Chapter 15

“She said once she goes there, she’ll be able to arrange work.”

“Two thousand dollars a month!”

Jian Li’s aunt, Wang Menglan, spoke enthusiastically about how great the United States was, her gold chain swaying as she spoke.

Jian Li stood by, carefully observing her Aunt Wang Menglan.

Wang Menglan was about seven or eight years older than Wang Mengmei. The only feature that indicated they were sisters were their eyes; they looked alike in no other way. Wang Mengmei was tall and slender, while Wang Menglan, having gone through years of hunger, was small and frail. Only in recent years, when the economy improved, had Wang Menglan gained some weight and didn’t appear so scrawny anymore.

But don’t let her small frame fool you; Wang Menglan was very efficient. Whether at her family home or her husband’s, she was always in charge.

When Wang Mengmei gave birth to Jian Li, her daughter Qian Ping was already in elementary school.

Wang Menglan married into the Qian family, who had several brothers, all of whom learned to build houses from their uncle. Before the opening up of the country, this family lived by making a few pieces of furniture or building pigsties or kitchens for people.

But since the 1980s, there were the first group of people in the village and town who made money. No matter where they became rich, they all wanted to come back home and build a grand brick house.

The Qian family brothers couldn’t keep up with the workload, so Wang Menglan’s husband, Qian Jinlai, decided to hire a few extra hands. At first, they were cautious about the “seven up and eight down” restrictions, but once those were lifted, Qian Jinlai went all out.

While he couldn’t get into big businesses in the county town, within a ten-mile radius, he became the go-to person.

Wang Menglan didn’t sit idle either. Wherever a house was being built, she would follow and cook for the workers, help gather materials, and oversee the site. The couple was always so busy they barely had time for their home.

Jian Li’s eldest cousin, Qian Ping, grew up in such an environment.

Last year, Qian Ping failed the college entrance exam and didn’t get into university. She spent a year reviewing and took the exam again this year, only to fail once more.

Jian Li watched her aunt excitedly talk about how great the opportunity in the U.S. was.

It was the same in her previous life. When Qian Ping failed the college entrance exam twice, Wang Menglan felt utterly humiliated. Although she had been too busy with business to focus on her daughter’s education for the past decade, she still felt that her daughter should have gone to university to save face for herself.

“It’s all because of you. I’m being criticized like this, and if you don’t try harder, how can you face me?”

When Wang Menglan gave birth to Qian Ping, her health was damaged, and she couldn’t conceive again for several years. Eventually, when she thought she might be able to try again, the town started promoting family planning.

Thus, Wang Menglan, like Wang Mengmei, only had one daughter.

Wang Mengmei lived in the city, surrounded by workers with stable jobs, so they understood that having a boy wasn’t as important as having a good job. Thus, there wasn’t much of a preference for boys over girls in her environment.

But in the countryside, people like Wang Menglan were often the subject of gossip.

Wang Menglan, being strong-willed, pretended that having one daughter was perfect, but privately, she was bothered by it, so she always urged Qian Ping to strive for more.

Qian Ping was indeed studious and had always been the top student in her class.

Just when Wang Menglan thought that going to university was a done deal, Qian Ping failed twice in a row, causing her to lower her proud head in front of others.

Yet Wang Menglan continued to boast.

“I told Ping Ping to go there and work hard, and aim to stay there in the future.”

“Such opportunities don’t come often, she has to be humble and cautious, and make a good impression…”

Wang Yuedong was smoking and seemed to sense something was off but couldn’t find a moment to speak up.

Aunt Sun Cuifang was envious, wondering if she should try to get along with her sister-in-law so that if her child didn’t get into university, they could also go abroad.

After all, it was the United States!

Wang Yunyun quietly asked Jian Li, “Do you think Ping Ping wants to go?”

After hearing this, she realized how insensitive she had been—who wouldn’t want to go to the U.S.?

She didn’t have anyone around her like that, but there was a distant relative of a classmate who went to the U.S. and came back once, describing it like paradise.

“Food and drinks are cheap, you can eat meat whenever you want, have you ever tried fried chicken? They say it’s only a penny each there!”

“You don’t have to pay to go to school or see a doctor. The doctors are good, and they do a full body check when you go to the hospital. They even call you to check up on your health regularly.”

“The homeless on the streets still have food and can eat fish and meat. You can buy a house after working for a year.”

—-

Wang Yunyun couldn’t help but feel envious.

But she also found it strange.

If the U.S. was so great, why would there be homeless people?

Jian Li: …

Wang Yunyun, in fact, had grasped the core idea.

Jian Li quietly responded, “I don’t think Ping Ping wants to go.”

If she wanted to, she wouldn’t have left so soon in the previous life.

Yes, in her past life, Wang Menglan also tried to send her daughter abroad.

She was so desperate to prove her daughter’s excellence that she overlooked many things. After Qian Ping failed the exam again, she became determined to send her daughter abroad.

For this, she even gave several thousand yuan to the “fellow countryman” who supposedly returned from the United States, hoping that the person would bring the money to the US.

As for what would happen when it arrived in the US, she hadn’t really thought much about it.

After all, it was the United States!

Once there, wouldn’t there be countless opportunities to make money?

So, once everything was settled, she entrusted her daughter to that person and eagerly awaited her daughter’s arrival there, hoping that the money would be sent back so that everyone would be envious of her.

In her previous life, Jian Li learned about this very late and couldn’t remember the details.

She only knew that Qian Ping went with the person but came back on her own in just a few days.

Her aunt was furious, but no matter how she asked, she couldn’t get any answers.

Qian Ping didn’t stay long at home; she failed the college entrance exam, and then became a stain on Wang Menglan’s reputation.

So, not long after, she went south to work and, in less than a year, got married and moved more than a thousand kilometers away to a different place…

Since then, Qian Ping never returned to her hometown.

—-

To be fair, after so much time had passed, Jian Li almost forgot what Qian Ping looked like.

Just as she was still sorting through the information from two lifetimes, a late-arriving Qian Ping arrived on a bicycle.

Qian Ping had a face that elderly people found very endearing—round cheeks, almond eyes, and a fresh, charming look.

The moment Jian Li saw her, any distance in her heart disappeared.

She remembered the summers of her childhood when Qian Ping, Wang Yunyun, and she often played together.

Although they played together, it was mostly Qian Ping accommodating them.

Qian Ping was like an older sister.

Although there were no younger brothers in her family, she was as obedient and sensible as an older sister.

“Sis!”

Jian Li jumped onto Qian Ping.

The five-flavor meat in Qian Ping’s hand almost slipped out.

Jian Li clung to her: “I missed you so much. Why didn’t you ever come back for the summer?”

Wang Menglan took the meat and rolled her eyes: “Summer vacation, huh? You’re eighteen now.”

It used to be called summer vacation, but what do you call it now?

She had already graduated twice.

Qian Ping’s faint expression was interrupted by Wang Menglan’s words, and it quickly returned to an absent look.

She lowered her head as if she had done something wrong and didn’t dare to speak.

Jian Li looked around, feeling like she could get away with anything because she was still young, so she said recklessly: “Auntie, why are you interrupting? I’m having a nice conversation with my sister, and you made her stop talking.”

Wang Menglan never had a good face for her daughter, but when it came to her nieces and nephews, she was overly affectionate. Jian Li said this, and she wasn’t angry but gave a sharp look to her daughter, who couldn’t do anything, and then asked Jian Li if she wanted some candy.

“Tell your sister to take you to buy some.”

Jian Li got off Qian Ping, grabbed her sister’s hand: “No need, I made money this summer. I’ll treat you to ice cream.”

Out of nowhere, Wang Shuai appeared: “Ice cream? Where’s the ice cream? Sis, will you buy me ice cream?”

Jian Li: “…Who’s going to treat you? I’ll scrape you clean.”

Wang Shuai had earned money all summer, and he hadn’t spent a penny!

Jian Li was afraid he would misbehave after getting money, but now she was just angry seeing this living miser.

How miserly was Wang Shuai?

He wouldn’t even buy a single ice cream, and when Jian Li and Wang Yunyun ate one, he secretly took the ice cream sticks and licked them.

Jian Li was going crazy, it made her feel disgusted just thinking about it.

She and Wang Yunyun held Wang Shuai down and searched his pockets, forcing him to spend the money.

But after searching the whole house, they couldn’t find any of Wang Shuai’s money.

Jian Li asked, frustrated: “What are you saving money for?”

Wang Shuai looked confused: “Spending? Why spend it? Once it’s in my pocket, I won’t spend it.”

Before, when the money wasn’t his, he would spend it recklessly. But now it was his own money, and Wang Shuai wasn’t going to spend it.

He was saving it.

To save money, Wang Shuai hadn’t eaten a single ice cream in over a month.

Now that Jian Li was going to the village’s sales point to buy ice cream, he was craving it, but he stubbornly followed along.

Jian Li, Wang Yunyun, and Qian Ping walked ahead, and Wang Shuai obediently followed behind.

Once they were out of sight of the adults, Jian Li pulled Qian Ping aside and asked her questions.

As soon as they were away from her mom, Qian Ping subconsciously sighed in relief.

Wang Yun Yun asked, “Sis, are you really going to the US?”

Qian Ping: “Mm.”

Wang Yunyun was a bit curious: “Do you need to know English? Aren’t they all speaking English over there? What if you can’t communicate when you get there?”

Qian Ping seemed a bit nervous: “I don’t know. The person taking me said it’s okay. She doesn’t know English either. After I go, I’ll be in Chinatown, and everyone there is Chinese, so we won’t need to speak English.”

Jian Li: “How long has she been there?”

Qian Ping: “She’s been there for many years.”

Jian Li snorted: “She’s been there so long and still only hangs around Chinatown?”

Qian Ping was taken aback.

Jian Li seized the opportunity to bombard her with questions.

“Aunt didn’t even ask how that person is living over there. How could she trust someone to take you? And she kept saying the salary is two thousand dollars a month. But isn’t that in American dollars? You can’t possibly go there to earn money and then bring it back to China to spend, right?”

“All she talked about was making money, but when asked what she does, she only says she’s washing dishes. How can there be twenty plates to wash at every meal in the US? Where would all those plates come from?”

“Didn’t they say that America has high-tech? Why don’t they research a machine that can wash dishes? Why do they still need people to do it?”

—-

Jian Li’s sudden outburst left Qian Ping and Wang Yunyun both silent.

Wang Yunyun suddenly had an epiphany, and all the vague, odd feelings she had been having were all laid bare by Jian Li.

These were all loopholes!

“Sis, why don’t you just not go?”

Qian Ping, on the other hand, was filled with confusion.

She had always been the most obedient to Wang Menglan’s words. Wang Menglan said America was wonderful, so she never questioned it.

After all, that was her mom—could she lie to her?

But… Jian Li’s doubts had opened a small crack in her mind.

If America was so great, why didn’t that fellow stay?

If it’s so great, why didn’t she bring her own people there?

Not to mention, why didn’t she bring her own man?

Jian Li seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fire: “Sis, you need to think carefully. Aunt can help you make decisions, but she’s not going to take responsibility for the consequences. You need to make up your own mind about your own life.”

Wang Yunyun seriously chimed in: “Sis, I think Xiao Li is right. Aunt isn’t going. Even if she says all the good things, you’re still the one going. You really need to think this through.”

Qian Ping looked deep in thought, and Jian Li saw the right moment to stop talking.

She had considered trying to persuade her aunt, but thinking about her aunt’s temper, which was just like her own mother’s, Jian Li felt deflated.

In her past life, dealing with Ms. Wang Mengmei’s cunning, she had learned a few tricks.

One was to not communicate when it wasn’t necessary.

Just go straight ahead, and after causing some trouble, her mom would only beat her up at worst. She was her real daughter; what was there to be afraid of?

Jian Li passed on her experience to Qian Ping.

“If you don’t want to go, just hide for a few days.”

Aside from that person, her aunt didn’t have any other ways. As long as she could avoid those few days, once the person left, her aunt couldn’t possibly beat Qian Ping to death, could she?

Wang Yunyun and Qian Ping: …

Jian Li said confidently, “Am I wrong?”

Though it was a serious topic, Qian Ping couldn’t help but want to laugh.

But she still spoke seriously: “Thank you, Xiao Li. But I think I’ll pass.”

She smiled bitterly, “Even if I wanted to hide, I have no place to go.”

In these past few years, she had worked hard on her studies, rarely interacting with classmates. As for her eldest and second uncles’ families, her mom would easily find her if she wanted to.

“I have nowhere to go.”

Wang Yunyun suddenly felt sorry for her and was about to say something when Jian Li suddenly interrupted.

“Sis, are you silly? Come with me.”

“Come to our place, you can have half of my bed.”