To please others? It's better to please yourself.

Xu Jing'an had just left the hospital when she heard someone shout, "Put it on! Put it on quickly!" while holding up a cheongsam.

A group of people wearing armbands gathered together and kept shouting. Many people who saw this ran over to join in the fun, and the crowd grew larger and larger.

"If she's not wearing it, strip her naked."

"Strip her naked and then dress her!"

Then a cry was heard, and after a while the crowd dispersed. In the middle of the crowd, a middle-aged woman with a face covered in bruises was being pushed and shoved forward.

She held a large gong in her hand, and as she struck it, she weakly called out, "I am—"

Suddenly someone shouted, "Teach her a lesson!"

A bunch of people went up and punched, kicked, spat on, and threw stones at him.

Her hair was being torn apart, covered in spit and even phlegm. She was bleeding from her head and began to parade through the streets, isolated and helpless.

Xu Jing'an was so frightened that she slipped away along the wall and pedaled her bicycle as fast as she could. By the time she reached the Qin River, her legs were so weak she could barely move.

She sat down on the stone bench to catch her breath, and then heard faint moans coming from not far away.

Startled, Xu Jing'an jumped up and looked around before finding an old man lying behind a big tree.

He was over 70 years old, with disheveled gray hair, clutching his lower back, his face was sallow, he was sweating profusely, and he was in excruciating pain.

Xu Jing'an noticed that the old man's knees were covered in dirt. He was probably hiding here because he didn't want his family to be saddened by seeing him like this.

Standing here looking at the old man, she felt deeply unsettled. She had left home empty-handed, without a bag.

So, whether she felt sympathy or distress, all she could do for the old man was pretend to take out three painkillers, two tablets of aminopyrine, and five White Rabbit milk candies from her pocket and place them next to him.

The old man, who had been gritting his teeth and enduring the pain, burst into tears: "Young lady, thank you."

Xu Jing'an didn't reply. She got on her bicycle and rode away quickly without looking back.

I drove non-stop and was sweating all the way home.

Xu Jing'an and Shen He entered a sweet period of marriage again. They were inseparable, and their separation felt like a honeymoon, lasting for half a month straight. With the arrival of Xu Jing'an's period, the two began a short break.

Just as April began, a telegram from the Xu family shattered Xu Jing'an's peaceful life.

"Xu Jianshe has been sent to the countryside, and even to H City?" Xu Jing'an was very surprised after reading the telegram.

They used the information that "Xu Jianshe will not be allowed to go to the countryside" to negotiate a dowry of 300 yuan with Xu's mother.

The two reached a consensus to "never contact each other again." Xu Jing'an didn't even send a letter when she was pregnant and gave birth, let alone send a telegram or make a phone call that would have cost money.

As it turned out, Xu's mother couldn't save Xu Jianshe. No wonder she sent her a telegram. Xu Jing'an guessed that her mother was so angry that she blamed herself too.

……

Xu Family

Xu's mother was furious. No one expected that Xu Jianshe, who was working a regular job, would be sent to the countryside, and that it was his eldest daughter-in-law who had signed up!

After hearing what her third son said, Xu's mother thought about it all night and realized that it wasn't just baseless talk.

When ordinary people don't know what to do, they can look at how leaders and smart people do things, and just copy them.

The current trend is that those with connections are arranging jobs for their children.

In the past, there were plenty of young men and women who were of marriageable age but still kept dating. The main reason was that they all wanted to find someone with good conditions and a good character.

But now, as long as the other party's conditions are acceptable, many people get married as soon as they reach a certain age. This month alone, she received wedding candy from six families, and Lao Xu gave gifts to eight families from his factory.

Thinking of this, Xu's mother gasped in shock. The next day, she took the "face-saving project"—a large bundle—given to her by her third son and hurriedly took a train and fled.

After returning home, he quietly told Xu's father and fourth brother about it, and the next day he took over the shift with Xu Jianshe.

Although Xu Jianguo and his wife were unhappy, they understood that Xu's mother's job was meant for their fourth son. Moreover, Xu's mother had never been ambiguous or changed her tune when she mentioned this job. It was perfectly clear that it belonged to Xu Jianshe!

With everything arranged, Xu Jianshe started work smoothly. Six months later, he became a permanent employee. Only then did Xu's mother feel a little relieved.

When the nation called for educated youth to go to the countryside, "we also have two hands, and we won't be idle in the city."

When the neighborhood committee went door-to-door to inform those without jobs that they had to go to the countryside, Xu's parents and Xu Jianshe were overjoyed.

Some residents in the building wanted to transfer their jobs to their children, but the neighborhood committee staff said that at least one person in each household must go to the countryside, except for those who are already working or are only children.

With this condition stated, many parents could only watch helplessly as their only unemployed child went to the countryside. The parents wanted their child to take over their family business, but the leaders wouldn't approve it.

We can only wait two years to find someone to bring the child back from the countryside, but the longer the time goes on, the more uncertain things become, and no one can be sure that this will definitely work!

The Xu family is very low-key and speaks politely to others, for fear that someone might try to cause trouble.

Xu Jianshe was a year younger than Xu Jing'an, and he didn't turn 20 until October 1971. Xu's mother wanted her son to get married early, firstly because it was difficult to find a good partner if he wasn't a permanent employee at the time, and secondly because he wasn't old enough.

Not long after her son was officially hired, the notice to go to the countryside came down, but more people were also watching their family. After all, only five families in the entire building were lucky enough that none of their children were sent to the countryside.

Xu's mother dared not ask anyone to change Xu Jianshe's age, fearing that someone would find a pretext to use against him.

This year, Xu Jianshe finally reached the age where he needed to find a partner, and his mother was busy arranging for him to find one. But no one expected that Xu Duoduo would stab him in the back.