Ch 12: The Unfilial Children Trembles in Fear (QT)

Since Yun Xi was so outstanding, of course people took an interest in her. From time to time, coworkers would introduce potential partners to her, saying someone wanted to meet her.

Yun Xi said directly that making friends and getting to know more people was fine, but she would not be finding a husband.

Sister Qin asked curiously,

“Do you still have feelings for your former husband? Or can you not let go of your children, afraid they won’t get along with a stepfather?”

Yun Xi was puzzled.

“Neither. I just think things are pretty good now, and I don’t want to find anyone.

I finally managed to break free from all that family trouble. Isn’t it nice to be free?

If I find someone else, then I’ll have to deal with all that oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, inside-the-home, outside-the-home business. Wouldn’t that just be making trouble for myself out of boredom?”

Sister Qin and the other coworkers looked at one another.

“But… for a woman to live her life, she still needs a man, doesn’t she? If something happens, he can lend a hand, discuss things with you, and so on…”

Yun Xi laughed.

“Who says that? I’ve been a widow for almost twenty years, and I never needed a man to help with anything.

Before, I had to raise four children and marry them off. I got through even that kind of difficulty.

Now I’m alone, I don’t have to worry about anything, and I can earn a salary. I can live as comfortably as I want.

Imagine it for yourselves. Isn’t that kind of life wonderful?”

Living alone forever was a direction none of them had ever considered.

After all, their surroundings were like this. One either lived with a spouse or with the children. No one lived alone all the time.

Someone living alone would be gossiped about. People would say they had a bad personality, or that something was wrong with their body. In any case, there would be no pleasant words.

So they had naturally assumed that once Yun Xi’s life became smooth, she would also find a man who suited her.

Who knew Yun Xi did not think that way at all?

Several of them imagined it according to Yun Xi’s words. Although it was hard to change the old ideas in their hearts, living alone really did seem quite nice.

Before they could think too much, Yun Xi said,

“All right, all right. If I run into difficulties, I’ll ask the unit for help. If I encounter something hard, I’ll discuss it with everyone.

I already treat the city government as my home. If something really happens, would you not help me?

In any case, I don’t have that intention. If anyone asks again, help me turn them down.

If someday I want to find someone, it still won’t be too late then.

It’s not some rare treasure. Am I supposed to be afraid I won’t find a man?”

This wording instantly made everyone laugh.

Thinking about it carefully, wasn’t that true?

Yun Xi was so outstanding at work. Her salary would only rise higher and higher. Was she really afraid she would not find someone in the future?

The men coming to meet her now were not incredibly good anyway. If she refused, then she refused.

The matter of introducing partners passed just like that.

However, Yun Xi’s unconventional way of thinking also spread.

And honestly, a capable person with forward-thinking ideas and a distinctive personality carried a bit of legendary color in the eyes of ordinary people in this era.

At the end of the year, when they were selecting advanced individuals, the unit chose Yun Xi.

The mayor felt that Yun Xi’s experiences and changes along the way could serve as a very good model and become an example for workers to strive forward. He specially arranged several lectures for Yun Xi, sending her to several key units to share her study methods and personal experiences.

Leaving aside other things about this era, there truly were many people who were positive and eager to improve. It was just that sometimes their thinking had not opened up. They only knew how to bury their heads and work hard, so naturally the results were not ideal.

The study methods Yun Xi shared enlightened them greatly.

Only then did they discover that there were many paths to improving oneself, and that after doing so, they could find opportunities to obtain better work.

There was no need to guard only their own little patch of land. If there was an opportunity, the world outside was much broader.

People who were this proactive were usually around twenty or thirty years old. They treated Yun Xi as an elder, enthusiastically calling her “Sister Li” and asking her many questions.

Occasionally, someone would ask why she was willing to leave her own children behind.

Yun Xi could tell that some people truly struggled with this.

Traditional ideas bound them, making them bustle endlessly around one family. They had no time to improve themselves and passed year after year in a daze.

Seeing Yun Xi living so well, they urgently wanted to understand this path.

Yun Xi smiled and said,

“Before, I was reluctant because they were still young. Since I brought them into this world, I had to be responsible for them, so I raised every one of them to adulthood.

The older ones have already married and had children. The two younger ones were also given rooms as compensation.

I ask myself honestly and feel I have already given a great deal. My conscience is clear.

And I have also reached forty-five. More than half my life has already passed. It is time to return my life to myself.

When all of you were eighteen, you had already started doing things, hadn’t you? You already had your own thoughts, didn’t you?

Then why can’t children do the same?

When it is time to let go, let go. Perhaps they can become more independent.

Our environment does not eat people. Even if they stumble and struggle, they can still climb back up properly. What is there to fear?

If they treat me well, then I am willing to give them more help from what I have.

If they treat me badly, then forget it.

People have to get along with one another. If personalities don’t suit, no one can force it. Then there is no need to gather together and torment one another. Perhaps separation is better.

Take me, for example. After leaving them, I had more time. I kept studying and improving myself, giving myself wings so I could fly freely.

I hope that after the family division, they can also take responsibility for their own lives and live properly.

I only handed control back to them.

Everyone, think from the children’s perspective. Do they truly not want to break away from their parents and control their own lives?”

Everyone froze.

Thinking from a different role, when they were parents, they really did find it hard to let go of their children.

But when they were the children, they truly did not want to be controlled by their parents.

Whether their parents were right or wrong, they wanted freedom and wanted to make their own decisions.

Thinking about it like this, after the family was divided, each side developing on its own was the path each person chose. There was nothing bad about it.

If the relationship was good, they could still help one another when difficulties arose.

If the relationship was bad, then forcing themselves to live tied together was torment for everyone. This was truly not wrong.

Yun Xi’s lecture caused many people to think deeply.

Of course, there were harmonious families who liked living as one large household, where more people meant more strength. But there were also families who lived well after dividing. This proved that Yun Xi’s thinking was not wrong.

Some people cursed behind her back, saying that when a woman became too independent, she became restless and caused the household to lose peace.

But those who said such things usually had no reason or evidence. They could only gossip idly.

Far more people admired Yun Xi.

They felt that she was capable and could live well however she chose.

Even the dozen or so years when she had raised children as a widow became proof of her strength.

How hard was it to raise children alone?

Yet she had stubbornly refused to find someone to rely on.

That showed just how strong she was.

As more people discussed it, these rumors gradually made their way back to the village.

Several brigade cadres held a meeting and all felt that the Dong family members had poor personalities and bad character. They were not fit for important use.

So the village primary school removed Dong Zhijie’s teaching qualification.

The position at the village primary school had never been a proper formal appointment anyway. If they let him teach, he taught. Now that they removed him, he had nowhere to argue.

Who could blame the education system at the time for being imperfect, unstandardized, and neglected?

The brigade leader also removed Wang Xuefen from her job as scorekeeper, telling the couple to honestly work in the fields and earn work points.

The two of them were immediately dumbfounded.

Their jobs had always been easy. It had been so many years since they had done real labor. How could they still do fieldwork well?

Wang Xuefen cried and cursed,

“It’s all your mother’s fault for spouting nonsense outside. She’s ruined us. Can’t you control her? What are we supposed to do from now on?”

Dong Zhijie kept smoking, feeling extremely irritated.

He lifted his head and looked at the new house they had only recently moved into.

This house had been built with borrowed money.

Now that their jobs were gone, what would they use to repay the debt?

The few work points they earned from working in the fields would already barely support the three of them. What about the money they owed?

His worries soon proved correct.

Only two days after the news spread, the coworkers, friends, and in-laws who had lent him money came to demand repayment.

His two brothers-in-law were the first to come, afraid that he would repay outsiders first and leave no money for their own family.

If he did not repay them, they refused to leave. They ate and drank at his house.

After all, they were relatives. No one could interfere.

Ever since their marriage, Dong Zhijie and Wang Xuefen had always had a good relationship.

They had hidden private savings together, secretly cooked extra meals together, and schemed together about how to take advantage of situations and gain benefits.

But during this period, they began arguing at every turn.

They could see no path forward, and they were burdened with a pile of debt. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. The pressure suddenly became so great that they could not endure it.

Dong Zhijie also tried asking his eldest brother and younger siblings for help.

After all, they were born from the same mother.

But not only did they refuse to help, they sneered and made sarcastic remarks, saying that he had always looked down on them, that he had not even wanted to live in the same courtyard as them, and that he had smugly built a new house.

Now he could not repay the money.

That was his own fault.

Dong Zhijie had a huge argument with them.

Only then did he realize that in this enormous village, there was not a single person willing to help him.

In the past, their large family had been noisy and lively. Whenever something happened, it seemed to be solved quickly. Even if it could not be solved, the pressure never fell on him. He would even complain a few times.

But now that Yun Xi was gone, the brothers were worse than strangers. Each was more selfish than the last and did not care whether the others lived or died.

He suddenly thought of a saying.

Only when Mother is there is there a home. Once Mother is gone, one can never return to that safe and warm home again.

So that saying was true.

Their family was even worse.

Their mother had not died. She had left.

She refused to acknowledge them and even spoke ill of them outside, ruining their reputations and forcing them to lose their jobs.

Filled with anger, Dong Zhijie ran to the city to find Yun Xi.

He came with complete malice and deliberately went to the place where Yun Xi was giving her lecture to wait for her.

The moment the lecture ended, he saw a crowd of people surrounding Yun Xi as she came out, and he rushed forward, launching into accusations.

“Mom, are you trying to drive us to death?

Even if we did something wrong, you could curse us or beat us. We could change.

Why do you have to be so cold-blooded and go around ruining our reputations?

Now I’ve been dismissed from the school, and Xuefen can’t be scorekeeper anymore either.

My brothers-in-law come to demand repayment every day.

I don’t even dare close my eyes when I sleep.

Are you satisfied now?”

The crowd fell silent.

They looked at Dong Zhijie, who appeared refined but haggard and destitute, then looked at the bright and polished Yun Xi.

It was truly difficult to imagine that they were mother and son.

They also had not expected Yun Xi’s children to lose their jobs because of her words.

This was a very serious matter.

No one knew how Yun Xi would handle it.

Unexpectedly, Yun Xi only looked surprised.

“You’re this useless?

A few bits of gossip were enough to get you dismissed?

Didn’t you say your school valued you highly and was even going to recommend you to come teach in the city?

So you were bragging?”

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