When the second grandmother was twenty-one, her husband died, leaving behind a daughter, one and a half years old. She has three inches of golden lotus and cannot live, so she lives in her parents' house all year round. Earlier, her mother's sister-in-law was annoying her, but sh

The second grandmother's husband died when she was twenty-one, leaving behind a daughter, one and a half years old. She has three-inch golden lotus and has no way to live, so she lives in her parents' house all year round.

Earlier, her mother-in-law's sister-in-law annoyed her, but she was still able to deal with it. Later, he married his brother-in-law. This brother-in-law looked down on them and always bullied them.

My mother saw that there was nothing she could do, so she discussed with the second mistress to remarry. In the past, women who lost their husbands had little means of survival and remained widowed for the rest of their lives. When my mother asked me to remarry, my second mistress cried, and my mother also cried. What the second mistress cried was: after remarrying, no one would treat her as a human being. What my mother was crying about was: In the past ten years or so, my daughter has suffered so many grievances.

cried for a while, and then the second mistress nodded and said, "Yes." Her mother went to find a matchmaker.

At that time, my original second wife had died many years ago, and the two sons she left behind were married. The matchmaker agreed with the second grandfather and second grandmother, and they got married. The second grandma’s daughter was sent to her grandma’s house by her grandma.

The second grandfather is a sensible person. When the new second grandmother married, he divided the family into three parts. The two of them lived very well.

Two years later, Second Grandma’s daughter got married, and Second Grandpa specially presented four large and four small items to her. The four big pieces are: the Eight Immortals table, the cabinet, the cupboard and the table with two drawers; the four small pieces are: two chairs, a suitcase, and a small dining table. My daughter grew up in her grandma’s house, and she also left her grandma’s house when she got married. The second grandfather asked someone to send the dowry in advance. He said: "The man uses two sedans to get married, and the dowry will not look good."

I heard that it was very lively when the daughter got married, and there was a loudspeaker blowing. No matter how lively it is, the second grandma cannot go. Once the widow remarries, her family will look down on her.

I heard that the young couple lived well after getting married, and the second grandmother was relieved.

Unexpectedly, the second grandfather fell seriously ill and died. At that time, the second grandfather was not yet fifty years old, and the second grandmother was not yet forty.

The second grandpa died, and the second grandma lived alone. Sometimes I stay at my daughter's house for a few days, and my son-in-law often comes to bring delicious food. When the second grandmother came back from her daughter's house, she praised her son-in-law, saying that after finishing the work in the fields, the son-in-law helped his daughter-in-law with work when she came home. He knew all the work a woman could do. Her father-in-law and mother-in-law lived far away, and her son-in-law knew the pain and warmth. Her daughter gave birth to two boys, so she took care of the children.

One day, the son-in-law knelt down in front of the second grandmother's door in tears. The second grandmother asked: "It's not the New Year, why are you kowtowing?"

The son-in-law said: "Your daughter hanged herself. I can't forgive you. What do you want?" Take it out as you please, and send it out as you are told."

It took the second grandma a while to realize that she didn't even have a daughter anymore and had hanged herself. If a daughter-in-law in her hometown hangs herself or jumps into a well and dies, her son-in-law will kneel down at the door and his father-in-law and mother-in-law will often beat him until his head and face are bloody. Some went to kneel at the door, accompanied by two strong men, for fear that their parents-in-law would beat them up.

The second mistress did not make it difficult for her son-in-law. She was trembling all over and pulled him up without shedding a single tear. The second grandma said: "I know you are a good boy, but my daughter is not lucky. She is seeking death. Child, you can send it as you want."

When I mentioned my daughter, the second grandma said over and over again: "She is too cruel. . She clearly knows that at my age, she is the only one close to her. No matter how big the deal is, she cannot die. Besides, we Juye County are not that good. What's the point of crying about her because she's thinking about me? "

When I was twelve years old, I returned to Baishitun from Jinan and couldn't do cotton work at all. My mother said, "Go and learn to spin cotton from your second grandma." The second grandma lived in the inner courtyard, so I moved a cotton cart and went there.

The second grandmother had never been to the county seat. She asked: "Ni, you have been in the city, have you seen a car?"

"Yes, Jinan has both big cars and small cars."

"Have you seen a train?" ? "

" I haven't seen it. "

" People say that if you don't take care of your children, they will take them away and make ointment (gao, four sounds, lubricating the equipment). "Train."

I said, "I don't know. "

My second grandmother not only taught me to spin cotton, but also taught me to sing songs and told me stories. She had many stories.

The second grandmother said that Jia Lou had a daughter who was not serious and was in a relationship with a boy and got pregnant.Her father found out and asked her two brothers to bury her alive. The two brothers were reluctant to bury their sister alive, so they dug a cellar in the backyard, covered it with a shed, put a lot of wheat straw inside, and hid their sister there. He turned back to his father and said, "I buried my sister in the fields to the east." Dang's father's face turned pale, his whole body was trembling, and he didn't say a word. The two sons sat in front of their father until midnight. The father said, "You two go to bed."

The two brothers were afraid that the secret would be revealed if time went by, so they secretly found a matchmaker to tell their sister about her husband's family. In my place, widows who remarry are called "second-marriage children." They marry their sister as their second-marriage child and secretly hand it over to someone else after dark.

My daughter’s father asked his son to bury his daughter alive. She didn’t eat or drink all day long and sighed, which made her sick. The two brothers saw that their father's illness was getting worse day by day and no medicine was effective. They guessed what was on his mind and told him the truth, and his illness was cured.

The second grandmother also said that there was a girl in her natal village who was in love with a boy. Her father found out and asked his son to break his sister's legs. The two brothers hated their sister and thought she was embarrassed, so they beat her so hard that one of her legs was broken. The girl has small feet. After her leg was broken, her toes pointed backwards and her heels pointed forward. In the middle of the night, her two brothers pushed her outside the door and locked the door. The daughter was crying outside the door, and her mother was crying inside the door. Her father scolded her mother, and her brother also scolded her mother: "This is your good daughter! It's so embarrassing!"

The girl shouted again, but no one opened the door. She was desperate and crawled to the house of the boy she was dating and knocked on the door. . The boy asked, "What's going on?" When the girl told him what had happened, the boy's father felt distressed and asked, "My child, are you hungry? If you are hungry, ask your aunt to cook." The girl said, "I'm not hungry." The boy's father After packing up the small wooden wheel cart and putting on a quilt, the boy carried his daughter to the cart. The father and son, one pushing the cart and the other pulling the cart, went to Longxianji overnight to set the bones of their daughter. After recovering from their injuries and looking forward to a good life, the two got married.

I have been spinning cotton with my second grandma for more than a year.

A year later, she touched her belly and whispered to me: "I am not a destitute, your second grandfather left roots for me."

I didn't understand and couldn't talk to her.

The second grandma touched the breast again and said: "Everyone is here to breastfeed."

The second grandma has been smart all her life, but she is just confused. After she turned sixty, she always said that she was pregnant, about to give birth, and that her milk was full of water.

In the past, women in my hometown gave birth to their children on the ground, with a piece of head sitting under their buttocks. The second mistress often cleans out a spacious place and puts a piece of brick there, saying it is for giving birth to children.

Later, the second grandmother had someone send her to a nursing home. At the age of seventy-two, she died in a nursing home.

There used to be a saying in my hometown: "Ten good beauties are worth a little bit." There were ten girls in the family, but they were also poor and inferior to others. There is no such thing as a daughter like the second grandma, which is called "Qianjuehu".

is excerpted from the second book "Bitter Cauliflower, Sugarcane Buds" by Jiang Shumei

"Bitter Cauliflower, Sugarcane Buds", Zhejiang People's Publishing House, 2014 edition.

Jiang Shumei was born in Juye, Shandong Province in 1937. She settled in Anda City, Heilongjiang Province in 1960 and worked as a temporary worker for more than 20 years. She learned to read at the age of 60, to write at the age of 75, and to draw at the age of 80. She has published five books. Among them, "Troublesome Times, Poor Times" was shortlisted for "2013 Public Favorite Books"; "Bitter Cauliflower, Sugar Cane Sprouts" was shortlisted for "2014 Chinese Good Books"; "Long-Necked Women" won the 2015 "Chinese Good Books Special Jury Award" ""My Man" records dozens of family legends; "Clapping Hands to Sing" is her first collection of folk tales.