Chapter 163 – Cutting Ties
On their way back home, Jiang Junmo pushed the bike while Lu Xia carried the package, and they returned home in this difficult manner. Fortunately, it was mealtime when they came back, so they didn’t encounter many people on the road, and nobody noticed them.
After arriving home and storing the food, Jiang Junmo suddenly remembered, “By the way, I saw a letter for you at the post office today, and I brought it back.”
“Oh? There’s a letter for me?” Could it be a reply from the Lu family?
Lu Xia was surprised because she thought the Lu family wouldn’t reply so quickly. She expected they would at least inquire about the situation before writing back. However, now that they had sent a letter, she couldn’t wait to see what it said inside.
She took the letter and opened it.
Indeed, the letter was from the Lu family, written by Lu Qiu.
In the letter, Mother Lu directly stated that they would consider her as if she didn’t exist in their family from now on, asking her not to write back home anymore because they felt embarrassed by her.
Since she willingly married into the countryside, she should live there as a dutiful wife and mother, and never return to her parents’ home as if it didn’t exist.
They wouldn’t even allow her to step inside their home if she ever returned!
The contents of this letter were concise, and Lu Xia was surprised that Mother Lu didn’t even bother to scold her. Instead, she straightforwardly cut off all ties with her. Was this their way of expressing anger without resorting to further insults?
However, what surprised her even more was that there was another letter secretly written by Lu Qiu.
In the letter, Lu Xia learned the reason why they replied so quickly.
As it turned out, one of the educated youths who had gone to the countryside with Lu Xia returned to the city during the New Year’s holiday. The person lived in a neighboring community near their residence.
As for why this person could return to the city after only six months of rural work, it was said that she had faked an illness and obtained a letter of introduction from the village to come back.
Once she returned, she talked about the hardships of rural life and cited many examples of female educated youths’ suffering.
Among them was Lu Xia.
The place where this person went for rural work wasn’t far from where Lu Xia was, and coincidentally, some old educated youths were acquainted with both Lu Xia’s and the other person’s educated youth spot. They had met while working on road construction before the New Year, and they chatted about the situation at their respective educated youth spot.
So, Lu Xia’s story of getting married shortly after arriving as a new educated youth in the countryside spread. Of course, along with it came the rumor that her husband was a weak and sickly man.
When the people from her educated youth spot returned and mentioned this matter, she was surprised and remembered it since she knew Lu Xia.
According to Lu Qiu’s letter, the person’s name was Liang Pei, and she was in the same year as Lu Xia and Lu Chun, though not in the same class, so Lu Xia didn’t have much of an impression of her.
The original owner was relatively introverted, focused on her studies, and after school, she would help with chores at home and rarely went out to play. As a result, she had few friends and didn’t know many people.
However, Liang Pei remembered her, or more accurately, she remembered Lu Chun because Lu Chun was quite eye-catching at school. Being her younger sister, despite the stark difference in personality and appearance, the original owner still left an impression on people.
So, when she heard that Lu Xia had married shortly after coming to the countryside, Liang Pei assumed she must have done so to avoid doing hard labor.
She felt a mixture of pity and contempt for Lu Xia, but most of all, she worried about her own ability to endure the hardships and was afraid that she might not be able to persist, which motivated her to find a way to return home.
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Chapter 164 – Red Envelope
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After Liang Pei returned, she cried and said she didn’t want to go back to the countryside. She also exaggerated Lu Xia’s situation, making her appear very miserable, which caused Liang Pei’s parents to worry and feel even more distressed for their daughter.
In the end, Mother Liang gritted her teeth and gave her own job to Liang Pei so that she could stay in the city as she wished.
However, it was said that because of this, Liang Pei angered her several sisters-in-law since the job was originally promised to one of them.
Putting that aside, after Liang Pei stayed in the city, she spread the news about Lu Xia. Gradually, it reached the textile factory’s residential area, and soon, the Lu family came to know about it.
At first, Mother Lu didn’t believe it, so she personally went to Liang Pei and asked, confirming that Lu Xia had indeed gotten married.
Upon hearing this, she was furious and wanted nothing more than to rush to the countryside to scold Lu Xia severely.
The people in the residential area were also rude with their remarks. Those who had conflicts with the Lu family went out of their way to come and congratulate them for gaining a rural son-in-law.
This made the Lu family feel even more ashamed.
Mother Lu’s face turned red with anger, and her hatred for Lu Xia deepened.
Coincidentally, at that moment, a letter from Lu Xia arrived.
Seeing that Lu Xia not only had no money but also asked them for things and dowry, surprisingly, Mother Lu became calm in her anger.
After dinner, she informed the family of her decision that they would treat Lu Xia as if she didn’t exist anymore.
Father Lu didn’t say much and silently agreed.
Then, he asked Lu Qiu to write a reply to Lu Xia.
In the letter, Lu Qiu expressed concern for her and asked about her current life. He also mentioned that Lu Chun, upon learning about her marriage in the countryside, would mock her every day, believing that she was suffering the consequences of her own choices. She had already begun to feel that she wouldn’t return. That self-proclaimed superiority of having married into the city, and looking down on others, was quite annoying.
Lu Qiu also said that this would likely be the last letter they could send her because they didn’t have money, and in the future, they wouldn’t have the chance to write to her. She encouraged her to live well in the countryside and not to give up because there might be a chance for her to return to the city in the future.
After reading this, Lu Xia felt a warmth in her heart, but more than that, she felt relieved that she wouldn’t have to deal with the Lu family anymore.
As for whether the Lu family would come looking for her after they returned to the city, she would cross that bridge when it came. In any case, she wouldn’t actively seek them out, but if they approached her, she had ways to handle them.
After all, she was already married now, and once a daughter is married, she is like spilled water, no longer obligated to support her natal family. While people nowadays valued filial piety, it wouldn’t be expected for her to provide financial support to her parents.
Moreover, she suspected that, aside from Lu Qiu, the rest of Lu’s family didn’t have much power and probably had their weaknesses. They appeared intimidating, but were actually quite timid, so she wasn’t afraid of them causing trouble.
Of course, that was all a matter for the future.
After finishing the letter, Lu Xia habitually handed it to Jiang Junmo.
Jiang Junmo furrowed his brow after reading the letter.
Seeing that Lu Xia seemed relatively calm, but he was afraid she might still be upset, he took the opportunity to show her the package sent by his family.
“What’s inside this time?”
Jiang Junmo took out several red paper-wrapped items and handed them to her.
“What is this?”
“Red envelopes from my family for you.”
“Red envelopes?” Lu Xia was surprised as she opened one and found a considerable amount of money inside.
“Why are they giving me red envelopes?”
“Didn’t you mention in your last letter that you wanted to wish them an early New Year? These are their New Year’s greetings and lucky money for you.”
Lu Xia was both delighted and surprised. “Your family is too kind. I’m already this old, and I’m still receiving New Year’s red envelopes?”
To be honest, it was her first time receiving red envelopes from family members, and she didn’t know what to feel. It was a strange but heartwarming sensation.
Thank you for the chapter (´∇`)
Aww, she may have a terrible family, but at least her in-laws are the best!
It’s amazing. Considering how favoured he is at home and being the only son with four sisters, youd think he’d be spoilt but he’s so down-to-earth and his family is so kind
This Lu Qij is the most interesting character here really haha, her thoughts seem quite deep, hope things go well for her.