"Okay. Everyone, wait a moment. The barefoot doctor is applying medicine to Comrade Chen Xiufan. Her face is seriously injured."
The members who were listening to the radio chattered:
"He was hit pretty hard."
"Zheng Laoer's wife was usually fine. She worked well and earned seven or eight work points a day. Her mother-in-law used to praise her outside, saying that she and the eldest daughter-in-law took turns working. The two daughters-in-law took care of all the housework, so the mother-in-law didn't have to worry about anything. Why did they fight?"
Someone speculated: "It's because he's tired from work. When people are tired, they tend to get angry. And now they're rushing to harvest."
"She's been married here for several years, and she's been harvesting every year, but she's never seen them make a fuss."
Everyone was talking when they heard Zheng Ersao's voice coming from the loudspeaker.
"I'm the second daughter-in-law of the Zheng family. My name is Chen Xiufan. I'm sorry to have you all listen to me ramble on about these trivial matters. I've been married to the Zheng family for nearly six years and have never argued with my in-laws. I consider myself a hardworking person. I work in the fields to earn work points and do housework at home without neglecting anything. I kept working even when I was pregnant and had a big belly. I even fetched water the day before I gave birth.
I serve my parents-in-law and take care of my sister-in-law without a single complaint.
Everyone has seen how my family lives. My brother-in-law is in the military, and we seem to be doing well, living in a large tiled house. But to be honest, that's all we have. Otherwise, our family is no different from everyone else's. I've never seen the money and banknotes my brother-in-law sent me; they're all in my mother-in-law's hands, and she spends them on my parents-in-law and my sister-in-law. As his brother and sister-in-law, we haven't really gotten much advantage.
At least that's the case so far. She had wanted to take advantage of it before, wanting the third child to help support her own children in the future, but hasn't she taken advantage of it yet?
Zheng Ersao continued, "It's harvest time now, and there's so much work to do in the fields. My eldest sister-in-law and I work our asses off every day. When we get home, we have to take turns cooking, washing dishes, washing clothes, and feeding the pigs. My mother-in-law says she's at home looking after the children, but that's all she does. The diapers and other things just sit there, attracting flies, and she never washes any of them. We have to wait until we get home to wash them.
This afternoon, we got home and the kids were crying. My sister-in-law said, "If you keep crying, I'll spank you." My eldest sister-in-law and I went to comfort the kids. We asked the eldest daughter why she was crying, and she said Grandma spanked her brother. My sister-in-law and I didn't take it seriously. They're just kids, and everyone gets spanked a few times. A spanking from Grandma is pretty normal.
However, my mother-in-law refused to do it, saying that she was taking care of the children for us and that it was a thankless job. She said that we doubted her, that she could not live anymore, and that we wanted to force her to death.
My sister-in-law fanned the flames and said we were unfilial.
Although my sister-in-law and I were heartbroken, we went about our business. It was my sister-in-law's turn to cook today, so she went to the kitchen and started cooking. When she left for work this afternoon, we told Mom she'd worked so hard, and we'd let her rest for the afternoon while we took care of the kids and cleaned up the house. Mom suddenly started fussing at noon, probably because she was tired and in a bad mood.
My sister-in-law and I had good intentions, but my mother-in-law scolded us, saying that if we didn't want to live together anymore, we should just go back to our parents' home and never come back. The Zheng family doesn't need daughters-in-law like us. There are plenty of people willing to work like slaves for the Zheng family.
I was also very angry at the time. I said, what's wrong with daughters-in-law like us? We think we behave well. If daughters-in-law like us are still sent back to her parents' home, then what kind of family will my sister-in-law, who won't help when a jar falls, has never cooked or washed dishes, and can't even light a fire, marry into in the future?
My mother-in-law rushed over and beat me, saying that I cursed my sister-in-law so that she would never get married.
Zheng Ersao started to cry and said while crying, “But I didn’t say anything wrong. When I married here, Lan Ping was 9 years old and still in primary school. It was normal for her to do nothing. She was still young. My eldest sister-in-law and I helped her with everything, even washing her underwear. But now, she is 15 years old and still does nothing. What girl is like her?
Normally, it's fine, we just do it, we're used to it. But now, during the rush to harvest, can't she lend us a hand? Will cooking three meals a day tire her out?
I know my mother-in-law got angry because I asked my eldest sister-in-law and I twice to ask my younger sister-in-law to help, even if it was just to cook one meal a day. My mother-in-law couldn't stand it and accused us of torturing her daughter. I swear to the Chairman, I have no such intentions. As her sister-in-law, how could I possibly harm her?
My mother-in-law hit me. I was so angry that I closed my eyes and hit her twice without paying attention to where I hit her.
In the afternoon, Zheng Guolin came home from work, and I told him about this. I wanted to apologize to my mother-in-law, but Zheng Guolin didn't listen to me at all. He shouted at me and said he would beat me to death to vent his anger on his mother. I had no choice but to escape.
Zheng Ersao cried as she spoke, and occasionally made a hissing sound, as if she was pulling a wound.
People listening to the radio outside get goosebumps every time they hear this sound.
But the focus of public opinion was not on the fight between her and Li Aiyun, but on Zheng Lanping.
"The Zheng family's girl is really spoiled. She's 15 years old and would have been married before, but I've never seen her work in the fields. If she gets married, she'll be completely supported by her husband's family. What family would dare to marry her? It's impossible for a man to earn work points to support his wife and children."
"Isn't it a call for all women to participate in national development? Why doesn't Zheng Lanping heed the call?"
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