Meng Yan's Transformation

Yunqing and her third sister-in-law, Wang Shujuan, chatted over tea.

Wang Shujuan's previously furrowed brows had relaxed without her noticing. As she drank the warm tea, she felt the warmth spread from her throat to her entire body. The heaviness brought on by her illness over the past few days gradually melted away in the gentle warmth of their casual conversation.

This moment confirms that the most effective treatment is not only medicine and technology, but also the seemingly ordinary companionship of family reunions, which allows life to find fertile ground again.

“Mengyan, Yingying, thank you for coming to see my mother. Look how happy she is to see you. She used to lie on the kang (a heated brick bed) all day and barely say a few words, but now she’s chatting happily with Aunt Si. I haven’t seen my mother smile in so long. The illness has tormented her so much that she can’t even smile anymore.”

While Zhan Yue was speaking, she, Zhan Mengyan, Zhan Yingying, and her sixth sister Zhan Chun sat at the end of the kang (a heated brick bed) picking soybean seeds.

“Sister Yue’er, I’ve wanted to visit you and Aunt for a long time. I’m worried about your studies and Aunt’s illness. I don’t want you to drop out of school. It was so hard for you to get into agricultural high school! It would be such a waste to drop out. Why don’t you talk to your eldest sister, second sister, third sister, and fourth sister about your reluctance to drop out and ask them to help you?”

As Zhan Mengyan spoke, she gently shook Zhan Yue's arm with her hand, her eyes full of pleading, as if she were the one who was about to drop out of school.

“Mengyan, I know you feel sorry for me and want what’s best for me, but I can’t be too selfish. My eldest sister, second sister, third sister, and fourth sister are all married and have their own families. They all have in-laws to take care of and their own children to take care of. They can’t easily take care of their mother. Before they got married, they put in a lot of effort for this family. Now it’s a shift change in our family. It’s my turn to take care of my mother and sister. It’s my responsibility. I can’t and I’m too embarrassed to ask my sisters for help.”

As Zhan Yue spoke, she slowly closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened them again, the hesitation in her eyes had vanished, replaced by the unwavering determination of a rock—a resolute determination to move forward even after foreseeing all possible regrets. However, beneath this determination, a barely perceptible sense of helplessness, like an undercurrent, quietly welled in her eyes, eventually coalescing into a faint, bitter smile at the corner of her lips. This expression, like the sharp edge of a tempered blade, was cold and unyielding, yet imbued with an inviolable seriousness and resolve.

Zhan Yue's words were like nails, each one striking Zhan Mengyan's heart. Her deep voice, like a war drum, resonated in the hearts of her listeners, inspiring fearless courage. She clenched her fists, a silent ritual before declaring war on fate.

"I won't allow you to drop out of school! I... I won't allow it..."

As Zhan Mengyan spoke, she felt the world around her fall silent, leaving only the dull, heavy pounding of her heart in her chest, each beat accompanied by a tearing pain. She clutched her clothes tightly, the fabric crumpling between her fingers. The pain was beyond anything she had experienced in her fifteen years of life; it wasn't a sharp, stabbing pain, but a dull ache like her internal organs were being slowly crushed. She heard her broken voice asking, "Sister Yue'er, can you wait a little longer? I'll go back to school and find the principal of your agricultural high school. I'll help you apply for a tuition waiver..."

Zhan Yue simply shook her head, and tears finally fell onto her faded blue trousers, staining them with two dark spots.