CH 34

Li Xin, who has not been home for many years, suddenly went back. I really couldn't think of any other possibility except my parents forced her to.

But I can't understand why my parents want her to go back. She has no money, and there’s no way that they’d give her something after all this time. It must be because they need her to do something for them.

Along the way, the more I thought about it, the more anxious I became. I wasn’t afraid of fighting Huang Mao and his gang, but I'm afraid of fighting with my parents. When facing my parents who gave birth to me and raised me, I couldn't deal with them with impulsive anger.

The motorcycle never caught up with the bus. I repeatedly asked the motorcycle guy to drive faster, and his rotten motorcycle was about to fall apart.

Many sections of the road were also bumpy, shaking my ass. I finally saw the bus pulled over to the side of the road and a few people were getting off.

I told the motorcyclist to slow down a bit and wait for the bus to drive away before speeding over again.

Li Xin was no longer on the side of the road, she went home. I got off and ran for home, praying that my parents weren't going to scold her, I had the guts to fight with my parents, but that wasn't what I wanted.

Home wasn't far, I'd be there in no time. It was nearly an hour's walk from school, the twilight afterglow of dusk was long gone, the mountains in the distance were already shrouded in night, and that night was still coming rolling this way.

It was dark.

The lights were on near and far, but there was still a kind of silent darkness when there were no street lights. The lights were on in my house, and there was no one around.

I quickly ran over and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a house next to ours and was stunned.

That was Da Qiang's house, we have been neighbors for many years, the last three years his house was empty, I did not expect for the lights to be on tonight, Da Qiang came back?

Another strong wave of uneasiness came, if Da Qiang even appears in front of Li Xin it will cause a psychological shock on her, I do not want him to come back.

I clenched my teeth, then ran to our door. The door was not closed, it was barely opened, and I heard the sound of laughter when I got close.

A very calm laughter, not my parents', nor Li Xin's. I was slightly surprised and quietly looked in through the window.

There were two guests in our home, they were also middle-aged. I remember them, they are the parents of Da Qiang, at first they were the rich family in the town, and later moved to the city.

My mother smiled a little flatteringly: "Old Zheng ah, that factory of yours should need a lot of manpower, right?"

My father also smiled fawningly next to her, facing rich people they always have no backbone.

I froze in my mind, factory? What factory?

Da Qiang's father spoke: "It's just a small factory, it doesn't need many people, this time I was thinking of bringing some folks over to help, do you want help too?"

My parents immediately nodded, I immediately understood. Da Qiang's father opened a factory, could it be that the friend Huang Mao talked about was Da Qiang?

But I didn't think much about it, I didn't care about that. Every year, many people in the town go out to work, especially young people who have stopped studying. Now they are recruiting people from the country, whoever is more trustworthy, and my parents wanting to go is justifiable.

But what does this have to do with Li Xin?

While thinking about it, I glanced inside, and found that Li Xin was standing there with her head lowered and silent, as if she didn't exist.

I still feel uneasy, Da Qiang's mother smiled saying: "Don't worry, we are neighbors, how could we not take care of you? But who will take care of your two children?"

My mother hurriedly interjected, "Li Chen is in high school, we are giving him money, he can also go to his grandmother's house."

I don't care about this, but Da Qiang's mother looked at Li Xin: "What about Xin'er? Your mother's side does not seem to like her ah ......"

I squeezed my fingers lightly, and secretly said that I would just take care of her.

However, my mother's next words took everyone by surprise, she said somewhat unnaturally, "We'll just take Li Xin to work with us ......"

I almost hit the window, my heart was shocked, taking Li Xin to work part-time? This is why she was called back. How can this be, she is only a junior high school student!

I was so angry at the moment that my body was shaking, and then I looked at Li Xin, she obviously panicked, looked up and lowered her head, hands squeezing the corner of her coat.

My father then spoke as if he had made up his mind: "It's okay, several underage girls in the village have gone out to work with people, I heard that you can get a false ID, and no one checks. We can take Li Xin, if something really happens, just say we brought her to play, she only needs half of the salary, and she just needs to live with her mother in a dormitory, okay?"

Da Qiang's parents frowned and pondered for a while: "This is okay, but Xin'er did not finish junior high school, she is beautiful, well educated, and seems like a good wife ah, for her to go to work is too wasteful."

Da Qiang's parents were more reasonable than my parents, perhaps they are very optimistic about Li Xin. But my parents do not think so, and were even a little angry: "She does not listen, she secretly earned money and hid, and usually does not call her own parents, she has no conscience. Why is it useful for a girl to read so many books? Do we have to pay for her to go to college? How can we get all that money?"

I knew there were many girls in the country who graduated from junior high school and went to work, but Li Xin did not even finish junior high school, which was too cruel, and I strongly disagreed.

When Da Qiang's parents finally agreed, I kicked the door open and rushed in, almost, "No, Li Xin can’t go to work!"

I never thought that Li Xin would suddenly face such a big predicament. She was forced by her parents to work part-time in the middle of school. What hope does she have in this life? Some girls I knew when I was a child, they went out to work while they were young, and when they came back, they had dyed red hair. They were prostitutes standing on the street. Some even had children. I never want Li Xin to become like that, she is a pure child. (TN: In China, Chinese people who dye their hair are usually perceived as less intelligent or are seen as prostitutes.)

Several people in the room were shocked by my sudden outburst, my parents' faces were white with anger, and Da Qiang's parents were surprised. Li Xin gazed at me, was amazed, then her eyes reddened, then she lowered her head again.

My parents were not good at scolding me in front of outsiders, but they still told me to go back away. I didn't even move, and once again said firmly: "If you guys dare to take Li Xin away, I'll go instead, to Pearl River Delta, right? I'll go to make money for you, I’ll stop studying, and let you enjoy yourself!"

My parents' faces were ugly, and Da Qiang's parents saw that something was wrong and hurried to say goodbye: "We have to go visit other families, so we'll talk tomorrow."

They left in a hurry, still whispering. My parents relaxed when they left, and my father slapped me directly: "What are you doing back here? Are you crazy?"

My cheek was swollen, and my mother didn't stop him this time, but looked at me with anger and disappointment: "Li Chen, why are you so ignorant? Do you know how much money your grandparents spent on us? Don't you know they are still in the hospital? They used up all the money in the family, we go leave the house early and come home late, do you know how much money we make a day? You're in high school now, what about college later? What about marriage and children? We have no savings at all, we can only go out, living paycheck to paycheck, Li Xin is a girl, what can she do after studying? She ran away with someone? Look at her now, will she be filial to us?"

My mother was very sad and in pain and said a lot of things. My teeth were clenched, and my fists were clenched to death. I knew that my grandparents, who had been sick, had depleted the family fortune, but that didn't move me. It's true that I didn't know any better, and that I didn't think that much, I just didn't want Li Xin to become a working girl!

"I forbid it!" My mother's eyes burst into tears and my father couldn't hold back any longer, he knocked me to the ground with one punch and kicked me several times: " Were you allowed to speak? Since when is it your turn to speak? What's wrong with you?"

My father was very strong, and he knocked out my blood with a few punches and kicks. After all, my mother didn’t to stop my father. My father kept scolding and hitting me. Li Xin was trembling and shivering. She wanted to speak but didn't dare to say a word.

I suddenly remembered when Da Qiang molested her, she had the same look of desolation and fear, the difference is that before she was full of hope for me, and she also asked me to help her, but now she is shivering and did not say a word, like all her feelings were sealed and she was dead.

I stood up violently, pulled her up and ran into my room, slamming the door hard, a shout escaping my throat: "No one can take her!"

Outside was the roar of my father, who seemed about to kick in the door, but my mother stopped him.

I gasped and wiped my blood and sweat, my whole body was in so much pain that I couldn't stand and collapsed down to the floor. Li Xin was still shaking, and then she suppressed a cry, and when I said it was all right, she still couldn't speak, and sat down on the floor, her weak body shrinking like a cat.

Translator Notes: SORRY FOR MISSING A DAY I WAS HANGING OUT WITH FRIENDS AND IT GOT LATE anyways shorter chapter than normal sorry everyones and at quite the cliffhanger. Aaand checking further ahead it seems to be short too so I’ll try and finish that as repentance :)