Chapter 201 Is your stepmother good to you?

Xu Laidi was squatting by the river, scrubbing the clothes in her hands with a tattered washboard. Any one of the clothes in that basin was better than what she was wearing.

Bai Nuo and Sun Yuxi exchanged a glance and sat down under a large tree not far from Xu Laidi.

"This place is quite nice, cool and not crowded." After sitting down, Bai Nuo took out an egg and handed it to Sun Yuxi. "Let's eat here."

"I think it's a good idea!"

Sun Yuxi sat down next to her, opened the lunchbox in her hand, and a fragrant aroma of meat wafted out.

"By the way, I haven't had a chance to ask you. What happened to you the other day? You seemed unhappy after you came back from the county." Sun Yuxi said with concern as she ate her meal.

"What else could it be? My father wrote me a letter telling me to go back and get married." Bai Nuo curled her lip, looking disdainful.

"Huh?" Sun Yuxi looked at Bai Nuo in surprise, her brows furrowed slightly, and said nervously, "Why are you suddenly being asked to go back and get married? You're not even seventeen yet, are you? You didn't agree to this, did you?"

"How could that be?" Bai Nuo's tone was full of sarcasm. "That stupid old man just wants to use me to exchange for a bride price for his son. Keep dreaming. What era are we living in? Still wanting to sell his daughter to raise his son? And he even wants to arrest me. If he dares to come, I'll kill him."

“That’s the right way to think!” Sun Yuxi said with a look of full support, “You must not do anything rash. I have a neighbor who is extremely sexist and always says that daughters are a waste of money. He even sold his eldest daughter to a bastard who beat his wife. The eldest daughter was pregnant when her husband beat her to death. But the family didn’t care at all. They even went over and made a scene, got some compensation, and then bought their son a bicycle.”

My daughter died for nothing, why?

Sun Yuxi, standing on the moral high ground, spoke passionately: "We are women of the new society, young people of the new era living under the Party and the national flag, and female comrades protected by the laws of the new dragon country. Even the top leaders have said that women can hold up half the sky. Why should we sacrifice ourselves for that so-called son, giving up our lives, or even our lives?"

This is so unfair! We are human beings, independent individuals with our own thoughts. We are not slaves to our parents or siblings. We have the right to control our own lives and absolutely cannot become victims of their desire for a better life.

“You’re right. When people die, they’re gone. It’s those who don’t care about our lives who benefit. Bah! Why should they?” Bai Nuo’s face was full of anger, perfectly expressing her anger at injustice and her struggle against oppression.

“That’s right, she should be like my neighbor’s little daughter.” Sun Yuxi used this as an opportunity to introduce the second half of the story.

"You have no idea, my neighbor has a younger daughter. Before the older daughter was beaten to death, the younger daughter was the only one who hadn't gotten married. At home, she was like her brother's little slave. Not only did she have to do all the housework, but she also had to be her brother's punching bag when he was in a bad mood. Several times, she was almost beaten to death by her own brother."

Later, after their eldest daughter was beaten to death, the couple actually tried to marry their younger daughter to their abusive eldest son-in-law for the sake of the bride price. They were utterly inhuman.

Bai Nuo looked at Sun Yuxi with concern and quickly asked, "And then what?"

Sun Yuxi smiled slightly, her tone full of satisfaction, even proud of her neighbor's little daughter.

"You would never guess that the youngest daughter didn't want to end up like her older sister, so she started to fight back. Since her parents and brother didn't want her to live anyway, she wasn't afraid of anything."

At home, she'd smash pots and pans and break dishes. If her brother dared to hit her, she'd fight him with a knife. If he hit her too hard, she'd run outside and cause a scene, seeking help from neighbors and the police. She even dared to attack her father with a knife. In her words, "If you all won't let me live, what's the point of filial piety? Is that thing more important than my life?"

Bai Nuo frowned slightly, looking puzzled: "Don't any of your other neighbors say anything about her?"

"What are you saying? People are all made of flesh and blood. How many people would be willing to treat a poor girl like that?"

Sun Yuxi sighed and continued, "She was abused by her family since she was a child, and all the neighbors saw it. Before, she didn't fight back, and even if the neighbors felt sorry for her, they didn't want to interfere in her family's affairs. But when that girl went all out and made a scene, her parents wanted to kill her, so she hid behind the neighbors. Under such circumstances, the neighbors had a reason to protect her."

That family couldn't possibly fight off so many neighbors, especially with the police involved. In the end, they had no choice but to give up on marrying their daughter to their former eldest son-in-law. Not only that, they also dared not provoke their younger daughter again.

“That’s the right thing to do!” Bai Nuo nodded in agreement and continued, “That’s exactly what I think. My dad’s son wasn’t born to my mom; he was born to the woman he married later. And he dares to ask me to sacrifice myself for him? Bah! Breaking his son’s leg when we came here was the least I could do. When I go back for the New Year, I’ll cripple his leg too, so he won’t dare to mess with me again.”

Sun Yuxi strongly supported this: "That's how it should be. Make them all afraid of you, and then you can be in charge."

The garment in Xu Laidi's hand was actually the last one she owned. She had just finished washing it and was preparing to go back, especially after those two female educated youths came over, she wanted to leave even more.

She didn't want to interact with these female educated youths from the city at all, because it would make her feel even more inferior. She even wanted to burrow into the ground to see them and then look at herself. They were completely different people. In front of those female educated youths, especially the new ones, she always felt like she was suffocating.

However, after hearing what they said, she couldn't move her leg at all.

It looks so similar!

This situation is so similar to hers!

Then she thought of how her older sister came back last time covered in injuries, but her mother seemed to completely ignore it, and even warned her older sister to go back and coax her brother-in-law so that she could bring more things next time she came back.

Xu Laidi shuddered when she thought of how pale her older sister's face was when she came back last time, as if she might die at any moment.

What if, what if her older sister gets beaten to death one day? Then what about her...?

Xu Laidi couldn't help but clutch the clothes in his hands tightly, then quickly put the clothes and washboard into the wooden basin, and carried the basin quickly towards the west of the village.

After Xu Laidi left, Bai Nuo and Sun Yuxi exchanged a glance and smiled slightly.

Sun Yuxi suddenly frowned slightly and looked at Bai Nuo with concern: "Nuonuo, isn't it a bit inappropriate to talk about your uncle like this?"

"It's okay, it doesn't matter!" Bai Nuo waved her hand dismissively.

Sun Yuxi pursed her lips, asking with some hesitation and worry, "Then, is your stepmother good to you?"

"ah?"

Bai Nuo looked at Sun Yuxi with a blank expression. After regaining her senses, she twitched her lips, raised her hand to pat her shoulder, and said with a smile, "Girl, you're overthinking it. I don't even know if my own father is alive or dead, so where would I get a stepmother? Even if I did, it wouldn't matter. I don't know them. Don't worry about me. My family loves me very much."