Chapter 251 – Before Shu Yan could say anything else, she saw Yingying’s parents charging at her. (3)
After her meeting in the morning, Shu Yan had nothing else on her schedule so she returned to her shop. As soon as she walked inside, she could see that both Zhang Huaxiu and Yingying were in foul moods. Yingying, in particular, had her body turned to the side. Even so, it wasn’t difficult to see that her eyes were reddened.
“What’s the matter?” Shu Yan walked closer and noticed that one side of her cheeks were a little swollen and there were bruising around the corners of her eye and mouth. Someone had obviously struck her.
“What happened? Who hit you?” Shu Yan took her hand and studied her carefully. She could even see redness in her eyes. How hard was she struck?
“Boss Lady, my father… he wants me to marry a crippled man. All because the man can afford 50,000 yuan of betrothal gift. My father wants to sell me. I didn’t agree to it so he hit me. He even locked me up and wouldn’t let me come in to work. I lied to my mother that I agree to it before she’d let me out to have breakfast. I ran out after she had left for work. How could he do this to me? How could he sell me for my brother? Am I not his child?” Yingying couldn’t help but started crying after she saw Shu Yan.
“Don’t cry yet. Tell me the whole story starting from the beginning.” Shu Yan had her sit down and had Zhang Huaxiu poured her a glass of water.
“My brother wants to get married but the girl’s side said he must have his own house. Remember they asked me to come up with 10,000 yuan? I told them I don’t have that much money and have been giving them 150 yuan a month. My parents hadn’t said anything in the last couple of months and I thought that was kind of odd. Little do I know that they had put out words that they would marry me off to anyone regardless of weight or height, as long as they can come up with the betrothal gift,” said Yingying as she sobbed.
“Their favoritism is too extreme,” said Zhang Huaxiu angrily after she brought Yingying a glass of water. “One way or another, you can’t agree to it. We live in the modern-day society now. You should have freedom of your relationships. We no longer blindly follow what the parents and matchmaker say.”
“They don’t care about that. They feel that they had raised me this entire time and now they can sell me so my brother can get married.” Yingying sobbed a little more and said to Shu Yan, “Boss Lady, can I sleep in the shop for the next few days? I don’t dare go back to my place nor would I be able to anymore.”
“That’s not a problem at all but it’s not safe for a girl to stay here. Why don’t you come and stay over at my place for now? You can go to and from work with Xiuxiu. As for your parents, Yingying, as someone who had been through this, I will say that you cannot always give in to your parents. If you don’t put your foot down, they will continue to pressure you. Be familial doesn’t mean you must sacrifice yourself. Your parents are still young right now. You go on with your life and, when you are wealthy, more capable and when they are older, you can be familial to them then.” Shu Yan truly wished for the best for this girl who had shared so much with the original owner.
“I… I am not going to marry the crippled man. I’d rather die.”
Shu Yan’s place had three room, maybe four if they counted the one that Aunty lived in. Now that Yingying was staying over, Shu Yan had her stay in JingJing’s room and had JingJing stayed in the same room as her.
“Aunty Yingying will be staying with us for a few days. What say we let her stay in your room and you sleep with Mommy, hmm?”
Before JingJing could even nod, Tianbao said loudly from one said, “Mom, Aunty Yingying can stay in my room. I want to sleep with you.”
“No, Tianbao is a little man and needs to sleep by himself. Besides, a little boy’s room is not the same as a little girl’s room, okay?”
Not having an adult male in the house, Shu Yan tried to have them understand the differences between boys and girls, especially when it came to Tianbao. Shu Yan purposefully wanted to train him to be more independent. She didn’t want him to rely on her too much. Him turning into a mommy’s boy was not what she wanted to see.
“Thank you, Boss Lady.”
“Don’t think too much and get some rest,” says Shu Yan.
When they headed into work the next day, they saw a few people surrounding their front door. Shu Yan was just about to walk over when Yingying grabbed her and said in a low voice, “That’s my parents.”
Shu Yan was just about to say something when Yingying’s parents came charging at her.