Chapter 4 Dispute

  Seeing her youngest daughter's unusual calm and composed questioning of herself, Mrs. Fu furrowed her brow in puzzlement. In fact, to be fair, she also knew that her youngest daughter was more promising than their other children, having been a good student since young, with teachers and classmates all liking her. It's just unfortunate that she wasn't born well, who let her be reborn into the Fu family without choosing carefully.

  Seeing the strong endurance and doubt in her little daughter's eyes, Mrs. Fu felt uncomfortable too. Although she was just a housewife, she also knew that studying well would lead to a good future. As long as Pei Shan went to university, this life would be considered hopeful, just like what she said earlier, assigning a good job, and in the future, she could better support her natal family and repay her birth mother.

  If it weren't for her two sons, she wouldn't have the heart to let her daughter give up this opportunity. Pei Shan only knew how to blame her, but she didn't know that when she decided to sacrifice herself, being a mother wasn't easy on her either. How could she not want all the children in the family to be well-off?

  But the five fingers are not of equal length, and although daughters are close to their parents, they are not as good as sons who can support their families. She will have to rely on her son to take care of her in old age, so she naturally has to consider them more.

  The corner of her eye saw that her youngest son, Pei Qi, had put down his bowl and chopsticks and picked up a book. Fu Mama's heart, which had just softened slightly, hardened again. Pei Qi has been diligent and studious since he was young. If it weren't for the weakness he brought with him from his mother's womb, coupled with the poor conditions at home in recent years that didn't allow him to take good care of himself, he wouldn't be so frail now. Pei Qi's physique is poor, and he can't do heavy labor. The best way out for him is to study hard, take the university entrance exams, and get assigned to a unit with high income and light work in the future.

  Besides, the child is already seventeen years old. Who among the neighbors near and far doesn't know that he has a weak physique? With such a physical condition, if there isn't a job worth boasting about in the future, which girl would be willing to marry him? If he were to do manual labor as a worker like his older brother and sister, with his physical constitution, he might not live to see forty.

  Pei Qi is a boy, and he's ambitious. Although he didn't do well this year, he'll definitely get into university next year. But their family's current situation really can't afford to support two children going to school. University tuition is still money, no matter how low it is! And since Pei Lan doesn't work, where would they get the money for Pei Qi to repeat his third year of high school?

  There's also Pei Lin, who is almost 22 years old this year. He has met several girls but none of them have worked out. In the end, it all comes down to him being looked down upon because his family is poor and he has a younger uncle who is often ill and costs money.

  If Pei Lan really goes to college, they will have to spend four more years in poverty, and it may not be better than now. After all, when the child's father passed away at the beginning of the year, the factory gave a condolence fee and consolation money. If not, without a pillar, how could the old, weak, sick and disabled family members survive?

  Now Fu's mother just wants her youngest daughter to take over her father's job and provide a living for the family. Moreover, in Fu's mother's heart, Fu's father's job is also good, a workshop statistician in a state-owned large factory. If it weren't for the fact that the Fu family was really struggling financially, and Pei Lan was still a high school student, the factory wouldn't have allowed his daughter to take over, and Pei Lan would be blissfully unaware of this great opportunity. If it were Pei Ning or Pei Ru, they would have jumped at the chance long ago, and wouldn't be like her, hesitating and making excuses.

  Fu's mother scowled, dissatisfied, "I think you're just being spoiled by your dad. Go ask around, who within a ten-mile radius doesn't know that the foundry is good? You don't understand and yet you speak nonsense. That's a state-run large factory, how can it go bankrupt?! Do you know how many people envied your dad for getting this job back then? If it weren't for the fact that they thought you were a high school student and took care of your dad's face after he passed away, you wouldn't even be able to get in!"

  "If it's so good, why not let Pei Qi go? He didn't get in this year anyway, so we can just give him the job." Fu Peilan sneered at her brother, who was holding a book and pretending to study. She didn't believe he could really focus on his textbook in such a noisy environment, especially when their mother and sister were arguing nearby, yet he sat calmly reading, which was just too much.

  She and Fu Pei Qi have never gotten along, not just because of her mother's bias, but also because in this family, only she truly understands her younger brother. When she was six years old, Grandma Fu fell ill, and Mother Fu had no time to take care of the twins, so she sent them to elementary school ahead of schedule. During the first semester of first grade, she scored 100 on both exams, and at that time, Mother Fu was also as happy as Father Fu, even making a table of good dishes to reward her.

  But the next day, Fu Pei Qi fell ill. Later, when his family asked him about it, they found out that Fu Pei Qi had been envious of his sister getting attention from their parents, so he got up in the middle of the night and ran to the street lamp at the entrance of the alley to review his lessons, resulting in catching a cold.

  From elementary school to third grade, it was the same, so that later on, except for Fu Dad, no one in the Fu family was happy about Fu Pei-lan's excellence, because after her happy event, Fu Pei-chi would definitely get seriously ill. Fu Dad had privately said that Fu Pei-chi's heart was too small, why bother competing with his own sister over such a trivial matter? Loving to study is a good thing, but exceeding one's sister regardless of one's own body is a problem of measure. After hearing this, Fu Mom also advised the young son, but when she saw him lying weakly in bed, not eating or drinking, her scolding turned into heartache.

  At that time, Fu Peilan was young and didn't know how to restrain herself. She only knew that her mother and siblings no longer celebrated for her, and even thought that Fu Pei's illness was caused by his poor grades. So she tutored him every day, but unfortunately, the effect was minimal. It wasn't until after Fu's mom scolded their high-scoring daughter out of sympathy for their young son that Fu Peilan realized her mistake. At that time, she had also thought about yielding, but inadvertently saw a sly smile on Fu Pei's face as he hung his head.

  At that time, Fu Peilan didn't understand the meaning of that smile, but she knew she didn't like it. She even kept her good grades because of that smile. This also made Mother Fu more dissatisfied, thinking that her daughter was selfish and loved to show off, and for the sake of a good reputation, she didn't care about her brother's body.

  As expected, when Fu Mama heard that Fu Pei Lan had actually let her younger brother take her place at work, she immediately became furious and shouted, "You shameless little wretch, don't you feel guilty saying such a thing? I raised you until you were seventeen not to have you bully your own younger brother."

  "You yourself said that the foundry is a good unit, how can you say it's a mess?" Fu Peilan asked with a faint smile.

  Fu's mother was so angry that she panted heavily, her hands constantly patting her heaving chest. "You ungrateful girl, are you trying to drive your own mother to death? Your brother is a boy, only if he does well can our family do well. Now you're actually asking him to work for the sake of your own career, don't you have any conscience?"

  "I'm just talking about the matter at hand."

  "Stop talking nonsense, your brother's affairs are none of your business. Do you think that just because you study well, you'll definitely have a good future? Let me tell you, even if someone is a university student, a good company would rather take in an average boy than a girl like you." Fu Mama sneered, her words weren't made up, if Pei Qi had also been admitted to Qingcheng University this year, she would have more job opportunities in the future. After all, many jobs aren't suitable for girls, it's just unfortunate that Pei Qi didn't make it...

  Fu Pei Qi heard this and quickly raised her head to glance at Fu Pei Lan, then immediately lowered it again to stare at the book. With her mother around, she didn't need to worry. No matter how excellent Fu Pei Lan was, as long as she was there, Fu Pei Lan would never be able to turn things around! The Fu family could only have one college student and only one child who could bring glory and hope to this family.

  Fu Pei Lan looked at the excited Fu mother and the anxious Fu Pei Yao, who kept gesturing for her to back down. She secretly shook her head, what was she doing? Hadn't they already decided not to mind? Then why bother arguing with them?

  "What are you doing?" Seeing her sister's gloomy expression turn around and want to leave, Fu Peiyao hurriedly pulled her sleeve.

  "I'm going out for a walk."

  "It's almost six o'clock, where are you going?" Fu Mama called out in dissatisfaction. "You don't even know how to clean up the house for dinner, and you just get up and leave like that? What kind of family rules are these?"

  Since Fu's two elder daughters got married, the household chores have been taken care of by Fu Peiyao and Fu Peshan. Now that she is gone, who will do these chores?

  "Mom, isn't this still me? Today Xiaolan cooked the meal, I'll clean up the table, we've already agreed on it, you don't have to worry about it." Fu Peiyao mediated, it's just a small matter, why is mom making such a fuss.

  "You just protect her, let's see what you can protect in the future." Fu Mama hummed and gave Fu Peiyao a white eye, saying, "In the future, don't let that wasteful girl cook, our family is not some wealthy aristocratic household, we can't afford to waste so much oil!"

  "Alright, alright, I know. You go watch TV now, I'll clean up the house." Fu Pei Yao coaxed, immediately giving Fu Pei Han a signal with her eyes, hinting at her to leave quickly.

  "Wait a minute." Fu's mother picked up the water cup and took a sip, then suddenly rushed to the gate of the courtyard and shouted at Fu Peishan, who had already walked out of the door. "What are you going to do? I'm telling you, stay away from that Feng guy. That poor boy also dares to come and pursue our Fu family's daughter, don't even think about it."

  It's the height of summer, and it's the leisure time after dinner. Many residents in Liu Shu Xiang are chatting at their doorsteps. When they see Fu Mama rushing to the gate and yelling at her daughter, they curiously stare at Fu mother and daughter. Fu Pei Lan is ashamed and quickly walks away with her head down.

  "Dead girl, I'm calling you and you can't hear me? Get away from that poor boy!"

  "Hmph, look at this mother, scolding her daughter without even closing the door, shouting on the street, is this still a loving mother?" The aunt from next door, Mrs. Zhou, who had never gotten along with the Fu family, sneered.

  Fu's mother hesitated, realizing that this might tarnish her daughter's reputation. Although it was a new society now, who wouldn't want to find a steady and dignified wife?

  Fu's mother didn't dare to chase after Fu Peiran again, but instead glared viciously at Zhou's aunt and sneered coldly, "Every girl in my Fu family is well-behaved and dignified, this is the result of my strict upbringing. Unlike some people's families, their daughter got pregnant at 17 and still has the nerve to meddle in other people's business."

  "Who are you talking about? Who are you talking about?" Zhou's aunt immediately jumped up like a furious cat, "What's wrong with my daughter having a big belly at seventeen? My daughter got married and it's only natural to have children after marriage."

  "Hey, married at 17, do you have a marriage certificate?" Fu's mother sneered and burst out laughing. "You think setting up a few tables of wine makes it legitimate?! Taking a step back, your daughter had the wedding banquet and received gifts just over six months ago, how did this big fat baby come out?!"

  Zhou Auntie's whole body was trembling with anger, her unmarried daughter's pregnancy couldn't be hidden from these old neighbors, they were all long-time street friends, even if they talked about it behind her back, they would still give her some face in front of her, who would be like the Fu family, this broken-down household, embarrassing people in public, "You, you... Old Fu's family, I'm going to fight with you today..."

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