Ch 5: The Unfilial Children Trembles in Fear (QT)

Because the incident happened so suddenly, and because Yun Xi had seized the initiative from the start, the entire village overwhelmingly sided with her.

Even if some people felt that Yun Xi had gone too far, that moving to the city was unreliable, and that perhaps she had been tricked, they still all agreed that the Dong children were a pack of ingrates, each more unfilial than the last.

Just look at how far they had pushed the old woman!

And so, amid their wailing and crying, the brigade leader helped Yun Xi divide the family property.

Yun Xi rolled up a few pieces of clothing, stuffed them into a bag, and hurried off to catch the ox cart.

The villagers did not even have a chance to pull her aside and ask more questions. For a moment, everyone looked at one another, only then realizing that they did not even know where Yun Xi was going.

Fortunately, the brigade leader told them that Yun Xi had transferred her household registration and that a real work unit had accepted her. Only then did they believe that Yun Xi had not been deceived.

Thinking about it, that made sense.

She was a forty-five-year-old old woman.

What would anyone trick her for?

The Dong family’s front gate was tightly shut.

Several people sat dejectedly in the courtyard. The men smoked, the women cried, and from time to time they cursed Yun Xi under their breath. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. But none of them dared to be loud.

They only felt as if dark clouds had gathered over the Dong family.

Their reputations were completely ruined.

It was practically as though the words “unfilial” had been carved onto their faces.

Wasn’t it just mentioning buying a job?

If she didn’t want to buy it, then fine.

How had things escalated to this point?

When it came time to cook, they searched the entire house but could not find any grain. Only then did they remember that the family division had been so chaotic, they had forgotten to ask where the grain was.

Where had those several large sacks of rice, flour, and soybeans gone?

They had not seen Yun Xi take them.

If she had not divided any grain to them, what were they supposed to eat for the next few months?

The group wandered around like headless flies for a long time.

In the end, having no other choice, they went to the cellar to get potatoes to eat as their meal.

Dong Zhiyong and Dong Zhizhi looked at Yun Xi’s room.

Earlier, the promise of that room had shut them up, so they had stopped making trouble.

But now that they thought about it, what was there to divide in that broken room?

The roof leaked when it rained.

The earthen walls were worthless.

It had been built more than ten years ago.

Wasn’t it basically junk?

Every person was dissatisfied.

And the more they looked at one another, the more displeased they became.

Dong Zhizhi cried,

“It’s all Eldest Brother’s fault for being selfish! If he hadn’t demanded eight hundred yuan, Mom wouldn’t have divided the family!”

Dong Zhiyong pointed at Dong Zhihong and cursed,

“You talk every day about being the eldest son, but you don’t act like one at all. You’re the one who took the most benefits. You’re nothing but a disaster!”

“I’m your older brother! You dare curse me? I’ll beat you to death!”

Dong Zhihong’s anger surged. He grabbed a shoulder pole and swung it at him.

Dong Zhijie frowned as he looked at them, then pulled his wife and child back into their room.

With disgust, he said,

“The whole family shares one kitchen. If we keep living with them, this kind of fighting might happen every day. We need to find a way to sell this house and build another one elsewhere. Only then can we live our good days in peace.”

Wang Xuefen hesitated.

“But we’re still short a lot of money. If we build a house, we’ll have to borrow money. How long would it take to pay that back?”

Dong Zhijie was quite confident.

“I’m a teacher, and you’re the scorekeeper. We’re much better off than others. Are we really afraid we won’t be able to pay it back?

You go borrow some from your parents’ family. I’ll borrow some from my colleagues at the village school. Let’s gather the money quickly and build the house. Then we can spend New Year’s in our new home and get an auspicious start.

Who knows? Maybe in the future, I’ll find a way to transfer to a school in the city, and we’ll become city people too.”

The two of them looked toward the future and felt that it would surely be wonderful.

Although they had not received any money this time, there were so many people in the family that they would not have gotten much even if money had been divided.

For them, escaping this large family was already a good thing.

As for what happened to the old woman, they did not care in the slightest.

In any case, after the old woman spent some time away and returned, by reason, she should live with the eldest son’s family.

Even if she wanted to live alone, she would have to argue with the third son and the others to get her room back.

That had nothing to do with their second branch.

Dong Zhiyong and Dong Zhizhi also thought of this.

Although they disliked how shabby Yun Xi’s room was, they still went to ask around among the educated youths who wanted to move out of the youth dormitory and young couples who wanted to split from their families, asking who might be willing to buy the room.

Only money in their hands truly belonged to them.

Because of this, even more people secretly cursed them for being unfilial.

Yun Xi had only just left.

Everyone thought that after a few days, once she could not stay outside any longer, she would return. When the time came, her children could lower their heads, and the conflict would pass.

But now they were already trying to sell the room.

Wasn’t that cutting off Yun Xi’s path of retreat?

No one wanted to wade into the muddy waters of the Dong family.

The Dong family’s rooms did not sell.

In the end, after they gritted their teeth and lowered the price considerably, two educated youths finally bought the second branch’s room and Yun Xi’s two rooms.

The eldest branch of the Dong family was petty.

Afraid the others would take advantage of his household, Dong Zhihong immediately put up a fence in the middle of the courtyard.

As a result, the courtyard became narrow.

Every day, going in and out felt stifling and uncomfortable.

All of this had been given to them by Yun Xi.

Their resentment toward Yun Xi grew heavier and heavier.

Every day, they thought that when Yun Xi came back, they would properly teach her a lesson and make her understand that once a person grew old, they had to obediently listen to their sons.

Otherwise, when old age left them with no one to rely on, they would have nowhere to cry.

Would Yun Xi return?

Of course not!

Right now, she was living freely, practically like an immortal. She had long since tossed that pack of ingrates to the back of her mind.

Her luck was good.

The village she had transmigrated into was right next to a fairly large city.

Although it was the 1970s, the city had developed quite well. It had all kinds of factories. The workers laughed and chatted as they went to and from work, looking full of energy.

There were also several universities.

The university students looked refined, their faces filled with pride and hope.

It was just that the college entrance examination had currently been abolished, and admission was based on recommendation. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. According to the original owner’s memories, even when the college entrance exam was restored in a couple of years, there would be age restrictions.

Otherwise, Yun Xi would have wanted to try taking it herself, just to see what all those people yearned to study in university.

In the department store, goods filled the shelves in dazzling variety.

Televisions and bicycles were displayed in the middle.

Inside the counters were exquisite watches.

Beautiful blouses imported from Haishi were even hanging on the wall.

After staying in the city for several days, Yun Xi felt that leaving the village had absolutely been the right decision.

If she had stayed in the village, she would have dealt with dust flying everywhere, chickens crowing, dogs barking, and still had to work in the fields.

Otherwise, she would be accused of avoiding labor.

Even eating something good would draw gossip.

How could that compare to now, where she stayed clean every day and ate delicious food at the cafeteria?

The municipal government cafeteria served very good food, and the portions were generous.

If she did not have enough grain coupons, she could exchange a sufficient amount of grain for food at the service window.

Yun Xi had brought all the Dong family’s grain with her.

An entire family’s grain was now being used by her alone.

It was more than enough.

If there was meat, she exchanged for meat.

If there was no meat, she still exchanged for two tasty vegetarian dishes.

Every meal filled her stomach, and her complexion improved at once.

Sister Qin, a coworker in the Logistics Department, joked,

“Our work unit really does nourish people. Look at Old Li, she’s much more energetic than when she first arrived.”

Yun Xi smiled.

“Of course. I even want to buy some vanishing cream and eat some nutritional supplements. My body was terribly depleted before. I have to nourish it properly, don’t I?”

“Then after work, let’s go to the supply and marketing cooperative together. I happen to have some unused coupons. I’ll exchange them with you. You can get some malted milk powder, red dates, brown sugar, things like that. They’re guaranteed to work.”

Sister Qin became enthusiastic.

She knew that Yun Xi had fallen out with her children and was now earning money for herself and spending it on herself.

Some of the industrial coupons distributed by the unit could not all be used, so Yun Xi was happy to enjoy food and drink.

Sister Qin usually could not bear to indulge herself, and she had quite a few cloth coupons, milk powder coupons, and the like in hand.

It was perfect for the two of them to trade.

Yun Xi did not stand on ceremony either.

After work, the two went shopping together.

She had obtained this job in exchange for saving lives.

The one thousand yuan in her hands had not yet been spent.

Now that she had Sister Qin’s coupons, of course she bought whatever she could.

First, she bought cloth and cotton to make quilts, mattresses, pillows, and curtains.

Then she bought a water bottle, a mirror, vanishing cream, hair ties, clothes, pants, blouses, and even shoes.

She also bought malted milk powder, brown sugar, and other items.

Bag after bag, she used up all of Sister Qin’s coupons.

Sister Qin was stunned beside her and hurriedly stopped her.

“That’s enough, enough! It’s too much. We’re out of coupons, so take it easy. Why did you buy so much?”

Yun Xi smiled.

“I’m short of everything. These are all things I can use for a long time. One purchase will last for several years. This is not the kind of thing I should save on.

Besides, I treated myself badly for the past several decades. At my age, who knows how many days I have left? If I have the means, I should treat myself better. Don’t you think?”

Sister Qin thought about it and realized that made sense.

She also felt somewhat sympathetic toward Yun Xi.

Although her own large family had its share of frustrations, overall they were harmonious.

Someone like Yun Xi, whose children were unfilial, was seen by everyone as a lonely and pitiful person.

So Sister Qin did not think Yun Xi was being wasteful.

Instead, she said,

“If you’re missing anything else, just tell me. I’ll help you find people to exchange with. Our municipal government may not have much else, but we don’t lack coupons.”

That was still a modest way of putting it.

The benefits at the municipal government were quite good.

Compared to other places, they lacked nothing.

Things like towels, toothpaste, washbasins, and enamel mugs did not even need to be bought. They were always distributed during holidays.

Yun Xi’s current monthly salary was twenty yuan.

The benefits were good.

She still had grain and savings in hand.

Her little life was incredibly comfortable.

As for others constantly thinking she was pitiful and sympathizing with her, what of it?

It made speaking and handling matters more convenient for her.

She received a lot of goodwill.

Wasn’t that better than having people think she was an unloving mother and gossip about her?

On their way back, even with Yun Xi’s strength, carrying so many things left her tired.

And that was with Sister Qin helping.

If she had been alone, she would not have been able to carry everything.

She watched the small cars and buses drive past on the road and sighed.

“How convenient would it be to have a vehicle? You put everything inside and don’t even have to walk.”

Sister Qin burst out laughing.

“Old Li, you really dare to dream. Even our mayor doesn’t have his own private car. He uses the municipal government’s car. For ordinary people like us, having a bicycle is already amazing.”

Yun Xi thought to herself that according to the original owner’s memories, in the future, most families would be able to afford small cars. There would be so many cars on the roads that license plate restrictions would have to be imposed.

She had to live to a hundred and properly watch the changes of the era.

When the time came, she would also go online and play with a cell phone.

But returning to the present, she still needed to live well in this era first.

Watching the car drive away, Yun Xi casually said,

“One should still have dreams. I wonder whether learning to drive is hard. It shouldn’t be difficult, right?”

After all, so many people in the future could drive.

“That precious thing isn’t something just anyone can drive.

Look around. If someone knows how to drive, they can become a tractor driver. Delivering goods every day earns quite a bit, and wherever they go, people flatter them and serve them good food and drink.

Driving is a proper technical skill. We don’t understand it.

Speaking of which, in our municipal government, only the mayor’s driver and Little Zhang from warehouse deliveries know how to drive.

Xiao Zhang is capable. I heard he can even repair vehicles.”

Yun Xi’s eyes lit up when she heard that.

“Then I’ll go ask Xiao Zhang to teach me. Even if he won’t let me drive, touching the vehicle is fine too. I just like vehicles.

Sister Qin, help introduce me to him.

Here, these two bottles of canned fruit will count as my thank-you gift.”

Sister Qin jumped in fright.

So that was why Yun Xi had bought canned yellow peaches even though it was not a holiday or special occasion.

It turned out they were for her.

She hurriedly refused.

She was merely exchanging coupons with Yun Xi. How could she accept something from her?

Yun Xi pressed down on her hand.

“I’m unfamiliar with everything in the city. Sister Qin, you’ve helped me plenty. You’re even helping me carry my bags right now. If you keep refusing, you’ll be treating me like an outsider.”

Sister Qin accepted them with embarrassment.

In her heart, she thought that Sister Li was such a good person.