Chapter 40 Ants "Even ants can shake a tree, so don't underestimate ants..."
"Captain, Zhou Changqing and his wife from Zhoujiawowo Production Brigade went to Fan Wu's house to break off their engagement! You should go and take a look!"
With a headache, Li Ming quickly put on his padded jacket and went outside.
Breaking off an engagement is a big deal, especially when it's between families from two different production teams who have fallen out and want to break off the engagement; it's no less than a "diplomatic incident."
Li Ming walked very fast, thinking all the way about what to say and what to do.
When an engagement is called off, it usually involves a direct confrontation between the two families after the matchmaker's mediation fails. Arguments and tears are inevitable. At this point, the production team cadres need to step in. Generally, it is the women's director of the brigade or the women's leader of the production team who will step forward to criticize and educate the family that proposed the annulment. After all, they have bullied "their own family," so how can they be allowed to annul the engagement and ruin the girl's reputation so easily?
The position of women's team leader in Tonggan production team has been vacant for a long time, and now Li Ming, who is the team leader, has no choice but to bite the bullet and take on the role.
A crowd had already gathered in circles in front of the Fan family's house; everyone in the production team had come to see what was going on.
Li Ming squeezed his way in with difficulty, and sure enough, they were already arguing.
However, criticism and education are already being carried out.
A man in his fifties, his face contorted with malice, said with a livid expression, "Anyway, my family wouldn't dare take a wife who can't produce a son!"
The young woman standing at the door next to the Fan family's house questioned him in a clear voice, "Where did you come from? Were you born from your mother? If you didn't have a mother, where would you be? Is your mother someone else's daughter? If you didn't have a daughter, where would a child come from?"
Zhou Changqing was stumped by a series of questions. Unable to answer, he could only glare at Zhong Ying and say, "And who are you? What are you, an unmarried girl, doing getting involved in this kind of thing!"
Deng Xia stepped forward, glaring back even more fiercely, "My daughter! Take those eyes off her! How dare you glare at my daughter! You filthy thing with sores on your back and pus oozing from your belly button, have you forgotten where you came from? If your mother knew you were such a womanizer, she should have stuffed you back in when she gave birth to you..."
Seeing her husband being verbally abused, Zhou Changqing's wife stepped forward and retorted, "What business is it of yours that we came to the Fan family to break off the engagement?! You nosy shrew!"
Zhong Ying was displeased. Why was she even cursing her mother? "Auntie, you're wrong. A close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. If our neighbor is in trouble, can we just stand by and watch? My Uncle Fan is stupid, and Aunt Fan is simple-minded. We can't argue with you, but this matter is wrong of you. Erni is a good girl, and you've humiliated her like this, making her want to break off the engagement. Even the heavens would cry out in injustice!"
Fan Wu, who was labeled as "stupid": ...
Okay, he's definitely not as strong as the mother and daughter next door in terms of fighting ability.
Nie Ying is a simple-minded person: ...
Oh well, let her be silly. Even when she's really furious, all she'll do is pounce on someone and scratch their face.
Zhou Changqing glared at Zhong Ying with a cold eye, pointed at her nose and spat, "What's wrong with our family?! Her mother has only given birth to daughters her whole life, and her eldest sister already has three girls! My third son still needs to carry on the family line! Who knows if Erni will be like her mother and her eldest sister, only giving birth to girls and no boys!"
“Does your family have a throne? And you want to carry on the family line! Why didn’t the Four Cleanups Movement wipe out all those feudal remnants from your head?” Zhong Ying retorted without holding back. “If your family doesn’t want a girl, and his family doesn’t want a girl, and all the girls born are drowned, can men have children with men? That would truly mean the family line will die out!”
The onlookers were in an uproar. They had always taken the union of men and women and the procreation of children for granted. Although most people preferred sons to daughters, they had never thought that if there were no women and only men remained... Thinking about it this way, women are indeed quite important. Men and men can't have children!
After saying all that in one breath, Zhong Ying returned to the same question, "I'm just asking you, where did you come from? Could you have existed without your mother?"
The question of whether the chicken or the egg came first can drive someone crazy!
When Zhou Changqing still couldn't answer, the onlookers pressed him even harder.
"Why did you stop talking? You were quite talkative just now!" Lin Shuhong deliberately raised her voice to ask him, "Where would you be without your mother?"
Nie Jinfeng chimed in, "That's right, without your mother, where would you be!"
Zhou Changqing was utterly humiliated and said angrily, "So, you from the Tonggan Production Team ganged up on us to bully people!"
Li Ming could no longer stand idly by; he had to step forward, lest he be branded with such a serious accusation.
“Uncle, you’re not right about that,” Zhong Ying said first, her expression serious and righteous. “This isn’t bullying. Everyone is just asking you questions to make you face the origin of your life.”
He couldn't win an argument with this young lady, nor could he win a high-sounding debate. Zhou Changqing snorted angrily, gritting his teeth, "Fine, my family won't call off the engagement then!"
Fan Erni rushed out of her house, shouting, "No!"
Looking at Zhong Ying, who stood upright in front of her, Fan Erni clenched her fists as if drawing strength from them, and mustered her courage to say in front of everyone, "The trouble your family caused caused my older sister to have a premature birth, so I don't want to marry into your family anymore!"
Moreover, although Fan Erni is gentle, she is clear-headed. Today, the Zhou family came to break off the engagement because they were worried that she would not be able to give birth to a son in the future. Even if she was forced to accept the marriage due to pressure, she would not have a good life after marrying into the family. She would just repeat the kind of life that her father gave to her mother.
The crowd erupted in uproar again, as they had never seen a young woman talk about such a thing herself.
Even Nie Ying anxiously pulled her daughter over, scolding her in a low voice, "Why are you saying this?!"
Only Zhong Ying cast an approving glance at Fan Erni. She turned back to look directly at the old man Zhou Changqing, shaking her head with a regretful expression. "Uncle, look at the mess your family has made. It's ruined a perfectly good girl's marriage prospects. Since the woman is unwilling, let's just call off this marriage!"
Zhou Changqing nearly fainted from anger. If these words got out, wouldn't everyone think there was something wrong with his family that made the girl unwilling to marry him?! And what did he mean by the woman being unwilling? It was clearly the men who were unwilling first! This was turning black into white! This was blatant distortion of the truth!
Zhong Ying didn't give him a chance to explain, and kept talking to the onlookers, "A family with a daughter is sought after by a hundred families. If one family doesn't want her, there are other families! Uncles and aunts, when you have time, please help Erni find a good young man from another family!"
Breaking off an engagement would severely damage a woman's reputation. The others, having seen it all over the years, naturally understood the deeper meaning behind Zhong Ying's words. This girl is quick-witted! By letting them go out and inquire first, she was essentially putting in a good word for Fan's second daughter, preventing people from gossiping behind her back.
Hu immediately agreed, "Don't worry, I'll definitely find you another good young man!"
With that mouth of hers, everyone will know tomorrow that this marriage is not the man's fault at all, and the woman has absolutely no problem!
Zhong Ying nodded in satisfaction. After shifting the blame, she planned to leave. "Uncle Fan, Aunt Fan, although the groom's family did something wrong, we shouldn't be too harsh on them, nor should we be too unforgiving. You two families can sit down and discuss how to return the betrothal gifts. I'm just a kid and I don't understand these things."
Fan Wu and Nie Ying nodded repeatedly, echoing her words, "Yes, the man was wrong, but we are magnanimous people."
Zhou Changqing staggered in anger, but his wife quickly caught him. His finger trembled as he pointed at Zhong Ying, "You...you're saying you're a child and don't understand anything now..."
Why didn't you mention that when you were shutting him down with one barrage of questions after another? And you even said something about "not being too unforgiving"? What else is this if not being unforgiving?
Zhou Changqing was so angry that he was panting heavily.
Zhong Ying was so frightened that she quickly ran back to her own home, hoping that the old man wouldn't get angry and start blaming her again!
Li Ming stepped forward and supported Zhou Changqing's other arm, then patted his back to help him catch his breath. "Don't worry, I'm the team leader of Tonggan Production Team. Now that things have been explained clearly, let's proceed with the annulment of the engagement..."
It has to be said that Zhong Ying handled this matter very well. Li Ming thought to himself, not only did she protect the reputation and interests of the members, but she also made a reasonable argument that left people speechless. Even he couldn't have handled it so skillfully.
Li Ming thought that if Zhong Lao Er's daughter were to marry into their Tonggan Production Team in the future, the vacancy for the women's team leader would be filled.
While dealing with the Zhou family, he absentmindedly thought about the unmarried young men in the production team. After lining them up, Li Ming suddenly felt a pang of regret. If only his youngest son were still alive, such a wonderful girl would already be his daughter-in-law...
Zhong Ying was unaware that another person was hoping for her marriage. She hid in the courtyard, while her family members were still outside the door, except for the dead ghost who followed her.
Just now, Li Lin was standing behind Zhong Ying. The Zhou family's angry glares and accusations towards Zhong Ying seemed to be directed at him as well. It was the first time he had directly experienced such contempt, disdain, and scolding, but these were the norm for women.
Zhong Ying continued talking to the dead man about what had been interrupted by the Zhou family's attempt to break off the engagement, saying, "In the future, women will give birth in hospitals, in sterile operating rooms. If there is a difficult labor, a natural birth won't be possible; a cesarean section will be necessary. There may also be emergencies such as amniotic fluid obstruction. All of these must be handled by professional doctors, not by a midwife! Boiling water! Scalding scissors!"
Zhong Ying broke down again towards the end, saying, "The gates of hell are on earth!"
It's not that she was cowardly compared to other women, but rather that she was ignorant and fearless. Women in that era were pushed around; if they got pregnant, they had no choice but to give birth. Even if some couldn't survive childbirth, they would only be casually called "heartless mothers," and ridiculed. What woman would be so heartless as to risk her life? Who wants to die? Zhong Ying didn't want to either.
“My aunt is a perfect example; she died during childbirth.” Zhong Ying’s fear of men has reached its peak. Right now, any living, breathing man is no less than a monster in her eyes. “If I really get married, I might have to go down to the underworld to join you in a few years.”
After saying that, Zhong Ying suddenly had a flash of inspiration and immediately looked at Li Linshi suspiciously, "You wouldn't be thinking of doing this, would you? Using someone else to do your dirty work?"
Li Linshi, who had been deep in thought, suddenly turned ashen-faced. "I...didn't..."
Zhong Ying chuckled awkwardly, "That's good. Anyway, only being a widow can save my life now. I'm determined to marry you. I'm sorry, brother, only by marrying you can I have a chance to live to ninety-nine... To marry any living, breathing man right now, I have to have a child, and I have to have a son..."
Li Lin hesitated, beginning to doubt whether his insistence on his ideas was correct. After the incident involving the two Fan sisters, marriage and childbirth were no longer just two words in the conceptual sense, but real, even bloody, experiences.
“I didn’t know… women had to suffer so much,” Li Linshi said with difficulty.
Zhong Ying shrugged. "Those who benefit from the status quo certainly can't see it. After all, in the current environment of traditional values, women's role is to 'give' and men's role is to 'receive'."
A row of small black dots crawled across the land, diligently carrying away scraps and leftovers.
Zhong Ying suddenly remembered what Ox-Head and Horse-Face had said about the mountain god entering the world, which was actually quite appropriate for the present moment.
She pointed to the ants on the ground, "Do humans know what kind of suffering ants endure? Humans don't know, only the ants themselves and their kind know. Similarly, most men are like us, looking down at the ants at this moment, while women are like these ants."
Li Linshi looked at the ants on the ground. If he weren't a ghost, he probably wouldn't be able to perceive the "ants'" perspective and glimpse the other half of the world.
“But…” Zhong Ying seemed to be completely captivated by the tiny black dots on the ground. She murmured, “Ants can shake a tree, so don’t underestimate ants.”
-----------------------
The author's note: Not refusing is equivalent to agreeing.
Congratulations to Yingnier on her successful marriage proposal!
Next comes convincing the parents to agree to the marriage (let's stir things up!)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
