Chapter 418
The cities are currently under a blackout, leaving everything completely dark after nine o'clock. Those who still have candles cast a dim yellow glow from their windows, creating a desolate feeling of fading light. There's no blackout in the countryside, but even in the evening, few homes light their lamps. It's true that I can't afford the oil, but that's not a big deal; what's the point of lighting a lamp anyway?
Although they had changed into short clothes, they felt they didn't look like locals at all. This family was very poor, and having two poor relatives staying for a long time would be very conspicuous. He felt it would be better to hide in the city, where he wouldn't attract so much attention.
Especially since people in the countryside live simpler lives, they pay more attention to the daily life of their neighbors than people in the city. But since the higher-ups have made such arrangements, there is nothing to say.
This family was truly miserable. The whole family slept in one room, sharing one kang (kang bed). The two of them had to settle in this utility room. It was filled with years of old wood, reeking of dampness and mildew. It was small and windowless. Even in summer, it was suffocating. With the door closed, even daytime was pitch black. There was barely enough room for one small bed, so the other had to sleep on the floor. They took turns sleeping on the floor, and the other wouldn't let them sleep all the time.
My companion is different from me. He comes from a wealthy family and it is rare for him to be able to endure such hardship.
I helped the family with farm work during the day. My companion wanted to help, but he had never done it before. His hands and feet were all blistered, which made it difficult for him.
People here don't light lamps after dark, and they don't want to draw attention. I can't read, and I can't sleep. Now, boredom is more terrifying than death.
"How do people here live? What's the meaning of life?"
He lay down on the ground and said, "They are very tired. They have done farm work all day and fell asleep early."
"Remember to cover yourself tightly, or you won't get bitten by rats. There are really bugs and rats everywhere in this place."
"I can't stand it. It's too hot. If I cover myself tightly, I'll get heatstroke and fall asleep. Maybe I'm afraid of being bitten by mice. Last night I dreamed of a big white cat rubbing and licking me. It would be nice if I had a cat."
"Even cats can't catch all these mice. It's strange, people here don't have enough to eat, where do they get the food to feed so many mice? And these mosquitoes..." The companion slapped his neck a few times. Not only the mice, but feeding mosquitoes was also painful. It was stuffy and hot, and the mosquitoes were buzzing and biting.
"The people are suffering. Not only are their bloodsucked by warlords, but also by mosquitoes," said his companion.
The two of them were talking and showed no sign of falling asleep.
At this time, I heard the noise from the neighboring house again. Their son always beat his wife. When the beating stopped so frequently, his parents-in-law would not agree and would go on to urge their son to do it.
The girl's voice sounded particularly miserable today, and it sounded like the beating was much more severe than usual.
He heard the girl's voice getting increasingly miserable, then weaker, and now it was completely silent. He threw back the quilt and tried to rush out, but Ruan Liang reached out a hand to hold him back, saying, "Don't meddle in other people's business."
He ignored her and rushed out. The house was separated from theirs by a wall, so he went out and climbed over the wall. The small house was pitch black, and he could hear the men inside still beating and cursing.
He banged on the door, but no one paid any attention. The wooden door was incredibly solid and heavy, locked from the inside, and no matter how hard he kicked it, it wouldn't open. He then tried to kick the window, but it had no glass and was boarded shut from the outside. He picked up the small water tank under the window and smashed it, shattering it, but the window didn't break at all. He was so desperate that he threw his whole body against it, and the window fell to the ground with a thud, finally opening.
The next morning they packed their bags and went to hide elsewhere. Ruan Liang didn't say anything. The old man from that family drove a bullock cart with their few belongings on it and said, "You shouldn't have saved her. You might as well have been beaten to death. It's better to be dead than alive."
He truly didn't understand. The girl was timid and listened to everything they said. She wasn't bad-looking and worked diligently. There was nothing wrong with her. The more they beat her, the more obedient she became. But the more obedient she became, the more ferocious the beatings became. Why did they have to beat her so hard? Marrying a wife cost a lot of money, and if their family killed their daughter-in-law, they might not have enough money to marry another. Why did they have to torture such a poor girl like that?
Later, he understood that people's evil thoughts cannot be controlled by reason. Even if they know that killing ten thousand people will hurt themselves by three thousand, they still have to do it, even without any reason, just because they want to do evil.
I was young then, and never felt I was doing anything wrong. Years later, thinking back on the old man's words, I realized maybe he was right. I hadn't done anything good, I had also done something evil. For that girl, death was better than life.
When he woke up, it was just dawn outside and she was sleeping soundly in his arms.
What happened? After so many years, why did I have this dream?
That girl must have died a long time ago. With such a vicious husband and parents-in-law, she wouldn't have lived long. It would have been better if she had killed them all before she died. If she couldn't survive, she would have to be buried with her murderers.
He left that morning, and she continued to catch up on some sleep. She woke at nine o'clock, got up to clean up, and found a piece of paper under her pillow. She opened it and found a portrait he'd drawn of her, a charcoal silhouette. This guy was actually quite talented in Western painting, but he'd only focused on Chinese painting. Oil painting was expensive, and since his family was poor and he'd been busy as a young man, he hadn't had the energy to learn so much.
At noon, someone brought her food: a large plate of crab meat and roe. The crab meat was spread out in the middle, with the legs and claws surrounding it, covered in roe. This was how many crabs she had peeled.
Wang Jiazhi doesn't like eating things with shells, or more precisely, anything with shells that are difficult to peel. The most she can tolerate is peeling shrimp, which she finds cumbersome. Her family rarely eats anything with shells. Crabs, snails, clams—they just don't know how to eat them, and they're not interested in them.
It's strange to say, she's a person who takes everything seriously and meticulously, but she hates the hassle of eating. The same goes for fish; if it has too many bones, she's too lazy to eat it. She also thinks crucian carp is delicious, but because it has too many bones, she doesn't eat it much.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, people inevitably sent crabs, and her mother patiently peeled several for her to eat. There was a mountain of shells and only a small dish of meat.
She looked at the plate of meat and thought, if nothing else, she could go home. But it wasn't all that bad, there would probably be an hour or two to spare.
She asked someone to send over a plate of lotus seeds, water chestnuts and chestnuts that she had just peeled.
It was time to feed the kitten. The crab meat was enough for the two of them, so she mixed the meat and a little crab roe into the porridge and gave it to her. The kitten wasn't picky about food and grew even faster. She was truly a treasure that was easy to take care of.
Not long after, Wang Jiazhi's serialized novel wrote that the heroine was angry again. In the middle of the night, the hero went to a store that was open all night and ordered a lot of crabs and shrimps. Then he peeled the shells while crying. He peeled two large boxes of crabs and shrimps, but did not eat a single bite himself. After peeling the shells, he took them back crying to coax the heroine to eat.
The hero in this novel is actually quite despicable. He can't see who he truly loves, and he tortures the heroine, yet he can't bear to see her leave him, and he can't see that he loves her. So, they both suffer in this way. But because he's portrayed as pitiful and endearing, many people, even after learning that he killed the heroine, still find him both hateful and pitiful.
She always wanted him to read her stuff, even if she was shy and didn't want him to read it, he would find the magazines and read them himself. He knew some of the content was related to him at a glance.
After a famous author passed away, his book was reprinted, and his wife was asked to write a preface. His wife said, "If I were to write it myself, I wouldn't be able to resist praising my husband." She was afraid people would accuse her of exaggerating, blaming her husband for the story. But the events described in the book were something she and he had experienced together, and he had always shared his original thoughts and ideas with her. Perhaps only she knew many things. If she didn't write it, no one else would.
After reading it, Wang Jiazhi felt that it was just a show of affection.
He had a friend who liked her books very much and once talked about them with him, as if she was talking to the sister of the Liao family.
He said helplessly: "That's not what you meant."
"You've been in politics for a long time and have lost the elegance of your youth. Of course you don't feel that way anymore."
"Anyway, I must know more than you do. It's definitely not what you think." He smiled confidently.
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