Struggle Life in the 1970s

"Sister, do you think girls are inferior to boys?" Chu Ye immediately understood the frustration in Chu Hua's heart.

On the one hand, she felt that she had to hurry up and give birth to a boy to pass on the Gao family bloodline and also to reassure her parents-in-law. But on the other hand, what if it was a girl? Would a girl be bad? They were all children that crawled out of her belly, how could she not love them?
But, but, but how should I explain to my parents-in-law? It's fine if they see that I gave birth to a boy, but if this is another girl, how will they look at me? Will they feel useless, or will they urge me to get pregnant with a third child as soon as possible?
She was entangled in this for a long time. Even when her husband left home to work in the factory in town, she was not in the mood to be sad. Suddenly, she heard Chu Ye's question, and she subconsciously retorted, "How is it possible? Girls are also good, but there must be boys. How can it be possible without boys?"

"Sister." Chu Ye put his hands on her shoulders and looked at her with a pair of calm black eyes. "What if you can't give birth to a son?"

"How can you not give birth to a boy? Of course you can. At worst you can just have a few more. Don't say such unlucky things again." Chu Hua shook her head and glared at her, speaking with displeasure.

"Don't you have anything else to do besides giving birth to a son? Think about it, after the New Year, your brother-in-law will go to work in town, and he can only come back once every ten days or half a month. Won't you have nothing to do staying at home? Besides, when you have a second child, the family expenses will be even greater. By then, you will have to use the money you have to buy whatever you want. How depressing it will be." These words touched Chu Hua's heart. Her expression relaxed a little, and she did not refute.

"Then, what does that have to do with me giving birth to a son?" Chu Hua turned the words over in her mind and then returned to the most fundamental issue.

"Sister, think about it. Whether it's a son or a daughter, they are all your children. But besides giving birth to them, don't you have anything else you want to do? Your brother-in-law earns money to support your whole family, but you still have to live a tight life. Besides, don't you want to go to town to find your brother-in-law?"

"You have a point. I feel uneasy about your brother-in-law being alone in the town, and I'm not afraid of you laughing at me if I tell you. My mother-in-law is a little difficult to get along with, and I sometimes don't indulge her. Whenever there's a conflict, I rely on your brother-in-law to mediate. Now that he's gone, I feel a little uneasy." Chu Hua really listened to him this time, and her words came from the heart. A hint of sadness unconsciously appeared on her brows.

"That's right, you see, this is inconvenient. You don't have any money, so you can't buy what you want. And you don't have anyone to talk to. It's better for you to live in the town with your brother-in-law."

"In this way, you don't have to stay at home every day. When you get to the town, if you feel you have nothing to do, you can find yourself a part-time job. This way you can earn money and use the money to buy yourself some clothes and jewelry." Chu Ye patiently persuaded Chu Hua and always spoke to her heart.

As for why Chu Hua wanted to have a boy so badly in her previous life, besides the urging of her parents-in-law and husband, it was also because she stayed in the village all year round, her thoughts were imprisoned, and no one told her that there is more than one way to live life.

But Chu Ye knew that her third sister had dreamed of becoming a salesperson in a department store since she was a child. It was because she loved the lively and popular atmosphere, liked communicating with people, and liked bright and warm colors. She was a bird with colorful feathers who was imprisoned in a cage in the countryside in her previous life.

What Chu Ye is doing now is to put the bird in a more lively place, let it see the outside world, and then break free from the restraints and soar in the sky.

Chu Hua's heart was pounding as she listened to this, and she felt more and more that this method was feasible. She just wanted to go to town with her husband so that she could take care of him more conveniently. What could she do wrong?

Then she thought about what Chu Ye had mentioned to her last time about the department store recruiting people, and she couldn't help but start to imagine, if she went to the town and found a job as a salesperson, wouldn't she be able to see and touch new things that she had seen and not seen before every day?
And she gets paid! She can buy the latest and most fashionable clothes with money, and she can also perm her hair into big waves!

Hiss! Just thinking about it made her feel sweet. Her eyes became hot and she held Chu Ye's cheeks with both hands. She had a small face, so at this moment, she only had a pair of dark eyes, looking at her in confusion.

"Bo'er!" A kiss fell on her forehead, and Chu Hua spoke gently as if she was treating her own child.

"I knew that my love for you was not in vain. You are worthy of being educated. You have a smart brain. I'll listen to you and give it a try." Chu Hua changed her worry when she came, and her whole body was in high spirits again, as if a tiny flame was fueled by someone, and then the red fire light shot up into the sky again.

Chu Ye smiled without saying anything, and gently rubbed her face against the rough palm. In her previous life, she felt sorry for her third sister's experience, but she was powerless to change others. In this life, she wanted the people she cared about to live a better life.

In the remaining few days, Chu Ye and her brother followed their parents to visit relatives and friends. They visited some distant relatives and neighbors and elders in the village, and then helped with some chores at home. Soon it was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

After tonight, the two siblings will go back to school. After dinner that night, Chu Guangyao pulled Chu Ye to his room, using the excuse that he wanted his sister to check his winter vacation homework.

Although Chu Ye was a little confused, she followed him anyway. When she got to the house, she saw the picture book she bought on the table, and an exercise book next to it. She picked it up and opened it to check. She quickly scanned it, but didn't find any wrong questions. She was confused and wanted to ask a question, but she heard Chu Guangyao's hesitant voice say, "Sister, the winter vacation homework assigned by the teacher is simple, I can do it. I called you over because of something else."

The boy was obviously taller than Chu Ye, but he lowered his head at this moment. The bright yellow light cast a shadow in front of him and also cast a shadow between the boy's eyes and nose, making it difficult to see his expression.

He stretched out his hand, and in his palm was some change, some small and some whole, but not much, "Sister, this is the pocket money I saved, and the New Year's money, I want to give these to you, you need money for school outside."

In an instant, a myriad of emotions surged in her heart. She felt that her brother had really grown up and knew how to repay his family, but she couldn't help but wonder in her heart, did he know that she had such a hard life in her previous life? Did he want to help her?

She took a deep breath and calmly concealed the impulse in her heart, "You keep it for yourself. I use the subsidy at school and don't need these."

After saying that, she turned and left.

At night, she dreamed about things from her previous life again. She felt uneasy for a long time. She got up early the next day. Everyone in the family was still asleep. She picked up the luggage she had packed yesterday, stood at the door of her parents' room, said something softly, and turned to walk out.

The winter morning was still bitterly cold. The inky black sky had not yet faded, and looking up, she could still see some stars. She closed the gate, pulled up the scarf around her neck to cover most of her face, and walked towards the village entrance.

She had agreed on a time with Brother Jianwen yesterday, and this morning she went straight to the village entrance to wait for him.

When Chu Ye walked to the village entrance with his luggage, the dark color in the sky faded a lot. Looking up, the stars in the sky had disappeared, and a white light rose in the distant sky, trying to dispel the darkness.

Chu Ye was waiting quietly under the tree. Perhaps because she didn't sleep well last night, there were dark circles under her eyes and she looked unwell.

After a while, there were rustling footsteps. Chu Ye looked up and saw a tall man in black walking towards her. In the distance, there was some white mist in the air, so she couldn't see his appearance clearly, so she subconsciously hid behind a tree trunk and reached into her luggage to find something to protect herself.

(End of this chapter)