It turns out that some people can indeed starve themselves to the point of being unable to move.
Ye Yun simply poked it lightly.
Luo Xiujuan collapsed upon hearing the sound.
In the end, Ye Yun hurriedly helped her up and fed her a bowl of millet porridge.
After finishing a bowl of millet porridge, Luo Xiujuan leaned against the headboard and rested for a while, finally regaining some strength. She supported herself to get off the headboard and stood properly by the headboard, watching over her son. Holding her son's hand, her withered eyes, filled with tears, gazed at Ye Yun with immense gratitude.
"Sister, thank you. My daughter and I dirtied the bedding on your kang (heated brick bed). I'll wash it for you later..."
No need for that.
Given her current physical condition, she'd probably faint before the sheets even hit the water.
"Where are you and your son going? My place is small, I can't keep you here for long. Which village are you from?" Ye Yun asked Luo Xiujuan to sit down, her eyes subtly scrutinizing her.
There are actually quite a few beggars these days.
After the land reform, everyone stopped eating collective meals, which meant that the government no longer cared about the people's personal lives.
Whether a person can get food depends entirely on the person in charge of their household.
This rule leads to situations where, when disputes arise in some families, the weaker party is often manipulated. The simplest and most brutal way to achieve this is to deprive them of food or drive them out of their homes, leaving them homeless and forced to beg for a living.
Women are the biggest victims among them.
When they get married, their husband's family no longer owns their land, and the land left in their parents' home will no longer be allocated to them as married-out daughters. If they have a conflict with their husband's family and things fall apart, the most direct way for their husband's family to control them is to stop giving them food.
In this situation, they either go hungry or leave that home to beg for a living.
This is also why most daughters-in-law are controlled by their mothers-in-law and dare not talk back.
What's most important these days?
The most important thing is to fill your stomach.
The people in the mountains don't have big ambitions. They don't even know what ambition is. As long as they can fill their stomachs every day, survive, and live to a ripe old age, their lives are worthwhile.
Is Luo Xiujuan also of this type?
However, Luo Xiujuan shook her head with tears in her eyes and said softly, "I don't know, I don't know where I'm going..."
"I only remember walking for a very, very long time, crossing several mountains. My home is very far from here..."
She was kicked out of her home.
It wasn't her husband's family home, but her own home.
She was pregnant out of wedlock, and her parents were furious about her behavior. They wanted to kick her out of the house, but her sister-in-law had been married for three years and had not been able to have a child, so her parents let her keep the baby.
Her elder brother and sister-in-law cared deeply for the baby in her womb, and after the baby was born, she entrusted it to her sister-in-law with peace of mind.
But the good times didn't last long.
Within six months, her sister-in-law also became pregnant. After their child was born, she turned around and gave her child back to her.
She was naturally happy.
The child can call her "Mom" now.
But she was also worried. Once she lost her usefulness, she was afraid that her parents would kick her and her child out of the house like before. Moreover, her sister-in-law was no pushover; she had already begun to subtly complain about having another mouth to feed in the house since the child was born.
It was fine at first.
She was perceptive and afraid of being disliked by her parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law, so she took care of all the laundry and cooking, and even volunteered to do the farm work, hoping that her parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law would continue to love her child.
As her sister-in-law's child grew up, the family gradually became destitute, and her brother and sister-in-law grew increasingly resentful of her. The two children often clashed, and even though her child was always the one who got beaten, her sister-in-law was still dissatisfied. Finally, one time when her son was bitten on the finger by her sister-in-law's son, and her son had to push her sister-in-law's son in pain, her sister-in-law was furious and verbally abused her, kicking her out of the house.
She had no choice.
When her sister-in-law kicked her out of the house, she showed her no mercy whatsoever, and made it public that she was pregnant out of wedlock, so much so that the whole surrounding village knew about it.
My sister-in-law was full of joy and anticipation for her son, but he turned out to be an illegitimate child.
The woman who once professed gratitude to her sister-in-law has now turned into a shameless slut.
No village was willing to take them in.
Those without land are called wanderers, and those without a house are called vagrants. What else can she, a vagrant, do but beg for food with her son?
Fortunately, she didn't eat much.
The child also has a small appetite.
There are wild fruits in the mountains, and springs to quench her thirst. Getting a cornbread bun is enough to make her happy for a long time.
Later, it got cold.
The child is sick.
Wild fruits couldn't cure her illness, and spring water quenched her thirst but not her sorrow. Unable to find food, she wandered here...
"Where do you want to go?"
Ye Yun learned about her past but did not offer any opinion; she only inquired about her future.
Luo Xiujuan remained silent, lowering her head and thinking for a long time before finally saying, "I don't know. I still don't know where I want to go. Maybe... I want to go to the provincial capital, but I don't know the way. I've been walking with my child for a long time, crossing several mountains, but I still can't see any sign of the provincial capital."
Ye Yun was taken aback, "The provincial capital?"
Luo Xiujuan nodded, her gaze, tinged with a hint of melancholy, falling on the sleeping child. She sighed, "I think I should go find the child's father..."
Ye Yun's expression changed slightly.
Why is the child's father in the provincial capital?
"His father was a sent-down youth."
"So, five years ago, when educated youth began returning to the city in large numbers, his father abandoned you and your son and left?"
How did you know?
Luo Xiujuan looked up in surprise, her astonished gaze fixed on her.
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