Mother

Jiang He was sleeping soundly in the middle of the night when he was woken up by a phone call.

She found her glasses on the bedside table, put them on, and stood up to answer the phone.

"Hello, is this Ms. Jiang? Please come to the police station."

Jiang He woke up instantly.

————

"Mom, it's so late, where are you going?"

Jiang Nuan heard some noise outside the house. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Jiang He hurriedly putting on his coat and taking his car keys. She asked hurriedly.

Jiang He said: "Something happened to a student in the class, we need to go to the police station."

Jiang Nuan's eyes widened: "What's going on? You even went to the police station? I'll go with you."

Jiang He waved his hands when he heard this: "No need, you're still pregnant, it would be too much to worry about if you go out at night."

Jiang Nuan is Teacher Jiang’s only daughter. She just got pregnant this year and has been pregnant for more than two months.

Jiang Nuan said, "It's not eight or nine months yet. It's okay to go out for a while."

"Auntie is right. I'll go. Don't worry, Xiao Nuan."

A gentle voice interrupted.

The door of the next room was opened, and a young woman with a low ponytail walked out. She had changed into a sweatshirt and trousers that were convenient for traveling.

Jiang Nuan said, "That's fine, Lin Lu. Remember to be safe when you drive with Mom."

Lin Lu nodded, gave the other party a reassuring look, and followed Teacher Jiang out the door.

When they arrived at the police station, as soon as the car stopped, Teacher Jiang opened the door and got out.

Lin Lu also left the driver's seat, locked the car, and followed Teacher Jiang into the police station.

As soon as they reached the door, they heard a burst of angry cursing and the sobbing of a boy.

"I'll beat you to death, you good-for-nothing! You're bringing shame to me..."

A short, dark-skinned middle-aged man rolled up his sleeves, raised his hand and slapped the male student opposite him, spitting as he cursed. After the slap, the middle-aged man wanted to hit him again.

A police officer couldn't bear to watch and stopped them, saying, "Enough! If you have something to say, why don't you talk about it nicely? Don't hit the child."

The middle-aged man instantly lost the arrogance he had when he beat people, and hunched over as he nodded to the police to apologize.

Not far away stood Shen Anyan and He Qingtian, along with the security personnel who were brought with them.

Jiang He glanced at them and confirmed that his students were not injured before walking forward to negotiate with the staff.

She had only gotten a general idea of ​​what had happened over the phone, and only when she arrived at the police station did she know the whole story.

While the police were recounting the incident, the grade director and the head teacher of Class 7 were also notified and came over. After listening to the entire story, they all had different expressions on their faces.

Teacher Jiang said, "I'll talk to them later. They were a bit impulsive in what they did. As for the rest of the problems, they have nothing to do with the students in our class."

The head teacher said hurriedly, "Yes, Mr. Jiang, I will handle the follow-up issues. Sorry for bothering you so much late at night."

Teacher Jiang waved his hand and turned to look at the students in his class.

The head teacher of Class 7 looked overwhelmed and said cautiously, "Um... Director, how do you think we should handle this?"

The head teacher of the last two classes was also aware of the situation, and it was a difficult task. Therefore, she did not make things too difficult for the student, simply saying, "Send the student home for a few days while the school discusses how to proceed."

The head teacher of Class 7 heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that he was not responsible. He said "ah" several times and went to inform the director.

Although the culprit was apprehended, his actions were not illegal, but morally flawed. The police reprimanded him but did not impose further punishment.

Shen Anyan was somewhat indignant about this, but he also knew that there was nothing he could do about it. Even in the future, despite strong public condemnation of animal abuse, the government still hadn't been able to come up with any appropriate laws to punish it.

There is no need to worry about the follow-up matters. Teacher Jiang will have to worry about his two daring students.

She walked up to the two of them, looked them over, and asked, "Who started this?"

Shen Anyan was the first to say: "I did it. The squad leader came to persuade me to leave, but he happened to run into the person who came to release the rat."

He Qingtian also said: "I beat that guy too."

Teacher Jiang was so angry that she laughed. She pointed at the two people and said, "They are not very active in admitting their mistakes, but they are more eager than the other to take on tasks."

Shen Anyan muttered, “I think it’s right.”

Teacher Jiang raised his eyebrows. "Is that right? This time you were lucky and didn't encounter any danger. If the person who came here had a knife or something else, what would you do? What if you got hurt?"

He Qingtian said: "Teacher, we were wrong. We will be more careful next time."

Shen Anyan stopped arguing and admitted his mistake.

Teacher Jiang didn't say anything more, and turned to Shen Anyan and asked, "So you slept in class these days just because of this?"

Shen Anyan nodded.

Teacher Jiang said: "It's not appropriate."

Shen Anyan pursed his lips.

Teacher Jiang glanced at her and smiled, "But then again, your heart isn't bad after all. This incident also shows that you're a brave, careful, and responsible child. Just be more careful next time. Courage and strategy make you a hero, while those who just blindly act are reckless."

Shen Anyan was happy when he heard this and smiled at the other party.

After Teacher Jiang finished talking to her, he looked at He Qingtian and said, "You too, were able to notice that your classmates were doing something wrong, stop them in time, and help to catch the bad guys. You did a great job."

He Qingtian touched his head and smiled when he heard this.

After finishing what needed to be said and the praises, Teacher Jiang said, "It's late today. I'll give you a day off. Rest at home for a day tomorrow and recover your energy."

Seeing the two nod, she asked, "How are you going to get back later?"

He Qingtian said: "My mother is here to pick me up. She should be here soon."

Shen Anyan said: "I'll take a taxi back."

He Qingtian was a little surprised when she heard this. She asked, "Your parents..."

"cough."

Teacher Jiang interrupted the other person and said, "I drove here. I'll take you home later."

————

The dog's tail followed his father back home.

They lived in a run-down, tube-shaped building, with trash lining the staircase, small advertisements plastered all over the walls, and the light bulbs flickered, blinding the eyes.

He lowered his head, not daring to look his father in the eye.

After entering the house, my father who was walking in front of me suddenly stopped.

Dogtail felt the blood in his body run cold for a moment, and he trembled slightly, realizing what was going to happen next.

A slap hit him in the face.

Half of his face instantly became red and swollen, and his brain was buzzing.

Fists rained down on him.

I could hear the man's rude shouting.

"I'll beat you to death, you little bastard..."

"You idiot thing..."

"I didn't dare give birth to you..."

The dog's tail held its head and thought to itself, it's all my mother's fault.

It’s all mom’s fault. If she hadn’t run away, he wouldn’t be the one getting beaten now.

————

When Dogtail was just born, life was pretty good.

He is the only boy in the family, the carrier of the family line, and the "root" of his father.

His original home was in a small, closed village where people believed that boys were their roots and would do anything to give birth to a boy.

Baby girls were drowned one after another, and the long river at the entrance of the village buried countless fresh and lovely lives.

Women have a very poor status here, and Gouweiba soon realized this after he grew up.

He understood without any instruction that he was a boy and was naturally superior to women, and that women could be bullied at will, such as the wives and children of the people around him, and his mother.

There were more men than women in the village, so in order to continue the incense, some women were sent in from outside from time to time.

They are well-dressed and smart. When they first came here, they always made a lot of noise and said things that no one could understand.

He watched coldly, thinking that these people would either be slowly trained to become what a "good wife" should be, or die, just like those baby girls, and be buried in the long river at the door.

Dogtail’s mother is different.

His mother was not an "unruly crazy woman" from outside, but a local woman who was born and raised there. His mother's family was smart. They knew that it didn't cost much to raise a girl. They just needed to feed her a little bit of food every day and exchange it for a dowry when she grew up. The village was short of women, so this deal was a sure win!

His mother had no name. Before she was sold, people called her "Yang's". After she was sold, people called her "Wang's daughter-in-law".

However, such days did not last long. When Gouweiba was eight years old, more "outside women" came to the village.

Those women were different from the ones who were bought. They wore black clothes and had stern and serious expressions. They arrested all the people in the village.

Dogtail heard words like "trafficking," "crime," "murder," and "abandonment."

The old men and old men in the village shouted.

"It's none of your business to meddle in our own family affairs!"

"What's wrong with me killing a girl? It's my own child, you can do whatever you want to me! It has nothing to do with you!"

"What's wrong? I bought her as my wife, I can beat her whenever I want, it's better not to worry about her!"

These people later died.

Dogtail saw it on TV.

He didn't understand the laws and judgments on TV. He only knew that if villagers committed serious crimes, they would either be imprisoned for life or sentenced to death.

Their family escaped the disaster because their mother was not bought from outside and their father did not beat them very severely.

The family moved out of the village and into the outside world.

The dog's tail was frightened.

There are many women in the world outside, women who don’t have to cook, women who don’t have to wash clothes, women who don’t have to take care of children, women who read, women who work, and even women who are leaders.

It's horrible, how can a woman do these things!

He felt that his dignity as a man was violated and his interests were damaged. If women didn't come to cook and take care of the children, how would his family line be passed on?

This is really outrageous!

Although he thought so, he didn't dare to say it out loud. Those women were not the numb and cowardly women in the village. They were tall and majestic, with sharp edges. Even a dog's tail would tremble with fear at the sight of them.

He was a little afraid that these women would hurt him, but what he never expected was that the women didn't pay any attention to him and didn't even bother to look at him.

But the one who really hurt him was the man.

When Gouweiba was in the village, he was always proud of the white fat on his body. Everyone who saw him would praise him and say that he was a lucky fat boy.

But the men here are different. They take pride in their well-proportioned and slim figures. When they see Gouweiba, an alien, they always look at him with mockery and disgust, and even beat him.

Gouweiba was afraid of this new world, and only the shabby home in the tube-shaped building could make him feel a little safe.

Fortunately, he still has a home and a father.

His father still makes him feel safe and lets him know that there are normal people and normal men in this world.

His father was short, dark, and rough, but he made him feel extremely reliable.

Especially when his father would beat and scold his mother for a little thing, Gouweiba could find a little of his old sense of superiority as a man.

He looked at his mother with malice, just as his male classmates looked at him with gloating glee.

Until one day, his mother suddenly said to him privately:

"I want to leave."

The dog's tail was stunned.

Go? What?

He suddenly felt an inexplicable fear in his heart.

He seemed to understand that a woman who was beaten did not have only two options: to endure it silently or to jump into the river because she could not bear it anymore.

They can actually walk? They can actually run?

How can this be possible!

Now that mom is gone, won’t it be my turn to get beaten?

Gouweiba loves his father deeply, but he understands his father better than his mother.

He seemed to have suddenly developed a deep affection for his mother. He knelt down and cried bitterly, telling her how much he loved her and begging her not to leave.

My mother's dull eyes turned slowly, and finally she nodded.

From that day on, Goosetail seemed like a different person. He cared about his mother and occasionally took the initiative to clean the house.

The mother also seemed to feel that her child had grown up, and sometimes when she felt wronged, she would try to confide in her son.

The dog's tail listened perfunctorily and said, "You've worked so hard, it's not easy."

But I was thinking in my heart, it’s so annoying that people have to talk about every little thing.

Thinking of this, the next time his mother cried and talked about how difficult her life was, he couldn't help but let it slip.

"Are you done? When are you going to cook?"

As soon as the words came out, Gouweiba felt that he was in trouble.

The mother opposite stopped talking and stared blankly at her son.

Gouweiba tried to make amends by saying that he didn't mean it.

Mom looked at him for a while, smiled, nodded, and said, "I know."

Gouweiba was relieved. Women are simple-minded and everything will be fine after a little coaxing.

However, when he woke up the next day, he found that his mother was gone.

She never came back after that.

The good days of dog tails are over.

From that day on, he became the one who was forced to do hard labor and bullied in the family.

Gouweiba endured his father's beatings and kicks, and couldn't stop feeling regret and sadness in his heart.

Why didn’t he notice earlier that something was wrong with his mother? If he had known earlier, he would never have let her leave so easily.

He didn't want to blame his father. After all, his father was his only male ally in the world.

He is his enemy and who he wants to be.

If you want to blame someone, blame your mother. Can't she just bear with it? For the sake of the children, for the sake of the marriage... there are so many reasons that can serve as painkillers - after all, isn't this what every daughter-in-law has to go through?