Following the route she remembered, Grandma Wu arrived at the gate of the textile factory.
The towering, mottled red bricks exuded an atmosphere unique to this era. Standing before the gate, Old Mrs. Wu was momentarily lost in thought, unsure whether she had truly returned or if this was merely a dream before her death...
"Hey! Mingxia, what are you doing standing in front of the factory gate instead of going inside?"
A voice, not young but full of energy, suddenly rang out behind her. Old Mrs. Wu paused for a moment, then turned around to see a familiar yet blurry face.
"Wang's daughter-in-law?"
The newcomer waved his hand and said reproachfully, "What do you mean, 'Wang family's daughter-in-law'? That's too formal. Just call me Old Yu."
After a moment's thought, a name suddenly popped into Grandma Wu's mind: Yu Meixia.
As Yu Meixia's chattering voice reached my ears, long-buried memories slowly resurfaced.
Their compound was divided into front and back yards. The Huang family lived in the back yard, while Yu Meixia's husband's family, the Wang family, lived in the front yard.
The two families are related by marriage; the man from the Wang family is the maternal uncle of the eldest daughter-in-law, Wang Huijun.
Yu Meixia talked for a long time, but when she looked up, she saw that Old Lady Wu's expression was unfocused, and it was clear that she hadn't listened to what she was saying.
He immediately reached out and patted her on the shoulder, "Hey, Mingxia, what's wrong with you?"
Grandma Wu snapped out of her reverie, lowered her eyes, and was about to speak when Yu Meixia raised her hand to stop her, "Alright, don't say anything if you're in a difficult position. I understand."
Grandma Wu looked at her, puzzled. Was she embarrassed? Did she understand? She hadn't said anything.
Yu Meixia sighed, patting Old Lady Wu's back with pity and a comforting gesture. Seeing Mingxia's troubled expression and furrowed brows, she knew...
"I......"
"Yesterday, the news of him bringing people to collect debts on Wednesday spread throughout the entire compound... a whole eight hundred yuan."
"How long is this going to take? I'm telling you, even a clay figure is tougher than you. If it were me, I'd just hold a knife to Huang Mancang's neck and ask him one question: 'If you want to live, quit gambling!'"
A dark glint flashed in Old Mrs. Wu's eyes. Yu Meixia looked at her embarrassedly after she finished speaking, "You... don't blame me for being nosy."
How could that be?
Looking back now, I realize I was too lenient with that bastard yesterday. For all the years she's been married to Huang Mancang, he's been bullying her and pinning her down.
How could she possibly become obedient just because of a beating?
Seeing that she still didn't speak, but her expression had improved considerably, Yu Meixia breathed a sigh of relief.
Thinking that her niece's personality was not much different from that of the old lady Wu in front of her, both were weak and had not been able to find a good man.
She suspected that both of their eyes were covered in eye boogers, which was why they dug these two dog things out of the pile of dog poop.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were a pair of punching bags. She had told her niece countless times about her temper, but she only listened to one sentence: whenever the man hit her, she would run back to her parents' home.
Wu Mingxia used to be a loner, often with bruises on his face, and he was timid and didn't talk to anyone.
In the past, when she tried to strike up a conversation, she would just respond with "uh-huh" and "oh-oh," which made her feel awkward.
This morning, Grandma Wu stood tall and proud, a far cry from her usual timid self. Her gaze was firm, as if she were about to join the Party. She had undergone a complete transformation, like a different person.
She approached her on a whim, but to her surprise, although Old Mrs. Wu's demeanor had changed, she still didn't like to talk.
"How come?"
Yu Meixia's disappointed heart skipped a beat, and she instantly beamed with joy. "There's still a long way to go. Don't worry, everything will be alright."
Wu Mingxia nodded, and the two entered the textile factory together.
The two lingered at the entrance for a while, while many workers had already arrived at the factory.
Every day at the routine morning meeting, they would listen to the factory manager speak. Now that the factory manager hadn't arrived yet, the workers were chattering away, talking about who had given birth today, who got married, and whose wife had been scolded by her mother-in-law again. All sorts of trivial matters flooded into Old Lady Wu's ears.
The main topic of conversation was naturally the matter of Huang Mancang being harassed by creditors yesterday for his huge debts.
Grandma Wu and Yu Meixia stood at the back, so naturally no one paid attention to them, and they talked about all sorts of things.
Some criticized Huang Mancang for not being a real man, for not knowing his own worth, and for messing around outside. Now he's not only burdened with huge debts, but he's also been beaten black and blue, with blood on his chest.
Some also criticized Old Lady Wu for not being able to control her husband, allowing Huang Mancang to have affairs outside the home.
Others brought up Huang's sons, saying that Huang Mancang was bad at farming and the crops he grew were of poor quality. They also said that his sons were troublesome, being in their mid-twenties and still bedridden at home, leaving their parents to support them.
There were many different opinions, but Old Mrs. Wu found them quite interesting and nodded from time to time.
Those who are discussing it are talking enthusiastically, and those being discussed are listening with great interest.
As one of the women got excited, she wiped her mouth, lowered her head, and said to the people in front of her, "Didn't they say that Huang Mancang and his sons were beaten?"
The others looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Yes, what's wrong?"
The woman sighed, clicked her tongue, and said, "You all think it was the Huang family men who got into a fight with the debt collectors and got beaten up, but actually..."
"Isn't that right?" Seeing the woman stop mid-sentence, the group urged her repeatedly, "Tell us quickly, what exactly happened? Tell us now!"
The woman, having piqued everyone's curiosity, continued, "Actually, they were all beaten by Wu Mingxia; the debt collectors didn't even lift a finger."
The group scoffed repeatedly, then immediately looked up. "What are you bragging about?"
"Everything I said is true."
"Wu Mingxia has been beaten by that man for decades; she's almost been driven insane by the beatings. Oh! Now you're saying she was the one who did it? Who would believe that?"
"That's right, that's right."
The group waved their hands silently, looking like they didn't want to listen to her nonsense.
The woman straightened up, about to stop the departing group, when she suddenly froze, "Wu...Wu Mingxia..."
The group of people who were about to leave were also taken aback. They slowly turned around and saw the person they were talking about standing not far away. They were instantly embarrassed.
Old Mrs. Wu was fine, but Yu Meixia got angry when she saw them accusing Old Mrs. Wu of hitting people.
"You saw it? You're just making baseless accusations!"
The women who wanted to leave pouted, "We didn't say anything, it was Zhou Pandi who said it."
"It's you again! Zhou Pandi, you can't stand to see others doing well, can you?"
Old Mrs. Wu grabbed the agitated Yu Meixia, saying, "Alright, alright, they..."
"Shut up." Old Mrs. Wu's lips twitched as Yu Meixia snapped at her. There was no need to get so angry; what they said was... true.
Immediately afterwards, Yu Meixia crossed her arms and shouted at Zhou Pandi aggressively, "You bitch, you big mouth, your mouth is as loose as a cotton waistband."
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