Lu Yang knew that a list would be posted at the entrance of the textile factory today, but he was too busy to wait and could only wait anxiously.
"Battalion Commander, Battalion Commander Wang is looking for you."
Lu Yang had not seen Wang Minggui since they met at the textile factory two days ago.
"Old Lu."
In just two days, Wang Minggui looked much older, with stubble on his face that he didn't bother to take care of, and he was still wearing the same clothes he had worn two days ago.
After all, the two had known each other for more than 10 years and had once entrusted their lives to each other. Looking at him, Lu Yang couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
"I sent your sister-in-law back to her hometown."
Wang Minggui was completely exhausted. He swallowed his pride and begged Director Shen and the military region for leniency, and finally managed to end the matter by making a self-criticism in front of the entire family compound.
Besides Zhou Lian needing to write a self-criticism, he also needs to write one.
Lu Yang remained silent; he stayed home that day and did not attend the self-criticism meeting.
Wang Minggui smiled wryly. Back when they were in their hometown, he had been holding his breath, eager to bring his whole family over for a reunion as soon as possible.
But who could have imagined that it would turn out like this after only half a year?
After the self-criticism meeting, Wang Minggui was filled with shame and went home with a livid face. Many of the people sitting in the audience were his subordinates. How was he going to face them in the future?
Zhou Lian dragged her heavy steps home, almost like a walking corpse. The neighbors she met on the way probably laughed at her.
No matter how clever or greedy she was, she was still Zhou Lian, who grew up in the countryside and had never seen anything like this before.
The leaders she rarely had the chance to see before sat upright, their imposing faces making her feel inferior and guilty, suffocating her.
The written confession announcing her crimes was drafted by people from the Women's Federation. Zhou Lian held the paper and suddenly found it somewhat ridiculous.
She had been here for more than half a year and had put in so much effort to finally recognize most of the words on this letter of self-criticism, only to find herself announcing her crimes in front of everyone.
The neighbors below, both familiar and unfamiliar, gasped from time to time, their eyes filled with disdain as they looked over.
She used to think she was thick-skinned, like a dead pig that isn't afraid of boiling water, and that she didn't care what others thought of her no matter what she did.
But when she sat on the high platform, facing the dense crowd below, she still bent down, wishing she could curl up and hide herself.
Deep down, she was actually insecure.
After more than ten years of marriage, Zhou Lian raised these children single-handedly. Finally, she was able to come to the city to live a good life. At that moment, Zhou Lian felt proud and triumphant.
But it wasn't until she arrived here that she discovered it wasn't like that at all.
There are many people here, and quite a few like her who are illiterate, but most of them are young women living in the city.
She didn't enjoy the good life that everyone envied after she came here.
This won't do.
So Zhou Lian, relying on her experience in the countryside, directly seized Song Qing's house, since city dwellers all want to live in apartment buildings.
He studied hard and learned his own name through literacy classes, and he also worked hard to pass the exam to become a worker in a textile factory.
Which city dweller isn't a worker?
Despite all her efforts, nothing has changed; she is still the same Zhou Lian.
I can never truly fit in with most of the people here.
Er Ya hasn't been to school for the past two days. Today, when she went downstairs, she ran into the neighbor's child. The child went to their building and pointed at their door.
She pursed her lips and still carried her basket to the market to buy groceries, choosing to ignore what they were saying.
Sanya followed behind her sister, but she wasn't as strong and choked up with anger at those people.
"sister?"
Sanya hates this place. She never went to school back in her hometown, but now Zhou Lian has thrown her into first grade, and she can't understand what the teacher is saying at all.
Her classmates also laughed at her, saying she was stupid and couldn't even understand this. They said it would probably get worse after what happened with her mother, and she was already afraid to go to school.
Er Ya didn't know what to do either. She mechanically bought some vegetables and went home to cook. The other children in the family didn't go out either; they all gathered in that small room.
Tie Dan's foot turned blue after his father kicked him, and he's in so much pain today that he can't walk.
They hid at home, but they could still hear his mother's tearful voice coming from the loudspeaker in the residential compound.
Sanya mechanically hugged her youngest brother, who seemed to know the situation at home and hadn't cried all day.
The group sat there for a long time before finally hearing the door open; their parents had returned.
As soon as Zhou Lian entered the room, she went back inside and cried. Wang Minggui sat in the living room for a while before they went into the room and started arguing.
"Wang Minggui, I'd rather die than go back!"
She had just felt extremely ashamed and embarrassed, but now she only felt angry. She had endured so many years just to bring her children out and live a better life.
Everyone in the village knew they were coming to join the army, and everyone envied them. If she went back now, how would she explain it?
“Just tell the truth, say you stole things from the factory, embezzled confidential documents, and have no face to stay here!”
Wang Minggui was also holding his breath, and they were both stabbing each other in the heart, wishing they could pull out flesh and blood when they did.
The two argued fiercely in the room, smashing many things in the process. The children were so frightened that they huddled in the corner and didn't dare to go out.
The argument outside continued into the night. Zhou Lian didn't know what Wang Minggui said, but in the end, she had no choice but to agree to go home.
"The house will be returned in a few days, you can apply to move there now."
After hesitating for a long time, Wang Minggui finally spoke up: this was why he came to find Lu Yang.
Housing in the family compound is in short supply; if there are any vacancies, others can apply to switch.
"They've already left, and the house has been cleaned up."
Wang Minggui felt some regret. If he had been more assertive and returned the house to Lu Yang after Zhou Lian moved her things in, he could have kept her in check.
If she hadn't been allowed to think that she could easily obtain what didn't belong to her using her own methods, perhaps Zhou Lian wouldn't have become so ruthless.
But it's too late to say anything now; he couldn't control her back then.
Although I don't have the ability to clean up her messes, I should have set boundaries from the beginning and told her that the rules here are different from those in her hometown.
Zhou Lian packed her things overnight and took the train back to her hometown the next day. She didn't say a word to the other person until they boarded the train.
“Our current house is fine, we should leave that house for someone else who needs it,” Lu Yang said after thinking for a moment.
“It’s a bit dangerous for my sister-in-law to take so many children back to her hometown by train alone.”
Lu Yang didn't have a good impression of Zhou Lian, but he still felt uncomfortable when he heard that Wang Minggui actually let them take the train back to their hometown alone.
If Wang Minggui wanted to, he could easily get leave to send them back, even if it would take a few days.
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