Chapter 61: It's not easy to be the third child, so let's go to the countryside together (
Zhang Jianguo was a workshop team leader at the steel rolling mill, earning 15 yuan a month. His wife Chen Hongmei was a temporary worker in the steel rolling mill canteen, earning 30 yuan a month. In , they were allocated housing, and the family of seven lived in a -square-meter house.
The eldest son, Zhang Aiguo, 19 years old, has not been able to find a job three years after graduation and plans to take over his father's job.
The second daughter, Zhang Ailan, is seventeen years old. She just graduated the year before last and has not found a job yet.
The original owner was the third daughter, Zhang San, sixteen years old. Just the name alone indicated that she was a child who was not loved by her parents. She was one year older than the twins Zhang Aimin and Zhang Aixiu, but they still had to wait to go to school together. The three siblings were in the same grade and class, and would graduate this year.
The neighborhood office has come to Zhang Ailan's house several times, trying to mobilize her to go to the countryside. Zhang Ailan wanted to delay it and wait until the original owner graduated and then go to the countryside in her place.
The original owner graduated at the same time as Zhang Aimin and Zhang Aixu. The street office said that the policy had changed and the Zhang family's two unemployed children had to go to the countryside.
Chen Hongmei was reluctant to let her child suffer in the countryside, and had a difficult choice between Zhang Ailan and Zhang Aixiu. In the end, it was Zhang Ailan who "accompanied" the original owner to the village.
The original owner had never been chosen. Chen Hongmei ordered the original owner to go to the countryside without hesitation. She had no other choice.
Seeing her parents struggling with her second sister and younger sister, the original owner couldn't hide the bitterness in her heart.
Zhang Ailan has never liked doing housework since she was a child, and the original owner took care of her daily life. When they both went to the same brigade, the original owner became Zhang Ailan's nanny, doing laundry, cooking, and earning work points to support her.
And what about Zhang Ailan, what is she doing?
Zhang Ailan was good-looking, with big eyes, thick eyebrows and fair skin. She was very popular in that era and attracted many young men in the brigade to follow her.
She not only attracted handsome guys, but also second-rate guys. In order to get rid of the entanglement of the second-rate guys, Zhang Ailan sold the original owner, and the original owner was forced to marry the second-rate guy in the village.
The second-rate guy also had a tendency to violence. The original owner was still pregnant, but she was beaten by him and had a miscarriage. She fell in a pool of blood. She saw Zhang Ailan passing by and reached out for help, but she only saw Zhang Ailan's cold eyes.
The original owner died in the end. The second-rate guy lost his wife and came to harass Zhang Ailan again. Zhang Ailan could only accept the confession of the captain's youngest son to avoid the entanglement of the second-rate guy.
In 1976, Zhang Ailan was recommended to study at the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University. She left her husband and children behind and never returned.
Zhang Ailan returned to her home in the city, accepted the guilt of her parents and siblings, became the "old Buddha" of the family, and never suffered any hardship for the rest of her life.
*
"Sanyah, Director Li has come to a few more houses." The middle-aged woman passing by looked at Zhang Shan with sympathy, and Zhang Shan understood what she was thinking.
He turned around and ran to the Youth League Office, and signed up the eldest son, Zhang Aiguo, to go to the countryside, along with the fifth son, Zhang Aixiu.
"Third girl, this...is not good, is it?"
The registration staff knew the original owner. After all, the original owner's family was a tough bunch. After three years of mobilization, not a single person went to the countryside, which made it difficult for both the street office and the educated youth office.
"You haven't completed your target for this month yet?"
"It's...what indicator? Don't talk nonsense." She glared at Zhang Shan.
There are indeed no targets, but there will be comparisons everywhere. Since there are few people going to the countryside in their street, they will not be praised, but will be accused of not doing their job well and having low ideological awareness.
It has not yet reached the point where they are forced to go to the countryside, but this has become an indicator for their annual assessment.
"Once you write down your name, you can't change it or delete it. You'd better think it through."
This little girl was quite cruel, she abandoned all her brothers and sisters to the countryside.
"Of course I know. You know my family's situation. My parents will definitely let me go to the countryside. For so many years, I have worked like a cow and a horse to serve them. I didn't expect that they didn't remember my kindness at all. I have been holding my breath. I can go to the countryside, but they have to follow me. Sister, please help me choose a place farthest away from them. I'm afraid they will beat me to death."
Staff: “…”
You also know that you will be beaten to death?
"So, sister, you must help me keep the secret!"
After saying that, she stuffed a piece of floral cloth into the staff member's hand. The staff member looked at the floral cloth in his hand and smiled, "Don't worry, I'll take care of this matter. I'll submit the list tonight and help you get to the countryside as soon as possible."
"Okay, thank you for your hard work, sister."
"It's not hard, it should be."
Both parties were very satisfied and said goodbye with a smile.
Zhang Shan took the subsidies for going to the countryside from her brothers and sisters and walked towards home. As soon as she arrived at the door, she saw Chen Hongmei with red eyes seeing off the director of the street office. Looking at the director's satisfied expression, it seemed that the family had already made a decision.
"What happened to Second Sister?"
The second sister locked herself in the room, and Zhang Shan had no way to go in, so she could only sit outside.
"San Ya, you saw the people from the neighborhood office coming just now, didn't you? Our family has to go to the countryside. According to the order, you and your second sister should have gone together. Mom has already talked to the neighborhood office and asked them to arrange for you two sisters to live in the same place. You sisters must help each other in the future. No matter what, you are all blood relatives, and we are connected even if our bones are broken."
"I got it, Mom."
"Mom knows that you are the most sensible one in our family. Tomorrow, I will help you and your second sister sign up."
Chen Hongmei thought Zhang Shan didn't know that there was a subsidy for signing up to go to the countryside, so she wanted to give all the money to Zhang Ailan. After all, this was the condition for agreeing to Zhang Ailan's request.
"Second sister, are you really going to sign up to go to the countryside tomorrow? Doesn't Liu Zhijun like you very much? If you get married, will you not have to go to the countryside?"
Zhang Ailan sat up in shock from her dying illness, "Why didn't I think of this? If I got married, I wouldn't have to go to the countryside!"
Zhang Ailan immediately ran out and knocked on Chen Hongmei's door. Chen Hongmei didn't know if this would work and planned to ask the people from the street office tomorrow.
Zhang Aixue heard every word they said. If Zhang Ailan didn't go to the countryside, then she would be the one to go. She would never allow that!
While Chen Hongmei was struggling and Zhang Ailan was ready to take action, Zhang Aixiu went to the Youth League Office and reported the names of Zhang Ailan and Zhang Shan. Many people saw this process.
Regardless of Chen Hongmei's reaction, Zhang Ailan was also angry. She has always been vindictive, so she also helped Zhang Aixiu sign up.
When two sisters were fighting each other, Zhang Shan stole all the family savings, carried the packages and left on the train.
By the time they realized something was wrong, the person had already gone far away.
And this is not the most infuriating thing. The money in the family disappeared, and the four brothers and sisters, including the eldest brother Zhang Aiguo who already had a job, were also on the list of people to be sent to the countryside. Zhang Aiguo and Zhang Aimin, who were watching the two sisters fighting each other, were also bitten.
"Mom, I don't want to go to the countryside!"
"Mom, I don't want to either!"
No one wants to go to the countryside, but their names have been reported and the notice has been sent, so they have to go even if they don’t want to!
The two old men seemed to have aged twenty years in an instant.
Usually, with the original owner as a big enemy, helping brothers and sisters to reconcile conflicts with parents (attributing all the conflicts to himself), the brothers and sisters are still very united and friendly.
Now, the relationship between Zhang Ailan and Zhang Aixue has been torn apart, and even the superficial calm is difficult to maintain.
Three days later, whether they were willing or not, they had to go to the countryside.
Perhaps because all the children of the Zhang family had gone to the countryside and had high ideological awareness, the leaders put all four of them in one team.
Zhang Shan went to the south, and the four siblings went to the north. One in the south and one in the north, they could no longer rely on Zhang Shan.
Zhang Shan also wanted to know what happened to them, so she bribed a young educated youth in their Youth League Home and asked her to help them with the difficult task.
The four of them had never done any work since they were young. They could not do anything in the fields. They were paid two work points a day. Their families had no money to subsidize them, so they went to bed hungry every day.
Zhang Aiguo was the first one who couldn't stand it anymore and planned to marry a girl in the village. After all, he was old enough, and his parents would arrange blind dates for him when he was in the city.
But the traitor was very powerful and ruined several of Zhang Aiguo's "blind dates". The girls that Zhang Aiguo liked didn't like him for one reason or another, and the girls that liked him, he felt, didn't come from powerful families and couldn't help him, and were not good-looking.
Although Zhang Aiguo was the first one to have the idea, the first person to get married was Zhang Ailan. Zhang Ailan married a second-rate guy in the village, who was the same person the original owner had married in her previous life.
At first, Erliuzi was nice to Zhang Ailan, but when Zhang Ailan had contact with other men, Erliuzi's violent genes could not be suppressed, and he punched and kicked Zhang Ailan.
The Zhang brothers and sisters had long lost their unity. Even though they knew that Zhang Ailan was being abused, they had no intention of helping.
Zhang Ailan is selfish, otherwise she would not have sold out the original owner in her previous life.
So, in this life, Zhang Ailan also sold out Zhang Aixiu to alleviate the anger of the second-rate guy, not to mention how much Zhang Aixiu hated Zhang Ailan.
As the older brother of the twins, they had a better relationship than others since childhood. Zhang Aimin naturally would not stand idly by. He rescued Zhang Aixiu and even had a fight with the second-rate guy.
Although she was beaten all over, Zhang Aixiu still left the second-rate guy's home.
After Zhang Aixiu left, Zhang Ailan suffered. She was beaten by a scoundrel and had a miscarriage. No one saved her, and Zhang Ailan died from excessive blood loss.
After Zhang Ailan's death, Erliuzi brought his brothers to the Youth League Home and wanted to take Zhang Aixiu away. For this, Zhang Aimin's leg was broken.
After Zhang Aimin broke his leg, he was registered as a work-related injury and sent back to the city. Zhang Aiguo seemed to see hope and planned to injure himself before returning to the city, but he was not careful and both of his legs were broken, to the point where he could not stand up anymore.
Both of her brothers went back to the city. Zhang Aixiu was very desperate and could only live with a second-rate person. When she thought her life was hopeless, her parents in the city processed the procedures for her to return to the city, and Zhang Aixiu went back to the city to take over her father's job.
On the day they came to pick up Zhang Aixu, Zhang Jianguo brought the police and took Zhang Aixu away. As for Zhang Ailan's body, it had to be left in the countryside. After all, if they brought her back to the city, they would have to find a place to bury her.
After Zhang Aixiu returned to the city, she became taciturn and unwilling to communicate with others. Her two disabled brothers at home were not much better off than her.
Zhang Jianguo and Chen Hongmei worked hard to take care of the three patients at home and soon fell ill. After all, they had never done so much work and taken care of so many people before.
They still have to go through the hardships of raising children.
"How could the third child be so evil? If it weren't for her, the second child wouldn't have died, the first and fourth children wouldn't have broken their legs, and the fifth child wouldn't have... We didn't deprive her of food and drink, so how could she be like this?"
"Don't mention that rebellious girl. We will just pretend that she is not our daughter!"
Chen Hongmei was still crying, and Zhang Jianguo was also infected by her emotions and his eyes turned red.
It was enough for Zhang Shan to know that their family was not living a good life. Apart from scheming for Zhang Ailan to marry a second-rate man and preventing Zhang Aiguo from marrying a girl from the village to prevent him from abandoning his wife and children, she could not control other chain reactions.
Of course, Zhang Ailan's death was also within her expectations.
Perhaps, without the selfless dedication of the original owner, the Zhang family would have had a similar ending!