Chapter 39: Divorce and economic independence brought Shen Jing confidence and dignity...
With the help of Lu Zhe and Chu Yanxi, Chen Jing finally completed her initial transformation.
During the training period, it was like moving a withered plant that had been lacking nutrition and sunlight for a long time into the sun, watering and fertilizing it. Although its branches and trunks were still slender, its inner strength had quietly grown.
Chen Jing was no longer the timid woman who could only bow her head and wipe away tears, trembling under her husband Lu Youkun's fists and feet. She had seen the busy, bright-eyed working women on the streets of Jiangcheng, earned her own wages, and truly felt the taste of respect and recognition earned through her own labor.
Chu Yanxi's patient guidance in teaching her to recognize and type characters, the trainer's sincere praise of her household management skills, and the atmosphere of mutual encouragement and progress among the trainees all planted seeds in her heart, nurturing the seedlings of independence and self-respect.
Lu Youkun returned drunk once again. His pent-up resentment, amplified by the alcohol, caused him to revert to his old ways, cursing and raising his hand to strike. In the past, Chen Jing would have instinctively hugged her child, huddled in a corner, and silently endured everything with tears in her eyes. But this time, just before the familiar slap was about to land, she abruptly raised her head, looked directly into Lu Youkun's eyes, her voice trembling slightly with tension, yet carrying an unprecedented clarity and determination: "Lu Youkun! If you dare lay a hand on me again, I'll divorce you!"
Lu Youkun was stunned, his arm frozen in mid-air, seemingly unable to comprehend that this resistance came from his usually submissive wife.
This brief standoff gave Chenjing courage. She quickly picked up her child, who had already woken up, her face pale with fright, and dared not cry out, and resolutely opened the door and stepped into the darkness outside.
The factory compound was completely silent in the dead of night, except for the pounding of her own heartbeat. Holding her quiet child, her steps, which had initially been frantic and unsteady, gradually became firm and strong as she walked straight towards the temporary accommodation that Lu Zhe and Chu Yanxi had prepared for them.
Once that step was taken, Chen Jing had no intention of turning back.
With Lu Zhe's unwavering support and Chu Yanxi's calm assistance, Shen Jing formally filed for divorce from Lu Youkun. This news, like a boulder thrown into stagnant water, stirred up a storm in the conservative and closed-off family compound. In an instant, countless glares, whispers, and open pointing fingers swept over her like a chilling wind.
"Why would a woman get a divorce? Isn't that shameful!"
"The child is already so big, why are you still making such a fuss?"
"She must have gone astray outside and climbed up to a higher social class, looking down on her laid-off husband."
Amidst the rumors and gossip, there was also immense pressure on Lu Youkun and his family.
Her in-laws and sisters-in-law took turns trying to persuade her, sometimes gently reminiscing about past hardships and attempting to bind her with traditional concepts of "family integrity" and "a child cannot be without a father"; at other times, they verbally abused her, accusing her of being "shameless," "blinded by the outside world," and "forgetting her duty."
Even her parents, who were far away in their hometown, rushed over after hearing the news. They expressed extreme incomprehension and anger, tearfully scolding her for "bringing shame to the whole family" and "not being a proper woman," and pleading with her to swallow her anger for the sake of the children and their reputation.
However, this time, she displayed a resilience that impressed everyone.
During the day, she helps with cleaning, organizing materials, and answering inquiries at the Jiangcheng Breaking Cocoon Training School run by Lu Zhe and Chu Yanxi, using her busy schedule to dilute the distractions; at night, she actively participates in more in-depth skills training, diligently practicing typing and office software operation.
Chu Yanxi had already arranged a private room for her. Although the furnishings were simple, it was clean and tidy, with bright windows and spotless furniture, allowing sunlight to stream in without any obstruction. This was the first "home" in her life that she truly controlled.
Here, she doesn't need to worry about anyone's opinion; she can breathe freely and sleep peacefully.
More importantly, in the small world of "Breaking Out of the Cocoon," she met several female factory workers who were also facing layoffs or family difficulties but were striving to find a way out. They confided their troubles to each other, shared life tips, and encouraged one another. This understanding and support based on shared fate was a warmth she had never experienced in her oppressive family life.
Economic independence has given Chen Jing confidence and dignity.
When she used her hard-earned wages to buy her child a beautiful new outfit for the first time, and appeared before those critics dressed appropriately with a calm and confident smile, many people seemed to truly get to know this woman named Chenjing for the first time.
She is no longer just "Lu Youkun's wife" or "Lu Zhe's mother," she is herself.
Chen Jing's quiet persistence, along with the support of Chu Yanxi and her fellow students, solidified her resolve. Gradually, the dissenting voices subsided.
Ultimately, with the help of divorce lawyer Lu Zhe, Lu Youkun agreed to the divorce and relinquished custody of the child.
Looking at his mother standing up again, Lu Zhe felt immense joy. His time travel had been meaningful! He had finally made up for the biggest regret of his life, giving his mother a new life, helping her find her purpose in life, and bringing a genuine smile to her face.
Lu Zhe excitedly hugged the two-year-old "Little Lu Zhe" and whispered in his ear, "When you grow up, you must love your mother well. She is really, really great."
Little Lu Zhe nodded emphatically and replied sensibly, "Yes! I will be good and grow up quickly."
Chu Yanxi bent down and looked into the little child's clear and innocent eyes: "You must also take good care of yourself."
Lu Zhe nodded, seemingly understanding, "Okay."
Looking at the little "himself" in front of him, who longed to grow up quickly, Lu Zhe's vision blurred a little, and a blessing arose from his heart: "You will grow up healthy and become a brave man who is useful to society and responsible to your family. Your mother will also have a peaceful and smooth life and be proud of you."
He stood quietly to the side and bowed deeply: "Thank you."
Chu Yanxi quickly helped her up and smiled, "Everything will be alright, keep going!"
Having put this biggest worry to rest, Lu Zhe and Chu Yanxi returned to their home in the north.
No one knows when the next time travel will come, so they put all their energy into building the northern "Breaking the Cocoon" training branch.
With their proven operating model in Jiangcheng, their established reputation, and their familiarity with local customs and traditions, the Pojian branch school near the Hongxing Textile Factory progressed more smoothly than expected.
They remained pragmatic and found an old warehouse with low rent on the edge of the factory area. They personally led the workers to paint the walls, repair the circuits, and install bright light tubes.
Lu Zhe navigated the local industry and commerce, taxation, and street management departments with ease. His sunny and sincere attitude, clear thinking, and identity as a "trade union officer of Hongxing Textile Factory" made the process much smoother.
Chu Yanxi quickly launched a survey of the local labor market demand. Based on the Jiangcheng curriculum system, she made minor adjustments to the courses to better suit the characteristics of local industries, such as "Basic Accounting and Warehouse Management Practices", "Simple Repair and Maintenance of Textile Equipment", and "Retail Service and Merchandise Display". She also began to recruit a group of local part-time lecturers who had both practical experience and teaching ability.
Chu Yanxi, a former female worker at the Hongxing Textile Factory, and Lu Zhe, an eloquent and well-liked union official, returned to the factory after a three-month unpaid leave, having successfully started their own business. This in itself was a highly persuasive and attractive advertisement. Furthermore, with the shadow of mass layoffs looming overhead and panic and confusion permeating every corner of the factory area, the practical skills training offered by the Breakthrough Training School undoubtedly became a lifeline for many.
After the enrollment brochure was posted, people came in droves to inquire and register. Soon, the converted warehouse classroom was once again filled with laid-off workers of different ages and backgrounds, but whose eyes all shone with the same anxiety and longing.
Like a tenacious little grass, the Breakthrough Training School took root on the edge of the increasingly desolate shadow of the Red Star Factory, and grew slowly but steadily against the winds and rains of the times.
The first few months were also exceptionally difficult, with people remaining skeptical of this new thing.
"Will I really be able to find a job after learning this?"
"It must be expensive, right? Don't tell me it's a scam."
...
Amidst various doubts, Chu Yanxi and Lu Zhe devoted tremendous effort, handling various affairs of the branch school during the day and preparing lessons and holding discussions at night, often working late into the night. Whenever the factory area fell silent, only the window of "Breaking Out of the Cocoon" was still lit, illuminating the figures of the two working at their desks.
But their persistence and professionalism soon bore fruit. Each vivid success story, like pebbles thrown into a lake, created ripples of hope:
Among the first batch of trainees was Song Yue, the daughter of Sister Wang from the former spinning workshop. She studied computer typing and office software for three months with a skeptical attitude, and surprisingly, she landed a cashier position at a newly opened large supermarket in the city! Although the salary wasn't very high, the working environment was clean and respectable, a world of difference compared to the hopeless wait for layoffs at the Hongxing Factory.
On the day she received the job offer, Song Yue excitedly ran to the training center, her eyes red and incoherent, almost kneeling down before Chu Yanxi and Lu Zhe.
At that moment, Chu Yanxi clearly felt a sense of accomplishment different from his previous experiences of solving cases and capturing criminals. It was a quiet and profound comfort, like sowing a seed and witnessing it sprout.
Liu Min, a former key member of the factory's arts and culture group who had spent her days in tears after being laid off, persevered by practicing typing and typesetting. With her refined manners and newly acquired skills, she successfully landed a job as a receptionist and secretary at a newly established advertising company, seemingly rejuvenating a withered flower. When she returned to share the good news, she choked up, saying, "Teacher Chu, Teacher Lu, you gave me a second path, making me feel like I'm still useful."
Old Li, an honest and hardworking warehouse worker who had spent half his life managing materials, was hired by a private logistics company that urgently needed standardized management after learning warehouse management. His salary doubled compared to when he worked at the factory. He excitedly brought Lu Zhe and Chu Yanxi a basket of fresh potatoes he had grown himself, smiling憨厚ly and rubbing his hands together, saying, "Teacher Lu, Teacher Chu, I don't have anything special, this is just a small token of my appreciation. Thank you for teaching this old guy new skills, so that I can still be of use at my age."
The most surprising and touching story is that of Ruan Xiaofen.
She returned from the rural textile factory with a little hard-earned money and a calmer demeanor honed by life's trials. Without hesitation, she enrolled in the advanced office software and business writing courses at the Breakthrough Training School.
Ruan Xiaofen studied harder than anyone else, often being the last to leave the classroom, her eyes filled with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, as if she wanted to make up for all the time she had wasted in the past. Her efforts and talent were noticed by Chu Yanxi, and after graduation, with Lu Zhe's approval, Ruan Xiaofen stayed at Pojian and became Chu Yanxi's most capable assistant.
Ruan Xiaofen is meticulous, conscientious, and extremely patient with her students. She quickly managed the complex affairs of course arrangement, student management, and financial income and expenditure in an orderly manner, becoming a veritable steward.
Ruan Xiaofen transformed from a lost girl in need of rescue into a capable individual who can help others. This is the most vivid and powerful proof of the spirit of breaking free from the cocoon, attracting more and more laid-off workers to sign up for training.
Breakthrough Northern Branch is no longer just a profit-making institution; it has gradually become a warm haven, a platform that provides skills, confidence, and hope to countless confused and distressed souls.
Whenever Chu Yanxi saw the students' eyes redden with excitement when they received their acceptance letters, and heard them say "Thank you, teacher" in their still somewhat hesitant but grateful tones, the hard shell that had formed around Chu Yanxi's heart due to her past life experiences quietly melted and softened. She began to feel a deep connection with the fate of others based on understanding and recognition.
Lu Zhe was often touched by this simple and sincere emotion. He realized that his inner pursuit of "helping others" and "upholding justice" was realized here in a more direct, warmer, and more down-to-earth way. This gave him a deeper understanding of the connotation of the legal profession - it is not only a game in the courtroom, but also a power of empowerment and problem-solving in daily life.
The steady development of my career has brought about a relatively stable and continuously growing income.
Chu Yanxi and Lu Zhe were extremely frugal in their personal lives, investing almost all of their profits in the further development of the Breakthrough Training School—purchasing new, more stable computers, expanding adjacent spaces to offer more professional courses such as "CAD Mechanical Drawing Fundamentals," and hiring more experienced senior lecturers.
The signboard of the Breakthrough Training Center has also been replaced with a more eye-catching and professional-looking red-background, white-letter metal signboard, which has become a bright spot on the edge of the gray factory area.
However, their most important and willing investment is in their family, in the bond of kinship they unexpectedly gained in this world, a bond that has grown increasingly heavy. Improving their family's living conditions so they can enjoy their later years is a shared and strong desire deep in Chu Yanxi and Lu Zhe's hearts.
The first major thing Chu Yanxi did was to persuade her parents, who were half-believing and half-doubting and had been used to living in the factory's dormitory all their lives, to use the money they earned from training to buy a two-bedroom apartment in a newly built residential complex that was a little further away from the factory but had a quiet and clean environment.
The house is small, only about 60 square meters, but it has a reasonable layout, a bright kitchen and bathroom, and plenty of natural light. There is also a well-maintained small garden and simple fitness facilities downstairs, which is in stark contrast to the old, crowded and noisy environment of the Hongxing Factory residential area.
On moving day, Wang Guifen, the mother, touched the smooth, flat walls, the brand-new aluminum alloy windows, and the brightly painted wooden doors. Tears streamed down her face as she repeatedly murmured, her voice filled with unbelievable joy: "How much money did this cost... This house is so nice, so bright, and it even has a toilet and a shower. Old man, we never thought we could live in such a nice house in our lives, did we?"
The father, Chu Jianguo, paced back and forth in the empty room several times, his hands behind his back. He would glance at the kitchen, touch the radiators, and finally stop on the balcony. Looking out the window, he saw not the familiar but oppressive factory chimneys, but green trees, flowerbeds, and the faint outlines of the city's rising skyscrapers in the distance. The usually taciturn and serious man couldn't help but smile slightly, and a barely perceptible gleam of peace and contentment belonging to "home" flashed in his eyes.
Chu Yanxi also secretly purchased several commercial medical and pension insurance policies in her parents' names, which were little known at the time. At the very least, before she left, she wanted to build the strongest possible economic barrier for these kind and simple elderly people, one that could withstand the unknown storms of the future.
Lu Zhe also spared no effort in improving his family's life.
He replaced the old TV with a larger color TV, a double-door refrigerator, and installed a telephone, which greatly improved his parents' convenience and comfort.
Lu Zhe also took out a sum of money to support his younger brother Lu Ming in taking the driving test. He had a serious talk with him, admonishing him to either find a proper job as a driver with his driver's license or use the money to start a small, reliable business. He was told he must never be idle and cause trouble like he used to be.
Although Lu Ming was still somewhat resentful, he admired his brother's achievements and courage in starting from scratch and making such a big splash in both the north and south. He toned down his carefree attitude and began to study and work in a down-to-earth manner.
Seeing his family's living conditions improve and his younger brother gradually get back on track, Lu Zhe felt a great sense of accomplishment.
One summer evening, the afterglow of the setting sun dyed the sky a brilliant golden-red, and the clouds seemed to be edged with dazzling gold.
Chu Yanxi stood on the bright balcony of her new home in Jing'an Garden, looking down at the lush community garden below where elderly people were leisurely strolling and playing chess.
In the pavilion, Father Chu Jianguo was engrossed in playing chess with several new neighbors, surrounded by a few elderly onlookers, their hushed conversations and relaxed laughter occasionally drifting through the air. From the kitchen came the sounds of Mother Wang Guifen bustling about, the pleasant clinking of spatulas against woks, and the comforting aroma of food filling the air.
Outside the window, rows of newly built residential buildings stand side by side, and further away, the bustling silhouette of the city skyline is rapidly growing taller.
Chu Yanxi stood quietly, letting the warm evening breeze caress her cheeks, feeling this unprecedented peace and satisfaction that she had helped create herself.
As dusk settled over the city, the city lights began to twinkle and traffic flowed steadily, while the familiar outline of the factory in the distance gradually blurred in the twilight. She was no longer the negotiation expert who only calmly analyzed cases and aimed to solve problems; with her wisdom, composure, hard work, and perseverance, she had genuinely changed the destinies of those around her, giving them the courage, ability, and hope to face the dramatic changes of the times.
The sense of accomplishment from this creation was deeper, more grounded, and warmer than any of her previous successful case negotiations.
Perhaps, staying here, watching the Pojian Training School grow and thrive, watching my parents grow old peacefully in this tranquil community, and maintaining this tacit and supportive relationship with Lu Zhe, would also be a happy and fulfilling life.
However, at the moment when she was most content and at peace, as if fate was deliberately reminding her that her journey was not yet over, without warning, a strong, familiar feeling of dizziness struck again.
The scene before my eyes instantly began to distort and blur: the warm golden light of the setting sun, the focused profile of my father as he played chess, the warm light emanating from the kitchen, the vibrant outline of the city outside the window…
Before she could say goodbye, Chu Yanxi's consciousness drifted away like a kite with a broken string, leaving behind the infinitely beautiful sunset of 1998, leaving behind the peace and connection she had created with her own hands.
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