Transmigration: On the Gossip Front
Chapter 520 - 521 Sister Flowers Educated Youth 39_1

Chapter 520: Chapter 521 Sister Flowers Educated Youth 39_1

Sitting on the warm kang, the New Year’s Eve dinner was definitely more plentiful than at home, and everyone was young, all rusticated youths from the same province.

In the Northeast, they could all be considered fellow villagers. There was always a touch of melancholy during the first New Year away from home.

As they talked, they began to reminisce about how they celebrated the New Year back home, and gradually, without knowing who started it, tears began to uncontrollably flow.

Feng Dan also started crying loudly. When Shen Jie saw that the three girls were all crying, of course, she had to cry too, and her tears also began to flow out.

"Who knows how long we will have to stay here." They were not old rusticated youths; if it hadn’t been mandatory to become rusticated youths, they would have definitely not signed up.

They were not like Shen Jie, who knew that they would return to the city in the not-too-distant future, and they would also be able to catch up with the college entrance examination.

"I don’t really want to go back to the city. I just miss my grandparents, my parents," said Wang Hui, whose family were ordinary workers.

There were many siblings in his family, and the housing was tight. If he had not become a rusticated youth, he would be eating idle meals at home, adding to the family burden instead.

Being a rusticated youth here in the Northeast, he had an income, could eat his fill, and occasionally send some things back home, which helped to lighten his family’s load.

Zhao Na was hearing for the first time that someone did not want to return to the city and looked at him in surprise, "You, you actually don’t want to go back to the city?"

Wang Hui gave a bitter smile, "Who doesn’t want to return to the city? Of course, I want to go back, but where would I live if I did?"

"I don’t have a job either." Although his old man had a job, he would definitely not let him take over.

Apart from their family income being greatly reduced, he was also not his parents’ favorite child.

Even though there were only three siblings in Wei Zhiqing’s family, there was the eldest brother who was valued by the elders, and the youngest sister who was smart, beautiful, sweet-talking, and knew how to make the elders happy.

Being the middle child, Wei Zhiqing’s position in the family was quite awkward, "Same in my family."

"The job my mother had, if my sister didn’t want it, it would go to my sister-in-law," Wei Zhiqing occasionally sent things back home.

But he didn’t send much, for he knew, no matter how much he sent, his parents wouldn’t care deeply about it, feeling it was only to be expected.

Sometimes, you have to be a little selfish, taking good care of yourself is what truly matters, Wei Zhiqing thought coldly as he watched Wang Hui frequently sending things back home.

At first, he tried to persuade him, but later he became too lazy to bother, knowing some people don’t turn back until they hit a wall.

"Why would the job rather go to your sister, to your sister-in-law, and not to you?" Wang Hui didn’t understand, "Is it not your father’s job?"

"That’s for my elder brother’s first son. When my dad retires, my brother’s eldest son will be about old enough to work," Wei Zhiqing felt terrible whenever he remembered the conversations his parents had.

He once thought he must have heard wrong, otherwise, how could he have heard such things?

The string of events that happened later at home made him realize that if the family was destined to give up on one child, that child would be him.

If it weren’t for the sake of appearances, he really wouldn’t want to send anything back home.

Shen Jie often sent things home, but everyone knew that her family also frequently sent her money, so no one thought she was being foolish.

Wei Zhiqing remembered the letter he had received before the New Year’s, and he was truly furious with its contents.

Even though he had prepared himself mentally, facing it directly still made him feel terrible.

They said the things he sent back were just passable, asking why there was no meat and reminding him to send salted meat, dried fish, and the like.

Of course, if there were also rice, corn, and other things, that would be great too. In short, the more the better.

Besides that, they hadn’t sent him a single penny, as if he were a rich man who should contribute to the family.

Wei Zhiqing felt very tired, having kept his feelings bottled up inside for a long time. Now that he had drunk a little alcohol, his emotions were somewhat uncontrollable.

He started to talk about the contents of the letter from home. Wang Hui knew that before the New Year, Wei Zhiqing had received a letter and then his face looked very upset, aware that something must have happened.

But he didn’t expect the matter to be unusually serious, "Do they think we earn a lot?"

"A lot indeed, they’re telling me to send home ten or eight pounds of meat, a hundred pounds of rice."

"They can have those if they want, give me the money," Wei Zhiqing said angrily, "Mushrooms and such free things, I can send some home when appropriate."

It’s impossible to send more. Doesn’t shipping cost money? And these things, when sent home, one can guess they’re probably meant for giving away to pave the way for my elder brother’s advancement.

Using his money and goods to pave the way for his brother’s promotion, only to be told later how unsuccessful he is compared to his brother.

Such foolish deeds, having done them once or twice, were already enough, no one would foolishly continue doing them.

As he listened, Wang Hui’s expression started to turn somewhat embarrassed. Just a moment ago, he was comforting others, but gradually, he found he really had no words of comfort to offer.

He discovered that the content written by his own parents in their letters was actually quite similar to that of Wei Zhiqing’s parents.

Only they expressed it more subtly, talking about having a large family, insufficient supplies, and so on, just various lamentations about how difficult life was at home.

But was his life in the Northeast really any easier? It was also very difficult, having to work each day, busy with all sorts of things.

After finishing work, he still had to go up the mountains to pick mushrooms, gather firewood—or else, how to survive the long winter.

It really was as difficult as it could be, not to mention that he also had to be frugal and save in every possible way, to buy things to send home.

At home, in their letters, they praised him for how good he was, the filial son of his parents, but they never sent a single penny.

Was the financial situation at home really that tight? Remembering the advice Wei Zhiqing had given him before, Wang Hui took a gulp of his drink, "My home is the same."

Zhao Na and Zhao Jia originally didn’t want to say much, always feeling that with Shen Jie as a comparison, if they spoke out, it would be like a joke to others.

What they didn’t expect was that not every parent was like Shen Jie’s.

Shen Jie had known all along about this issue; even if they got along and were neighbors, there were some things she wouldn’t share.

Zhao Yu actually brought out the alcohol not only because he missed his grandparents but also because he felt a deep yearning for the times when the family didn’t have so many conflicts.

Ever since his cousins grew up, relations started to become strained, not to mention mutual aid; not stabbing each other in the back was already considered quite brotherly.

The more he drank, the worse his mood became. After hearing about the home situation from Wei Zhiqing and the others, he couldn’t help but cry.

Although he wasn’t specific, for a man to simply cry like that, there had to be something weighing on his heart, and it was no small matter.

Shen Jie never expected that Zhao Yu, who hadn’t cried just a moment ago and was just quietly drinking, would suddenly break down crying, which in turn led several others to start crying as well.

At the dinner table, only she and Huo Lei weren’t crying. The two exchanged a helpless glance, "What do we do?"

If there were only one or two of them, they could help them back to rest, but now they were the only two not crying.

After a moment’s thought, "Forget it, let them cry."

"The dishes have cooled down. We’ll reheat them."

"Anyway, it’s the New Year’s Eve meal. Eating it until the first day of the New Year works too, like keeping vigil."

Not to say to rest on New Year’s Day, but during the winter in the Northeast, there’s no work to be done. As long as there’s no trouble, the leaders won’t care.