Reborn in 1966

Chapter Thirty-Three: Discussion

Grandma, who was busy in the backyard, heard the noise in the front yard, turned around and saw her little girl. She asked in surprise, "Why are you here? Oh dear, what happened?"

After Grandma finished speaking, she rushed forward and hugged Zhao Xiaohe. Seeing that Zhao Xiaohe's forehead was swollen, she asked, "What happened? Who hit you like this?"

When the aunt saw her mother, tears streamed down her face. She cried, "Mom, the Zhao family is so mean! I'm not going to live with Zhao Tiezhu anymore! I want a divorce!" When the two children saw their mother crying, they grinned and started crying too.

Grandma said, "Alright, alright, stop crying, or your faces will get chapped. Come on, let's all go inside. Xiaoxia, tell Grandma what happened."

Peiyin followed her into her grandmother's room. Her aunt sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) as soon as she entered, wiping away tears with her head down and not saying a word.

Zhao Xiaoxia and Zhao Xiaohe followed their grandmother into the house. They saw their mother sitting there crying without saying a word, and one of them stood on each side of their mother, sobbing.

Grandma went to the kitchen, scooped up some hot water, wrung out a hot towel, and handed it to her daughter, saying, "Wipe your faces, look at Xiaohe, your faces are all covered in pudding. After you've wiped your faces, tell Grandma what happened."

The aunt wiped her face, then wiped her daughter and son's faces clean, and said, "Mother, I can't stay in the Zhao family anymore. They're too bullying. This time I've made up my mind. I'm only concerned about saving face. Who cares about the lives of the three of us? What's the point of living like this?"

Grandma said, "Xuan, tell your mother what happened. Tell her how the Zhao family bullied people. I can't just listen to you say that they bullied people and that I'll make you divorce Zhao Tiezhu just because you don't want to live with them, right?"

Zhao Xiaoxia, who was standing next to her, said, "Grandma, my grandma is so biased. Not only does she not give us good food, but she also beats the river."

Grandma said, "Xiaoxia, tell me what happened."

Zhao Xiaoxia said, "When I woke up this morning, my aunt's brother was eating a snack in the yard. Xiaohe and I didn't want to bother him, so we kept our distance. But he insisted on coming up to us and tempting us, saying that it was given to us by Grandma, but he wouldn't give any to us. He was just trying to tempt us. I said that we didn't care for it and that we would earn money to buy good food when we grew up. My grandma heard this and came out of the house and said that we were capable. Even if we earned money to buy good food when we grew up, we would give it to her first. Xiaohe said that if you don't give us good food, why should we give it to you? Grandma got upset and pushed Xiaohe. Xiaohe fell to the ground and hit her head on a rock, which caused it to swell up."

My aunt said, “Mom, do you think this is something an elderly person would say to her grandson? I’ve never seen her smile at me since we got married. Why did she marry me in the first place if she didn’t want me to come into their family? When I went to argue with her, she said that the child has a rightist uncle, and as long as the boundaries aren’t clearly defined, everything has to be subordinate to his eldest grandson. The best food and drinks will only be given to him when the boundaries are clearly defined.”

Xiaoxia said, "I won't listen to her. Grandma, my uncle is a good person, and my brothers are good people too. I don't want to distance myself from them. The villagers in our village who distanced himself from his uncle all cursed him in private, saying he was an ingrate and no good."

My sister-in-law said, “Mom, my mother-in-law’s propaganda team is selecting a junior leader these days, and she has her eye on him and wants to be the leader. People told her that she has a relative who was labeled a rightist, so it will be difficult for her to pass the review. She’s forcing me to cut off contact with you. Mom, if I do that, am I even human?”

Xiaohe said, "I didn't want to either. I told my dad that I wanted to cut ties with her. She's not my grandma, she's Dajiang's grandma."

The younger sister said firmly, "Mother, this time I'm determined. It's either separate from the family or we get a divorce. There's no third way."

The aunt wiped away her tears, her eyes resolute, and said decisively, "Mother, I've been married into their family for over ten years. I respect the elders and care for the younger ones. I work diligently every day, both at home and in the fields, but I still can't win my mother-in-law's favor. Mother, isn't it just because my sister-in-law is her niece? She's been so biased all these years of marriage. I just watched and didn't care, thinking that if I did more work, I would. What else can a person do if they don't work? But look at my sister-in-law, she doesn't do any work at home. She goes to work in the production team, and I go to work too. My mother-in-law says that my sister-in-law isn't healthy, so I have to take care of her. I feel like I've wasted all these years, supporting a bunch of enemies. Now she's forcing me to sever ties with my family." After the aunt finished speaking, she started to sob, and Xiaoxia and Xiaohe also cried.

Second and Third Grandmothers were tidying up the vegetable garden in the backyard, preparing to harvest the cabbages and radishes and put them in the cellar. Hearing the commotion in the front yard, they all came out to see what was going on. After hearing what her younger sister-in-law said, Second Grandmother said, "Sister-in-law, this time we have to show the power of our Shen family. We can't let them think that just because there is a rightist in the family, anyone can come and kick them while they're down."

Third Grandma also said, "Eldest sister-in-law, Second sister-in-law is right. We need to call Fourth Brother and the others over to help clarify this matter. Our Shen family is not a small family, and we still have so many unmarried daughters. We can't let anyone look down on us."

Grandma sighed and said, "Xuan, you and Xiaoxia and Xiaohe should stay here for now. The elders in the family will make the decision for you."

When the production team returned home after work and heard about what had happened to the aunt, everyone was very angry. Grandpa's face was gloomy. He took a few puffs of his pipe and said to Peihua, "Peihua, go and call your fourth uncle over. Tell him there's something wrong at home."

Peihua agreed and went to his fourth grandfather's house to call him over.

The affairs of the Shen family, a large clan, are now managed by the fourth grandfather and several elderly elders. The grandfather withdrew from the family voluntarily because Shen's father returned to his hometown for labor reform. Now, if there are any family matters that require someone to step forward, the elders still need to be consulted.

Before long, Fourth Uncle arrived. After listening to Aunt's account of what had happened, before he could say anything, the courtyard gate was suddenly pushed open with a "whoosh," and Aunt's husband, Zhao Tiezhu, entered the courtyard, panting.

Hearing the commotion, Shen's mother went to the yard and saw her uncle-in-law enter. She said, "Uncle-in-law, what brings you here?"

My uncle-in-law took a breath and said, "Sister-in-law, has Xuan and the two children arrived yet?"

Mrs. Shen said, "They've arrived. They came this afternoon."

Upon hearing this, the uncle-in-law rushed into the main room.

Upon entering the house and seeing the layout, the uncle was taken aback. He first greeted his grandparents and great-uncle before saying to his aunt, "You didn't go to work this afternoon without telling me. How come you came back alone with two children? I've been looking for you everywhere."

The younger sister-in-law said angrily, "Where else can I go if I don't come back? Your mother is driving me to my death. What kind of mother-in-law forces her daughter-in-law to sever ties with her own family? You don't feel ashamed, but I do. Zhao Tiezhu, I, Shen Shengxuan, am not a spineless coward. I've already asked my family to help me with this matter today. We can either separate from your mother and her family, and even if we have nothing to eat or drink after the separation, I'll accept it. If you don't want to leave your mother, I'll give you another option: we can get a divorce. You can go your way, and I'll go mine. I'll take the two children with me. Your mother also told me that if your family leaves me, there are several eligible young women available. They'll give you plenty of choices." The younger sister-in-law said the last sentence through gritted teeth.

When his aunt said this, his uncle was dumbfounded and said, "Xuan, why are we talking about divorce? I never thought about divorcing you."

Zhao Xiaoxia, who was standing nearby, said, "Dad, we don't want to live with Grandma anymore. If you want to live with her, you can go live with her. I'm going to live with Mom."

Zhao Xiaohe said, "Yes, Dad, I'm not going to live with my grandma anymore. She's too biased. She gives all the good food to Dajiang. I told my sister that we're not greedy and that when we grow up, we'll earn our own money to buy good food and buy whatever we want. But my grandma said that even if we buy it, it has to be given to her. We can only eat it if she's willing to give it to us."

Zhao Tiezhu said, "Don't talk nonsense. Your grandma is your own grandma. Who talks about their own grandma like that?"

Zhao Xiaoxia said, "What's wrong with my own grandma? Anyway, my brother and I have never eaten anything good from her. It's not as good as Second Grandma in the east. Last time, Second Grandma gave me and Xiaohe a peach shortbread each."

Grandma said, "Xiaoxia's father, this afternoon the three of them came in crying. Look at the big bump on Xiaohe's forehead, it was from when your mother pushed him and he fell. Although our family is not well-off, we have still raised our daughter to be eighteen or nineteen. Xiaoxia's father, we did not marry our daughter into your family to be mistreated. Look at all these years our daughter has been in your family, managing everything at home and in the fields, and she still hasn't gotten any good treatment."

As Grandma spoke, tears welled up in her eyes. She was over seventy years old, and seeing her tears streaming down her face as she talked about the grievances her daughter had suffered made Pei Yin feel very sad. This is what parents are like. No matter how old their children are, they are still children in their eyes. They shed tears of heartache for the grievances their children have suffered.

My uncle said, "Mom, please don't be like this. There have been some conflicts in the family these days. We can discuss them properly and resolve them."

Seeing her mother shed tears, the aunt became even more agitated and said, "Zhao Tiezhu, I never want to set foot in your Zhao family again. Today, in front of so many elders in my family, I'm telling you this: as long as you separate from your mother, I'll accept it even if I have to beg for food with you. I married you, Zhao Tiezhu, not your mother."

Uncle-in-law hesitated and didn't say anything. Seeing this, Shen's mother said to Peihua, "Peihua, why don't you take your younger brother and sister to cook first? We still need to eat later."

Peihua agreed and led her younger siblings out of their grandmother's room. Before Shen's mother could speak, Peiyin had already climbed onto the small stool in front of the kang and onto the corner of the kang. Life requires both material and spiritual enjoyment. Don't be fooled by her loud and boisterous manner here; you can tell from what she just said that she wants to live with Zhao Tiezhu wholeheartedly. Now it all depends on Zhao Tiezhu's opinion: does he want a wife and children or to live with his mother?

My uncle said, "Xuan, my father died early, and my mother raised my brother and me with great difficulty. I can't just abandon her like this."