Chapter 27

“Lan Hui was just helping her father by making living arrangements for the educated youths. The educated youths are all from the city and all of them are important. If they aren’t well taken care of, they will write a letter to complain to the county government and the captain will get into trouble. You’re just ignorant and don’t even understand these principles!” The middle-aged woman with white hair rolled her eyes at Du Hong, then turned to Guang Ying with a fawning smile. “Sister Ying, don’t you agree?”

Guang Ying was the wife of the village’s production team captain. She was very prestigious among the women and there were many people who tried to please her.

Du Hong saw that the people around her were obviously speaking up for Guang Ying and was instantly so angry that she could not speak.

Guang Ying glanced at Du Hong and said smugly, “Of course. Lan Hui is a filial child, so her father and I want to keep her at home for a few more years.”

Du Hong angrily placed the washed clothes into the wooden basin and smiled coldly. “I certainly hope she doesn’t end up a spinster. She keeps looking down on others and acts as though she’s some fairy from the heavens!”

With that, Du Hong turned around and left, ignoring the discussions behind her.

Not long after Du Hong left, Lan Hui arrived.

She saw Guang Ying chatting with the women in the village and called out sweetly, “Mother!”

“Oh my. Lan Hui, why are you here? The sun is hot today. Don’t get sunburnt. Come to the shade of the tree.”

When she saw her dear daughter, Guang Ying’s face was filled with smiles. She smiled proudly at the women beside her. “My daughter came to see me. I told her to stay at home and take care of her sister-in-law, but this child still came over specially to visit me. Lanhui is so filial!”

Lan Hui walked to the shade of the tree. The women around her immediately surrounded her and praised her. Although these praises were meant to please Guang Ying, Lan Hui was still very happy to hear them.

“Mother, I don’t have any new clothes to wear recently. Look, I’m wearing old clothes. When are we going to town to buy new clothes?” Lan Hui hugged Guang Ying’s arm and said coquettishly.

“When your oldest brother gets his pay, I’ll bring you to buy cloth and find a good tailor from the neighboring village to make new clothes for you. What do you think?” Guang Ying looked at her delicate and cute daughter and smiled especially lovingly.

Only Lan Hui’s eldest brother worked in the city, and his salary was also the highest. Every time food stamps, cloth stamps, and fuel stamps were issued, Lan Hui’s eldest brother, Lan Ping, would give a portion to his parents. The cloth stamps were basically used to buy new cloth for Lan Hui to make clothes.

Hearing Guang Ying’s words, an old lady beside her asked curiously, “Guang Ying, you’re using your eldest son’s cloth stamps for your daughter to buy clothes. Does your eldest daughter-in-law say anything about it?”

“How dare she have any objections? She’s just an unemployed woman. She would never dare to have any problems about how my son spends his money, right?” Guang Ying rolled her eyes disdainfully.

In fact, Lan Hui’s sister-in-law was indeed very dissatisfied with this matter. After all, no woman wanted her husband to hand over all the money he earned to his family.

Lan Hui’s sister-in-law and her brother had quarreled countless times thanks to this.

She did not understand why her husband had to buy new clothes for his sister first with the money he earned. She hardly made any new clothes a year, but Lan Hui had to make four to five new sets of clothes every season. Lan Hui also had to make the latest styles found in magazines.

However, no matter how dissatisfied Lan Hui’s sister-in-law was with this matter, she could not change anything about it. She could not possibly divorce Lan Ping for it. She could only endure it and wait for Lan Hui to get married.

Hearing Guang Ying’s words, a young woman among the women fell silent.

Her daughter was almost 18 years old this year. She had originally wanted to find a matchmaker to matchmake her daughter with the youngest son of the Lan family. Now, it seemed that if her daughter married over, she would have to help her husband support Lan Hui.

Lan Hui was the little princess of the family. What would become of her daughter after marrying into the family? Wouldn’t she be reduced to being a maid for Lan Hui?

She immediately dismissed the idea.

Lan Hui chatted with Guang Ying for a while longer. Finally, she whispered into Guang Ying’s ear about Chunxiu’s argument with her today. Of course, according to Lan Hui’s description, Chunxiu was the one who bullied her.

“How could she do this to you? You were kind enough to take care of her at home, but she mocked you for not coming out to work. When she was pregnant, we didn’t let her do any work, but she gave birth to two useless girls anyway! We haven’t even blamed her for it, yet she actually dares to criticize you? Huihui, don’t worry. I’ll take care of her when we get back!” Guang Ying said angrily.