After Qi Zhifang was discharged from the hospital, she was helped by her mother to walk back home with difficulty. Before they even reached the door, they saw a group of people surrounding their house. Men and women surrounded Qi Zhifang and her mother and started hitting them, cursing and yelling, "This stinking brat, this slut, how dare she falsely accuse Xiao Dai!"
"Xiao Dai made a mistake to satisfy you, you slut, how dare you treat him like this! I'll beat you to death, you shameless bastard."
"You slut, how could you be so heartless! He's only 22 years old, you vixen, you female hooligan! Everyone come and see! Qi Zhifang is a female hooligan, she seduced my brother, deceived my brother, she's a married woman who has had three children, she lusted after my brother's body, got a child and then falsely accused my brother of raping her."
"If it weren't for you, you bitch, my brother wouldn't have committed a crime. I'd be satisfied if I beat you to death..."
Qi Zhifang's mother was hurling profanities at them, and wanted to die immediately. She was eventually pulled away, and several people spat thick phlegm and saliva onto the faces and bodies of the mother and daughter... The situation was extremely chaotic and disgusting!
Qi Zhifang's clothes were torn to barely cover her body, and several strands of her proud braid were pulled out. Qi's mother, with her old bones, helped the dazed Qi Zhifang home. Like a puppet on a string, she endured the nausea and cleaned herself and Qi Zhifang up. Qi Zhifang then lay on the bed, refusing to eat, drink, or move.
Qi's mother covered her mouth and cried in suppressed sobs. How could their happy family fall apart? Qi Zhijun was transferred to Tongzhou, and most of his salary went to paying off debts. He couldn't even afford to eat on ten yuan a month. To save money, he didn't come back every day. Ever since the old man's funeral and Qi Zhijun decided to go to Tongzhou, Xiao Cui also moved back to the dormitory and stopped coming home.
With no source of income, Qi's mother now takes on odd jobs pasting matchboxes to support her four children. Qi Zhifang can rest, but she dares not. She has to make as many as possible to earn some food. Qi Zhifang's salary this month is out of the question, so she hasn't worked many days, hoping that Qi Zhifang can pull herself together and go back to work to earn some wages.
While Qi's mother was grieving, she heard footsteps. Dongfang Hong had returned. As soon as she entered, Qi's mother saw the three children covered in dirt, their hair disheveled, their bodies covered in footprints, and their faces bruised and battered. Wang Dong was the worst off; his head was already scabbed over. This had been happening frequently these past few days. Qi's mother could only bring some clean water to wash the children, sighing softly. She said, "Grandma will pick you up from school from now on. Your mother is back; go see her!"
Only the youngest, Wang Hong, ran inside crying, "Mommy, Mommy, you're back! Mom, I missed you..."
Wang Fang and Wang Dong watched coldly from the doorway. Wang Hong was sobbing uncontrollably, clinging to Qi Zhifang's chest, her little hands pounding on her mother.
Tears streamed down Qi Zhifang's face, her soft sobs turning into muffled sobs, and finally into loud wails. When she looked up towards the door, she saw Wang Dong and Wang Fang staring at her with hatred. Their cold eyes, combined with the gruesome injuries on their faces, made her tremble as if she had fallen into an ice cave. She stood there, stunned, and asked in disbelief, "Dongdong, Fangfang, what happened to you?"
Wang Dong was furious, his face flushed red, like a raging wild beast. He yelled at Qi Zhifang, "Don't call us by our names! How dare you come back? Do you know what people outside call you? You're a criminal, a female hooligan, a slut! Why don't you just die out there!"
Qi's mother covered her mouth and cried out, "How could you say that about your mother? Who was your mother doing that for?"
Wang Fang spat and shouted angrily, "For whom? It was for herself, for her new clothes, for perfume on her face, for flowers in her hair! Was it for us? We only ate a few bites of her food. The pension my father left us was enough to raise us. But you, you slut, you cheap woman, spent it all on yourself! You wicked devil, you don't deserve to be a mother! Do you know that now when my brother, sister, and I go to school, people chase after us, yell at us, and beat us. They say we're the daughters of a slut, the daughters of a criminal. We wish we didn't have you as our mother!"
The brother and sister glared at her hatefully and ran out, while their mother shouted, "Come back! Come back here!"
Qi Zhifang, holding her youngest daughter, broke down in tears. Her mother turned and chased after them, but she couldn't catch up with the enraged Wang Dong and Wang Fang. When she turned back, she found Qi Zhifang on the verge of collapse, muttering, "Die, die! Die! Just die already! If I die, everyone will be clean." She quickly comforted her, "Fangzi, you can't die! You still have us. Dongdong and Fangfang just haven't gotten over it yet. We're family. This is a hurdle; if you can't get over it, it's a hurdle, but if you do, it's a chasm! Listen to me, Fangzi!"
Qi Zhifang cried out in anguish, "What did I do wrong? How could I be so deserving of death? How did things come to this!" She pounded her head with her fists, but her mother stopped her and held her in her arms. She couldn't help but hate Wang Yanda. Since his death, her life had been a mess. If he couldn't give her a life together until old age, why did he ever bother with her? He was a bastard; men were all liars and unreliable.
Mother Qi, heartbroken, said, "It's not your fault, it's not your fault. It's all Xiao Wei's fault. Back then, we were doing just fine on our combined monthly allowance of 68 yuan. But she was so short-sighted, always wanting more than her share of eggs and meat, and she made such a mess of things. Otherwise, your father wouldn't have passed away so soon..."
Qi Zhifang spoke in a hoarse voice, her words like a sawing motion: "She's not human, she's an animal!"
It's not that the Qi family is an isolated family; their values are remarkably aligned. Three generations of three people, head to head, are preparing to shoulder the unknown storms of the future with their frail bodies. Everyone knows that the road ahead will be difficult, but isn't the purpose of being born to survive? This is probably what life is all about!
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