Chapter 64: Is There Really a Job?!

Chapter 64: Is There Really a Job?!

Not sure if it's because the year-end is approaching, or everyone has heard that Sparrow Market will be shut down, but anyway, there were a lot of people in Sparrow Market today. It was so crowded that one might accidentally have their shoe heels stepped on.

Shen Moer looked at Zhao Tingting and reminded her, "Watch your belongings carefully."

The Zhao family must have given their youngest daughter some money to stay in the Yangliu team. No matter how much, if it got stolen, the little girl might end up in tears.

Zhao Tingting nodded seriously. She had five yuan on her, which was the most money she had ever had in her entire life. Her mother had given her the money, telling her it was for emergencies, and that she could spend a little bit normally, but shouldn't waste it.

At first, Zhao Tingting had felt a bit redundant following Shen Moer and Fu Mingze, and even thought about wandering around by herself. But now that she thought about it, being redundant was fine. If she wandered alone, what if someone snatched her money?

Seeing Zhao Tingting obediently following beside her, Shen Moer didn't say anything more and turned to ask Fu Mingze, "Though it's still early for the New Year, the weather will get colder later, making it harder to trade goods. If Sparrow Market is gone, there will be no place to trade. Does your family need anything sent over?"

Her father had run another trip to the county not long ago. This time, he had sold a gold bracelet and gotten more than seven hundred yuan in return. The family temporarily didn't lack money.

Fu Mingze's family was struggling financially, so sending money definitely wouldn't work, but trading goods could be done. Especially since rural goods were cheap, it wouldn't make others think they were being extravagant.

Fu Mingze remained silent for two seconds before saying, "Alright."

His parents had actually been sent down, but since they were prepared beforehand, they went to his grandmother's hometown. They had written letters before, saying that the only tiring thing was the farm work, and that while the village held meetings to read ideological reports, there was no hanging of signs or throwing of rotten vegetables.

His younger brother, Fu Mingzhuo, had gone to the border with his grandparents. His uncle was an engineer at the oil base there. The situation in the border area wasn't as severe, and his uncle was a technical expert with protection from higher-ups, so things were still okay.

His aunt had divorced his uncle but managed to be sent down to a village not far from where his uncle's army unit was stationed. This "ex-husband" occasionally took care of her, and things were currently still okay.

Although the whole family was scattered all over the country, at least they had left the center of the whirlpool and were safe.

In other words, there was actually no one from his family in the capital now.

But it was fine. After trading goods, they could send something to each family member scattered across the country. As for the money... Fu Mingze estimated that the debt to his father-in-law hadn't been fully repaid yet and pondered finding an excuse to get some money.

Today, there were many buyers and sellers, and the three of them ended up buying quite a few things.

Mainly dried goods, like bamboo shoots, dried fruit, small dried fish, and someone selling wild chrysanthemums and small chrysanthemum flowers picked from the mountain, which were also dried. Shen Moer bought a large bag.

Later, they encountered a stall selling homemade cloth shoes. The soles were made of loofah, and the fabric surface was self-spun coarse cloth. They looked a bit rough, but these shoes were comfortable to wear. Although Shen Moer knew embroidery and could make clothes, she really couldn't make shoes.

Cloth was hard to come by in this era, and even self-spun coarse cloth wasn't something people would casually use. Such opportunities were rare, so Shen Moer immediately decided to buy a pair for each person in her family.

The old lady selling shoes was delighted. "I have relatives in the supply and marketing cooperative. I had them help me copy the shoe patterns from the shoes sold in the supply and marketing cooperative. The sizes are guaranteed to fit perfectly. I am best at making shoes. Many villagers ask me to help make them. They are guaranteed to be comfortable."

Shen Moer looked at Fu Mingze. "Do you know the shoe sizes of your parents, grandparents, and younger brother?"

Fu Mingze hesitated. "I do know, but buying this much, where do we find the money?"

Shen Moer choked and laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, we don't have money, but isn't Sparrow Market possibly going to close? If we miss this opportunity, there won't be another. We should buy more this time, then we won't need to buy anything later. My father gave me money; don't worry, it's enough."

Fu Mingze replied, "Alright."

His father-in-law had mentioned before that Xu Weiguo's money didn't need to be repaid urgently; it could wait until next year. It was probably because of this that the wages from recently were still on hand... To say that his father-in-law was really thriving in the kiln factory, quickly achieving employment, formalization, and a promotion, all in a short time, and was always ready to help.

In the end, they bought seven pairs of shoes, each costing nine mao, for a total of just over six yuan.

There were no children's shoe sizes. Fu Mingze guessed that Fu Mingzhuo might not like wearing cloth shoes, so he decided against it.

Originally, Shen Moer wanted to buy a pair for Zhao Tingting too. Zhao Tingting repeatedly refused, saying her grandmother could make shoes and even help make a few more pairs. Seeing that Zhao Tingting was firm, Shen Moer let it go.

Zhao Tingting wasn't lying; her grandmother really did know how to make shoes, and they were no worse than the ones the old lady sells. Their village was in the mountains, with few opportunities to come to the commune, so they really didn't know that the cloth shoes made at home could also be sold at ninety cents a pair. If one could make ten pairs a month, that would be nine yuan, which would be a significant sum.

Her father and brother occasionally hunted some game and brought it down the mountain to sell, but they could only earn a few yuan.

Zhao Tingting secretly decided that when she returned home for the New Year, she would have her grandmother teach her how to make shoes.

"Really, without a mirror at home, just use a piss puddle to look at your reflection. With your son's shabby appearance, how could I even consider him?!"

Suddenly ahead, a familiar voice rang out. Shen Moer raised an eyebrow slightly. Indeed, Liu Yingshuang was strange; every time they met, there seemed to be all kinds of "small accidents."

Fu Mingze's expression was somewhat subtle. "Isn't that your junior high school alumnus?"

Shen Moer chuckled, remembering Fu Mingze's suggestion that Liu Yingshuang should get checked and treated at a hospital for her mental issues. She nodded. "It's her, let's go take a look."

Liu Yingshuang also came to set up a stall with her grandfather. The old man had crafted several more bamboo-woven boxes and delicate bamboo baskets. Liu Yingshuang had gathered some wild persimmons from the mountain and made persimmon cakes from them. The two of them had come early in the morning, and they had already sold a few baskets and two catties of persimmon cakes.

Then their stall was surrounded by several people, a family surnamed Shao from the neighboring team.

This family had four daughters and finally got a son, but this son turned out to be mentally challenged. As the son approached marriageable age, the family wanted to find a normal girl from the surrounding area as a daughter-in-law, hoping that future children might turn out normal.

They let it be known that they were willing to offer a dowry of two hundred yuan, which was an astronomical figure compared to the usual twenty or thirty yuan in the countryside. However, despite the hefty sum, they still couldn't find a suitable match. Since they were willing to pay handsomely, they naturally wanted to choose carefully. They wouldn't consider women who were not good-looking or appeared dull, so they kept failing to find the right match.

Just then, after Liu Yingshuang fell and her personality changed dramatically, her reputation worsened. This family secretly observed her and thought that although the girl was fiery-tempered and had a bad reputation, she was actually quite attractive and intelligent. So, they directly arranged for someone to propose marriage to the Liu family.

Liu Yingshuang's mother died early, and her father remarried, producing five more children, placing a heavy burden on the family. Liu Yingshuang was able to study until junior high school thanks solely to the money her grandfather earned from weaving baskets and picking mushrooms.

The old man was gentle-natured, and Liu Yingshuang's father was weak. After the grandmother passed away a few years ago, the stepmother basically ruled the household.

Although marrying off a stepdaughter for two hundred yuan sounded good but didn't sound great, the stepmother wasn't someone to be trifled with. She proposed to the Shao family that they secure a position as a temporary worker for Liu Yingshuang at the commune. The Shao family's previous sons-in-law were all at the commune, so this matter could definitely be arranged.

Hearing that employment could be secured, Liu's father, who had initially opposed the idea, hesitated. Plus, the stepmother constantly whispered sweet nothings in his ear, saying things like "marriage is about clothing and food; though the husband may be a bit foolish, the in-laws' conditions are good, and since you have a job, life will be smoother than anyone else's," and "as the elder sister, if her conditions improve, she can help the five younger siblings more. Now at home, because of her younger brothers eating more eggs, we fight over every egg. In the Shao family, she can eat eggs however she pleases." Gradually, Liu's father was persuaded.

Regardless of the commune's constant propaganda about marital autonomy and parents not interfering with their children's freedom to marry, in reality, rural people believed that their children's marriages were decided by the parents, and Liu's father held the same view. Thus, he agreed to the Shao family's proposal without even discussing it with Liu Yingshuang.

Of course, Liu Yingshuang refused outright.

The old man also disagreed. No matter how good the family conditions were, marrying a fool would lead to no good life. Moreover, his granddaughter was well-featured; why should she marry a fool?

But Liu's father was like a man under a spell, dead set on this marriage. With the strong pressure from the stepmother, the family situation became increasingly chaotic. Eventually, Liu Yingshuang had no choice but to pack her belongings and rent a dilapidated house from the commune members, moving out.

Not long after, the old man, unable to endure his son and daughter-in-law, and also worried about his granddaughter living alone outside, moved out as well.

The grandfather and granddaughter lived on their own, earning work points and scraping by, finding ways to make money during market days. Despite the difficulties, they managed to survive.

Liu's father thought it best to let it go, but the stepmother refused to back down. Not only for the two hundred yuan dowry but also because this marriage alliance would provide more opportunities for their younger children, whether in schooling or recruitment.

However, as a stepmother, she couldn't openly pressure the stepdaughter, so she hatched a plan with the Shao family to ruin the old man and his troublemaker granddaughter's business. Without their income, relying only on the meager work points from the team, they wouldn't survive. Even a hero can be brought down by lack of money. When they couldn't make ends meet outside, wouldn't they be forced to agree to the marriage?

So, this wasn't the first time the Shao family had come to stir up trouble. They had visited the Sparrow Market several times before, each time surrounding Liu Yingshuang's stall with a group of people. On the surface, they were kindly persuading her to accept the marriage, but in reality, they were ruining her business and further tarnishing Liu Yingshuang's reputation.

Liu Yingshuang's reputation was already in tatters, and with this latest commotion, probably no one within ten miles would dare to marry her. Even if she didn't agree to the marriage now, once she found herself unable to marry later, she would still have to agree to this union.

The Shao family thought the Liu family woman had given them a great idea. If Liu Yingshuang's reputation worsened and she couldn't marry, perhaps they wouldn't even need to pay the two hundred yuan dowry.

Of course, they had their plans, but this Liu Yingshuang was truly a tough nut to crack!

Each time they came, she would curse them out until they were utterly humiliated, and sometimes they even ended up fighting.

The men of the Shao family all felt that if their son/nephew/younger brother married such a woman, wouldn't he end up suffering?

However, the women of the Shao family didn't see it that way. In fact, their family was somewhat matriarchal, with the women being stronger. So what if the daughter-in-law was strong? The mother-in-law and the sisters-in-law would keep an eye on her. Could she really cause that much trouble? Besides, one of them was already simple-minded. If they married a soft-tempered woman, not to mention how she'd be at home, wouldn't she be bullied to death by outsiders in the future?

As for whether the woman might bully the man, once they were married and in bed, wouldn't the woman naturally fall in line?

Shao's mother had been hardened by experience. Even when Liu Yingshuang cursed at her, she didn’t even blink and said, "Your parents say your temper is bad, and they're absolutely right. Look at you, you're just ruining your own reputation. If it weren't for the fact that our son is attracted to your looks, I wouldn't be entirely satisfied with you as a daughter-in-law. If you don't believe me, go ask around the neighboring villages. Who would be willing to marry you? We're offering a 200 yuan bride price and arranging a temporary worker job for you. Ask everyone, there are plenty of people willing to marry under these conditions."

Liu Yingshuang rolled her eyes and angrily said, "Then go find someone who's willing to marry him! Why are you blocking my way? Damn it, you guys keep coming to ruin my business. Do you really think I'm easy to bully?!"

Old Man Liu's face darkened, his fingers trembling slightly as he said, "There's no need for this. If the girl doesn't want to marry into your family, you should leave now!"

Shao's mother, hands crossed, looked down at him and said, "Old man, you're not the child's parent. You can't make this decision. Her parents have already agreed. Why are you standing in the way? Are you saying her parents don't love their child and only you, the grandfather, do? They've thought this through carefully for the child's sake. Our family's conditions are good, and our only son is a treasure. Marrying into our family means a life of comfort. You're getting senile, but I don't blame you. Think about it, isn't this reasonable?"

Old Man Liu was trembling with anger. A lifelong, kind-hearted, and honest man, he opened and closed his mouth several times but couldn't find the words to refute. His anxiety grew, and his face turned red as he gasped for breath.

Liu Yingshuang was frightened. "Grandpa, grandpa, are you okay? Don't scare me."

She patted Old Man Liu's back hard, genuinely afraid that he might get seriously ill from the anger.

In fact, this situation with the Shao family had happened before in her previous life. Back then, she had been too timid to resist and could only hide in the small woods at the village entrance, crying every day. Eventually, the Shao family gave up for some reason, saying all the right things about marriage needing to be based on mutual consent. Since she didn’t want to marry, they wouldn’t force her. Not long after, they seemed to have arranged a marriage with a family from another village.

Because of this, although Liu Yingshuang made a fuss, she had always believed that the Shao family would find an excuse to reject her stepmother's proposal.

She just didn't understand why, even after the time had passed from her previous life, the Shao family was still harassing her.

Feeling irritated, Liu Yingshuang cursed more fiercely with each encounter, but the Shao family continued to disrupt her without any sense of shame.

This time, seeing her grandfather was about to pass out from anger, Liu Yingshuang could no longer bear it. She grabbed a nearby carrying pole and swung it towards Shao's mother. "Get out of here, all of you! What's your problem?!"

The man next to Shao's mother grabbed the pole and scolded, "Talk properly, why resort to violence? No wonder people say you're being unreasonable. We're sincerely hoping to arrange a marriage with your family, and the elders have come to persuade you in person. Look at what you're doing, how can you hit someone?!"

Some bystanders who didn't know the full story couldn't help but advise, "Sigh, they're offering a 200 yuan bride price and arranging a job. With such great conditions and your parents' approval, why are you being so stubborn? Parents wouldn't harm their child, right? Uncle, you should persuade your child. As elders, we can't just let children have their way. As we age, we tend to become stubborn, so it's better to listen more to your son and daughter-in-law rather than help the child defy their parents."

Some who knew Liu Yingshuang chimed in, deliberately stirring the crowd. "Who doesn't know Liu Yingshuang from Pine Tree Brigade? She'd make a scene at home if her brother ate an extra egg. She almost tore down the brigade office's door when the production team failed to record a work point. Tsk tsk, such a fierce woman, and yet someone is willing to pay 200 yuan to marry her. Auntie, you'll probably regret this."

"What? 200 yuan to marry her? Mom, that's burning money!"

"Someone is willing to marry her, and they're even coming to persuade her in person. Be grateful!"

...

Some people thought that marriage should be a matter of freedom, and it was wrong to force someone into it. But considering it was the notorious Liu Yingshuang, they didn't dare to speak up. Rumor had it that she was completely unreasonable, and if they defended her, they might get blamed later.

Besides, with the majority siding with the Shao family, it was easy to follow the crowd. Going against so many people required courage, and many didn't have it. They consoled themselves that marriage was the couple's business, so why interfere?

Liu Yingshuang's eyes turned red with anger, but since the Shao family hadn't done anything directly, she couldn't even report them to the police station.

It was like a toad jumping on her foot—harmless but disgusting.

"Yes, someone is willing to marry her, and why would this family offer such a high bride price of 200 yuan and even arrange a job for her? Wouldn't marrying a fairy be just like this? Is the family crazy or what?"

Amidst the chatter of the crowd, a clear voice suddenly cut through.

Someone who enjoyed stirring the pot shouted, "Exactly, is your family stupid? With such great conditions, we can introduce you to someone else!"

"Comrade, don't be in a hurry to give an introduction. Just look at these folks—do they look like fools? They're not foolish. They're willing to spend so much money because their son isn't all there. Marrying a fool for two hundred bucks isn't worth it."

The crowd went quiet for a second, and someone muttered, "If there's a job involved, it might still be worth it."

These days, a job is more important than money—it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it's more important than anything.

The Shao family was initially a bit angry that someone had publicly revealed the truth. After all, they had always been vague, saying their son had developed an interest in Liu Yingshuang. Even if Liu Yingshuang called their son a fool, they could claim that she was just badmouthing him because she didn't want to marry him. Hardly anyone would believe her.

But when someone else said it, especially a well-spoken and attractive female comrade, it was different.

Hearing others talk, they were less upset.

So what if their child wasn't all there? They were well-off—they had money and a good job. If they wanted to find a good match, there were plenty who wanted to marry into their family.

"You might think it's worth it if there's a job involved, but Comrade Liu Yingshuang wouldn't see it that way. She's about to become a worker herself, so why would she covet a temporary worker position?"

"What? Liu Yingshuang is about to get a job as a worker?!"

The crowd erupted in chatter.

Everyone elbowed the Shao family out of the way and rushed to ask, "What job is it? Has our commune started recruiting? Is the textile factory hiring?"

Rather than gossip, people were more interested in job information.

Liu Yingshuang looked bewildered and turned to Shen Mo'er, who was standing at the back of the crowd. She opened her mouth but couldn't make a sound.

She wanted to ask Shen Mo'er why she had defended her or said she was going to become a worker, but her throat felt stuck, and she couldn't speak.

The person speaking was indeed Shen Mo'er. She smiled and walked over, taking a few candies out of her pocket and placing them in Liu Yingshuang's hand. "Last time I went to your brigade to invite you to a wedding banquet, you weren't there. I left a message with your neighbor. Why didn't you come?"

Liu Yingshuang opened her mouth. Of course, the neighbor had passed on the message, but she had been overwhelmed with the Shao family's issue. Plus, knowing her reputation, she didn't want to trouble others. In the end, she had asked the old man who drove the donkey cart in Yangliu Brigade to give Shen Mo'er a pillowcase as a gift.

"Didn't get to drink the wedding wine, but here's some wedding candy," Shen Mo'er said with a smile. "Come to my place tomorrow, and we'll talk about the job in detail."

Liu Yingshuang's eyes widened.

Was it really true? Was there really a job?!