Chapter 86 : Crying

The day after sending off her family and Fan Yanxing, Liang Qingqing finally met Qiu Xiaoyan, whom she hadn’t seen for a long time.

It was lunch break, and after all the broadcasters and technicians had finished their meals in the cafeteria, they all returned to their dorms for a nap. Therefore, the entrance was crowded with people at this time.

“Qingqing!”

Liang Qingqing, walking with Huang Yali and others towards the dormitory as usual, heard someone calling her name loudly as soon as she stepped out the gate. Looking in the direction of the voice, she saw a figure under a large tree, desperately waving at her.

Everyone was tired after a morning’s work and needed to protect their voices, so no one had the energy to shout. This piercing call stood out, drawing the attention of people nearby.

Perhaps it was the first time being watched by so many people, the caller finally stopped shouting. A faint flush of embarrassment appeared on her face, and she awkwardly tugged at her clothing. However, her eyes remained fixed on Liang Qingqing, filled with anxiety.

Qiu Xiaoyan knew Liang Qingqing well. She had seen Liang Qingqing transform from a lazy girl into a promising broadcaster in the provincial capital. Even the city folks who used to envy her were not as impressive as Liang Qingqing. She wondered if Liang Qingqing would still acknowledge her as a “friend” or if she would turn away.

But aside from Liang Qingqing, Qiu Xiaoyan genuinely didn’t know whom else to turn to. In this world, only Liang Qingqing was willing to pay attention to her. Although this attention was based on Qiu Xiaoyan’s eagerness to help her, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that Liang Qingqing was smart and could definitely help her find a solution!

Thinking of this, Qiu Xiaoyan’s eyes turned slightly red, and she instinctively took a step toward Liang Qingqing.

“Qingqing, who is that? Looking for you?” Huang Yali asked curiously.

Hearing this, Liang Qingqing snapped out of her surprise and nodded, “Yes, she’s a… friend from the village.”

Calling her a friend made Liang Qingqing feel a bit guilty because the original owner of this body had treated Qiu Xiaoyan poorly. It was a new society, and yet she had still treated people like servants.

Liang Qingqing sighed slightly. Although she wasn’t close to Qiu Xiaoyan, she had come all this way specifically to find her, so she felt she should meet her. Besides, today was not a day off, Qiu Xiaoyan must have come to the county on leave or sneaked out.

Regardless of the reason, if her abusive parents found out, Qiu Xiaoyan would surely face a scolding or worse.

So, what could have happened that made Qiu Xiaoyan take such a big risk to find her? It couldn’t just be because she missed her and wanted to see her, could it?

Liang Qingqing was puzzled. It seemed the only way to find out was to let Qiu Xiaoyan explain herself. With this in mind, she turned to Huang Yali and the others, saying, “You all go back first. I’ll come back later.”

“Okay.” Huang Yali nodded without much thought, but Zhou Lilan gave Qiu Xiaoyan another glance before retracting her gaze and said to Liang Qingqing, “I heard her family is arranging suitors for her recently.”

After a two-second pause, she continued in a much quieter voice, “But none of them are good people.”

Liang Qingqing’s brows furrowed deeper. Zhou Lilan and Qiu Xiaoyan lived close to each other, so it was normal for Zhou Lilan to know these details. Was Qiu Xiaoyan here because of this issue? But what could she possibly want from her?

With little time to think, Liang Qingqing quickly responded and rushed towards Qiu Xiaoyan. “Xiaoyan, why are you here? Did you come specifically to find me?”

“Qingqing.”

Seeing Liang Qingqing approach, Qiu Xiaoyan visibly relaxed. Hearing her question, she nodded repeatedly, her eyes filling with tears as she spoke in a trembling voice, “I have something I want to ask your opinion on. Can you help me?”

“Why are you crying? Don’t cry. Whatever it is, let’s talk it through slowly. I’ll definitely help if I can,” Liang Qingqing said, surprised by Qiu Xiaoyan’s emotional reaction, and hurriedly tried to comfort her.

Noticing that people were frequently glancing their way, Liang Qingqing led Qiu Xiaoyan to a quieter spot. Ignoring the dirt on the ground, she helped her sit down and handed her a tissue from her bag.

At that time, tissues were not widespread. Most people didn’t use paper, those who were more particular might carry handkerchiefs when they went out and use grass paper in the restroom. The less particular would use various makeshift items like twigs or reeds instead of tissues.

Although the primitive methods were crude, they got the job done.

For Liang Qingqing, coming from a time when tissues were common, not having them was highly inconvenient. She wasn’t used to handkerchiefs either, so she had specially bought a few rolls of slightly more expensive but very soft tissues from the supply and marketing cooperative.

“These must be quite expensive, right?” Qiu Xiaoyan said, holding the tissue in her hands and hesitating to use it. It took her a while to finally say this.

Liang Qingqing was taken aback by this unexpected comment, and after a brief pause, she mumbled, “Just wipe your face quickly. Your eyes are all swollen from crying.”

Afraid Liang Qingqing might become impatient, Qiu Xiaoyan quickly wiped away her tears and snot. Now that there was no one around, her emotions began to settle. She sniffled and hesitantly spoke up, “My family has arranged a man for me.”

Liang Qingqing had already learned about this from Zhou Lilan, so she wasn’t particularly surprised. She stayed silent, waiting for Qiu Xiaoyan to continue.

“But I don’t want to marry him. He’s a widower with a child. I’ve heard he drinks and hits people, and I’m scared.” Qiu Xiaoyan began to cry again as she spoke. She had never imagined that her parents would be so cruel, marrying her off to such a man just for a few dozen yuan in bride price.

It was more like being sold than getting married!

After enduring years of hardship, not fighting back when hit or yelled at, and doing all the dirty and tiring work, no matter how hard she tried or how well-behaved she was, her family took it all for granted.

It seemed that as a daughter, she was born to be a burden and deserved to be mistreated.

After living in such an environment for a long time, Qiu Xiaoyan gradually came to believe that this viewpoint was correct. After all, girls were meant to be married off, unlike boys who could stay at home to marry and continue the family line.

However, as she grew up, she saw another possibility in others. Not all girls had to be treated like wild weeds, some could be cherished like precious flowers.

For example, Liang Qingqing, and also Zhou Lilan, who lived diagonally across from her. Like her, they were daughters without dowries, but their parents treated them as treasures, indulging them from a young age and not letting them do any heavy work.

So, it wasn’t the girls’ gender that was the problem, but the parents.

But growing up in such a family, even if she knew it was unfair, she still dared not to resist. She feared losing the shelter of home and being beaten or kicked out by her parents in a fit of anger.

Even now, facing such a disgusting marriage arrangement, she only sought Liang Qingqing’s advice rather than outright rejecting it.

Ultimately, it came down to her timidity and weakness.

“Nowadays, people are all about free love? How dare your parents arrange a marriage? Don’t they know that such things will be reported accurately? “Liang Qingqing was extremely angry when hearing Qiu Xiaoyan’s words . She had long known about Qiu’s parents’ shamelessness, but she hadn’t expected them to be this despicable!

“No way! If we report them, won’t they end up in jail?” Qiu Xiaoyan’s eyes widened as she shook her head vigorously.

Seeing this, Liang Qingqing’s anger gradually cooled. After a long silence, she spoke again, “If you don’t want to report them and hurt them, you could also seek the village leaders’ intervention. I believe that with the character of the brigade leader and the village secretary, they wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing.”

But Qiu Xiaoyan shook her head again, her gaze flickering as she hesitated to speak. “Once the brigade leader and the others leave, my parents will definitely beat me to death. Actually…”

Noticing that Qiu Xiaoyan’s expression was off, Liang Qingqing keenly sensed there was more to the story and asked, pretending to be puzzled, “Actually what?”

Qiu Xiaoyan lifted her eyelids to look at Liang Qingqing, biting her lower lip as if struggling with whether to speak. Liang Qingqing eagerly encouraged her to explain, and finally, Qiu Xiaoyan, feeling cornered, poured everything out.

“A few months ago, when I accompanied my mother to the county town to sell eggs, I met a man at the supply and marketing cooperative. He is the manager there. Although he is a widower, he has no children, is young and accomplished, well-educated, and most importantly, he has an urban household registration. He even promised that if we got married and I gave him a son, he would get me a job and help transfer my household registration from the village.”

The more Qiu Xiaoyan spoke, the brighter her eyes became, and the corners of her lips gradually rose. She would glance at Liang Qingqing from time to time, as if she wanted to see some other expressions on her face, such as…

Envy or jealousy.

After all, Liang Qingqing, who had once so desperately wanted to marry someone from the city, ended up marrying a sent-down youth. Although sent-down youths are technically from the city, returning to the city was a distant dream, let alone living there.

But Qiu Xiaoyan was different. If she married him and had a son, get a job, she would be a genuine city dweller.

The unpredictability of life who would have thought that someone who had been overshadowed by Liang Qingqing for over a decade would one day become a city resident before her? Even if Liang Qingqing went on to become a broadcaster in the provincial capital, she would still be a rural resident, a country person.

Qiu Xiaoyan looked at Liang Qingqing with expectation, but even after finishing her last sentence, Liang Qingqing’s face remained calm and indifferent, showing no sign of excitement. Seeing this, Qiu Xiaoyan’s gaze faltered with disappointment.

Liang Qingqing observed all of Qiu Xiaoyan’s small gestures. She sneered inwardly, realizing that Qiu Xiaoyan’s request for help was just a pretense what she really wanted was to flaunt. It was laughable that a girl who had been poisoned by the “preference for boys over girls” mentality for so many years would take pride in the reward of having a son.

It was no surprise she could be friends with the original owner; clearly, there was something wrong with her thinking.

It seemed that her decision to distance herself from Qiu Xiaoyan had been absolutely correct, and she should continue to do so in the future ideally, never see her again.

“If you already have a plan, why did you come to me?” Liang Qingqing felt that her earlier concern and sympathy had turned into a joke. Qiu Xiaoyan already had a delightfully secure fallback, and here she was, still trying to offer advice.