The daily struggles of divorced women in ancient times

There are a total of thirty-six children in Xiaowu's family now. There are eight boys who are about the same age as Xiaowu, seven girls, and the remaining twenty children are only six to nine years old.

Xiaowu called everyone together, informed them of what he had learned during this trip, and carefully asked for their opinions. Unexpectedly, there were still quite a few children who did not want to go down the mountain.

Xiaowu didn't want to force others, so he carefully explained the pros and cons of living in the mountains. In the end, eight children still didn't want to leave.

Fortunately, there were a few older ones who were unwilling to leave, so Xiaowu agreed to let them stay. At most, he would go up the mountain every once in a while to check, and there shouldn't be any big problems.

The remaining people who wanted to leave were also half and half, half wanted to go to the village, and half wanted to make a living in the city. Xiaowu did not persuade them much, and wrote down everyone's wishes one by one.

Among these children who were to be left behind, the one that surprised Xia Mianwan the most was... Zhang Xiaolian.

It was no longer early spring, and the mountains were even greener. Xia Mianwan, wearing a plain long skirt and a gauze coat, stood in the yard listening to Yu Jie'er and Chen Ge'er chatting while packing things.

I don’t know if I can enjoy such a leisurely spring again in the future.

"Sister Xia..." A female voice floated past Xia Mianwan's ears.

Xia Mianwan looked back and saw it was Zhang Xiaolian.

Xia Mianwan was quite surprised and said with a smile: "Zhang Xiaolian, why are you here? Sit down."

Zhang Xiaolian's expression was normal now, and the usual timidity was no longer in her eyes. She sat down confidently.

Seeing Zhang Xiaolian like this, Xia Mianwan just smiled and picked up the copper kettle in her hand to pour a cup of tea for Zhang Xiaolian. Zhang Xiaolian raised the teacup and smelled it, then smiled and said, "Sister, this tea is really fragrant."

"It's wild tea from the mountains. I think it has a unique flavor."

"If Sister Xia likes it, I will pick and prepare the new tea this year and send it down the mountain for you."

Xia Mianwan smiled slightly after hearing this and said nothing more, waiting for Zhang Xiaolian to speak.

After Zhang Xiaolian finished the cup of tea, she took a deep breath, looked at Xia Mianwan and said, "Sister Xia, I know you don't like me."

Xia Mianwan was a little confused about Zhang Xiaolian's thoughts.

"Sister Xia, I did a lot of small things before...I'm sorry."

Zhang Xiaolian's sudden apology... Xia Mianwan shook her head and said, "It's not me you should apologize to. I have never been affected by your little actions."

Zhang Xiaolian nodded slightly, "I have prepared some gifts for them all. I will apologize."

Xia Mianwan only felt that the sun was rising from the west. When she woke up, Bai Lian Zhang Xiaolian... was no longer Bai Lian...

Now Xia Mianwan was a little curious.

Given Zhang Xiaolian's current personality, it was already surprising that she wanted to stay in the mountains. Her current frank and unpretentious behavior was even more shocking.

"Why do you want to stay?" Xia Mianwan asked casually.

Zhang Xiaolian smoothed her hair and said to Xia Mianwan, "Sister Xia, let me tell you my story. My mother... is actually a young lady from a wealthy family, and my father is a farmhand in the young lady's family. One time, my mother went to a farm in the countryside, and the carriage tripped in a deep pit and overturned. My father passed by and saved my mother. My grandmother rewarded my father with a lot of money."

"My mother remembered my father because of that time he saved her. She lived in the farm for a while and often met my father. After a while, the two of them became good friends. My mother was naive and thought that since my father had saved her, if she proposed to my grandfather, he would definitely agree. So she told my grandmother about it. When my grandparents found out about it, they were furious and beat my father and threw him out. When my mother found out, she cried and made a fuss about going to see my father, but... my grandparents never allowed my mother to go out at will again."

"So, my mother was put under strict surveillance, and my father... also fell seriously ill. In order to save my father, my grandparents spent all the family's savings, and later my grandmother also fell ill and could not get up. When my mother found out, she didn't want to let my father down, and at the instigation of her concubine sister, she actually thought of eloping with my father."

Xia Mianwan: "..."

Zhang Xiaolian took a sip of water and continued, "After that, my mother took some silver to see my father, and the two of them packed up and ran south. But this young lady who never left the house and a farmhand who had never seen the world and had never traveled far had no idea that they needed to have a pass to go out. Without a pass, the two of them naturally could not go far, and were eventually chased back."

"This time, my grandparents were really angry and wanted to beat my dad to death. My mom begged and pleaded, and finally my grandparents gave up. They let my dad take my mom away and they treated me as if they didn't have a daughter anymore."

In ancient times, marriages were arranged by parents and matchmakers. However, this is not only true in ancient times, but also in modern times. There would be no good ending for this rich girl and poor boy.

"At first, my father was very happy to marry my mother, but later he began to dislike my mother for not being able to work and not understanding worldly things. After my father was fired, the family's land had already been sold at a low price, and he could not make a living, so he had to work as a laborer at the dock. In this way, my father blamed my mother, and my mother regretted it, and the two became a pair of resentful lovers."

"After I was born, my mother didn't take good care of herself and her temper became more and more left-wing. I heard from others that she once had an argument with my father. The argument was so fierce and she was so angry that she wanted to jump into the river while holding me. Later, she was stopped by a neighbor."

"Later, my mother committed suicide. She wanted to drag my father to die with her, and she even thought of poisoning him. However, my father didn't drink the tea because he was tired. When my mother died, she kept calling me Nannan and told me not to blame her. She really hated herself, my father, and the world. Then she told me that at any time, I should think about myself first.

Later, my grandfather took me in and raised me. He had a bad temper, but he was pretty good to me. Sometimes when I did something wrong, he would yell at me, but after he yelled at me and I cried, my grandfather would give me a candy. I found that as long as I was gentle and pitiful enough, my grandfather would treat me better.

Zhang Xiaolian sighed when she got to this point. "That was the only time when my life was relatively good. Although I had to work and get scolded, at least I didn't go hungry. When I was four years old, my grandfather passed away and my father remarried. From that time on, I never had a good life again. My stepmother..."

When Zhang Xiaolian mentioned her stepmother, she couldn't hide the sarcasm in her eyes.

"After my stepmother came, she complained that I ate too much and did not work enough. But I was only four years old at the time. How much work could I do?"