Chapter 1378 Recalling the Bitterness and Thinking of the Sweetness 5
Feng Qingxue saw that the woman was unkempt and skinny. She looked older than herself, but she knew that she had taken better care of herself and that many people who looked similar to her were younger than her, so she couldn't tell the woman's age for sure. She just felt sorry for her, so she rummaged through her bag, took out a can, poured some water from a military kettle and handed it to her.
The lame woman was choking and when she saw the water in front of her, she thanked her and took it and drank it all in one gulp.
"Thank you, thank you!" The lame woman returned the can to Feng Qingxue and stuffed the last bite of the steamed bread into her mouth. Although she couldn't see Feng Qingxue's appearance, she was still very grateful, "Thank you, big sister."
Feng Qingxue squatted beside her, "What's your name? Why are you begging? Is there no one to take care of you?"
It is relatively less severe in rural areas where people flee from famine and beg for food, as no one cares. However, it is relatively stricter in cities, as people believe that begging for food will damage the reputation of the country. When they encounter such beggars, they will basically send them back to their hometowns after asking about their origins.
A trace of fear flashed in the lame woman's eyes. "I escaped. I can survive if I escape. If I go back, I will die."
"What's going on?" Feng Qingxue and the middle-aged woman asked in unison.
The lame woman burst into tears and choked up, "Auntie, sister, my name is Liu Guixiang, I'm 28 years old this year, I've had a very hard life, but I'm not afraid of any hardship, I'm just afraid of losing my life! When I was 16 or 17 years old, my parents exchanged me for 50 kilograms of dried sweet potatoes. The man I married was okay at first, but he changed after I gave birth to two daughters in succession. He wanted a son, so he killed both girls. When I was pregnant with the third one, he hung me up and beat me, causing me to miscarry, and the baby was a boy. Later, he treated me better because he wanted me to have a son, but I gave birth to another girl, and he broke my leg and refused to treat it, so I became lame in one leg, and the girl also starved to death. He wanted to continue beating me, and I couldn't stand it, so I ran away."
Feng Qingxue frowned, and the middle-aged woman sighed, "It's because of the preference for boys over girls! Women hold up half the sky, so why do some people still retain backward feudal old ideas? Then where are you going to escape to?"
Liu Guixiang whispered, "It doesn't matter where you go. At least you don't have to suffer a beating."
"Where is your mother's family?" asked the middle-aged woman.
Feng Qingxue didn't ask this question. Since Liu Guixiang did not choose to return to her parents' home, it meant that her parents' home were not human and would not tolerate her.
As expected, Liu Guixiang replied: "When I was beaten to a pulp, I went to my parents' home to ask for help, but they ignored me and advised me to go back and give birth to a son and live a good life with a man. You don't know how cold my heart was. I should have thought that they would not have any mercy on me, otherwise they would not have sold me for 50 kilograms of dried sweet potatoes. After I escaped, I never thought about going back to my parents' home because they would definitely send me back."
Having said this, she stood up and bowed deeply to the middle-aged woman and Feng Qingxue. "I have to go. The farther I go, the better. They won't be able to catch me. Thank you for your kindness, Auntie and Sister. Good people will be rewarded. You will definitely be rewarded!"
The middle-aged woman sighed and said nothing more.
Feng Qingxue thought about it, caught up with Liu Guixiang, stuffed ten yuan and a few kilograms of food coupons into her hands, and said, "It's not a good idea for you to stay like this. Find a place with simple folk customs to settle down, and say that you are a refugee from the mountains and beg for food. You can't remember where your hometown is, and you can also change your name."
(End of this chapter)