Chapter 244: A Way Out

Wei Qing lay awake all night.

At the crack of dawn, she got up, dressed, and prepared to head to the commune to ask about registering for the college entrance exam.

As she passed the room of her uncle, Wei Shuan, she heard the couple whispering and instinctively stopped in her tracks.

Liu Sufen was saying, “After breakfast, you should ask Xiao Qing what her plans are. She can’t just freeload off us forever, can she?”

“Look at the chaos she caused for the Zhang Family, and she even got divorced from Zhang Jia Ming. Now, who knows what she did to get kicked out by the Jiang family. I’m not comfortable with a troublemaker like that living in our house. If this affects Xiao Shan’s engagement, I’ll hold you responsible!”

Wei Shuan replied, “Alright, I get it. I’ll go ask her in a bit.”

Hearing the rustling sounds of them getting up, Wei Qing hurried away.

Once she was outside the Wei Family home, her expression immediately darkened.

‘To think that when I used to come back, Liu Sufen would fawn over me like a puppy, asking if I was warm or cold.’

‘Now that she sees me in trouble, she’s kicking me while I’m down and treating me like a burden.’

‘A bunch of snobs who look down on people!’

At the commune, Wei Qing found the education department to inquire about the college entrance exam, only to learn that this year’s registration had already closed.

For Wei Qing, this news was like frost on top of snow.

Taking the exam was her only way out right now. As long as she passed, she could return to the city openly and honorably!

Although she could take next year’s exam, it was still more than half a year away.

She had no money and no job. How was she supposed to survive for the next six months?

It seemed her only option was to ask Li Hongying for some help.

Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly saw Li Hongying standing not far ahead.

At first, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, but as she got closer, she saw it really was Li Hongying!

“Xiao Qing.”

Li Hongying looked at her with a worried expression. Her eyes were bloodshot, and new wrinkles had appeared at their corners.

It was as if she had aged ten years overnight.

Wei Qing paid no attention to this. Seeing Li Hongying’s empty hands, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment.

“What are you doing here?”

Stung by her cold tone, Li Hongying couldn’t stop the tears from falling. “What do you think I’m doing here? Why did you steal your Uncle Jiang’s research materials? Has he ever treated you poorly? You’re such a disappointment!”

Wei Qing shrieked with a cold laugh, “You think I enjoy being a villain? Isn’t it because I have a useless mother like you! You can’t help me with anything, so I can only rely on myself to fight, to strive, to snatch what I need!”

Li Hongying looked aghast. “How could you say such a thing? I’ve given you everything I could. Do I have to give you my life for it to be enough?”

Wei Qing’s expression was frigid, her words venomous. “If you had any ability at all, I wouldn’t have ended up in this situation. Even when you beat a dog, you consider its master. The fact that the man surnamed Jiang showed me no mercy proves he has no respect for you. He’s in his prime and now a government official. His next step will probably be to replace you, the wife who’s been through thick and thin with him.”

Li Hongying’s body trembled, whether from anger or overwhelming sadness.

“Give me money. The house at home has collapsed. It needs to be repaired before it’s livable.”

Li Hongying wiped away her tears and silently took out all the money she had on her and gave it to her.

Looking at the few small bills Li Hongying handed her, Wei Qing’s face soured. “That’s it? This isn’t even enough to fix the roof.”

Li Hongying said sadly, “This is all I have.”

Wei Qing took the money, her tone mocking, “It seems Jiang Dahai doesn’t treat you very well either. You’d better start making plans for yourself. It’ll be too late to have regrets when you’re kicked out!”

After a pause, she added, “Fixing the house will cost at least fifty yuan. I don’t care if you borrow it or ask Jiang Dahai for it, just get the money to me as soon as possible. If you don’t want me coming to find you.”

Watching her resolute and cold retreating figure, Li Hongying felt an indescribable sorrow.

Her daughter only ever asked her for money, without a single thought for how difficult her own situation was.

When her daughter got married, Jiang Dahai had given a dowry of sixty-six yuan.

In other families, even a biological daughter might not receive such treatment.

Not only was her daughter ungrateful, but she also resented Jiang Dahai, even stealing his research materials for an outsider.

She felt so ashamed facing Jiang Dahai every day. How could she have the nerve to ask him for money?

Wei Qing was never the type to just sit and wait for her fate.

On the entire walk back to Lotus Village, she was contemplating her future.

She was determined to pass next year’s college entrance exam, but the immediate priority was survival.

At the entrance to the village, Wei Shan was chatting and laughing with a few of her close friends.

Seeing Wei Qing returning to the village, Chen Dongmei nudged Wei Shan’s arm. “Hey, isn’t that Jiang Qing? Where did she go so early in the morning?”

“Who knows,” Wei Shan said with a dismissive tone.

The old Wei Qing, with her city residence permit, had thought herself superior and couldn’t be bothered with her village cousins.

Now that she had been kicked out by the Jiang family and become a stray dog, Wei Shan was quite enjoying her misfortune.

“Where have you been?”

In the past, faced with Wei Shan’s questioning, Wei Qing would have certainly ignored her.

Today, however, she replied good-naturedly, “I went to the commune to ask about next year’s college entrance exam.”

Hearing this, the eyes of the other village girls filled with envy.

The most educated among them had only finished middle school. Forget about university; they weren’t even qualified to register for the exam.

Wei Shan pouted dismissively. “You’re already so old. So what if you get into university? Are you not going to get married and have kids just because you went to college?”

Wei Qing gave a wry smile. “This is how my life is. I can only rely on studying to make a future for myself. Unlike you, Xiao Shan, you’re so lucky. You have such an excellent fiancé, you won’t have to worry for the rest of your life.”

Wei Qing’s envious tone undoubtedly gave Wei Shan’s vanity a great boost.

Wei Shan’s fiancé was named Zhao Jingyang.

Zhao Jingyang was also from Lotus Village, and he and Wei Shan had a childhood engagement.

Over a decade ago, after Zhao Jingyang’s father was discharged from the army and reassigned, he was sent to Fucheng to be a driver for a leader, and he took Zhao Jingyang with him to study there.

The Zhao Family hadn’t returned to Lotus Village in all those years, and the Wei Family had assumed the engagement was off.

After all, the Zhao Family had leaped up the social ladder and become proper city folk. Why would they still be interested in them, a rural family?

Unexpectedly, when the Zhao Family returned to pay respects to their ancestors last year, they had proactively brought up the marriage.

The Wei Family, naturally, couldn’t have been happier.

After chatting with Wei Shan and the others for a while, Wei Qing returned to the Wei Family home.

Wei Shuan and his two sons had gone hunting in the mountains. There was no work in the fields during winter, so the men in the village either played cards and idled about or went hunting.

Her older cousin’s wife, Bai Chunyan, had also taken her son out to visit neighbors. The only person home was Liu Sufen, who was slicing radishes to make pickles.

Wei Qing closed the door, walked over to Liu Sufen, and dropped to her knees with a THUD.

Liu Sufen was startled. “What are you doing?”

Wei Qing’s eyes were brimming with tears. “Auntie, I’m begging you, for my father’s sake, please let me stay for a while. From now on, I’ll do all the chores—the laundry, cooking, sweeping, and feeding the chickens. Just think of it as keeping a servant. When I get into university next year, I will definitely repay your and Uncle’s kindness!”

After speaking, she kowtowed several times, her head hitting the floor with a series of THUDS.

Seeing her bleeding forehead, Liu Sufen felt a pang of pity and relented, agreeing to let her stay.