An 80s female translator was spoiled rotten by a rough and jealous man.

Is Chapter 27 Fate?

After lunch, Meng Youyou politely said goodbye to the Zhou family: "Auntie, I'll be leaving now."

Zhao Chunmei feigned a desire to keep him there, saying, "Won't you stay a little longer at home?"

Meng Youyou smiled faintly: "No, Auntie. I have to go back to the village entrance. It'll be hard to manage there without one more person. I should go now."

Then, she changed the subject, turning her gaze to Zhou Xiaobei, and said with a hint of embarrassment, "Auntie, I'm not very familiar with the roads in the village. I almost got lost when I came here. Could you ask Xiaobei to walk me part of the way?"

Without hesitation, Zhao Chunmei readily agreed and turned to Zhou Xiaobei, instructing, "Xiaobei, see Comrade Meng off."

Once outside, the two walked side by side, the atmosphere somewhat somber, a long silence lingering between them.

Meng Youyou misread the words in her mind, turned her head slightly to look at the girl beside her, and tentatively asked, "Xiao Bei?"

Zhou Xiaobei also looked at her, "Did you come here specifically to see me today?"

His tone was calm, yet carried an air of unwavering certainty.

Meng Youyou was stunned: "..."

"Is this the IQ of a top county-level scholar?"

"How did you figure that out?" Meng Youyou's tone betrayed her surprise.

“It’s obvious,” Zhou Xiaobei said calmly.

Meng Youyou didn't mince words and quickly stated her purpose: "Actually, I came to see you today because of Xiaofeng's father. Xiaofeng's grandmother accidentally fell and injured her leg while picking mushrooms on the mountain a few days ago. You should have heard about this."

So we want to apply for "death benefits due to recurrence of old work-related injuries" for Xiaofeng and her grandmother, but a crucial step is missing in the procedure. That's why I wanted to talk to you about the situation at the time.

Zhou Xiaobei quickly realized, "Old injury relapse? You mean Uncle Yang's left leg?"

"That's right. Yang Guoqing suffered a gunshot wound to his left leg during his service, which left him with sequelae. Do you remember if he showed any unusual symptoms in the water at that time?"

Without much thought, Zhou Xiaobei immediately replied, "I remember that day very clearly. I was struggling in the water all by myself, and lake water kept pouring into my mouth. My consciousness was starting to become a little blurry."

Uncle Yang suddenly lifted me up from behind. Uncle Yang is left-handed, and for the first half of the swim, he held my armpit with his left hand and swam me toward the shore.

Suddenly, I felt his body stiffen abruptly, and then he seemed to curl up into a ball. We both sank into the water, which quickly submerged my head again, and I was gripped by extreme fear once more.

However, Uncle Yang did not give up. He dragged me upward with difficulty, and after that he only used his right leg to kick the water. During the process, I could clearly feel his lower left side trembling.

As he swam closer to the shore, he kept shouting for Grandma Xiaofeng on the bank to pull him up first, but then…

Zhou Xiaobei's voice choked up, and she didn't continue speaking.

Hearing this, Meng Youyou's eyes lit up with hope, and her tone was exceptionally sincere: "Xiao Bei, we need your help!"

Every word was spoken with utmost solemnity.

Zhou Xiaobei was slightly confused. "How can I help you?"

Meng Youyou stepped forward, gently wrapped her arm around Zhou Xiaobei's, and looked at her expectantly: "Come with me to the city's Civil Affairs Bureau to make a statement. You are the person involved, and your words will greatly help us successfully apply for the pension."

“…No, that won’t work,” Zhou Xiaobei said, a bitter smile slowly spreading across her face. “I can’t get out.”

Meng Youyou didn't quite understand: "What do you mean you can't get out?"

“I dropped out of school, or rather, my mom forced me to drop out. She's terrified I'll sneak back to school, so she rarely lets me go out these days. If I ever ask her to go to the village store to buy a bag of salt, and I'm a few minutes late on the way back, she'll…”

As Zhou Xiaobei spoke, her eyes suddenly dimmed.

Meng Youyou was incredulous, her voice unconsciously rising two decibels: "Weren't you the top scorer in the county's high school entrance exam? Your grades are so good!" Zhou Xiaobei shook her head helplessly, but even that shake seemed to reveal a deep sense of powerlessness. "It's no use. My second sister ranked third in the county's high school entrance exam. Her grades were just as good as mine, but she didn't finish high school in the end."

Meng Youyou already had a general idea in mind, but she still chose to ask, "Why?"

"Why?" Zhou Xiaobei repeated, her tone becoming somewhat sarcastic: "Hmph, because my eldest brother was getting married, so my mother called my second sister back to go on blind dates, and she ended up marrying just anyone. You probably can't imagine that there was less than a month between her dropping out of school and getting married."

At this point, Meng Youyou clearly saw a flash of pain across Zhou Xiaobei's face, followed by a self-deprecating laugh, and continued, "I might be a little luckier than my second sister. In the past two years, the new village officials have been strongly opposing illegal early marriages, so I was forced to drop out of school and come back to do farm work and take care of my pregnant sister-in-law."

Before they knew it, the two had approached the village entrance.

Meng Youyou sighed, and asked, still somewhat unwilling to give up, "Didn't you ever think about resisting?"

Revolt?

Zhao Chunmei's harsh voice kept echoing in Zhou Xiaobei's mind: "If you're not home, who will do the work in the fields?"

Your dad is so old, can he manage on his own?
Your sister-in-law is about to give birth. Who will take care of her during her postpartum period?
Who will take care of the children in the future?

With my old arms and legs, how can I do it all by myself?

I raised you with so much hardship, and this is how you treat your parents?

Besides, what's the use of a girl like you studying so much? In the end, you still have to come back and get married!
......"

Zhou Xiaobei closed her eyes in frustration, then opened them again a few seconds later. "Comrade Meng, I..."

He had barely begun speaking when he was interrupted by a slightly surprised female voice coming from not far ahead.

"Beckham!"

Meng Youyou and Zhou Xiaobei looked up and saw a woman wearing black-rimmed glasses, who looked to be in her thirties, wearing a plain-colored polyester shirt, which was neatly tucked into black straight-leg trousers.

Zhou Xiaobei called out to someone, "Teacher Wang."

The person Zhou Xiaobei called Teacher Wang quickened his pace and approached them, asking with some surprise, "What are you doing here? Didn't your mom forbid you from going out?"

Zhou Xiaobei briefly explained, "Today is a special case."

Wang Suyun took out a letter of introduction from her bag and stuffed it into Zhou Xiaobei's hand, saying seriously, "I'm here to ask you one last time whether you're going to take that job or not. I can only hold it for you for three days at most. After that, it will have to be given to someone else."

Zhou Xiaobei stared blankly at the letter of introduction in her hand, her eyes devoid of any light.

Wang Suyun continued to earnestly advise, "Although this is a temporary job, and it's unlikely to bring in much income in the first two years, Xiao Bei's life is very long. You should take a long-term view when making choices."

Since you've already chosen to drop out of school, you only have a junior high school education. This job would be a great opportunity for you. With your writing ability, I believe that as long as you work hard and diligently, you will definitely shine in the future.

Wang Suyun was still patiently trying to persuade him when she heard a sharp, angry shout from twenty meters away: "Zhou Xiaobei! What are you doing? Are you trying to rebel?"

Actually, the story of "Zhou Xiaobei" is based on the true experience of a female elder in my circle. Of course, I have made some embellishments based on the true story.

Many readers, especially younger ones, may not feel deeply about this, or even find it unbelievable, but in fact, it happened with a fairly high probability in that era.

As the story unfolds, I will gradually share in the author's notes the choices my female elder made, her future fate, and her thoughts.

But Zhou Xiaobei's choice might be different from hers?
In order to write this book of historical essays, I have been talking to some elders around me recently, striving to make my writing authentic, accurate and touching.

My initial intention for this book wasn't to be a typical "feel-good" novel set in a specific era, but I still hope that readers will continue reading, as it might bring you more surprises later on.
I've finished posting all the drafts I had saved up these past two days, so I haven't been able to consistently update at midnight. My update times have been a bit random these past two days, I apologize.

But I will actively adjust and try to resume regular updates starting tomorrow or the day after.

Finally, I sincerely thank everyone who enjoyed this book, and wish you all the best!
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(End of this chapter)