I wrote novels in the Republic of China

The Sang family’s house has poor sound insulation.

Sang Jingyun was talking to Sang Qianshi when they heard a noise from upstairs. It was Sang Jingxiong who was yelling, "When you and your sister were my age, you ate and drank well, but I only drank porridge every day."

"My classmates all say that my elder sister is embarrassing!"

"Everyone in the family favors you, and no one cares about me."

"You guys even lied to me, saying you didn't have any good food in the county town, but what happened?"

“Everyone at school laughs at our family!”

……

Sang Jingxiong had a loud voice and kept yelling, but suddenly he stopped talking. Then Sang Jingying's voice rang out: "You think your life is not good, so you blame Dad. Why are you looking for trouble with Big Sister?"

Sang Jingxiong burst into tears.

Sang Jingying came down after a while, looking a little embarrassed: "I spanked him."

The elders in their family never hit their children. Sang Jingying had never been beaten, nor had she hit others. She felt quite uncomfortable when she hit someone for the first time.

"He deserves a beating." Sang Qian said. She didn't beat her children at first, but after beating Sang Xuewen recently, she realized the benefits and thought that it was a good idea to beat a child if he was disobedient.

Sang Jingyun took a deep breath, and the anger that suddenly arose dissipated a lot.

When she was young in her previous life, her parents were not around and she lived alone. She saw a lot of things and met a lot of extreme people.

The more things she experienced, the less angry she became.

I suddenly feel so angry today, probably because I am too tired.

In fact, it’s not surprising that Sang Jingxiong is angry.

He was young, and in the past six months he suddenly lost his luxurious life, now had a shameful father, and people talked nonsense in front of him. Naturally, he started to make a scene with his family who had always tolerated him.

Sang Jingyun understood Sang Jingxiong's behavior, but still felt that the child needed to be taught a lesson and educated properly.

Sang Jingyun asked Sang Qianshi a few more questions, and only then did he know that Sang Qianshi had given Sang Jingxiong a dime in the morning.

"He said he wanted to buy paper and pen, but when he came back, he had nothing in his hands." Sang Qian said. She wanted to ask, but Sang Jingxiong ran upstairs as soon as he came back. At that time, Sang Xuewen was making a fuss again, so she didn't pay any attention to him.

At that time, fountain pens could not be produced independently in China and were expensive, so most primary school students did not have them. Sang Jingxiong usually used brushes and pencils.

A pencil costs about two copper coins, and the price will be cheaper if you buy more. The price of a notebook is about the same as that of a pencil. Sang Jingxiong told Sang Qianshi that he needed to buy notebooks for both Chinese and mathematics. Sang Qianshi was afraid that he didn't have enough money, so she gave him a dime.

"He didn't buy paper and pen, he probably bought something else, grandma, he's really not in good shape now, let's skip him tonight!" Sang Jingyun put his arm around Sang Qian's shoulders and said kindly, "I feel sorry for you too, you and mother work so hard sewing all day and you can only earn a dime."

Judging from the original owner's memory, Sang Jingxiong had the experience of cheating some money from his family to buy food. He had been in the county town for most of the day, so it was impossible that he had nothing to eat.

Since I’ve already eaten at noon, there’s nothing wrong with skipping a meal at night.

Sang Qianshi also felt sorry for the dime. Sang Jingxiong had previously accused her of being biased, which made her extremely uncomfortable, so she agreed: "Okay."

Sang Jingxiong has never been wronged at home because the child is picky about food. When Sang Jingyun was sick, she would steam egg custard and give some to Sang Jingxiong. The younger Sang Jingli did not even have this treatment.

Sang Jingyun laughed: "Let's ignore him and eat mooncakes. Let's eat the fresh meat mooncakes first, and the red bean paste ones tomorrow."

After looking at the mooncakes, Sang Qian cut two of the meat mooncakes in half, gave one to herself and Sang Xuewen, and let Lu Ying and Sang Jingli share one.

She gave the remaining two to Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying, asking them to eat the whole thing.

Nowadays, she and Lu Ying can earn more than ten copper coins every day by doing needlework, while Sang Jingying and Sang Jingyun can earn fifty or sixty copper coins every day.

They are still children, but because their father is incompetent, they have to bear the responsibility of supporting the whole family... Sang Qian feels sorry for them.

Sang Jingyun did not refuse. She was feeling a little weak and needed to eat something good to nourish herself.

The same goes for Sang Jingying. He is in the growing period and needs additional nutrition.

A few days ago, Sang Jingyun saw Sang Jingying suffering from leg cramps, which was obviously due to poor nutrition and calcium deficiency.

After eating the meat mooncakes, Sang Qian invited them to dinner.

These days, their staple foods for dinner are basically rice and steamed pumpkin, and the dishes are salted fish, kelp, tofu and various seasonal vegetables.

At that time, the real lower-class families were not as particular about food as they were, and they lived better than ordinary peasant families.

This is also what Sang Jingyun requested. If you eat too poorly and don’t get enough nutrition, and if you have health problems, it will not be worth it.

The family started eating, and Lu Ying kept looking towards the stairs.

Sang Jingyun knew that she was thinking about Sang Jingxiong.

Lu Ying's personality is completely different from that of her mother in her previous life.

Her mother in her previous life was a strong-willed person who would not be held back by her children. But Lu Ying was different. Her mind was always on her children, and she valued them more than herself.

When the original owner was sick, she stayed up all night taking care of him.

Sang Jingyun has been very busy these days and deliberately avoided her, so he spent less time with her.

Fortunately, Lu Ying did not ask Sang Jingxiong to come down for dinner, and Sang Qianshi even shared the remaining rice in the pot with everyone.

She planned her meals carefully and didn't cook too much because there were three adults and they only ate until they were 70% full.

Since Sang Jingxiong didn't come to eat, it would be a good opportunity for them to have a full meal.

Sang Xuewen was not liked by the Sang Qian family and could only eat pumpkin and rice crust these days. Now that he was given half a bowl of rice, he ate it with special relish.

"Ayun, go to the house and rest after you finish eating. Don't get tired," Sang Qian looked at Sang Jingyun worriedly, "You don't look well... Go back to the house quickly, I'll get you some water."

Sang Jingyun was in poor health and would sweat if he moved a little, so whether he was going to the county town or going home, he would be soaked after every trip.

She has to wash herself before going to bed, otherwise she will be sticky.

Her hair actually needed to be washed, but she was too tired these days and didn't take care of it. Tomorrow was Mid-Autumn Festival, and the shops in the county would close early. She planned to go home early, wash her hair thoroughly, and then use a cloth curtain to surround the yard and take a bath.

Thinking this, Sang Jingyun stood up and prepared to go back to the house.

At this time, Sang Jingying suddenly exclaimed: "Sister, there is blood behind you!"

Sang Jingyun was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized something.

The three adults in the family also knew what happened and looked embarrassed.

Sang Jingying was really frightened: "Sister, why are you bleeding? Sister..."

Sang Jingying had suffered some injuries before, but they were all minor injuries and only caused a little bleeding.

Now seeing the bloodstains behind his sister, he was terrified - with so much blood, would his sister die?
"I'm fine." Sang Jingyun was a little helpless.

Sang Qian stood up quickly and said, "Ayun, go rest in the house. I'll make you some brown sugar water. There's still some brown sugar left from what your grandfather bought when he passed away."

Sang Jingyun responded and walked into the room. At this time, Sang Jingying asked Lu Ying again: "Mom, what happened to my sister?"

"Your sister is fine, she just needs to rest." Lu Ying was embarrassed to tell Sang Jingying this.

If it were in the past, Sang Xuewen would definitely take Sang Jingying away with a smile and explain the matter to her, but he was now living in a numb state and did not react for a while.

Sang Jingying couldn't get an answer. After thinking about it, she felt that her sister must have been angry with Sang Jingxiong, so she rushed upstairs immediately.

Upstairs, Sang Jingxiong lay on his bed, feeling very aggrieved.

The family was eating mooncakes and having a meal, but they didn’t even invite him!

He just knew that they didn't take him seriously.

As Sang Jingxiong was thinking, he began to sob. At this moment, his brother suddenly ran up to him.

Sang Jingxiong thought his brother was calling him to eat, but his brother picked up a book next to him and started beating him.

This was the third time Sang Jingxiong was beaten today. He was stunned and started crying loudly.

Sang Jingying saw this and said angrily: "You are still crying! Your family really spoils you too much. You are not sensible at all!"

After hitting him a few times, Sang Jingying realized that hitting someone with a book didn't hurt. Thinking of the way a classmate's mother dealt with her classmates, Sang Jingying pinched a piece of flesh on Sang Jingxiong's arm with two fingers and twisted it hard...

Sang Jingxiong screamed.

Lu Ying went upstairs to get something. When she heard the sound, she was a little worried and went over to take a look.

Seeing that Sang Jingying was only pinching Sang Jingxiong, she felt relieved and went to the next room.

Lu Ying took the menstrual belt from the box belonging to Sang Jingyun and went downstairs carefully.

The stairs to the attic were made of wood and were very steep, so she walked very slowly.

After going downstairs, she took the menstrual belt and went to fill it with wood ash for Sang Jingyun.

Sang Jingyun could neither sit nor lie down and could only stand. Fortunately, Sang Qianshi came in quickly with some water, and after a while, Lu Ying also came.

The original owner of Sang Jingyun's body had her period two years ago, but it had never been regular, and had hardly come in the past six months. The sudden arrival this time was beyond Sang Jingyun's expectations.

But when I thought about how tired I was today, it was clearly a sign.

Taking the menstrual belt from Lu Ying's hand and asking the two to go out first, Sang Jingyun began to clean.

At that time, women used menstrual belts made of cloth during their menstruation.

A menstrual belt is a long and narrow pocket made of cloth that can be tied around the waist. People from well-off families will stuff cloth inside it, while ordinary families will put wood ash inside.

Lu Ying filled her with wood ash.

Sang Jingyun had no objection to this.

There are no bacteria in wood ash, so it is very safe to use. Nowadays, when country people get injured, they apply some wood ash on the wound to stop the bleeding.

However, as a woman, she is really pitiful. It will be inconvenient for her to do anything in the next two days.

After changing clothes, Sang Jingyun's stomach started to hurt again. The original owner didn't feel much pain before, but now it's like this. It's probably because his health is not good.

She had to make money so that she could see a doctor to regulate her body and stop using wood ash.

When Sang Jingyun was feeling bad, Sang Jingying was still asking around about Sang Jingyun's condition, and in the end it was Sang Qian who told him.

Sang Jingying was shocked after hearing this. Bleeding every month, and it lasts for several days. This is too miserable!
Now that things have come to this, his sister definitely can’t go to the county town to write letters anymore. So tomorrow, he should take Sang Jingxiong with her.

Hong Xu can help people write letters, so there is no reason why Sang Jingxiong can’t do it.

Thinking of this, Sang Jingying followed Sang Qian into the house and told Sang Jingyun about his plan.

Sang Jingyun said, "That's good. He should have a taste of the pain of making money! Since he doesn't want me to go out in the limelight to make money and thinks women should stay at home to take care of their husbands and children, then let him take on the responsibility of supporting the family. Ah Ying, let him hand over 15 copper coins every day to support the family."

"Sister, after tomorrow, he still has to study." Sang Jingying thought of this.

Sang Jingyun said: "His school and teachers are not good. If he continues to study there, I'm afraid he will learn bad things."

Judging from what Sang Jingxiong shouted, his teachers and classmates were not good people.

If a ten-year-old child stays in such a school, he will definitely be corrupted.

In her previous life, there was a peaceful era with excellent public security, but school bullying sometimes occurred. The situation in this era must be worse.

It would be better to let Sang Jingxiong be a "child laborer" than to let him go to school.

(End of this chapter)