When Wang Ying arrived, the Tian household was in chaos, reminiscent of the day of the childbirth. Tian Dazhu’s mother was wailing, clutching her head: “What kind of daughter-in-law dares to hit her mother-in-law? I can’t live like this anymore! After all these years, to be struck by the younger generation—what’s the point of living?”
Tian Er Zhu’s wife stood aside, not as aggressive as before, but silent and withdrawn. Dazhu was torn between supporting his wife and his mother, while the cries of Er Ya and the baby added to the commotion. Er Zhu grabbed his brother’s collar, demanding an explanation: “Brother, how could you let your wife hit our mother? She needs to apologize.”
Dazhu, sweating, pleaded: “Juhua fainted. Once she wakes up, I’ll have her apologize to our mother.”
Er Zhu persisted: “Then give our mother money for her medical expenses! She’s already unwell, and now she’s been hit. Her condition will worsen. Pay up!”
Dazhu hesitated: “Juhua manages our finances…”
Upon hearing this, Tian Dazhu’s mother resumed her lamentations: “Oh, I can’t go on!”
A crowd had gathered outside, undeterred by the cold, eager to witness the spectacle.
Comments from the onlookers included:
“Dazhu’s mother is truly something else.”
“With a voice that loud, she can’t be that sick!”
“This family’s future looks bleak.”
Wang Ying entered with a stern expression, assisted by Xu Shuang in clearing a path. Inside, Tian Dazhu’s mother continued her hysterics.
Seeing Wang Ying, she felt a surge of anger, blaming Da Ya for bringing outsiders into their affairs.
Da Ya and Er Ya struggled to support Qian Juhua, calling out to Wang Ying for help.
Wang Ying assessed Juhua’s condition and, concerned, called for Xu Shuang to assist in moving her indoors.
At that moment, Tian Er Zhu’s wife blocked Wang Ying’s path, smiling:
“Ying, this is our family matter. Perhaps it’s best you don’t get involved. Besides, you charged six yuan for delivering a girl. We wouldn’t want to trouble you again.”
The crowd reacted with surprise:
“She charged six yuan for a delivery?”
“That’s quite a sum!”
“Being a barefoot doctor seems lucrative!”
Wu Guihua, among the spectators, defended Wang Ying:
“You all don’t understand! She wasn’t just delivering a baby; she was saving lives! Without her, both mother and child might not have survived. Isn’t that worth six yuan?”
Despite her explanation, some remained skeptical:
“Still, six yuan seems excessive.”
“Others don’t charge that much for childbirth.”
Wu Guihua, frustrated, realized that some people, no matter the help they receive, remain ungrateful.
Wang Ying, unfazed, challenged Tian Er Zhu’s wife:
“I’m here now. If you think you can make me leave, go ahead and try.”
The woman retreated, muttering that they wouldn’t pay and accusing Juhua of feigning unconsciousness.
Ignoring her, Wang Ying examined Juhua, noting her deteriorated health—worse than during her premature labor. Her leg injury hadn’t healed, she was malnourished, emotionally distressed, and overburdened.
Da Ya, tearfully, looked to Wang Ying as a savior. Wang Ying administered an injection and reassured her:
“Your mother will be fine. Don’t cry. Hold your little sister while I check on her.”
Upon examining the infant, Wang Ying grew more concerned. The baby, premature and undernourished, showed signs of jaundice and dehydration.
Wang Ying inquired:
“How have you been feeding her?”
Da Ya responded:
“My mother doesn’t have enough milk, so we’ve been giving her rice water.”
Realizing this was insufficient, Wang Ying planned to request milk powder coupons from Tian Youfu to ensure the baby’s survival.
As she contemplated this, Qian Juhua regained consciousness. Wang Ying cautioned her:
“Stay still. Your blood sugar is low; moving might cause you to faint again.”
Juhua appeared hollow, devoid of emotion, as if her spirit had departed. However, Er Ya’s cries stirred her:
“Mom, don’t abandon me! I don’t want to go to another family! I want to stay with you!”
Despite knowing her mother hadn’t always treated her kindly, Er Ya couldn’t bear the thought of separation. Da Ya, holding the baby, also nestled close to their mother. A single tear rolled down Juhua’s cheek.
That single tear seemed to carry the weight of all her suffering—so much so that she couldn’t shed a second one.
Wang Ying tucked the quilt around her gently. “Don’t lose hope. You still have three daughters…”
Qian Juhua forced a smile that looked even more painful than crying. “I know.”
If it weren’t for her three daughters, she would’ve ended it all long ago. After all, she had never known happiness in this life and had long given up hope.
Xu Shuang stood guard at the door. Tian Dazhu’s mother and Tian Erzhu’s wife tried to come in and argue, but Xu Shuang blocked them firmly.
Tian Dazhu’s mother gave a signal with her eyes to her eldest son. Dazhu, lowering his head, tried to enter the room, but Xu Shuang stopped him.
Tian Dazhu looked confused. “This is my house.”
Xu Shuang’s eyes were filled with deep disgust. “Aren’t you worried about your mother? Then why are you coming in?”
Tian Dazhu’s face turned awkward. “I just want to see if Juhua is awake.”
If Juhua was awake, they’d need to quickly get money for his mother and younger brother!
Wu Guihua couldn’t take it anymore. She raised her voice beside them. “Tian Dazhu, are you even a man? Your wife and kids can’t hold on to your muddled heart! If you love your mother so much, then why did you even get married and have kids? Why don’t you just live with your mother for the rest of your life!”
Tian Erzhu’s wife shouted back, “What business is it of yours! Who are you to be blabbering here? This is our family matter. Who are you to judge!”
Wu Guihua never lost a fight when it came to trading insults. As soon as she heard Tian Erzhu’s wife jump in, she lashed back without restraint, dragging Tian Erzhu into it too. “Your whole family’s like a bunch of leeches! Can’t fend for yourselves, just feeding off your brother’s family like parasites! Heartless bastards—you’ll get your karma one day! Tian Erzhu, you’re just a weakling hiding behind your wife!”
The two sides hurled insults back and forth, filth flying with every sentence. Even Tian Dazhu’s mother joined in, spitting as she screeched.
At that moment, someone shouted at the door, “The brigade leader is here!”
Tian Youfu walked in holding a tobacco pipe, his face full of worry.
It had only been a few days, and yet again he found himself facing the same family.
Why is it always you? he wanted to ask.
Tian Youfu felt unlucky. This year, he hadn’t even had to call a big village meeting to argue with people, but the troubles hadn’t decreased one bit.
He deeply felt that he urgently needed to appoint a women’s affairs director!
He couldn’t take much more of this nonsense!
Ever since Qian Juhua gave birth, he’d been running back and forth like crazy—him, a male cadre!
Tian Youfu’s expression was grim as he entered and immediately silenced the quarreling sides.
“What are you all yelling for! Wu Guihua, why are you involved? And you—why is it always your family? What kind of disgraceful thing have you done this time?”
Tian Dazhu’s mother looked indignant. What had she done wrong? Why say she’s disgraceful?
Wu Guihua pouted, “I’m just standing up for what’s right!”
“Fine, fine, do you want me to give you a knife too? Just leave already!”
Tian Youfu chased away the onlookers and closed the courtyard gate behind him. “Alright, talk. What happened this time?”
Tian Erzhu’s wife quickly jumped in, “Nothing major, just family stuff. But my sister-in-law has a bad temper—she hit my mother-in-law, and that’s why everything blew up.”
Tian Dazhu’s mother immediately started wailing, “Youfu, you’ve got to step in! Look at how Juhua hit me! I’ve got bruises right here! Shouldn’t people like her be publicly criticized? I heard in other communes, they’re cracking down on women like her.”
Tian Youfu’s forehead twitched uncontrollably. Those other communes were cracking down because they had certain quotas to meet and couldn’t find enough names—so they just grabbed “shrews” and “loose women” together to fill the list. But their own brigade was dirt poor; they had a few petty thieves and even some shady old men with murky pasts. If anyone were to be publicly criticized, it should be them—not Qian Juhua. Criticizing a woman who had just given birth—what, was that supposed to make him look especially righteous?
Tian Dazhu’s mother yanked her hair aside to show the bruises along her scalp, looking incredibly wronged.
Just then, the door inside opened.
Qian Juhua walked out with Wang Ying supporting her. Her face held a cold smile.
“You keep saying I hit you, but why don’t you tell everyone what you and your daughter-in-law were plotting?”
As soon as she said this, Tian Erzhu’s wife went quiet, and Tian Dazhu’s mother acted like it was no big deal.
“What did I say? What did I say? I just said my health is bad and asked Dazhu to get me some money for treatment. If you’ve got six yuan to give Wang Ying, you don’t have any to honor your elders?”
Qian Juhua gritted her teeth. “What’s wrong if I gave six yuan? Was it your money? I earned it myself—I can spend it however I want! And what about what you told Dazhu to tell me?”
Tian Dazhu’s mother swallowed hard but then stiffened her neck and said, “What did I say? I just said that with three daughters, that’s too many. We’ve got a distant relative who wants a girl—I told you to send Second Ya to them. I was thinking for your sake! Look at you now—you probably won’t be able to work in the fields anymore, and our grandson is probably a lost cause too. You think you can raise three girls?”
Qian Juhua exploded in rage. “And what about the little one? Didn’t you tell Dazhu to take the baby and abandon her in the hills!?”
Even Wang Ying was shocked. She turned to look at Tian Dazhu’s mother.
The old woman lowered her voice a bit. “I didn’t say that!”
Qian Juhua shouted, “You did! You told Dazhu to come home and ask for money. I said there were only seven yuan at home. You told him to think of a way—said Second Ya could be given away as a child bride. That relative of yours has a ten-year-old mentally challenged son. You said if we gave her away now and raised her for ten years, she’d be a ready-made wife! And for the baby—you said she was born at seven months, probably wouldn’t survive anyway, so just leave her in the hills to save food!”
Tian Youfu frowned. Back before the founding of the country, it was true that villagers often abandoned baby girls in the hills, but after the founding of the People’s Republic, that was strictly forbidden. Especially under his leadership—he had never allowed such things.
Though in other, less well-managed brigades, this still happened, it was absolutely not allowed under his watch.
Tian Youfu: “Whose idea was that? Didn’t I say it’s not allowed? Our village used to abandon baby girls—how many bachelors can’t get a wife now because of that? And besides, the Chairman said it himself, ‘Women hold up half the sky!’ Are you trying to go against the Chairman?”
Old Lady Tian mumbled without a word in response, feeling wronged inside. If the child was born in their family, wasn’t it their business what they did with it? Why did the government have a say?
What “women hold up half the sky”—even if women held up half the sky, it was still useless! What was the point of half the sky? Only boys could truly support a family!
Qian Juhua: “I told you, but you wouldn’t listen. You even told Dazhu to take Xiaoya away… I slapped you once, and you told Dazhu to hit me in the leg…”
As soon as she said that, Old Lady Tian jumped up: “So what if I hit you? Dazhu hit you because you deserved it! Who told you not to give birth to a son! Look at the other communes—who gives birth to girls without getting beaten? You deserve it! If you give birth to a son next time, I definitely won’t tell Dazhu to hit you! But you hit an elder—you’re not even human!”
Erya rushed out: “You’re not human! You deserve to be beaten! You’re an old witch who should’ve died ages ago!”
Tian Dazhu’s eyebrows shot up: “Erya! What did you just say? That’s your grandma!”
“I don’t want this grandma! I don’t want you either! You’re bad! You and grandma are the same—you bully us, wuwuwu…”
Tian Dazhu was livid, raising his hand to strike Erya. He couldn’t hit his wife—but he could hit his daughter, right? That damn girl was a money pit! His mother was right: what use was she? Better to give her away early. Maybe the reason they didn’t have a son was because there was too much “yin” energy in the house—too many girls to attract a boy!
With his face twisted in fury, he lunged forward—only to be slammed to the ground by someone.
Xu Shuang didn’t just slam him down—she also kicked his leg hard enough to make him howl.
Old Lady Tian Dazhu slapped her own thigh: “This is outrageous! You’re letting people beat your man now!”
Qian Juhua glanced at her husband lying in the snow, and at her mother-in-law who looked ready to eat her alive. Then, gripping Wang Ying’s hand tightly, she said, “Captain, I don’t want to live with Dazhu anymore.”
Tian Dazhu, lying in the snow, was stunned. Everyone around was stunned—except Wang Ying and Xu Shuang.
What did that mean?
What did she mean she didn’t want to live with him anymore?
Tian Youfu’s brows pinched together like he wanted to crush a fly: “You’ve thought it through?”
Qian Juhua took a deep breath: “I’ve thought it through. I’m not living with him anymore!”
Tian Dazhu muttered “Juhua” once—but couldn’t get another word out.
Old Lady Tian Dazhu pounded her cane on the ground, trembling with rage: “Fine! So you do want to be a slut! How dare you say that! Dazhu! What are you standing there for! Beat her!”
Qian Juhua: “Go ahead. Hit me. If you don’t beat me to death today, then I will not live with you anymore!”
She had nothing left to lose. When Tian Youfu first came, Wang Ying had tried to persuade her. After thinking it through, Qian Juhua realized Wang Ying was right.
She couldn’t have any more children. With three daughters already, staying with a useless man meant living a life she could already see the end of.
Even if her mother-in-law didn’t take her daughters this time, it was only a matter of time before she forced her husband to get it done.
Qian Juhua knew it in her bones—her mother-in-law and sister-in-law wanted to give away the two younger girls and keep only the eldest to work. When the eldest grew up, they’d marry her off to some awful man—probably a cripple or a fool. The money from that would still be spent on Tian Erbao’s family.
Qian Juhua could live a hard life, but she couldn’t sell her daughters. She wasn’t a good mother—but she couldn’t stomach selling her children just for money.
She’d finally seen it clearly—living with Tian Dazhu only meant being bullied.
And Tian Dazhu even helped them bully her.
What kind of life was that?
Might as well be done with it. She’d take her daughters and live on her own. If they starved, so be it—it was fate. If not, they’d get by day by day.
Her words shocked her in-laws deeply. What do you mean not live with him? Once you’re married and part of the family, how can you just stop? Wasn’t that just being a slut? Didn’t sluts get their heads shaved bald and paraded around town?
Tian Youfu: “What you’re talking about isn’t that. This is called divorce. It means you’re no longer husband and wife. You each handle your own marriages, funerals, everything—no more ties.”
No more ties?
Tian Dazhu was seeing stars. How could there be no more ties? They were husband and wife! How could that not matter? They even had three daughters!
Qian Juhua: “Yes, divorce. I want to divorce Tian Dazhu.”
Tian Dazhu was stunned. He lunged to grab Qian Juhua: “I don’t agree! I don’t agree to a divorce!”
How could they divorce? It had been so hard to marry her. He had built a house and split off from his family just to marry her. They’d lived together for over ten years—working together in the fields, doing everything as one. How could they just get divorced?
Tian Dazhu stammered, trying to convince her: “Juhua, stop this nonsense. What divorce? Only city folks mess with that stuff. We have three kids…”
Qian Juhua’s face was full of scorn: “You still have the nerve to talk about the kids? Tian Dazhu, the biggest mistake of my life was marrying you.”
Back then, times were tough. She’d come into this family with a sack of cornmeal, and together they scraped out a life. But after ten years, she finally saw him for what he was—a spineless, useless coward!
Even a tiger wouldn’t eat its own cubs, but this man wanted to give away their daughters?
Tian Dazhu still tried to argue, but Qian Juhua threw down the final blow:
“I can’t have children anymore.”
“Tian Dazhu, whether sons or daughters—these three girls are the only ones I’ll ever have. If you still want a son, then fine—let’s split. Go find another woman to give you a son.”
And truth be told—after ten years of marriage, Qian Juhua knew Tian Dazhu all too well.
Sure enough, after hearing these words, Tian Dazhu was struck like he had been hit by lightning, collapsing onto the snow.
Qian Juhua spoke clearly: “I just want my three daughters. You don’t want them anyway, so why do you object?”
Tian Dazhu’s mother was about to jump up and refute, but a glance from Tian Youfu silenced her.
This was a matter between the couple. In fact, if it weren’t for this old woman interfering, Tian Dazhu and his wife might not have ended up like this.
Tian Dazhu was in a daze for a while, and only then did he hear a voice say, “I agree.”
When he realized it, he understood that the voice came from his own mouth.
Tian Dazhu had said he agreed, and Qian Juhua was crying and laughing at the same time. It took her a long time to calm down.
Tian Youfu also sighed and made the final decision: “Alright, after the New Year, we’ll handle the divorce and family separation.”
When it came to the separation of property, Tian Dazhu’s mother felt she had the right to speak.
“Separation? She’s just a broken shoe, throw her out! What’s there to separate!?”
Tian Youfu took a puff from his pipe: “Would you like to be the village head? What about me as the second in charge?”
Tian Youfu was really annoyed with Tian Dazhu’s mother. This old woman didn’t want her son to have a good life and was meddling so much, breaking up a good family. Yet, she still had the nerve to talk nonsense.
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