After Li Hua and her daughter left, Xuemei asked doubtfully, "Are Li Hua and her daughter settling down in Liujia Village? Actually, Li Hua should have a share in Liu Laizi's family, right?"
"According to current national regulations, policies on gender equality and joint property between husband and wife, even though Li Hua and Liu Laizi's father are in a de facto marriage, it is legally recognized.
Li Hua could at least get a room in Liu Laizi's house. But Liu Laizi's branch of the Liu family disagreed, saying that Li Hua had remarried and brought a child with her, and that allowing Li Hua and her daughter to stay in Liujia Village was already very generous. "Father Liu said, rubbing his forehead.
Mr. Liu likes to read newspapers and knows a lot about the country's new policies. Now that he has a radio, he knows even more about them.
"What nonsense are they talking about? They are so shameless. The commune arranged for the mother and daughter to stay in our village. If they disagree, they can go to the commune and make trouble. They are really strong on the outside but weak on the inside, and they only know how to bully the weak!" Xuemei said angrily.
"That's not the case, but I think it would be better for Li Hua and her daughter not to go back to Liu Laizi's house. They are a separate family at the Youth League Institute. Liu Laizi's family can be regarded as one of the five black categories now. I heard that Mrs. Li was sent to the Northwest for reform this morning. She is spending her old age in the Northwest." Liu's father explained.
"Your father is right. It seems that Liu Laizi doesn't intend to recognize Li Hua. Today, the police brought the mother and daughter to the threshing ground, and Liu Laizi walked away on the spot. I hope Liu Laizi will be tough and not recognize her in the future, so that Li Hua won't have to worry about him, this second-rate guy!" Liu's mother continued.
Xuemei sighed after hearing this and asked, "Aunt Li only has one daughter over there?"
Liu's mother shook her head and said, "I don't know. Anyway, the police only said that they will live in our village from now on!"
"Okay, then I'll go wash the dishes. Dad, Mom, do you want to take a bath? There's hot water in the pot, Mom!" After Xuemei said that, she took the dishes and walked towards the well.
It was not until several months later that Xuemei learned from the villagers about Li Hua's experiences over the years. Li Hua was sold by Grandma Li to a relatively well-off family in a village in the neighboring county. This family had three sons. The youngest son was tall and strong. He loved to drink and beat people after drinking. It was said that his first wife was also seriously injured by him after drinking, and her child was also lost.
But the daughter-in-law's family was not someone to be trifled with. After finding out, they beat up the man and asked him to pay compensation. Then he was taken back by his family.
For the next seven or eight years, this man couldn't find a wife. Everyone knew that he liked to beat people when he was drunk. During the three years of natural disasters, this man's parents somehow got in touch with Grandma Li.
After Li Hua was sold to him, the man didn't hit her at first because she was pretty and was quite nice to her. But after she gave birth to her first daughter, the man started to hit her and even cruelly threw her into the deep mountains and forests. She tried to find her but couldn't get her back.
Song Xiaoya was her second daughter with that man, and Li Hua risked her life to save her. Because of this, Li Hua was beaten by that man right after giving birth to Song Xiaoya. Later, the local village cadres were afraid that the man would kill someone and bring shame to the village, so they stopped the man and Li Hua was not beaten to death. However, after this incident, Li Hua could no longer have children.
In the following years, Li Hua was beaten by that man every few days. Her mother-in-law often scolded her as a hen that couldn't lay eggs. Even Song Xiaoya was often beaten by that man.
More than a year ago, the man went out drinking at night and accidentally fell into a family toilet and drowned. After hearing the news, Li Hua was a little sad, but more happy. She felt liberated because no one would beat her and her daughter anymore.
But unexpectedly, after the man was gone, his parents and two other family members began to treat her and her daughter as free labor, believing that she was a nuisance and had killed their son and brother. If she didn't work hard, she would have nothing to eat at night. Moreover, her mother-in-law and two sisters-in-law would beat her, and they would do it in places where no one could see.
Li Hua ran away secretly with her daughter several times, but was caught by the Song family every time. Before her last escape, Li Hua found out that the Song family was planning to sell her daughter to a fool as a child bride. She refused and wanted to escape with her daughter.
But he was still discovered and beaten on the spot. After the beating, he was locked in the woodshed and could not see his daughter.
Later, Li Hua took advantage of the Song family going to work and escaped from the firewood room window, intending to go to the commune police station for help. Fortunately, on the way there, she happened to meet the county magistrate who was investigating a case of slander against an old soldier in the countryside. This is how she rescued her daughter, and the mother and daughter were able to escape from the den of the Song family.
It was only later that Xuemei learned from Liu's mother why Li Hua and her daughter had been wearing long-sleeved clothes during the autumn harvest, without even pulling up their sleeves. They had many scars on their bodies from beatings that had not yet healed.
Although Liu Laizi's temperament changed drastically and became more and more unpredictable, he did change for the better overall. Although he looked gloomy every day, he stopped hanging out and went out to work after Li Hua and her daughter went to the fields. Sometimes he could earn eight or nine work points a day.
The autumn harvest in Liujia Village began to return to its usual calm and excitement.
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