Three Women in the Cage

After Yang Yu gave birth to her second child, Zhang's father, mother, and brothers-in-law came to visit once. They simply exchanged a few words and then left. After that, they never came again.

Taking care of the confinement period became a thorny issue. Zhang Erfa had no choice but to force himself to do it. He couldn't prepare complex nutritional food and could only cook some white rice and one vegetarian dish every day.

After being a vegetarian for half a month, Zhang Erfa couldn't stand it anymore, so he went to Zhang's mother with a thick face and brought back a bowl of chicken soup and half a bowl of chicken. Yang Yu took the bowl and gobbled it up, eating half of it and pushing the rest to Zhang Erfa and Huanhuan.

That day, Yang's father and mother came to visit Yang Yu with a basket of eggs and a few pounds of meat. It was the first time they stepped into the mud house that Yang Yu and his family had been given. As soon as they entered the door, they saw Zhang Erfa busy in the kitchen in a disorderly manner. The pots and pans were placed in a mess, the stove was covered with stains, and there was a layer of dust on the floor.

Frowning, Yang's mother said indifferently, "Erfa is busy. Let's come to see Yu'er and our grandson."

Zhang Erfa stood up in a hurry, came over, took the things from Yang's parents' hands, and put them on the dining table. "I'm making lunch. I'm not very good at it, so I just made something casual. Yu'er is in the bedroom, you can go in and see her. I'll call you when lunch is ready." Zhang Erfa said a little naively.

Yang's parents looked at the half-cooked rice in the pot and the vegetables on the cutting board, their brows furrowed even deeper. "Is this all you're going to feed her? She's in confinement after childbirth. Aren't your parents here to help take care of her?"

"My third brother's wife is about to give birth, and my parents still have to take care of my younger brothers. Besides, we have already separated, so we really can't trouble my parents anymore," Zhang Erfa said, feeling a little embarrassed.

Yang's parents walked towards the bedroom in disappointment and anger. As soon as they entered the room, they saw the clothes in the bedroom. They were either crumpled into a ball and thrown on the cupboard, or wrinkled and hung on the hanger. Next to the hanger, on the ground, Huanhuan was playing with mud with a mess of hair.

"Dad, Mom, why are you here?" Yang Yu was holding her child to help him sleep. When she looked up, she saw Yang's parents walking in and shouted in surprise.

"Hey, Yu, what kind of life are you living? Look how thin you have become. Your home doesn't look like a home, and your baby doesn't look like a baby. I just saw what Erfa prepared in the kitchen. Are you in confinement after giving birth?" said Zhang's mother with red eyes.

They knew that without Zhang's mother's care, and with Zhang Erfa in such a state, their daughter wouldn't know what would become of her after the confinement period. They no longer held out hope for Zhang's mother, knowing what kind of person she was. They didn't bother to argue, but simply made up their minds to take Yang Yu and their granddaughter back home to live for a while. They asked Yang Yu what she thought, and she hadn't been home for a long time. She missed her brothers and sisters, and since she couldn't take care of herself or the child well while she was here, she silently nodded in agreement.

Before leaving, I visited Zhang's parents. I chose the time when everyone was there for dinner, and they were eating when I walked in.

"Hey, the in-laws are here, come in quickly, we just started dinner," Zhang's mother came out first.

"Come on, Brother Yang, it's been a while since you came to drink with me. Let's have a good drink today," Zhang's father also came out and greeted him with a smile.

Looking at the table full of meat and vegetable dishes, Yang's parents looked a little gloomy and sat down with a forced smile.

"In-laws, we came here today because of Yu'er. We want to take her back to live with us for a while," Zhang's mother expressed her opinion first, not wanting to be perfunctory with them.

"What's the matter, Sister Yang? Are you not comfortable living here? As the saying goes, 'A married woman is like spilled water'. Besides, she is the mother of my two granddaughters. How can it be right for her to go back to her parents' home with you? She is still in the confinement period. Won't we be poked in the back by others? It's not appropriate, it's not appropriate," said Zhang's father disapprovingly.

Yang's father was very concerned about his reputation, was very polite and was rather conservative. He didn't know what to say for a moment. Yang's mother was straightforward and didn't want to beat around the bush. "What you said is what you said, and what's the reason. My dear relatives, we are all parents. Look at what kind of life Yu'er is living there? You also said that she was in confinement after childbirth. Who in confinement only eats a bowl of white rice every day without any meat core? She is so skinny. Look at the food on your table. Have you thought of giving her some nutrition? Since you don't feel sorry for her, shouldn't we feel sorry for her?" After Yang's mother finished speaking, she was already in tears.

"My dear relatives, come here, let's eat first and talk slowly. Yu is our daughter-in-law, how can we not feel sorry for her? Look, our family is composed of men, and the third daughter-in-law is about to give birth. We don't eat meat every day, but we eat vegetables every day. We only eat some meat occasionally. You happened to see it and misunderstood us. I will ask Erfa to take the meat reserved for Yu'er back later. We are all from a poor family. Look, our family needs food and drink, and Erfa and his family have already moved out. We can't just revolve around them and make our own lives miserable. Please understand," said Zhang's father with a laugh.

After saying that, he stuffed a full wine glass into Yang's father's hand and said, "Come on, Brother Yang, let's go. It's been a long time since we had a drink together. Let's have a good drink today."

Father Yang awkwardly picked up his wine glass, clinked it with Father Zhang's, and drank it all. "Brother-in-law, even though you said that, I'm still worried. We already owed Yu'er enough when she was at home. Now seeing her in this state, we as parents are really worried. Let's take her back to live with her for a while. This way, Erfa won't be delayed from doing farm work outside. Isn't that better?"

Seeing Yang's parents insist, they could only take a step back and agree in the end. They really hadn't thought about taking care of Yang Yu during her confinement. Their mind was still on the eldest grandson in their third daughter-in-law's belly. They had no time to take care of the two granddaughters Yang Yu gave birth to. They thought that their second son was useless anyway. As parents, they had already married him off and given him a house. They had fulfilled their responsibilities and could not expect anything from him. They didn't want to spend time on them. They had to let them live their own lives. As for whether they lived a good life, it was not within their consideration. However, they still had to put on a show and not let others laugh at them.

"Since you insist on taking her back, we can't stop you. It just so happens that Yu misses you too, so we'd like to trouble you to take care of them, mother and daughter," said Zhang's father somewhat falsely.

So during the dinner, everyone ate absent-mindedly. Finally, Yang's parents finished their meal in a hurry, put down their bowls and chopsticks, and left first.

The next day, Yang Yu, holding the child, got on a tricycle with the help of Yang's mother. Yang's father sat in the back holding Huanhuan. Zhang Erfa stood beside the car, looking at them, not knowing what to say.

"Erfa, we will take Yu'er and the child back home to live with us for a while. You can do the farm work outside at home. Yu'er has two children to take care of, so she can't help much. You are a grown man, you have to support this family. We won't say anything else. You two have to support each other if you want to live a good life. Think about it carefully." Yang's parents were becoming more and more dissatisfied with this son-in-law. Seeing him being timid, they wondered why they had liked him before the heart attack.

Yang Yu looked at Zhang Erfa deeply, wanted to say something, opened his mouth, but finally said nothing. He turned his head and said, "Let's go."

After Yang Yu and the others left, Zhang Erfa was in a daze at home every day. His mother was always in a bad mood when he occasionally visited her. Others laughed at him for having his wife and children run away. So he was in a bad mood day by day. He drank to relieve his sorrow and fell asleep after drinking. When he woke up, he went outside and stared at the sky in a daze. When he was really hungry, he cooked a bowl of noodles with plain water. After eating, he put the noodles aside in a mess and would eat them the next day. Zhang's mother didn't care about him, so he just sat there and waited to die.