Wealthy Beauty in the 60s

As soon as Xia Lin arrived, everyone was envious to learn that Xia Xiao’s sister was a train steward.

To them, being a train steward meant having a government job with good benefits, and not having to toil under the sun and rain, with their faces towards the yellow earth and their backs to the sky like they did.

Yang Zhonghong said sourly, "If I were in the city, I could be an official too."

Unfortunately, Yang He only had one son and one daughter, with the son staying in the city, the daughter was bound to be the one to go to the countryside. Yang Zhonghong, sitting beside Yang He’s daughter, knew that being in the city would make a big difference, but here in the production team, all the educated youth were treated the same.

"Does that mean we can never return to the city? None of the previous educated youth did, they all got married here." Some of the female educated youth were very worried.

If they were enthusiastic when they first arrived, now they still worked hard to earn work points, but no longer with the same spirit. Now it was more about survival.

At dinner, Xia Lin, Xia Jing, and Yan Hao were eating at the Gao family’s house, and Zheng Xianghong enthusiastically served food to Xia Lin and told Xia Jing and Yan Hao to make themselves at home.

Sun Yuhua felt sour in her heart, Xia Xiao’s family was nice to her and they all seemed very happy, but thinking about her own family, Sun Yuhua felt rather gloomy.

After dinner, everyone sat for a while, then Xia Jing and Yan Hao left, and Xia Xiao took Xia Lin back to the room.

Seeing Sun Yuhua’s gloomy expression, Gao Jiazhi said, "If you miss home, you can go back for a visit."

Sun Yuhua shook her head, "Never mind, I’ll go back when there’s a chance in the future." They didn’t have much money, and Sun Yuhua was ashamed to return home and worried her family would look down on her.

On the way out, Xia Jing asked Yan Hao, "What did your family say in the letter?"

Yan Hao replied, "They asked when we’re going to get married."

Xia Jing, disbelieving, recalled Xia Lin’s words and said, "Yan Hao, we’ve known each other for so many years, and we’ve been together for a few. Do you think we can really end up together?"

But in her heart, Xia Jing was uncertain, even though she could immediately get married to Yan Hao right here, the Yans’ attitude kept her from feeling truly at ease.

"Why think about nonsense? Let’s get the certificate tomorrow," said Yan Hao.

Xia Jing pouted, "Your family hasn’t given their blessing; I can’t really be at ease. What if they continue to dislike me, and you abandon me for your family..."

Xia Jing couldn’t go on, just the thought was extremely distressing.

"Stop being silly," said Yan Hao. "In their last letter, my parents sent some money and told us to come home for the Spring Festival this year."

"Okay," nodded Xia Jing. They did need to visit home, and if all went well, they planned to marry next year. One way or another, they had to make the trip.

At night, Xia Lin and Xia Xiao talked in whispers in bed, and it was very late when they finally fell asleep.

After Xia Lin spent two days at the production team, Xia Jing and Yan Hao took her to the train station. Before leaving, Xia Lin said she would come back when Xia Xiao had the baby.

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Xia Wei was getting married soon, so Xia Xiao prepared some money for Xia Lin to take with her, it wasn’t much, but it was all she could offer as a gift.

Although it wasn’t the custom anymore, there weren’t such formalities between sisters; Xia Lin said that Lin Wei was marrying a bank clerk, introduced by Aunt Xia.

Now pregnant, Xia Xiao couldn’t return to her maternal home, and neither Gao Guoqiang nor Zheng Xianghong would be at ease; she thought she could only go back once the child was born and one or two years old.

That day, as Xia Xiao left the Gao family to go to the Youth Point, she ran into Old Lady Gao again. Just like that day, Old Lady Gao asked Xia Xiao to get incense and talisman paper for her, claiming it was to ensure a son was born. If she didn’t perform the ritual soon, it would be too late, and a daughter would arrive.

Right then, Xia Xiao lost the mood to go to the Youth Point and went straight back to the Gao family to tell Gao Guoqiang and Zheng Xianghong about it.

"Mom and Dad, Grandma can’t keep going on like this. She told me the last time that my sister-in-law and I don’t have the fortune of Yang Hua because we’d only have daughters, and asked for incense and talisman paper so she could perform a ritual to ensure I have a son. She’s saying such things again, I’m worried that if Grandma doesn’t come to me, she’ll go to someone else, and that will be troublesome."

Xia Xiao hadn’t mentioned Old Lady Gao’s previous words to Gao Guoqiang and Zheng Xianghong, but this time she couldn’t hold back. Although Old Lady Gao was somewhat delusional...

"Is that so?" Zheng Xianghong frowned and looked at Gao Guoqiang, "Guoqiang, you need to talk to Mom seriously about this, this really isn’t a joke."

"I’ll go see her," Gao Guoqiang stood up and walked out, followed by Gao Jiazhi.

Zheng Xianghong comforted Xia Xiao, "Don’t take what your grandma says seriously. If she really had that power, Gao Guihua wouldn’t even have been born. With her preference for sons over daughters, even Gao Guihua could have been turned into a boy."

At that, both Xia Xiao and Sun Yuhua laughed.

On the other side, when Gao Guoqiang and Gao Jiazhi reached the old house, Old Lady Gao naturally denied everything, blaming Xia Xiao instead and never admitting she’d said those things.

But now Old Lady Gao was less and less credible, and both Gao Guoqiang and Gao Jiazhi naturally did not believe her. They thoroughly checked the old house, exchanged both kind and harsh words with Old Lady Gao, and then left.

On the way back, Gao Jiazhi said to Gao Guoqiang, "Dad, Grandma can’t keep going on like this. We can’t always watch her. What if we miss something and she causes trouble?"

Gao Jiazhi was increasingly annoyed with Old Lady Gao. Because of her, the household was always on edge, fearing Old Lady Gao might bring disaster.

Old Lady Gao might have been okay in the city, but now, back in the production team, it would be their fault if she wasn’t handled properly.

"Alright," Gao Guoqiang now had to be firm. Although it was his own mother, she was confused and needed to be completely convinced of reality’s harshness.