Three Women in the Cage

Yang Yu was walking on the way back, thinking that he must not run into his younger sister on the way, otherwise if she saw him carrying the things she had given to his parents, he didn't know what she would think of him.

She couldn't bear to lose face, so when she was about to reach her younger sister's place, Yang Yu looked around and made sure that there was no one at the intersection before she quickly crossed over, fearing that someone would come out and see what she had in her hand.

Only when they were far away from their younger sister's village did Yang Yu slow down his pace and breathe a sigh of relief.

When I got home, it was already noon. The house was empty. The kitchen was still a mess because of Zhang Erfa, and there was grease everywhere.

Yang Yu cleaned up the mess as usual, then cooked a simple meal for herself. After eating a bowl of food, she thought about whether she should go out to buy some urgently needed things. She didn't care where Zhang Erfa was going or whether he would come back for dinner. Anyway, they didn't care about each other.

She took out the money she had borrowed from Yang's mother, took out ten yuan from it, and then carefully wrapped the remaining money in a piece of waste newspaper. She then carefully put it into the pocket of the red coat she wore when she got married in the closet.

She thought that she had never worn this dress since she wore it once on her wedding day. It was always kept in the innermost layer of the closet and no one usually noticed it.

Obviously, Zhang Erfa would never have thought that he would hide the money here.

This was also Yang Yu's first time as a housekeeper, so he was a little cautious about hiding so much money.

After confirming the safety of the money again and again, Yang Yu came to the main room and looked at the pile of things that her mother had stuffed into her. She put the food into the kitchen and some daily necessities on the counter.

Then she started to check the vegetable seeds. These were what she cared about most now. They happened to be the seeds suitable for planting in that season, and were almost enough for two plots of land. After planting these, she would see what else was missing. She couldn't think of anything else now.

Yang Yu didn't want to go to the village store. She hated their inquiring looks, which made her unable to control her emotions.

So she would rather walk a longer way to the next village, where relatively fewer people knew her.

She bought some fertilizers and farming tools for crops. When paying, she carefully took out some wrinkled money from her purse and handed it over. The other party then gave her one dollar and eighty cents in change.

Taking a look at the child on Yang Yu's shoulders, the shop owner asked excitedly, "How old is your child?"

Yang Yu was a little confused as to why she asked that, but in response to the stranger's enthusiasm, she still replied softly, "It's more than half a year old, what's wrong?"

"He looks about the same age as our child, so I thought we were destined to meet. By the way, are you from our village? I don't think I've seen you much."

Yang Yu looked at the young and beautiful woman in front of her, her face filled with a gentle smile, and her words were warm and generous, and she couldn't help but feel a surge of affection in her heart. Facing such a person, deep down she actually longed to get closer, but at the same time, her deep inferiority complex made her feel afraid and retreat.

So she hurriedly wanted to leave and replied, "I'm not from this village." As soon as she finished speaking, she left the scene first.

The woman looked at Yang Yu's back as she left and murmured to herself, "What a strange woman."

Yang Yu took the things he bought and put them in the place where miscellaneous items were placed at the door. He randomly picked up a tool, picked up the vegetable seeds on the table, and went to farm with Yaya on his back.

She came to the farmland and saw green and planted plots everywhere. The only deserted and overgrown area in the middle was particularly conspicuous. It was undoubtedly the land allocated to her and Zhang Erfa. Yang Yu walked over calmly, picked up the hoe and started weeding.

She lowered her head and concentrated on weeding, letting the scorching sun beat down on her. Her sweat soaked her clothes, making Yaya on her shoulders feel uncomfortable and burst into tears. Yang Yu wiped the sweat off her face, put the cloth bag on the ridge next to him, then took Yaya off his back and gently placed her on the cloth bag on the ground. He patted her back and she fell asleep again after a while.

Yang Yu picked up the hoe from the ground and continued weeding. A neighbor, also working the fields, passed by and, looking at the sleeping child, couldn't help but complain, "Sister-in-law, why did you put the child on the ground? People are coming and going here. If the child accidentally steps on it, don't come to us and make trouble!"

In fact, few people pass by this place, because every family has its own earthen embankment, and occasionally people walk on other people's earthen embankments. Yang Yu thought that there were few people now and most likely no one would walk there, so he felt at ease to leave the child there.

But hearing that they were obviously looking for trouble, she didn't want to be bullied by them. She could pretend not to hear what they said behind her back, but if they tried to embarrass her in person, she would definitely fight back.

So I joked, "How could that be? A child is so big. If you put it there, anyone with good eyesight would definitely see it and walk around it, right?"

"Besides, even if a grown-up like her really stepped on a half-year-old child, I think she would be so ashamed that she would want to die without me having to make a fuss about it."

The man looked a little embarrassed and said, "Just leave it here. I'm just reminding you kindly." After that, he walked away, swaying his big butt.

After walking away, she didn't forget to turn around and spit, saying angrily, "Bah, what a thing, your husband treats me with respect, and you are beaten and scolded by your husband every day, and you dare to challenge me, you deserve to be beaten! You'd better let your husband beat you to death next time, hum"

Yang Yu didn't hear it and continued to do her own thing indifferently. She didn't stop until the sun set in the west and the sky gradually darkened.

He walked to Yaya, tied her back on his shoulders again, picked up the hoe, and walked back.

To get back to the village, one had to cross a forest. When Yang Yu arrived at the forest, it was completely dark. She stepped into the pitch-black forest and groped her way back based on her memory. From time to time, some strange noises came from the forest. Yang Yu was still a little scared. Although she liked the night, it was only limited to the gate of her home. She was still a little scared of such a gloomy forest.

She was most afraid that Yaya would wake up and cry at this time, which would make her feel like a target of public criticism at night. She just wanted to quietly and silently grope her way out of the forest.

She held her breath in fear and quietly quickened her pace. Finally, she saw a little light in front of her. It was the light coming from the village after passing through the forest.

Yang Yu looked at the light getting closer and closer, breathed a sigh of relief, and finally walked out. He thought to himself that he must come back earlier next time and not so late.

When he got home, Zhang Erfa didn't know that Yang Yu was back. Usually when Yang Yu was not at home, he would go around the village and then go to Zhang's mother to get a meal. If Zhang's mother didn't leave any food for him, he would come back and cook a bowl of noodles with plain water.

Looking at the dishes and chopsticks scattered around in the kitchen, Yang Yu knew that he had cooked noodles.

Yang Yu didn't talk to him. She just cleaned up the dishes and started to cook her own dinner. When she finished, it was already midnight and Zhang Erfa was already lying on the bed and snoring.