Struggle Life in the 1970s

Father Chu looked suspicious, "You won't speak up for your sister?"

He remembered that he had helped Chu Ye escape from home. They didn't want to bring Chu Guangyao with them to school today, but he had insisted on following them.

“Hey, why don’t you help my sister? I just asked you to go along with her first, and when she is not so defensive towards us, we can ask her to go home.” Chu Guangyao touched his nose and smiled frankly.

"How can this be possible? This means severing ties, how can it be that simple?" Mother Chu felt heavy and uncomfortable. She held the two pieces of white paper in her hands, but she was illiterate. Even if she tried hard to read, she couldn't recognize what was written on them.

Chu Guangyao slapped his forehead, turned his head and borrowed Chu's mother's hand to read the whole article at a glance. Then, he pulled Chu's father over to analyze the article.

"It says that after you and my mother sign, she will no longer have any relationship with the Chu family, and she will not be responsible for supporting you two in the future."

Chu's mother listened eagerly, with sadness in her eyes.

"She's really getting cocky! Look at what she said, is this something a girl should say? Which daughter would be like her and dare to cut off ties with her family?" Father Chu felt that his dignity as the head of the family was being severely challenged.

"Dad, calm down and think about it carefully. Fourth sister said that she won't support you and mom after we break up, but the family doesn't need her to support it anyway, so isn't what she said in vain?" Chu Guangyao spoke quickly.

"Besides, we know where her school is. It seems like she just needs to run a little further. At most, we can run a few more times. Then maybe my sister will soften her heart and feel sorry for you guys running around, so she might go home on her own initiative."

"If you sign your names now, our family will earn some money for free, and I will be able to find a wife by the end of the year."

And what Chu's father has been worrying about will not happen. Chu Ye has already been kicked out of the house. There is no such thing as the older one getting married before the younger one, which will damage the younger one's luck.

Chu's father fell into deep thought. Chu's mother pulled Guangyao, disapprovingly, "No matter what, she is still your sister. How can you agree to break off relations with her? Have you forgotten that when you were little, it was your sister who took care of you?"

Chu's mother was heartbroken. She really couldn't understand how a happy family had become like this.

She has been taking care of the household for many years. She has seen her daughter and son get jobs, and now her son has someone he likes. It should be a time for the whole family to be happy, but why did her daughter become estranged from them?

"Mom, this is only temporary." Chu Guangyao helped his mother sit down and comforted her, "Look at my sister's attitude today. She definitely doesn't want to go home with us. If you yell at her again, she will probably be even more disappointed in us. It's better to give in to her and make her less resentful of our family."

"She dares!" Chu's father stared.

"But your sister wants to sever ties with our family. If she signs this, will she never come home again?" Mother Chu really didn't want to sign this. She was very worried, thinking that if she signed, she would really lose her daughter.

"How could that be, mom? I just signed my name to let my sister vent her anger, but she works here, so we can come and see her whenever we want. It won't affect anything."

Mother Chu was still hesitating, but Father Chu made the final decision, "Okay! If she wants to sign, we'll sign! We don't have to worry about her marriage and cause a lot of trouble. If the villagers ask about it in the future, we'll just say we don't have this daughter!"

"How can this be possible?" Chu's mother wanted to stop it, but she had never had much say in this family. Although she was reluctant, no one took her words to heart.

Chu Guangyao quickly pushed the door open and called Chu Ye in.

Her expression was still calm, and Chu's father no longer had the anger he had just had. He just looked at Chu Ye's indifferent face and secretly cursed her as an unfilial daughter.

"We have agreed that as long as your mother and I sign, you have to pay Guangyao's betrothal gift. I just calculated it, including the three turns and one ring, it must be at least 500 yuan!"

Chu Ye frowned, and his father seized on this expression and became proud. Obviously, the cold eyes and impatience he encountered after coming to school today were satisfied at this moment.

"I tell you, it's useless even if you want to regret it now! When you give me the 500 yuan, I will sign it!" Father Chu's anger disappeared, and he only felt happy.

Chu's mother still wanted to calm the situation down. She looked left and right, not knowing who to persuade first.

Chu Ye looked embarrassed. Her monthly salary was only 46 yuan, and it was even lower during her internship. Even though she didn't spend much on food and accommodation at school, she had to rent a house during the winter and summer vacations every year, buy groceries and cook for herself, and minus the money she spent on Mu Jiajun, she could only save up 300 yuan.

"I can give you half first, and after you sign, I'll mail the remaining half back in a few days."

Chu's father subconsciously wanted to object, but Chu Guangyao on the side quickly agreed.

After the old couple signed the paper, each of them held a copy of the severance letter. Chu Ye said she wanted to go back to the dormitory to get money and asked the three to wait for her at the school gate.

At the fence, Chu's father was somewhat dissatisfied with Chu Guangyao's decision just now, but thinking that this was his own son, he was not so angry.

"You shouldn't have agreed so quickly just now. What if she doesn't give us the money?"

Chu Guangyao patiently advised, "Dad, Fourth Sister is not that kind of person."

"You still call her sister? There will be no such person as her in our family from now on! We can't afford to have such a big Buddha at home!" Father Chu said unhappily.

While watching the father and son bickering, Chu's mother looked longingly at the campus. Thinking of Si Ya's indifferent face when she signed the paper just now, her heart ached.

How did it become like this today?

The three people at the door didn't have to wait long before Chu Ye came out with the money. She handed the two hundred and fifty yuan wrapped in paper to Chu's father, who counted it carefully and confirmed that it was correct.

"Okay, send the rest of the money back quickly, don't let us go to the school to ask for it again." After saying that, he didn't bother to look at this unfilial daughter anymore, put the money in his arms, and after confirming that it was safe, he turned around and shouted for the two to go home. Chu's father walked forward without looking back, and Chu's mother didn't dare to stop, but just kept looking back.

As for Chu Guangyao, he just looked back. There was no longer the confidence in his eyes when he persuaded Chu's father. A smile played on his lips as he looked at Chu Ye, but tears flashed in his eyes.

Chu Ye inexplicably recalled the moment when he fell to the ground hugging Chu's mother, but shouted towards the house to let him leave home.

In fact, the school doors are not soundproof, and they can hear what they say in the office.

She remembered that Chu Guangyao had written to her in advance, asking her to be prepared.

The corners of her mouth slowly rose, revealing a very faint smile, then she turned and walked into the campus.

As expected, the vice-principal called her to his office in the afternoon and asked her to explain the whole incident in detail.

After all, many students heard what Chu's father said at that time, and it had a very bad impact on the school.

Chu Ye was conflicted for a moment, and simply explained that her family had forced her to go on a blind date, but she ran away because she didn't want to. She didn't dare go home in the past few years because she was afraid that this would happen again.

Not only the vice principal was in the office, but also the dean of studies and several other teachers. They all frowned after hearing what Chu Ye said.

Then the vice-principal asked her how she handled today's incident. Chu Ye embellished today's events a bit and said that she and her family had reached a consensus that they would not come to school again.

The vice principal nodded, not knowing whether he believed it or not, and waved his hand to let her go back first.

Sitting in the office, Chu Ye clearly felt that the atmosphere in the room changed a little the moment she came in.

She was writing her lesson plan without showing any emotion. Two teachers who usually had a good relationship with her came over quietly and wanted to ask about what happened in the morning. Chu Ye responded with a smile.

When she returned to the dormitory at night, she let out a long sigh and lay down on the bed exhausted. She originally wanted to wait for Mingzhu to come back and talk to her about borrowing money, but she fell asleep while waiting.

When Chu Ye opened his eyes again, the dim white light outside the window was shining on the ground. The dormitory was quiet, so quiet that he could hear the slight breathing of the person in the next bed.

She was covered with a thin blanket, probably the one Mingzhu had covered her with yesterday. She turned her arms which were a little sore from being pressed all night, and began to think aimlessly.

Today is Saturday. All the students have gone home and the whole campus is quiet. When the sky outside is completely bright, Mingzhu wakes up. When she sees Chu Ye is also awake, she asks about what happened yesterday with concern. Chu Ye picks out the key points and gives a general idea, and finally mentions the matter of borrowing money.

"These are all small matters, but Ye Zi, I'm worried that after you give them money now, they will come to trouble you in the future." Mingzhu was worried about her future situation.

"I've thought of this, but for now I can only do this to get rid of them. Fortunately, I moved my household registration out when I was admitted to the teachers' college. Now I have the certificate of severing ties, so it won't be easy for them to cause trouble to me in the future."

Mingzhu's worries had been on her mind for a long time, and she even went to ask the director. Positions like theirs were not set in stone and meant that one could only work in one school for the rest of their lives. If she had excellent teaching performance, she would have a chance to be recruited by the county school, and she could even use her connections to ask someone to transfer her elsewhere.

It won’t be easy for her family to find her then.

Mingzhu thought about it and felt that what she said made some sense. Every family has its own problems. No matter how much she said, it would not change the current situation. So she took out two hundred and fifty yuan from her bag and handed it to Chu Ye.

Chu Ye thanked her sincerely and promised to pay her back slowly after receiving his salary, but Mingzhu waved her hand nonchalantly.

In the afternoon, she went to the post office in town and sent the money to the address Chu Guangyao had written to her.

I thought the matter was over, but after school started on Monday, the topic of how the school's excellent teacher, Teacher Chu, was scolded as an unfilial daughter by her own father became a hot topic on campus.

The reason turned out to be that when the students went home on Sunday, some of them inadvertently mentioned the matter to their families. After the parents learned about the incident from their children, the matter spread from one person to another and was known to more people in their hometown.

The words "unfilial daughter" and "rebellious daughter" that Chu's father said at the school gate gradually evolved into many different versions.

Some said Chu Ye had a decent appearance and didn’t look like someone with bad behavior; some said they saw Chu Ye living with a man in town during the holidays and that she had been married for a long time; some said she ran away from home to elope with a strange man; some said that she must have used some tricks to be so good at teaching at such a young age...

Once again, rumors swept in, and the students were confused, but parents kept coming to the school to complain.

The teacher in your school has a bad character. Even if her teaching level is high, we are afraid that our children will be led astray by her.

Layer upon layer of opinions weighed on the school leaders, and countless eyes were staring at the school, waiting for an explanation.

"Teacher Chu, we have seen your growth in the past two years at school. We believe that you will become an excellent teacher in the future."

Chu Ye's expression remained unchanged. The director seemed to know what he was going to say next, and his eyes were full of pity.

"But now, because of you, our school is under a lot of pressure. Many parents have come to complain and say they don't agree with you continuing to teach in the school."

"After discussion by the leadership, it has been decided that you should submit your resignation letter on your own, and the school will give you certain compensation."

(End of this chapter)