Chapter 2: An Unhappy Parting

On the famous highway running through the W City Development Zone, a young couple chatted sweetly in their car. The husband, who was driving, kept glancing at his wife’s belly in the passenger seat out of the corner of his eye.

It was the weekend, and they had planned to drive to Tao County, a town under W City, because tomorrow was Zhou Jiao’s parents’ 60th birthday celebration.

The couple had already bought gifts the day before, filling the trunk to the brim. Even though Zhou Jiao was the second child and never the apple of her parents’ eye—having only finished junior high thanks to compulsory education, then working and earning scholarships to complete her studies, and finally staying on as a lecturer after graduating from a top university—her parents only ever seemed to care about their eldest daughter and their youngest son. As the middle child, Zhou Jiao was always overlooked. When the eldest was born, her parents were newlyweds and delighted to have a daughter. For the second child, they’d hoped for a boy to “complete the family,” but when another girl arrived, she was seen as a burden and largely ignored. Years later, after much effort, her mother became pregnant again, but this time, due to the one-child policy, they had to pay a hefty fine and her father even lost his job. Fortunately, the third child was a big, healthy boy—the long-awaited son to carry on the family name.

Despite all this, Zhou Jiao still did her duty as a daughter, which made her husband, Zhang Guoqing—who grew up in an orphanage—feel that filial piety was only natural.

He had been abandoned at birth and left at the orphanage, coincidentally on National Day. The director, surnamed Zhang, took a liking to him, especially since he was a healthy, well-developed baby boy—something rare to be abandoned in those days. Under the director’s care, he grew up healthy and strong. When he was in his second year of college, the director passed away, leaving him a small 50-square-meter apartment she had bought after becoming a widow.

Compared to Zhou Jiao, who had a full set of relatives, Zhang Guoqing considered himself even luckier, having found love and family. After two years of knowing and loving Zhou Jiao, they agreed to marry just before graduation. Now, two years into their marriage, they were about to welcome a new member to their little family. To Zhang Guoqing, life felt complete and happy.

“Jiaojiao, why don’t you recline your seat and take a nap? I’ll wake you when we get to the county, okay? Be good.”

Zhou Jiao replied softly, “No need. Just drive carefully. I’ll chat with you so you don’t get sleepy.”

Zhang Guoqing smiled, warmed by her concern. “Alright, but rest if you get tired! In just two more months, our baby will be here. Have you thought of any names?”

“You still haven’t decided? Pick one from the list I gave you.”

“I want to come up with one that represents our love. I wonder if it’ll be a girl? If it is, I’ll name her Zhang Xinyue—‘my heart delights in you.’ Hehe.”

“You’re so cheesy, but I like it. What if it’s a boy?”

...

The car was filled with laughter all the way. Summer had just ended, and the trees lining the road were tinged with yellow. The fields outside were empty; the rice had already been harvested. Stubble was scattered everywhere, and if you went down into the fields, you might still find some snails, loaches, or eels—though pollution made that rare these days. Zhou Jiao remembered how common they were in her childhood, but now they were hard to find.

Dust flew as they drove. As the sun set and they neared the county, the roads grew crowded, forcing them to slow down.

As they approached Tao County, the couple fell silent. Zhou Jiao sighed, “Honey, I really don’t want to go back. Every time I call, it’s just about money. My little brother is married but still doesn’t work—just relies on our parents and keeps borrowing money. I bet this time they’ll bring up buying a house in town and ask us and my sister for help again. If it’s like last time, and they kick us out because we don’t give money, let’s just leave. We agreed: we’ll give what’s right, but nothing more. My parents only push because you’re too nice.”

“Don’t worry, don’t get upset. You’re pregnant. I think my brother-in-law will speak up later—I’ll follow his lead. Your sister has it tough too; her family isn’t well-off. Their son is starting elementary school, and I heard the fee for a top school is 50,000 yuan. We haven’t been working long, and apart from the apartment Zhang Mom left me, we only have about 100,000 yuan in savings. But don’t worry, my salary will go up after the New Year, and probably my position too.”

“Good, as long as you know. I already send my parents money every month. They don’t need much in the countryside, and I never cost them anything growing up. Rural girls don’t do as much as we do—besides the monthly money, we also send gifts for every holiday. Plus, you gave 50,000 yuan as a bride price when we married. My sister doesn’t give as much, but she still sends 5,000 to 10,000 a year. My parents aren’t short on money. Just look at my aunts—none of their daughters support them like we do. It’s only because you and my brother-in-law are so easygoing. Otherwise, why did they insist on having a son? They always said daughters are a loss, and my mom even quit her job to have my brother. Now they still have to support him and his wife, and when they have kids, probably the whole family.”

“Should I help your brother find a job? He needs to start supporting his family,” Zhang Guoqing said, frowning.

“Don’t bother. With his attitude, he’ll quit in less than half a month. How will you explain that to your contacts? My brother-in-law already tried to help—found him a job paying over 5,000, but he quit after a month, said it was too tiring, and insisted he should be in an office because he’s a college graduate. My mom blamed my brother-in-law for not finding a good job, so now no relatives dare to help anymore.”

“Okay, I’ll listen to you. You’re the boss at home. We’re almost there, just across this road.”

These days, the countryside isn’t much worse than the city—paved roads right up to the door, and new two-story houses on both sides, most with white ceramic tiles and fruit trees in the yard.

Thanks to the bride prices from the two daughters and Zhou Jiao’s regular support, her father Zhou Dafu was better off than his brothers. Their new three-story rural villa gleamed with bright tiles, and the furniture inside was even nicer. In their village, it was tradition for daughters to buy the furniture for their parents’ new house, so in a sense, the house was built by the two sisters. Compared to their uncles’ homes, everyone said Zhou Dafu was lucky to have such filial daughters and sons-in-law.

During holidays, they always took care of everything. The cousins from their uncles’ families only moved things to their in-laws’ homes—no comparison. Of course, everyone knew those cousins were spoiled and bossy, sweet-talking but sharp-tongued.

Their grandparents had always looked down on the eldest daughter’s family, and after the family split, they stayed with the youngest son. Zhou Dafu lost his job trying for a son and was blamed by his parents, even trying to stop Zhou Jiao from going to college. If Zhou Jiao hadn’t been clever and secretly arranged with her teacher to start school early, she might have been forced to marry young for a bride price.

So everyone in the village knew about the Zhou family’s situation. But what could they do? The daughters were so filial. This year, for their mother’s 60th birthday, both daughters drove home early, while the youngest son was still playing cards at the village store.

Zhou Jiao didn’t really want to come back, but if she didn’t, her mother would go to her school and make a scene. That’s how they took her bride price without a second thought—after all, as a university lecturer, she should understand traditional virtues, right? Even at work, things weren’t always smooth, and no one would say you didn’t have to support your parents just because they didn’t raise you, or that you didn’t have to notify them when you got married.

Zhang Guoqing just wanted things to be simple, so he gave the 50,000 yuan bride price. As for the 150,000 they asked for? That was supposed to come with a matching dowry.

As they got out of the car at the gate, Zhou Jiao’s mind was still swirling with these thoughts. Her mother greeted Zhang Guoqing warmly. She knew her own daughter wasn’t softhearted, but her son-in-law truly treated her like his own mother. She liked him too—not like her eldest son-in-law, who was always cold. Whenever she visited the city, her younger son-in-law would take her shopping and even drive her home if he wasn’t busy. She enjoyed staying with her younger daughter—no in-laws to deal with. Plus, he was generous: last year, when the couple won a company trip to Hainan, they let her and her husband go instead, even giving them 5,000 yuan in spending money.

Luckily, her husband had insisted on marrying off their second daughter to this orphaned but good-hearted young man, instead of selling her off to a rich county boss for 200,000 yuan. That man had already married three wives in three years! Besides, their second daughter was gentle but not easily controlled—if they’d pushed too hard, she might have just gotten married on her own, without any bride price. Who would have thought she’d get into college? While others were celebrating with banquets, she’d already quietly transferred her residency and started working to pay for school. She’d never asked for tuition money, and was even more resourceful than her older sister.

If not for her son-in-law, the second daughter would have been a lost cause. Her husband always said the second daughter was in charge of her own family. If she was truly filial, they could even buy a house in the city.

If Zhou Jiao knew what her parents were thinking, she’d probably laugh or cry. But even if she did, it wouldn’t matter. She’d already made it clear—apart from what was agreed, there’d be no more money. Soon, the baby would be born and expenses would rise. Besides, her parents had savings, a new house, and no worries about food or clothing. She felt she’d done her duty as a daughter. Of course, she didn’t yet know that last night, her family—including her grandparents, but not her eldest sister’s family—had already decided that the two sisters should buy a house for their parents. If she did, she might have turned around and left right then."