if you ask for my opinion, I think that none of these three people is good enough for my niece.”
“You…” Second Auntie Miao was frustrated and incensed that her plan had not succeeded. “Why do I work so hard? Isn’t it all for our family? As long as Miao Jing is here, no one cares about your daughter. Otherwise, do you think I would have put so much effort into looking for a partner for Miao Jing? If I have so much time, don’t you think I would have spent it looking for some good families for our Lanlan?”
“If you’re really thinking about Lanlan, I think you’d better find Miao Jing a normal family. Don’t talk about how we’re letting other families get a daughter-in-law for free by not getting any dowry. You know very well how much we got from that ginseng that my elder brother left behind. Don’t talk about Miao Jing. Even if my elder brother left another child for us to raise, we wouldn’t even need to spend a single cent of our money trying to raise them. As long as you aren’t finding a family for Miao Jing based on how much you’ll receive in return, I’ll agree to it.”
Even if it was his wife doing such a thing, Second Uncle Miao wasn’t willing to bear that responsibility.
Bearing that responsibility could mean giving up his life.. He wasn’t going to let his wife take whatever he had gotten from his elder brother to another man when she got remarried.