No matter how much Wang Yuanyuan played the victim, Old Lady Wang refused to help her buy a job, but she did point her down a clear path.
"Yuanyuan, no job is as good as marrying into a good family. You're pretty, you have a nice figure, and you're a city girl. Finding a man with good conditions isn't hard, but many things don't just fall from the sky. You still have to put in the effort yourself."
"Your grandmother has been through life. Look at your aunt—what kind of life she used to have, and look at her now." Old Lady Wang pursed her lips. "One was my choice, the other was hers. Tsk, tsk... there's really no comparison."
"As long as you can get that Captain Zhou to marry you, you'll be a captain's wife. If he gets promoted in the future, you'll rise with him—maybe you'll be a regiment commander's wife, or even a chief's wife. Do you understand? Even if he doesn't like you, you have to find a way to cling to him. As long as you're willing to go all out, the good days are ahead of you."
Wang Yuanyuan wanted to argue with her grandmother's words. A captain didn't have a quota to bring his family along with the army. If he never got promoted, wouldn't she be stuck as a farm wife for the rest of her life? But then she suddenly thought that Zhou Qichuan had already split from his family, was building a house, and had a steady allowance. If she married him, wouldn't she avoid having to serve her in-laws and just live her own life? Sure, there was a grandmother and a younger sister, but how many more years could an old woman live? And the sister could take care of her. Once the grandmother passed, she could marry the sister off. Wang Yuanyuan felt everything suddenly clear up.
"Grandma, won't people call me a broken shoe?"
"That depends on the method you use. Poisoning is definitely out—soldiers are sharp. But if you fall into the river and he sees you, not saving you would ruin his future. If he saves you, he's touched your body, so he'll have to take responsibility for you."
Wang Yuanyuan truly admired her grandmother. Take Xiao Zhenyu's matter, for example—her grandmother managed to let her own younger brother enjoy more than ten years of good fortune in the Xiao family, and at the end, she even received a large sum of money.
After finishing the talk about her own business, Wang Yuanyuan told Old Lady Wang about what had happened recently in the village with Xiao Mandong.
Old Lady Wang hadn't expected this granddaughter to be so troublesome. The man came to ask for a remarriage, and she still refused. She really thought too highly of herself, without even considering what her own family was like now.
Today she'd seen that Xiao Manxue was blossoming more and more—if she could marry that girl off, she'd definitely get a hefty bride price. But seeing how Xiao Mandong protected Xiao Manxue today, she definitely wouldn't agree. They'd have to find a way to split the sisters apart, never letting them band together, or else they wouldn't even be able to control that soft little bun Xiao Manxue in the future.
At that moment, Xiao Mandong sent the Wang family off, leaned against the courtyard gate, and let out a deep breath. The world felt instantly peaceful. This day, from morning to night, had been nothing but nonstop chaos.
There was no way to make dumplings today, so the two sisters boiled noodles and poached eggs.
She had originally planned to go find where her family had been sent down in the next couple of days, but to avoid any unexpected trouble, it seemed she couldn't go for now.
While taking a bath, she slipped into the space. The fruits and vegetables were all fully ripe—what a waste. She had to make a trip to the black market and see if she could turn the things in the space into cash. Her eyes swept over the radio, and she grew more worried. She still needed to find the right moment to return it to Director Huang and get him caught red-handed.
She tidied everything up and planned to sleep early, since she'd have to spar with the Wang family again tomorrow.
But in the middle of the night, someone suddenly pounded on the door. The sound was deafening. The place they lived was already remote, and there were no neighbors now. The knocking made Xiao Mandong's scalp prickle. It seemed she really needed to get a dog in the yard for safety.
The two sisters grabbed wooden sticks, opened the door, and demanded: "Who is it? What do you want in the middle of the night?"
"Mandong, hurry—your mother's in trouble."
It was Wang Fugui's voice. Xiao Mandong dropped the stick and opened the courtyard gate.
"Hurry, your mother fell off the kang. She needs to go to the hospital. I came to get you both to come along and see. She's your biological mother after all—you can't just ignore her at a time like this."
Xiao Mandong really wanted to say she didn't care. She'd been reborn, so she didn't care what others said.
But she glanced back at Xiao Manxue's expression—twisted and conflicted. After all, her sister didn't know about the past life's events. If Wang Meixia really died tonight, her sister would carry that regret for the rest of her life.
Besides, in this era, even if you'd cut ties with family, you still went to see someone on their deathbed. And later, when it came to college entrance exams, filial virtue and social reputation would be judged.
There was no choice. Locking the main gate, Xiao Mandong took Xiao Manxue's hand and ran with Wang Fugui toward the village entrance. When they got there, Wang Meixia had just been loaded onto the tractor.
Along the way, no one spoke. Only Wang Meixia's pained groans filled the silence, while Old Lady Wang kept wiping her tears.
Looking at Wang Meixia's state, Xiao Mandong couldn't describe the feeling in her heart. She only felt that this woman was both pitiful and hateful.
But Xiao Manxue clung tightly to her sister's hand. She hated her mother, but she was still her biological mother, and she felt a heavy weight in her chest.
Shunzi drove fast, and there was no one on the night roads. In half an hour, they reached the hospital.
Xiao Mandong looked at Wang Meixia's complexion—it really wasn't good. She didn't know if she would make it through.
Just before entering the delivery room, Wang Meixia gripped Xiao Mandong's hand desperately:
"Mandong, Mom doesn't know if she'll make it out alive. I want to ask you for something."
"Say it after you come out."
"No, I have to say it now." She couldn't wait until after. She'd given birth to three children and had never suffered like this. She was afraid she'd die on the delivery bed—then what would happen to this child?
Zheng Chao was a man; how could he properly take care of a baby? His two children already had a bad relationship with her and wouldn't treat the child well. Her own mother, she knew all too well, wouldn't help raise the child either. Now, these two daughters were her only hope. Xiao Mandong and Xiao Manxue had grown up before her eyes. Though Xiao Mandong had a fierce temper, she was definitely kind-hearted. The fact that she'd come to the hospital in the middle of the night meant she'd probably already forgiven her mother.
"Mandong, could you help me..."
Before Wang Meixia could finish, Xiao Mandong guessed what she was going to say and cut her off directly:
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of my sister."
Wang Meixia cried: "Mandong, I know I've wronged you two sisters, but I really just wanted to live for myself once. I don't want to be anyone's daughter or anyone's mother. I only wanted to find the person I used to be."
"I'm begging you—if I don't make it out alive, please take care of this child. He's the family he left you in this world."
Xiao Mandong was genuinely laughed out of anger. The Xiao family wasn't without people. She still had her grandparents, her father, and at the very least her cousins. Why did she need such a burden as family? And there was no way she would agree to raise this child. In her last life, it was raising someone else's child that left her living so miserably.
