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◎Day 10 of the control group◎
When Jiang Wanzhou heard the news, she was pickling vegetables with her sister-in-law, Shen Xinglian.
The cucumber in my hand fell into the basin with a "plop," splashing up a few drops of salt water.
"How did it come to a divorce?" she asked anxiously, pulling Shen Xinglian towards the guesthouse.
Shen Xinglian quickly stopped her: "Don't run, you're pregnant."
Jiang Wanzhou felt like crying, though she didn't know if it was the hormones taking effect.
Shen Xinglian fell silent upon hearing Jiang Wanzhou's words.
She also began to look forward to it, as if the fighting spirit she and Jiang Wanzhou had extinguished might soon be rekindled.
The island breeze carried a salty, damp scent. The guesthouse was a makeshift red brick building, with several army-green quilts drying outside.
Director Liu lived in the innermost room on the first floor, and the door was ajar.
Jiang Wanzhou knocked gently on the door, and a calm voice came from inside: "Come in."
Director Liu was writing materials at a small table by the window, his glasses were placed aside, his face was free of tear stains, but his eyes were swollen.
“Director Liu, I just saw Er Ya. She said she had to go to school, so she brought you the award certificate that your favorite girl received.” Jiang Wanzhou didn’t know how to start the conversation.
"Sit down." Director Liu took the certificate and pointed to the edge of the bed. "Did our situation scare you?"
Shen Xinglian closed the door and asked softly, "Director, my sister is worried that what she said that day might have caused a conflict between you and the leader."
Director Liu shook his head, then nodded: "It's a problem between me and Lao Liu, it's been accumulating for a long time. What you said that day just made me realize something. I've always been teaching others that husband and wife should be one and progress together, but in my own family, it's me who talks and listens, and I only work a little harder when I get angry, but after a few days I'm back to my old ways."
She picked up her glasses and slowly wiped them: "I told him that the production demonstration project of the female comrades in the family compound needed his support, to provide some space and some publicity. But he said that he was busy with other tasks and that these unimportant things should be put aside for now."
"When women's economy improves, family economy will also improve. If people come here and have jobs, people will be willing to come to the island."
“I said women can hold up half the sky, and I also went through the Long March. Enabling half of the people to stand up is a good thing for the team and for their families. He said I was too idealistic, and that I…” Director Liu paused, her voice lowering, “and said that since I became the women’s director, I only have eyes for outsiders and no eyes for my family.”
Everyone praises me for managing both my work and personal life. But don't I also work and take care of the household?
“I never cared about these things before. You have to play dumb a little to get by. My husband, Lao Liu, doesn’t have any ulterior motives except for work and family, so I’m not that demanding.”
"You can't be the first to discourage me from pursuing my ideals."
"I'm not that upset if anyone says it."
"I'm sorry, I was rude." Director Liu sniffed and wiped his tears with his palm.
Jiang Wanzhou felt a lump in her throat and her eyes welled up with tears.
She recalled a murmur she had heard in modern times: "When a woman is too strong-willed, the home doesn't feel like a home anymore."
Don't force it. Does home really feel like home?
She had seen too many older sisters and aunts who were busy all year round, so tired that they could hardly stand up straight. Their husbands would take it for granted that they could buy cigarettes or alcohol, but when it came to the children's expenses, they would criticize where the women's money went.
“Director, if you move out, won’t the leader…” Shen Xinglian tugged at Jiang Wanzhou, afraid that she would act impulsively.
“If he really can’t understand, I won’t force him.” Director Liu looked out the window and saw several women walking by together, carrying half-finished fishing nets. “But I have to let some people see that women can do things without needing anyone’s approval.”
Just then, footsteps came from outside the door.
It's Chief Liu.
He stood at the door, not wearing a coat, only a faded military green shirt, his face tense, but his eyes a little red.
"Old Liu?" Director Liu stood up.
"Go home." His voice was hoarse. "I spoke to the political commissar about your project, and he approved the use of the old Guangfu Textile warehouse for you."
Director Liu didn't move: "It's not just a warehouse problem."
“I know.” Commander Liu walked in, glanced at Jiang Wanzhou and Shen Xinglian, then looked back at them. “Yesterday, after you left, I went through the reports you’ve written over the years. All those reports about helping so-and-so or asking for favors, I used to think they were trivial matters. Last night I couldn’t sleep, so I went for a walk around the family compound. I saw Battalion Commander Li’s wife sewing shoe soles by moonlight, and Company Commander Wang’s eldest son had a high fever, and his wife was carrying him to the clinic by herself…”
His Adam's apple bobbed: "You're right, they've had a tough time. I was only thinking about leading troops and completing missions, but I forgot that these are the people I should be taking care of."
Director Liu's eyes finally welled up with tears.
Jiang Wanzhou quietly tugged at Shen Xinglian, and the two retreated outside the door.
Through the crack in the door, she heard Chief Liu say in a low voice, "We won't get a divorce. I'll help you with what you need to do. But you have to promise me you won't overwork yourself."
Then Director Liu replied with a nasal tone: "If you don't hold me back, I won't be tired."
A gentle breeze blew through the corridor, and the sound of training bugles echoed in the distance.
Jiang Wanzhou and Shen Xinglian exchanged a smile and left quietly.
Two days later, Director Liu came to see Jiang Wanzhou again, his face beaming.
"The project has started, and the warehouse is being tidied up. Wanzhou, you are in charge of the food display. Xinglian's rice cooker improvement has also been submitted. Director Zhou said that as long as Xinglian's name is used, it's fine. The core idea was conceived by Xinglian, and I will keep an eye on adding her name."
She held Jiang Wanzhou's hand: "Thank you for that day. I believe that some things only change when someone says them and someone hears them."
Jiang Wanzhou nodded vigorously.
She looked out the window and saw three or five women gathered together in the open space of the family compound, holding bamboo weaving and embroidery patterns, chatting and laughing.
The sunlight shone on them, making them bright and shiny.
Change is never easy, but as long as the first person dares to step out, the road will slowly become brighter.
—
When the door to the old warehouse was pushed open, the dust that rose up swirled in the sunlight.
Jiang Wanzhou and Shen Xinglian followed Director Liu inside and saw the empty, dilapidated brick house with cobwebs hanging from the beams and some abandoned wooden boxes scattered on the ground.
That day, Jiang Wanzhou and Shen Xinglian thought about it for a long time.
What is life for? In modern times, they would say it's for money, for being rich, for being super rich, for being rich enough to not suffer any injustice.
But perhaps they can promote fair development.
Just like the Foolish Old Man Who Moved Mountains, they gradually made the injustice no longer hinder their beliefs.
Perhaps then we can achieve universal harmony.
Of course, this is a distant concept for them.
They don't have such lofty ambitions, nor can they stand idly by.
Although Jiang Wanzhou and Shen Xinglian felt that they could definitely live well here as modern people, one of them had a baby to avoid the situation, and the other became lazy after getting married.
But they also yearn for the stars to shine, even if it means being exposed as being watched in the future.
In modern times, they would probably just frown and calculate "how much will the renovation cost" and "how long will it take to break even".
Working overtime late into the night in office buildings, anxiously staring at the numbers on their bank cards, they have long been accustomed to using the most realistic numbers to measure whether everything is worthwhile.
But at this moment, standing in this drafty warehouse on the island in 1976, I listened to Director Liu's slightly excited voice planning where to set up the weaving area and where to set up the food display area.
The hard shell that reality had worn down in their hearts had quietly cracked open.
"Director Liu." Jiang Wanzhou heard her own voice, which sounded a little dry. "I haven't even asked your name yet. I don't think you'd want to be called Chief Liu's wife."
Director Liu turned around, her eyes shining brightly behind her glasses: "My name is Liu Hongying. I share the same surname as Lao Liu, and we are from the same village."
"It's true that very few people know my name, so from now on you can call me Sister Hongying."
Shen Xinglian shook her head: "Call him that in private. On the surface, he's still the director."
"It was my oversight. Public and private matters should be kept separate." Director Liu quickly understood Shen Xinglian's intention. "Wanzhou, you come from the countryside and have received an education. You should know that sometimes, having faith in yourself is the first step."
She patted the dusty wooden box. "Our women's hands can farm, weave cloth, raise children, and turn a dilapidated house into a bright one. Why can't we work together to create something that others can see?"
Shen Xinglian silently touched a rusty iron frame next to her.
She helped her brother-in-law Zhou Qingyu improve the rice cooker, initially just to make life easier for herself and Wanzhou, with a condescending attitude of providing technical assistance.
But now, looking at the cluster of flames in Director Liu's eyes that she had long forgotten and that were almost naive, she suddenly felt her face burning.
That night, they squeezed into their own small kitchen by a dim light.
"Stars," Jiang Wanzhou said softly, stirring the mung bean soup in the pot for tomorrow's tasting, "I'm a little panicked."
"What's the panic?"
"There's something I've been hiding from you."
Shen Xinglian frowned as she ate her sweet potato: "What is it?"
"I promised you I'd roll it up, but I actually slacked off," Jiang Wanzhou said, head down. "I might not be able to pay you back that five million."
"Hehe. What a coincidence, I also have something to hide from you."
"What's wrong? I promise I won't be angry."
"What do you want to be angry about? I'm just like you. I deliberately got pregnant with Mingmei, but I was actually planning to have three."
Jiang Wanzhou stood up abruptly, remembering that she was pregnant, and after checking herself, she felt fine: "Well, you're really blessed with many children. It's not like you had a million-dollar baby back then. What were you thinking?"
Shen Xinglian pulled her along and glanced outside. Zhou Qingyu and Jiang Renzhou had been abroad for a while.
However, there was a cunning and shrewd person in the family who was prone to making mistakes, and she was afraid that Mingyuan would tell those two people what he had learned.
The two of them spent a long time criticizing themselves, then looked at each other in bewilderment.
“Aren’t we being too… selfish?” Jiang Wanzhou pursed her lips. “We came from over there and know what will happen later. We always feel that these hardships and difficulties will pass sooner or later, so we always think about finding peace and quiet and just living our own little lives. But Director Liu and the others genuinely want to carve out a little light on this land right now.”
"It was still dark at this time."
"How many people fall before dawn."
Shen Xinglian looked out the window at the dark sea, the lighthouse light sweeping across the distance every now and then.
“I used to think that idealism was foolish, that it meant you hadn’t been beaten down by society,” she said slowly. “But Director Liu isn’t foolish. She knows how difficult it is. She just saw it and couldn’t pretend she didn’t.”
“We…” they both said in unison.
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