"I really can't take living like this for a single day longer."
With her hair tied in two little braids and wrapped in a gaudy quilted jacket whose pattern resembled an old-fashioned quilt, Zheng Manman wore a pair of high school uniform trousers on her bottom half. Huddled in front of the kitchen stove, she rubbed her hands tightly together, feeding firewood into the flames from time to time.
"Sister, tell me, is this fair?" she asked. "They take our younger brother to their mother-in-law's place to play cards and eat, leave us stuck at home, and then expect us to cook dinner so they can come back and eat without lifting a finger."
Chapter 456