Chapter 25: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 25: Mountain Gully Village 25

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

Wang Xiaohua's birth made Wang Zhanggen both happy and worried.

He was happy because the family gained a member; with three sons now, this was a proud matter that let him hold his head high in the village — others could only envy.

He was worried because the burden of raising children grew much heavier.

Although rural children just need a mouthful of rice to survive, without coddling, that doesn't mean not a single penny is spent.

Perhaps because Li Xiulan suffered a serious illness during pregnancy, Wang Xiaohua was frail and sickly from birth, catching colds and fevers every few days; though each minor illness cost little to treat, the constant trips to the clinic made their already poor family even worse off.

Seeing the household about to be stripped bare, Wang Zhanggen felt staying home farming wasn't a solution — the meager earnings from farming and silkworm raising simply weren't enough for three kids.

So he finally decided he had to go back to the city to work.

Only by working in the city could he earn enough money to support his wife and three children.

But he never knew how to bring it up to Li Xiulan, because he had promised her he would never leave her side again.

That night, Wang Zhanggen couldn't sleep, sitting alone in the living room smoking.

He didn't turn on the light, not wanting to disturb his wife and children's sleep.

Smoke drifted in the dim living room; Wang Zhanggen's eyes were dull, his face weathered far beyond a man just thirty years old.

At that moment the bedroom door opened.

Li Xiulan came out.

Ever since giving birth to the third child, her sleep had been very light.

So she naturally noticed her husband getting up in the middle of the night to smoke.

"Husband, what's wrong?"

Li Xiulan asked in a gentle voice.

"The family is so poor we can barely scrape by; in a few years all three kids will need schooling, and staying in the countryside is no way out — I'm afraid we won't even be able to come up with tuition when the time comes……"

Wang Zhanggen bowed his head smoking, his brow furrowed with worry, and finally spoke his mind:

"I want to go back to the city to work tomorrow; only by earning money in the city can I support the four of you, mother and three children."

Li Xiulan came to Wang Zhanggen's side and sat down, gently embracing him:

"Husband, you've given so much for this family; go with peace of mind, I'll take good care of the children."

Li Xiulan was reluctant to let Wang Zhanggen leave her side, but she also knew the family's impoverished state forced her to make trade-offs.

"After I leave, you must take good care of the children."

Wang Zhanggen hesitated; the matter between Li Xiulan and He Dazhu remained a thorn in his heart he couldn't pull out — he didn't know if He Dazhu would harass Li Xiulan again once he went to the city.

But the current economic situation left him no room to consider so much.

He had to take this step, had to shoulder the family's financial burden like a real man.

Early the next morning, after eating breakfast, Wang Zhanggen packed his bags and once again set out on the road to the city for work.

Li Xiulan carried Wang Xiaohua on her back, held Wang Dashan and Wang Erhai by the hands, and saw Wang Zhanggen off at the village entrance.

Wang Zhanggen boarded a hand-tractor headed for the town. He would transfer in the town to the county town, then take a train from the county town to the big city.

The tractor's "chug-chug-chug" faded into the distance; black smoke belched from the diesel engine mixed with yellow dust kicked up from the rear, rendering the poverty of this land.

Li Xiulan couldn't help silently weeping; with Wang Zhanggen gone, she didn't know how much loneliness and solitude she would have to endure.

"Mama, where is Papa going?"

Wang Dashan stared blankly at the yellow mud road ahead; despite his tender age, a trace of melancholy already showed in his eyes.

"Be good, Dashan; Papa went out to earn money, he'll come back for Spring Festival, and then he'll buy lots of delicious food and fun toys for you three brothers!"

"When is Spring Festival?"

"Soon, very soon it'll be Spring Festival; you just wait patiently……"

After Wang Zhanggen left, Li Xiulan, as before, alone used her frail body to prop up this impoverished family.

Washing clothes, cooking, feeding chickens and pigs, farming and raising silkworms — she could do almost anything.

The only difference was the children at her side had gone from two to three.

Fortunately Wang Dashan was already four; not only could he help with simple chores, he could also help look after his two younger brothers.

That day heavy rain fell, right when the silkworm babies entered their voracious feeding stage and couldn't go without food; Li Xiulan had no choice but to brave the rain to pick mulberry leaves.

She left all three children at home, instructed Wang Dashan to watch his two brothers well, then put on her bamboo hat and hurried to the mulberry field.

Although Li Xiulan wore a bamboo hat, the heavy rain still soaked her whole body through.

But she didn't care about the chill from her soaked clothes or the soreness in her waterlogged joints; she picked mulberry leaves desperately, her two hands not stopping for a second, until she had filled four large snake-skin bags full of mulberry leaves, only then did she shoulder them home.

As soon as she got home, she saw He Dazhu inside the house playing glass marbles with her three children.

The three children were playing happily with He Dazhu.

"He Dazhu, what are you doing here?"

Ever since Li Xiulan fell ill and nearly miscarried, He Dazhu had never come here once.

Unexpectedly, not long after Wang Zhanggen went to the city to work, He Dazhu showed up uninvited again.

"Xiulan, you're back; look at you, going to pick mulberry leaves in such heavy rain — couldn't you wait for the rain to stop? Hurry and go change out of your wet clothes first, then we'll talk!"

He Dazhu urged in a concerned tone.

Li Xiulan flared up instantly, feeling the man before her was truly disgusting.

"Get out of here right now! My family doesn't welcome you!"

Li Xiulan directly issued a Funeral Expulsion Order.

She would rather tear her face directly with He Dazhu than be misunderstood by her husband again.

"Xiulan, don't be angry; I came here mainly to tell you something."

He Dazhu shamelessly stood his ground and refused to leave.

"What do you want to say? Say it quickly, and get out once you're done!"

Li Xiulan's attitude was extremely firm; she was no longer the weak woman she once was. After enduring those rumors and gossip she could never clear herself of, she had become strong and decisive. She would not give any ill-intentioned stinking man even the slightest opportunity, especially He Dazhu.

"I divorced Liao Chunhua; the Divorce Certificate was just finalized yesterday."

He Dazhu took out the Divorce Certificate and showed it to Li Xiulan.

He Dazhu and Liao Chunhua's relationship ultimately came to an end. Originally Liao Chunhua had been unwilling to divorce, but after being deadlocked for more than half a year, she had become afraid of He Dazhu's domestic violence, her heart had died, and she was exhausted, so she ultimately chose to let go.

Li Xiulan looked at it, expressionless:

"What does your divorce from Liao Chunhua have to do with me? Get out quickly!"

Seeing Li Xiulan's reaction, He Dazhu's heart broke into pieces, and at the same time he could not help but become angry:

"Xiulan, I did this for you, ending up like this with Liao Chunhua. Shouldn't you take responsibility for it?"

He Dazhu shamelessly spoke such a sentence.