Chapter 54: Spoiled

Chapter 54

Zhi Xia rode ahead alone, her nerves highly strung, never looking back.

Only when she noticed the lack of sound behind did she tentatively ask, "Fourth brother, are you tired?"

Zhi Xia called out several times, but there was no response. Only then did she belatedly realize what was happening.

Her nerves tensed up again, but luckily she did not fall this time, managing to ride steadily.

But as she turned a corner, some figures suddenly appeared.

"Be careful..." Zhi Xia cried out in fright, but it was too late to dodge and she collided with them.

Pei Jing was also surprised. He was walking here with Second Uncle's family when Zhi Xia suddenly came riding towards them on her bike. Cheêck out latest novels at novelhall.com

Zhi Xia quickly tried to brace the falling bike with her feet, but being too short, her foot twisted as it touched the ground, sending piercing pain through her. She felt sure she was about to take a tumble.

But the next moment, she fell into a warm embrace.

Zhi Xia's body fell into Pei Jing's arms as he caught her. Her bike crashed to the ground with a clatter.

An Zhi Ang rushed over to help Zhi Xia out of Pei Jing's arms, "Little sister, are you alright? Did you get hurt from the fall?"

Feeling embarrassed by her own clumsiness, Zhi Xia said, "I'm fine, I just twisted my ankle a bit."

"Let me take a look," said Pei Jing. Spotting a stone step by a nearby house's door, he called An Zhi Ang, "Carry her over there to sit down first, I'll see how badly she's injured."

"Alright," An Zhi Ang readily obliged.

Pei Jing's Second Uncle Pei Sheng and his wife were there with their eldest daughter Pei Meng. An Zhi Ang asked them, "This is Zhi Xia right?"

With a frown, Pei Jing said, "They're still young, I'm afraid it's not appropriate."

Missing his implication, Jiang Su said, "My nephew's not much older, a nice match for the youngsters. Let them get acquainted first, if suitable they can settle down later, that's good too."

Pei Jing's gaze at Jiang Su made her feel oddly wrong-footed.

"What is it? My family is poorer than the Ans I know, but not that bad right?" She genuinely liked Zhi Xia and was well-meaning in her intention, unlike if it was An Mei Yun.

Pei Jing began, "That's not what I meant, I meant that..."

But Pei Sheng cut him off, "Now that you mention it, I think my nephew Jian Guo would be quite suitable too. Our families are so close, if the kids got together, we'd be family twice over."

It was this kind of thinking, along with pressure from Eldest Uncle's family, that led to his daughter Pei Meng being sent down to the countryside instead of his nephew Pei Jian Guo, as originally planned.

No wonder his wife and daughter resented him, giving him the cold shoulder.

Pei Jing smiled mirthlessly, "Even Second Uncle thinks this way, no wonder Eldest Aunt holds that view. But Second Uncle, have you forgotten, it's exactly because Jian Guo is the sole boy of the third Pei generation that he should take on his responsibilities and protect his younger sisters. Not hide behind them and let them shield him. A man raised this way, how can he uphold the Pei family line?"

Pei Jing realized on this visit home that the biggest issue was how spoiled Pei Jian Guo was by the family.

Not quite spoiled rotten, but lacking grit as a man.

Amid heated arguments about being sent down, Pei Jian Guo just stood by watching his parents battle it out, not saying a word.

Finally, he used his status as the only boy of the young generation to shirk the duty originally meant for him.

In the early 1970s, while people mouthed slogans about women holding up half the sky and gender equality, the mindset of men superior, women inferior still lingered.

Pei Sheng and Jiang Su had only daughters. Jiang Su was willing to swallow minor slights, but this concerned their daughter's future, so she was furious.

Especially when Eldest Uncle pompously declared that a family's lineage depends on its sons, implying she was inferior for not having a son, and they would have to rely on nephews in old age.