country bumpkin

Chapter 311 Meeting Zhang Haiying

When Yunya got home, she found that her parents weren't there; she knew they lived at the old house. She didn't want to go looking for them.

Yunya put the chicken in an empty basin, washed her face, dried it off, and then went to her second aunt's house to play with an umbrella.

My second aunt's daughter, Zhang Haiyan, is about the same age as her, only a year younger. However, Zhang Haiyan didn't go to junior high school; she stayed at home after graduating from elementary school.

Because she was a student on temporary assignment and didn't have a household registration, her family was poor a few years ago and couldn't afford to buy one. They were thinking of saving enough money to buy her a household registration later.

When registering the household registration, only the son, Zhang Haiyang, was registered. The daughter, Zhang Haiyan, secretly lived with her grandmother when she was very young.

It's just that the family planning policy is strictly enforced, so they didn't register their daughter's household registration and gave the opportunity to their son.

Later, when her son was ready to start school, her daughter had to use connections to attend school temporarily.

Her grades weren't good, and it was difficult to get a household registration, so she didn't continue to junior high school.

Zhang Haiyan stays at home idle, and apart from helping with cooking, washing dishes, and sweeping, she doesn't do any other housework.

Especially the laundry; her mother does all the washing. Even though she's the only daughter in the family, she's still more pampered than Yunya.

After all, apart from the fact that the household registration was purchased a little late, Zhang Jiefang still loved this daughter very much.

The daughter will have everything the son has, and the same goes for the delicious food; they will receive exactly the same things.

It's different in Yunya's family. Everyone in the family revolves around her younger brother. The best things are always given to him first, and she and her older sister only get a little bit.

And since the older sister is a little better than Yunya, the parents can still give some of their love to the older sister.

So when Yunya first returned to the city, she always felt like she was just visiting relatives and couldn't integrate into the family.

When Yunya entered Kong Xiuzhen's house, she saw her younger sister Zhang Haiyan sitting at the door watching the light rain outside.

Yunya spoke first, "Haiyan, what are you looking at?"

Zhang Haiyan snapped out of her daze. "Oh! Yunya, you're here. You're home early from get off work today!"

Yunya said, "Oh, it's raining today, so there aren't many people and it's not busy. That's why my third aunt let me come back early."

Zhang Haiyan: "Oh! There are stools inside, go get one yourself."

Yunya obediently ran inside to get a small stool, placed it at the door, sat down, and stared blankly at the rain in the yard.

Zhang Haiyan said, "Yunya, isn't it nice to work outside? Isn't it more fun than staying idle at home?"

Yun Ya smiled bitterly, "What's so fun about it? It's not fun at all. Working outside is especially tiring, both physically and mentally exhausting. But working at a relative's house is much better, at least I don't have to endure any hardship."

Zhang Haiyan: "Oh, is that so! I thought it would be a lot of fun outside!"

Yun Ya looked up at her and said, "Are you bored at home?"

Zhang Haiyan: "Yeah, a little. But I'm not old enough, and I can't find a job if I go out."

Yunya said, "How about you take over my job? I'm looking for other work."

Zhang Haiyan: "I would never kill a chicken! It's dirty and smelly, and I have to get up early. I can't get up that early. Especially in winter, it's so cold outside. I sleep until 10 a.m. every day."

Yunya was envious. This is what they mean by different fates for different people! They're both girls, but look at the life Zhang Haiyan lives, and look at the life she lives. It's not like they're worlds apart, but their treatment is completely different.

Zhang Haiyan smiled and continued, "I don't know why you love working so much. You're so young to be going to work. If it were me, I would never go."

Yunya felt that Zhang Haiyan was in Versailles.

She said, "I have no choice, I don't want to go either! But if I stay at home, I'll still be destined to be a beast of burden."

You've never stayed at my house, so you don't understand how I feel when I'm at home. You also know that I was sent away the day I was born, to my maternal grandmother's house.

I didn't grow up with my mother, so naturally we weren't very close. My mother also favored my older sister and younger brother; if I didn't behave well, she would dislike me even more.

Zhang Haiyan couldn't empathize with Yunya's experience. Based on her own thoughts, she said, "Oh, I really can't feel that parents are biased."

Although my family also favors boys over girls, we only have two children, and my parents still love me very much.

Yunya felt that her younger sister was bad at comforting people and always gave off a showy vibe.

Zhang Haiyan thought for a moment and then said, "If I were you, I wouldn't care whether others like me or not. If they don't like me, so be it, I don't care anyway!"

Just be happy with your own life, why care about others? Living like that is too tiring!

If I were you, I would fight for everything, and the more they refused to give it to me, the more I would snatch it.

Why should you wrong yourself to please others?

Yun Ya was shocked by Zhang Haiyan's idea. Could things really be like this? But she couldn't do it!

But now that I've gotten all the words out, I feel much clearer. I'm not so depressed anymore.

Yun Ya smiled and said, "Oh! I'm not the type to do something like that."

Maybe I've gotten used to being pressured, and I just can't stand up straight anymore. But talking to you about all this has made me feel much better, and I actually feel much more relaxed.

Zhang Haiyan said, "Sigh, everyone is different, and there's no way to force it. You're just a soft-hearted person. Although you have a big temper, without strong methods, you're just all show and no substance."

Yun Ya nodded in agreement. Yes, Zhang Haiyan was absolutely right.

She's just making a big fuss, trying hard to act fierce at home, but she's easily angered and still destined to be a slave or a nanny.

As she recounted her experiences, Zhang Haiyan clearly saw things clearly and got straight to the point in one sentence.

Yun Ya is just that kind of person; perhaps Mu Shuyun's personality influenced her!

The two chatted about some more pleasant topics, such as the currently popular tracksuits and sneakers.

For example, the newly aired TV series "The Return of the Condor Heroes" and "The Deer and the Cauldron".

As they chatted, it got dark. Yunya checked the time; it was already 4:30 PM. Because of the rain and overcast skies, it seemed to get dark earlier than on a sunny day.

Yunya got up, ready to go home. Just then, Zhang Haiyan's cousin, Zhang Haiying, arrived.

Zhang Haiying and Yun Ya used to be classmates, but they lost contact over time.

However, Yunya and she were deskmates in second grade. The thing that left the deepest impression on Yunya was the "lice" incident.

Her mother has epilepsy and has seizures from time to time. She also doesn't have time to take care of the children.

I remember when I was in second grade, Zhang Haiying's hair was always greasy and messy.

No one washed her hair, and she was too young to wash it herself. Later, she got a lot of lice and nits (lice eggs).

Yunya and she were at the same table, close to each other, and often whispered to each other while looking up at each other, so the lice jumped onto Yunya's head.

With so many lice, Yunya's scalp was itchy and dirty, and she would always scratch her scalp raw. Later, after they were moved to a different spot, Kong Xiujuan shaved her head, which finally cured the lice completely.

It was winter, and Yunya wore a hat in the classroom to cover her bald head during class.

The teacher scolded her, saying she shouldn't wear a hat in the classroom. She took off her hat, which made her classmates and teacher burst into laughter. The whole class laughed at her, saying she had shaved her head.

This memory had been buried for many years, but seeing Zhang Haiying again today has brought it back to life.

Yunya greeted her, "Hey—you're Zhang Haiying? Do you remember me? Sun Yunya."

Zhang Haiying smiled and said, "I remember, of course I remember! We were even deskmates!"

Yun Ya smiled and said, "Yes, it's been so long since I've seen you. Are you still in school?"

Zhang Haiying shook her head, "I'm not going anymore. I'll drop out in the second semester of my second year of junior high."

Yunya wasn't too surprised; her grades were similar to hers. Perhaps, like her, she had been advised to drop out of school by her teacher.

Yunya then asked, "What are you doing now? Are you at work or at home?"

Zhang Haiying hesitated for a moment and said, "I help with some housework at home, and sometimes I go out to collect some recyclables."

Yunya nodded, thinking to herself that she had it pretty tough too.

At this moment, Zhang Haiying hesitated, her face showing an expression of wanting to say something but not saying it.

Yunya couldn't help but ask, "Haiying, is there something you want to tell me?"

Zhang Haiying bit her lip and whispered, "Yun Ya, actually I wanted to ask you if you could do me a favor."

I want to find something to do to earn some money, but I don't know any connections. I heard you work outside; maybe you could ask around for me.

Yunya thought for a moment and said, "I'm helping to kill chickens at my third aunt's house right now, but I can keep an eye out and let you know if there's a suitable one."

Zhang Haiying's eyes lit up, and she quickly said, "Thank you so much, Yunya."

Yun Ya smiled and said, "We used to be deskmates, no need to be so polite. I have to go home now, I'll let you know when I have any news."

After saying goodbye to Zhang Haiying and Zhang Haiyan, Yunya walked into the rain with her umbrella.