Chapter 10

Xiaofei stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.

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Xiaofei thought to himself that he must prevent the problem before it happens, and nip the silly idea in his sister's mind in the bud.

However, Xiaofei knew his sister very well. She was kind, stubborn, and a bit single-minded. Once she made up her mind, she would do it no matter what, even if it meant going all the way down a single path.

How could he persuade her?

If he left it unchecked, Xiaofei knew that, under the influence of Liu Zhenhai's wife, his sister would make that foolish move in three or four months. She would secretly follow Liu Zhenhai's wife to the home of the fool and force their parents to agree to a marriage swap.

"Sis, I think your thoughts are a bit too pessimistic. Trust me, our family will change a lot within a year. We'll build a new house and find a new sister-in-law for my brother, and there won't be any problems," Xiaofei said carefully.

"Yes, yes! Xiao Yan, I swear to heaven that I will help your family build a new house in a year. With a new house, it will be much easier for your brother to find a wife," Qian Guangwen said hurriedly.

Xiaofei nodded approvingly, thinking that Qian Guangwen still cared a lot about his sister.

"Don't try to fool me. With the current state of our family, how can anything change for the better in a year? Building a new house, how easy is that? Guangwen, I'm sorry, but it's impossible for us in this life. If there's a next life, we can continue," Xiao Yan said, tears streaming down her face.

Qian Guangwen looked at Xiaofei in distress.

He was at a loss.

Xiaofei remained relatively calm.

Xiao Yan continued, "Brother, you still have to go to school, and Mother's health is poor, so we need to spend money on medicine. This year's harvest is also bad, and we already owe a lot of money. I don't see any trend of things getting better. My brother is already 24, and in the village, boys his age already have children running around. If we keep delaying year after year, when will our parents be able to hold their grandchild?"

In the countryside, people get married early. Many get married at 16 or 17, and if they haven't settled down by their early 20s, they are considered old and at risk of being left behind.

For someone like Xiaoyang, who is 24, finding a wife has become a major problem.

Xiaofei knew that his parents were always worried about this.

Xiao Yan saw this and was also anxious for her parents.

Therefore, she was determined to use herself to get a wife for her brother. Poor children grow up fast, and the sensible Xiao Yan always wanted to help her parents solve this problem.

In the countryside, marriage swaps are still quite common.

Especially in poor areas, they happen frequently.

Xili Village, located in a barren area, has poor soil and a generally poor economic situation. It is much harder for the village's young men to find wives compared to wealthier areas.

As far as Xiaofei knew, more than ten young men in the village had only been able to get wives through marriage swaps involving their sisters or younger sisters.

What else could they do?

Could they just watch their son never find a wife, remain single for life, and even have no descendants?

Perhaps in Xiao Yan's heart, getting a wife for her brother had become her natural responsibility.

Xiaofei sighed and held up one finger, saying firmly, "Sis, just one year. Wait one more year. If our situation hasn't improved by then, it won't be too late, right?"

"I can't make it hard for Guangwen. His family is also struggling. I can't hold him back," Xiao Yan said, looking at Qian Guangwen and lowering her head.

She thought that Xiaofei's plan was to have Qian Guangwen find a way.

But she didn't know that Xiaofei intended to change the family's situation through his own efforts in one year.

"Xiao Yan, this isn't about who is holding back whom. I love you and want to spend my life with you. I can't just watch you suffer. For you, I'm willing to work hard and endure. There are many ways to make money. In the past two years, I've saved over ten thousand yuan from my business. I've seen that the price of pork has been high, so I've expanded my pig farming. Now I have about 70 pigs, each weighing around 60 kilograms. In another two or three months, they will be ready for market. By then, I will have money. I will help your family build a house and find a wife for your brother. You have to believe me, I will do what I say!" Qian Guangwen said, showing his utmost sincerity.

But Xiaofei knew that Qian Guangwen didn't make money from pig farming this time and even lost money.

In 1995 and 1996, the price of pork skyrocketed from two or three yuan to seven or eight yuan per kilogram.

But in the second half of 1996, the price of pork plummeted, and many pig farmers suffered significant losses.

Xiaofei believed that in his previous life, Qian Guangwen had also made such promises to his sister.

Therefore, although Liu Zhenhai's wife used sweet talk and various tricks to persuade her, Xiao Yan didn't make up her mind until November 1996.

It was now July 10th.

There were still three or four months until November.

Xiaofei calculated that he could earn a large sum of money in these few months, which would be enough to control the situation.

"Really?" Xiao Yan stopped crying, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"Of course, it's true," Qian Guangwen said.

He explained to Xiao Yan that as long as his batch of pigs could be sold smoothly, he would make at least 40,000 to 50,000 yuan.

In 1996, 40,000 to 50,000 yuan was an astronomical sum in the rural areas of H Province.

Qian Guangwen said that building a new house would cost no more than 20,000 yuan.

By then, if Xiaoyang couldn't find a suitable wife locally, Qian Guangwen promised to go with him to the mountains of Guizhou to find one.

Although Xili Village was already poor, many places in the mountains of Guizhou were even poorer. The women there saw leaving the mountains and marrying into the plains as their goal.

Bringing a wife from there would cost only 5,000 to 6,000 yuan in the 1990s.

"What if we owe your family so much money and can't pay it back?" Xiao Yan wiped her eyes and asked.

"You don't have to pay it back. I said I was helping your family," Qian Guangwen said.

"But how can we feel comfortable about that?" Xiao Yan's original intention was to get Qian Guangwen to forgive the debt, but when he said it, she felt uncomfortable.

"Ha! What's there to feel uncomfortable about? We're family now. It's my responsibility to help you," Qian Guangwen waved his hand, showing a generous attitude.

This made Xiaofei like Qian Guangwen even more.

If he had to persuade Xiao Yan himself, Xiaofei wasn't sure he could convince her.

Xiao Yan probably wouldn't believe that Xiaofei could earn a large sum of money in a short year to transform their broken home.

With that, Xiao Yan was somewhat pacified.

It was only then that she thought to ask about Xiaofei's exam results. Xiaofei briefly told her. Xiao Yan bit her lip and said, "Brother, if it doesn't work this year, review for another year. You must get into college. Our family's hope is on you. You have no other choice."

These words were heavy.

In his previous life, when Xiaofei heard his sister say this, it felt like a heavy stone was pressing on his heart.

Now, his mindset was completely different.

Just as he was about to express his determination, he heard his brother Xiaoyang's roar from inside the house.

"Our family doesn't sell daughters. I, Xiaoyang, would rather remain single for life than use my sister to get a wife! Get out, now!"

A woman's angry voice replied, "Xiaoyang, why are you shouting? I'm doing this for your own good! You're like a dog biting Lü Dongbin, not recognizing a good deed when you see one!"

"You bastard! Why are you shouting? Do you want me to hit you? Cousin, this child has a bad temper. Don't be like him. Let's think about this matter again," his father's voice came from inside the house.

Hearing his father's voice, Xiaofei felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

Father...

In his previous life, his father passed away in 2003 due to illness, and his mother also passed away in the same year, one at the beginning of the year and the other at the end. Many times, he dreamed of his parents, and his tears wet the pillow.

Hearing his father's voice again and feeling his real presence, how could Xiaofei not be moved?

"Brother, why are you crying?"

Xiao Yan asked curiously.

Xiaofei wiped his eyes and smiled, "Why would I cry? It's just sweat in my eyes."

Xiao Yan looked at her brother's face, a bit suspicious.

At that moment, the door curtain of the Xia family's house was lifted, and a fat woman stormed out, followed by a girl with long hair and a white dress.