Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 155 Divorce Proceedings

"The red of the mountain lily... what was it again?" Early the next morning, Zhou Yuren was in the courtyard preparing to sing a few lines of a Shaanxi folk song, but unfortunately, he hadn't memorized the lyrics at all.

Zhou Yuren heard the song on the radio. He listened to it all the time and learned a few lines, but he never actually remembered the lyrics.

Forced into it, Zhou Yuren began humming a local folk song again: "The first month of the lunar year is here, the young must pay New Year's respects to the old..."

"You old hag, you didn't even go feed the cows or chickens when you got up. Who are you planning to celebrate the New Year with here?" A voice came from behind. When they looked again, it turned out to be Zhao Da'e's aunt, Cheng Jinxi, who had come home.

Zhou Yuren's eyes widened in surprise: "Why are you back?"

Cheng Jinxi was also stunned: "Why didn't I come back?"

Zhou Yuren quickly called out loudly, "Goose, goose! Get up! Your aunt is back."

Hearing the sound, Zhao Da'e rushed out and saw that it really was her aunt Cheng Jinxi who had returned home. She was stunned: "Where's my mom?"

"Your mother didn't dare come back. She said you didn't give her any word, so she didn't dare come back. Besides, your little sister has a bit of a cold, and she doesn't dare to travel back and forth. She's staying at your maternal grandparents' house." Cheng Jinxi sighed. "I heard it at your maternal grandparents' house yesterday. They said someone is acting as a matchmaker for Tianfu, and they came in just half a day. Is it true?"

Zhao Da'e then realized that Shi Zhihui was most likely the one who told her. After all, Shi Zhihui and Zhao Da'e's maternal grandmother lived in the same village, so she must have told her before leaving home. Of course, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It's always good to spread rumors.

This news eventually reached Cheng Jinxi's ears. Upon hearing that her son was getting married without her even knowing, Cheng Jinxi naturally rushed home in a panic.

“That’s right. My older cousin is indeed getting married, otherwise…” Zhao Da’e stopped mid-sentence.

In his past life, Zhao Da'e knew that his aunt, Cheng Jinxi, was often beaten in the winter after his uncle, Zhou Yuren, lost money gambling. Seeing this today, he figured she'd be beaten even before Zhou Yuren lost. He never expected his usually timid aunt to speak so harshly to Zhou Yuren.

Of course, it's normal for a couple to have a few arguments.

Zhao Da'e knew that the children had grown up and the two of them had stopped fighting. When they were young, Aunt Cheng Jinxi was always the one who got beaten up. Now that her son was old enough to get married, Cheng Jinxi and Zhou Yuren had been getting along peacefully for many years.

"Where's Tianfu? Did he not come back this morning or did he go out?" Cheng Jinxi asked.

Zhao Da'e shook her head; she really didn't know that.

Zhao Da'e had been staying at her aunt Cheng Jinxi's house for almost a month, and only on very rare occasions had she seen Zhou Tianfu. Most of the time, she hadn't. So she really didn't know where her older cousin had gone.

However, it's a bit absurd that someone who's already married is still so busy.

Cheng Jinxi looked at Zhou Yuren, who also looked bewildered: "I drank too much yesterday, I don't know."

"All you ever think about is food. Your son is getting married, and it'll be... you know... in a couple of days. Shouldn't he buy some new clothes?" Cheng Jinxi complained. "Shouldn't he dress up a bit? And you, Zhou Yuren, are you planning to eat in these shabby clothes?"

Zhou Yuren was taken aback: "Then what should I wear?"

"Wrap it in a burlap sack," Cheng Jinxi said irritably.

Zhou Yuren: "..."

Zhao Da'e: "..."

It has to be said that Zhao Da'e thinks Aunt Cheng Jinxi is quite brave at home. Of course, it's also possible that Cheng Jinxi is indeed a bit anxious.

"Stop grumbling. Hurry up and cook and eat. We'll go borrow two suits later. We still have a lot to buy, there's a lot to do." Cheng Jinxi said as she went into the house, put down a large bag of things, and started cooking.

"Chunwen, what time do you want to sleep? It's already 7:30, why aren't you up yet? I'm only going back to my parents' house for a few days, and you're already this lazy?" Cheng Jinxi scolded.

Zhou Chunwen got up with a helpless expression.

"Er Ya, what are you thinking about? You're still not combing your hair or washing your face. You should learn from your brother. He's in his early twenties and getting married. You're thirteen or fourteen, how can you be so lazy? You don't wash your face or comb your hair every day, you look like a little devil. How can you not be lazy to death! If you don't wash your face, you don't get to eat."

Zhou Chunhong reluctantly went to wash up.

Zhao Da'e secretly returned to the west room, washed up, and then pretended to comb her hair. Zhao Da'e's hair was rather short, so she didn't really need to comb it much.

Zhou Chunwen, standing next to him, looked listless. Last night, Zhou Yuren and Shi Zhihui drank until 12:30, and in the end, it was Zhou Chunwen and Zhao Dage who took flashlights and walked more than ten miles to take them home.

I was exhausted from the journey, and it was the middle of the night, and freezing cold.

Zhou Chunwen hadn't slept for very long, and then, after sleeping in, his mother came home and started yelling at him. He was furious: "Hey, is my mom on fire? Why does she find fault with everyone?"

Zhao Da'e rolled her eyes: "How would I know? I haven't lived in your house for very long. My aunt wasn't home when I did. I didn't know my aunt was so unreasonable."

“She only does it today; she wouldn’t dare normally. Usually, my dad has the final say,” Zhou Chunwen said softly. “My mom is probably thinking about becoming a mother-in-law and practicing her voice so she can better educate her daughter-in-law later.”

Zhao Da'e laughed: "Forget it. These days, can a mother-in-law really control her daughter-in-law? If they don't say a few words, they'll start fighting! Sister, you really need to talk to my aunt and tell her not to cause trouble. She's not born to be a mother-in-law, but she's got the makings of one. My grandma was born to be a mother-in-law, but once she had a daughter-in-law, she didn't do any housework. Even cooking was done by my grandpa. But that's because she hadn't met a tough one yet. If she had, she'd be completely subdued in a few days."

"Haven't you run into any real trouble yet? Your grandma's already been in jail twice, what more do you want?" Zhou Chunwen asked incredulously, "What, you want to push your grandma into the ditch? This old lady is a bit wicked, but she doesn't deserve to die..."

"Her?" Zhao Dage's eyes were unusually cold. Wang Guixiang's crime didn't warrant death, but she wasn't much better off.

In her previous life, Zhao Da'e's mother, Cheng Jinxiang, fell ill, and Wang Guixiang refused to give her a penny, watching helplessly as Cheng Jinxiang eventually died.

They wouldn't even buy me a painkiller. Even if this kind of person doesn't deserve to die, they're utterly wicked.

However, Zhao Da'e didn't want to talk too much about this with Zhou Chunwen, and just said through gritted teeth, "This retribution isn't enough for her. The Zhao family is nothing yet. Their good days are yet to come."

Zhao Da'e spoke of "good days" with such venomous grit that Zhou Chunwen felt a chill run down her spine.

Cheng Jinxi was cooking by the stove, scolding this person for not doing any work, scolding that person for not being able to do anything, complaining that this person didn't light the fire, and criticizing that person for being useless.

This left the group of people looking at each other in bewilderment, unable to look directly at each other.

Finally, Zhao Da'e asked in a low voice, "Auntie, has something happened to my grandma? You don't seem to be in a good mood because of your upcoming wedding. Has something happened to my mom? Or is my sister sick?"

Cheng Jinxi paused for a moment, then sighed: "Your mother is fine. Your sister has a cold, but it's not serious."

Zhao Da'e was relieved and then asked, "What's wrong? You just got home and you're already finding fault with everyone. It's because there's no powder keg here. If there were, Auntie, you could flatten the earth."

"What else could it be? It's your aunt, that troublesome woman!" Cheng Jinxi said, stopping her work and gesturing, "I heard they can't make it work and are getting a divorce."

"Ah?" Zhao Da'e screamed in surprise.

Zhou Chunwen exclaimed in surprise, and even Zhou Yuren next to her was dumbfounded: "What's wrong with Auntie? Why is she getting a divorce? Isn't she in Xuexiang, Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province? Who sent the letter? Why is she suddenly getting a divorce?"

Zhao Da'e genuinely didn't know much about this. In her previous life, her mother had been seriously ill, and Zhao Da'e only had a vague understanding of the rest of her family, knowing only that her aunt had returned home and married. But she truly didn't know that her aunt was already married.

It seems that this history has been deliberately hidden in the family, and no one has ever mentioned it.

Or perhaps someone simply didn't want to bring it up, keeping the matter silent.

Zhao Da'e's aunt is named Cheng Jinxiao. Zhao Da'e doesn't know her exact age, but he guesses she's around twenty-three or twenty-four. In his previous life, Zhao Da'e heard the following information about his aunt Cheng Jinxiao: When she was young, Cheng Jinxiao went to a chicken farm in Xuexiang in the north and worked there. Later, she earned some money and returned home to marry an honest man.

This "honest man" doesn't refer to the honest man of later generations. Zhao Da'e remembered the man his aunt Cheng Jinxiao married—he was...well, let's just say he was a bit slow-witted, or rather, a kind of middle-aged dementia. Maybe it was youthful dementia, but anyway, he was very "honest"—the kind of person who wouldn't get excited even if you slapped him twice. Zhao Da'e was extremely puzzled at the time. His aunt Cheng Jinxiao was the most beautiful woman, extremely thin and frail, a true beauty. How could she have married such a useless fellow, someone she'd have to support in her old age from her early twenties?

Well, that "honest man" can't take care of himself much and needs to be served.

Only after hearing what his aunt Cheng Jinxi said did Zhao Da'e suddenly realize what was going on.

It turns out that my aunt Cheng Jinxiao was already married, and now she's getting a divorce, so it's probably true. That means she's divorced and is now in her second marriage.

This era is relatively conservative and traditional. Divorced women are truly unwanted.

It's not that divorced women are unwanted, but they're definitely not in a good position. This isn't like the later era of more men than women. In this era, if a woman divorces, even if she's young and beautiful, most of her end up living a life of celibacy. Even if she manages to remarry, the men she marries are often either disabled or have missing limbs. The general consensus is that a divorced woman is considered inferior. Even if the woman isn't at fault, people will say, "It takes two to tango," implying the woman must have some issues as well.

In this era, there are truly no legitimate reasons for divorce, such as incompatibility, personality clashes, poverty or unattractiveness, difficult mother-in-law, bullying father-in-law, or discord with sisters-in-law. There's also no such thing as divorce due to a lack of love. Although our thinking has become more open, it's certainly not an era of unbridled thought. Without extremely special circumstances, divorce is practically nonexistent.

Zhao Da'e didn't know why his aunt was getting a divorce. But his aunt, Cheng Jinxiao, was still far away in the remote forests of Northeast China, a desolate place. She was all alone, with no relatives or friends around. If they were getting a divorce, it would be best to bring her back as soon as possible. That place was far from the reach of the central government; it wouldn't be good if something happened to her.

Cheng Jinxi didn't seem to want to talk about it much, muttering, "I don't know either, I can't read. A letter came, your eldest uncle read it, and then said your aunt wanted a divorce. The third brother can't read either, we just heard it from my eldest brother, and no matter how we asked why, your eldest uncle wouldn't say."

Cheng Jinxi was indeed illiterate and had never been to school. At the time, it was Zhao Da'e's uncle who received a letter that mentioned Zhao Da'e's aunt, Cheng Jinxiao, was apparently getting a divorce. However, when pressed for details, Zhao Da'e's uncle, fearing his mother might overhear, didn't elaborate. Cheng Jinxi, in her haste to get home, only had a vague understanding and wasn't entirely clear on the matter.

“Anyway, my younger sister said that life seems difficult and she can’t go on. She’s often beaten and stuff like that, sigh…” Cheng Jinxi’s tears streamed down her face as she spoke: “I don’t know what to do. I wish I could go to Heilongjiang Province and bring my sister back. But, I only know that she’s in Xuexiang, but I really don’t know exactly where.”

“Auntie, it’s alright, don’t worry. Let’s take care of ourselves. I’ll pack up in a few days and go pick my aunt up before the New Year,” Zhao Da’e said firmly. Zhao Da’e was the only one in the family who had ever traveled far from home. To put it bluntly, Cheng Jinxi had never ridden a train in her life, and even Zhou Yuren had never ridden a train.

They never left their hometown in their entire lives, simply moving from one mountain to another. Beyond the mountains, there were still mountains. They never went any further.

Although Zhao Da'e had never been to particularly far places, her life in her previous life was full of ups and downs, so she had seen a bit of the world, and at least she could read.

This is actually quite important. Many members of the Zhao family are literate, but very few members of the Zhou Yuren family are. Only his cousin, Zhou Tianfu, attended primary school—though the exact grade is unknown. Zhou Tianfu's literacy level is limited to knowing how many cows he's herding and being able to do accounting when collecting scrap. Beyond that, nothing is known.

Although primary school is now common, many children who go to school do not study or study very poorly, so they drop out of school early and go home to herd cattle.

The village of Juren had produced some Juren (successful candidates in the imperial examinations), but that was during the Song Dynasty. After that, no scholars emerged from there. Their lives consisted of marrying, having children, the children growing up and herding cattle, then marrying again, having children, the children growing up, and continuing the cycle of herding cattle. This cycle repeated itself endlessly. Even in later generations, very few people were able to leave the mountains. The world they saw was limited to the area from one end of the village to the other, from the mountaintop to the ravine, witnessing either a bountiful harvest or a complete crop failure. As for anything else, they knew nothing.