CHAPTER 214: CHAPTER 206: ZHONG YUYING’S VICIOUSNESS

Time flies; in the blink of an eye, it was New Year’s Day of 1975. Tian Sisi had already turned 13 and had been here for three years.

The 13-year-old Tian Sisi had shed her baby fat from three years ago. Her tall figure, beautiful and delicate face, and black and shiny hair all proved that she had grown into a beautiful young lady.

Under the meticulous teaching of Zhang Mingliu over the years, Tian Sisi’s temperament surpassed even that of daughters from affluent families. Even lost in a sea of people, one would notice her at first glance, this bright pearl.

A few days ago, an earth-shattering event occurred in Yuequan Village. Zhong Liangcai’s daughter, Zhong Yuying, ran away from her wedding and even stole the dowry of two hundred yuan from the groom’s family, leaving without a trace.

Zhong Liangcai had betrothed Zhong Yuying to a fool in town who was seven or eight years older than her, born mentally challenged and unable to take care of himself, incapable of speaking clearly.

However, this fool came from a wealthy family that offered a dowry of two hundred yuan and four significant gifts. Despite the tempting wealth, many families would rather marry their children to someone of lesser means but normal, rather than to such a fool—that’s even more miserable than being widowed!

But Zhong Liangcai didn’t care. It was just a daughter; if he lost one, he still had another. With the two hundred yuan and four significant gifts, he wouldn’t have to worry about his son’s marriage and would still make a profit of one hundred yuan. What a great deal.

Zhong Yuying left home with the help of her younger sister Zhong Hongying. Zhong Hongying, a tender-hearted girl, helped Zhong Yuying run away on the day she went to town to buy red cloth for a cotton-padded jacket, less than a month before the wedding.

However, Zhong Hongying didn’t know that Zhong Yuying had already stolen the two hundred yuan dowry. Zhong Liangcai beat Zhong Hongying half to death, not because he worried about having no bride to offer but because he grieved over the lost two hundred yuan.

In the end, the fifteen-year-old Zhong Hongying married in place of Zhong Yuying. Although the fool’s parents disdained Zhong Hongying’s looks compared to Zhong Yuying’s beauty, Zhong Liangcai exhibited shamelessness, insisting that he would neither return the money nor had any daughter to offer but her. They had no choice but to accept, taking into account that Zhong Hongying was also a fresh, young woman, so they married her off.

Tian Sisi heard about this from Zhong Meiying, whose relationship with her cousin Zhong Hongying was quite good. Meiying spoke of it through tears.

"Sisi, my grand-uncle is really ruthless, to just marry Sister Hongying off to that fool. That man can’t even eat or relieve himself properly, drooling all over, needing a bib at over twenty years of age. Seeing such a person makes me lose my appetite, how could Sister Hongying bear it?"

At 14, Zhong Meiying, who often heard bawdy gossip among the village women, had some understanding of matters between men and women. She felt that living with a fool like that was worse than hitting her head against a wall and dying in peace.

Tian Sisi also felt sympathy for Zhong Hongying, but she couldn’t help much. In those days, rural girls’ marriages were entirely in their parents’ hands; outsiders couldn’t get a word in, and even the extended family could only make suggestions without being decisive.

Moreover, Zhong Hongying’s situation did not breach the Zhong Family’s bottom line. In those times, due to poverty, it wasn’t rare to see daughters sold to provide dowries for sons, and sometimes daughters were even married off to deceased husbands, leaving them widowed. Thus, the villagers of Yuequan Village only condemned Zhong Liangcai and his wife for their heartlessness and did nothing more, certainly not speaking out for Zhong Hongying.

Therefore, although Zhong Hongying knelt and pleaded with the Zhong Family clan on her wedding day, nobody stood up for her, except for Zhong Shancai, who made a few remarks. But Zhong Liangcai wouldn’t listen to him, responding with "You give back the two hundred yuan to them" and sent Zhong Shancai packing.

Zhong Shancai couldn’t produce two hundred yuan, and even if he could, he was not willing to spend that money—he had his own children to think of!

Zhong Liangcai actually did not want to marry Zhong Hongying off either; he still hoped to keep her to do household chores for a couple more years. But now that things had come to a head, he had no choice but to let her go.

"Mei Ying, there’s nothing we can do about this. We can’t help Hong Ying. If anyone is to blame, it’s her heartless father and sister. Let’s just hope she can live strongly and make it through to better days."

Tian Sisi did not know what to say either. She didn’t have much of a relationship with Zhong Hongying and could only hope that the girl could find the strength within herself.

"Yeah, I hope that family treats Sister Hong Ying well." Zhong Meiying also knew that there was nothing they could do, and her visit to Tian Sisi was merely to vent her frustrations."

"It’s all Zhong Yuying’s fault after all. If she wanted to run away from the marriage, she should have just done that, but she even took the two hundred yuan with her. She clearly intended to hurt Sister Hong Ying. After all, Sister Hong Ying even helped her escape! She really has no conscience."

Zhong Meiying cursed Zhong Yuying a few more times with resentment and then got up to gather firewood in the back hill. She happened to pass by the He Family’s place and stopped to chat with Tian Sisi.

Tian Sisi also felt extremely uncomfortable. Originally, she thought that in this life, she would no longer have any entanglements with Zhong Yuying, but now it seemed like Zhong Yuying was truly a venomous snake, cruel not just to strangers, but to her own younger sister as well.

With her intelligence, how could she not foresee the consequences of taking those two hundred yuan? Yet she still secretly took the money and even asked Zhong Hongying to help her escape, leaving Zhong Hongying to face the towering rage of Zhong Liangcai alone.

If she had even the slightest bit of conscience, she wouldn’t have taken those two hundred yuan! Truly heartless and ruthless!

Tian Sisi had a bad premonition. She always felt that in this life, she would still not be able to escape from Zhong Yuying, this cold and cruel woman. Thinking about the future entanglements with Zhong Yuying, Tian Sisi could not be happy.

Soon, she stopped thinking about that woman. Who knows what the future holds? Besides, in this life, she had already seen through Zhong Yuying’s true nature and had so many people to rely on. If she still lost to Zhong Yuying, she really might as well go and hit her head on a block of tofu.

Hmph, in the future if soldiers come, I’ll block them. If floods come, I’ll drown them. Zhong Yuying, right? If you behave yourself, then fine. But if you dare to provoke this young lady, I’ll definitely let you taste my power!

Tian Sisi went to the music room and played the "General Order." Actually, she originally wanted to play "A Smile Across the Sea" because she felt it would better express her unbounded heroic spirit.

However, "A Smile Across the Sea" would not be released until 1990, and she really didn’t want to audaciously steal Mr. Huang Zhan’s creative work. Besides, she knew her own abilities, and Zhang Mingliu knew them clearly, so she preferred not to raise any suspicion.

Playing the "General Order" made Tian Sisi look so fierce that even the living room conversation with Zhang Mingliu and the others could feel the energy. Zhang Mingliu smiled in satisfaction. Not bad; Ah Nan has improved again. It looks like in another two years, I will have nothing more to teach her!

"What song is Ah Nan playing? Why do I feel so restless listening to it? Ah, Old Tang, let’s spar a few rounds to let off some steam."

The Old Man got up and dragged Tang Tieshan out to the courtyard to practice boxing, while He Xuewen and Zhang Mingliu exchanged smiles.