Chapter 18 : Pretending to be sick

“I may not have gone to high school, but I’ve kept up my reading habit. I even submitted some pieces to a magazine before,” Jiang Yu casually mentioned.

Wang Meili allowed her occasional laziness for the sake of those submission fees.

However, after some serious issues a few years back, she had to be more cautious about writing.

When the magazine shut down, she stopped writing altogether, which displeased Wang Meili.

Upon hearing Jiang Yu had submitted work, Huang Ying became interested. “What’s your pen name?”

“It’s Xiao Jiang, which sounds like my last name, but it uses the character for ‘river.’”

She primarily wanted to avoid trouble and didn’t dare use her real name.

Huang Ying thought for a moment and seemed to recall something.

“What magazines have you submitted to?”

Jiang Yu counted, “Several: ‘New Moon,’ ‘Beicheng Literature,’ and ‘Ginkgo’ among others.”

Huang Ying clapped her hands. “Now that you mention it, I remember! I used to be the editor-in-chief of ‘New Moon’ magazine and have seen your submissions!”

After that magazine folded, she moved to Beicheng Evening News.

Her impression of Jiang Yu was due to the quality of her stories and writing skills.

“Our evening news has recently started a story column. If you’re interested, we’d love for you to submit some pieces.”

Jiang Yu was so excited she could barely eat her meal.

“Auntie, really? I’ve always had a habit of writing stories, and I have quite a few pieces ready. I’ll go get them right now!”

Huang Ying smiled and held her back. “Nothing is more important than eating, fill your stomach first, and you can get the pieces afterward.”

Jiang Yu was overwhelmed with happiness. She often felt useless and incapable of earning money.

But with her writing, she could at least create a couple of stories.

After the magazine shut down, without any income from submissions, she felt hopeless about life.

So it was understandable why she was so excited now.

After finishing the meal, Jiang Yu hurried home to get her manuscripts.

These drafts were her potential source of income, and she valued them highly, taking them everywhere.

If Wang Meili saw them, they would surely be burned for firewood.

“That’s a lot!” Huang Ying observed, quickly believing Jiang Yu’s words.

It was clear that she hadn’t stopped learning.

With a child so fond of reading, who knows? She might even get into college.

“In terms of studies, you’re much better than Fei fei. She gets a headache just looking at books.”

Xie Fei fei frowned and protested, “Mom, you’ve been pointing out my flaws all day!”

Jiang Yu and Huang Ying exchanged amused glances.

Jiang Yu remarked, “Everyone has different interests and strengths. Fei fei is outgoing and has a knack for interacting with people. She’s the most popular salesperson at the supply and marketing cooperative. It’s a pity there’s no contest for the most beautiful salesperson; otherwise, she’d win hands down.”

Xie Fei fei was the type who would shine brightly with just a little encouragement, if she had a tail, it would surely be wagging by now.

“Mom, did you hear that? I’m amazing!”

Huang Ying laughed and lightly tapped her, then focused on reviewing Jiang Yu’s manuscripts.

From time to time, she discussed with Jiang Yu and pointed out revisions.

Before they knew it, the entire afternoon had passed.

Huang Ying selected two pieces, saying they would test the waters first. If the response was good, she would invite her to submit more later.

“Jiang Yu, you have a solid foundation. Don’t waste your talent, keep up the reading and writing.”

With Huang Ying’s encouragement, Jiang Yu felt a surge of passion, tears nearly welling up in her eyes.

For once, someone had straightforwardly supported her endeavors.

Huang Ying had genuinely acknowledged her and told her this was the right path.

“Auntie, I’ll keep studying!”

As Jiang Yu left the Xie household, she suddenly realized she had forgotten to head home!

It was already five o’clock, and there were only two buses to the countryside each day, she had missed the earlier one.

Jiang Yu felt a fleeting sense of regret, but her excitement quickly returned.

Based on her previous submission fees, if these two stories were selected, she could earn about ten yuan, which thrilled her to no end.

But as soon as she got home, Jiang Ting came knocking.

Without her saying a word, Jiang Yu knew it was about returning home.

“Jiang Yu, are you sick? We agreed to go home today, where did you run off to!”

Realizing she had indeed broken her promise, Jiang Yu apologized.

“I had something to do today, let’s plan to visit Mom and Dad next time.”

Jiang Ting was furious. “Next time? You’ve already made them angry, who knows if there’ll be a next time! Mom and Dad are livid, so you’ll have to explain yourself!”

Jiang Ting had already informed Du Juan to bring her second uncle over, and even Du Juan’s grandparents had come.

In the end, Jiang Yu hadn’t even seen a single person and had effectively stood them up. Who wouldn’t be angry?

Jiang Yu looked puzzled. “Who ran away in anger?”

Jiang Ting turned her face away, feeling guilty. “Either way, Mom and Dad are really mad, I can’t deal with it!”

Jiang Yu shut the door, not thinking too much about it. The thought of getting her submission fees made her heart feel light.

“Auntie, my friend’s mom is the editor-in-chief at Beicheng Evening News, and they chose my article today! I’ll finally get my fees, and I’ll treat you to dinner!”

“Your fees are only a few yuan, keep it for yourself.”

Though she said that, Yao Xiangling felt quite pleased inside.

Having a daughter who was so thoughtful was nice.

Meanwhile, Jiang Hao was trying to pacify Du Juan.

His family was quite upset today; Du Juan had scolded Jiang Ting in person and nearly got physical.

“My grandparents are really mad. If your family never intended to marry my sister over, we might as well break it off now.”

Jiang Hao couldn’t bear to part with her, quickly grabbing her hand.

“Today was an accident, we had everything arranged with my sister. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely persuade my parents, they spoil me the most!”

Du Juan retorted, “I might already be pregnant with your child. We need to hurry, you know? Once my second uncle gets married, our families can start planning our wedding.”

Jiang Hao was thrown off by her words, and rushed home to vent his frustrations at Wang Meili.

“Do you only want Jiang Yu as your daughter and not me as your son? You don’t care about my marriage, and when I have kids, I won’t let them call you grandma!”

Old Lady Ye hurriedly soothed him. “Why are you throwing a fit? We’re trying to find a way! It’s three hundred yuan; we have to wait for your sister to bring the money back.”

Jiang Hao scoffed heavily. “Only you would believe her. She’s short on cash and too scared to come home! No matter how much Auntie loves her, she wouldn’t just give us three hundred yuan out of nowhere!”

Old Lady Ye frowned, anxious. “What should we do now?”

Jiang Hao grumbled, “There’s one good solution you won’t accept! Just marry Jiang Yu off!”

Wang Meili was already feeling irritated, with everyone running to the city, she couldn’t just drag them back.

Old Lady Ye proposed, “You could pretend to be sick and have Jiang Yu come home to meet him!”

Wang Meili paused, hesitating.

“Is that okay?”

Jiang Hao patted his chest. “It will definitely work! Mom, think about your future grandchild!”

For the sake of his future, Wang Meili had no choice but to relent.