She was Xu Zhimo 's first wife, but she was regarded as invisible air by the prince charming in the girl's heart;
She was forced to end this unbearable marriage, but she embarked on a foreign journey alone with her young son. Land;
She experienced the death of her young son, but she regained her mood and returned to her homeland;
She was no longer the daughter-in-law of the Xu family, but she took care of Xu Zhimo's parents until they grew old.
People always think that Zhang Youyi is known to people because of Xu Zhimo. In fact, she is the woman that Xu Zhimo is so high on.
Zhang Youyi's family is not inferior to Xu Zhimo's. All her dowry was purchased from Europe. The quantity was so large that it could not be loaded on the train and a special ship was needed to transport it.
She has never been proud of her family background. She abides by the rule that women cannot leave the house easily after getting married, and "makes arrangements" for her parents-in-law on time every day.
She had also fantasized about living a sweet life abroad with her husband, but was brought back to reality by Xu Zhimo's indifference time and time again.
She was not the woman he loved so deeply, and he couldn't wait to escape from her into the arms of another woman.
She carries a symbol of perseverance. Someone described Zhang Youyi as a woman who "neither cries nor laughs." She spent the rest of her successful life in the most calm manner.
Background·Troubled times smear the years
In 1900, Zhang Youyi was born in a village in Baoshan County. At that time, she did not know that women were worthless in China at that time.
Although her father's love for her did not decrease by half because she was a girl, this love carried invisible pressure.
The father has planned a framework for each daughter, and they must all grow up within this framework.
Carrying such a framework, Zhang Youyi always strives to present a humble image whether she is in her natal family or the husband's family she married into as an adult.
In her opinion, this is what she should be like, she never imagined what she could be like.
Although Zhang Youyi is the young lady in the family, the girl's status in the family is so low that she is almost invisible. In the eyes of people at that time, giving birth to a girl was equivalent to giving birth to an outsider.
The elders in the family always talk about "filial piety" as an enlightenment and admonishment for their children. It is under such words and deeds that every child of the Zhang family knows from an early age that they must respect their elders and follow the rules.
Father's high demands on his daughter, Zhang Youyi always uses proper manners and etiquette to advance and retreat in front of the elders.
Her mother's unconditional obedience to her father taught Zhang Youyi how to be obedient. She obeyed the arrangements of her parents throughout her life, and also obeyed the arrangements of her husband after she got married.
Behind the prosperity is desolation. People understand this truth, but they are unwilling to truly accept it. If you don't have to grow up, you don't have to peel off the prosperous outer cover of this world and get a glimpse of the dirty reality inside.
It was the spring of 1907, a day that should have been filled with joy and peace.
This is also Zhang Youyi's favorite day. In addition to the beautiful clothes and delicious candies, it is also because she doesn't have to be bored in the room and be a female celebrity.
People at that time believed superstitiously that human limbs were gifts from gods. If you are injured during the Chinese New Year, it will affect your good luck for the year.
In order to seek good luck, not only should you not injure yourself during the New Year, but you should also not break things at home.
During the New Year, a joyful atmosphere enveloped the Zhang family. However, the rice bowl in the hands of the eldest brother Zhang Jiabao fell to the ground and broke into six pieces.
Although the family believes that dropping the rice bowl while eating is very unlucky, they still say "It's okay, it's okay" and want to give my eldest brother some comfort.
But even so, everyone, including the eldest brother, has a faint worry lingering in their hearts.
The next day, the broken bowl was carefully repaired by the tinker. Thin gold threads tied the whole bowl together tightly. Perhaps he hoped to use the repaired bowl to reverse the possible bad luck for the elder brother. .
If it is superstitious to say that breaking one's job can bring bad luck, this bad luck happened to Zhang Youyi's eldest brother.
Just three days after the Spring Festival, a theft occurred in the Zhang family's mansion. The person who lost things was Zhang Youyi's sister-in-law, and the lost things were all the jewelry she brought from her parents' home.
The lobby sister-in-law heard neighbors say that they saw a dark figure running over the roof of Zhang Youyi's house. Upon hearing this, the Zhang family immediately searched the house carefully inside and out, but found nothing. The thief had already disappeared without a trace with the jewelry.
A few days after the things were stolen, Big Brother's factory gradually passed the crisis. Everyone discovered that breaking his job not only did not bring him bad luck, but instead brought him a turn for the better.
Perhaps the turn of events was too coincidental. The elder cousin thought that the lost property was stolen by his elder brother. At first, they only kept their suspicions in their hearts and did not express them out loud. He just asked his children not to talk to Zhang Youyi and the others, and not to eat together.
Suspicion is the most terrifying emotion in people's hearts. It is like a crack in a broken bowl. Once it appears, even if it can be repaired, it will never be restored to integrity.
Maybe he has been holding it in his heart for too long and can no longer hold it back.
Once, the eldest brother passed by the cousin's door, and the cousin's mother said: "Oh, the thief is here." When he said this, his eyes were full of disgust and hatred.
Brother then realized that he had been regarded as a thief for no reason. But he didn't refute, he just lowered his head silently and said nothing.
These vicious words happened to be heard by Zhang Youyi's mother. Mother and son were connected. She knew how her son felt after hearing these words, and she did not want her son to suffer such humiliation for no reason.
She told Zhang Youyi's father this sentence. A man's dignity made him unable to tolerate such false accusations. In order to prove his son's innocence, he decided to move his family out of the Zhang family mansion just after the New Year.
Although the grandmother believed in her grandson, she was unable to speak out because others would think that she was favoring her own grandson. In order to maintain the integrity of the Zhang family, the grandmother decided to stay and live with her two unrelated sons so that they would not be laughed at by others.
For several months, my father never returned to Baoshan. It was not until a few months later that he gradually took his children back to visit his grandmother.
This is not because the invisible barrier has disappeared, but because his mother will not be gossiped about by others. Only when her son comes to visit frequently will others think that the Zhang family is still as complete as before.
For the Zhang family, reputation is life, even more important than life. They didn't take away a penny from the Zhang family, not even the servants. Even though life was extremely difficult, they never asked anyone for help and just relied on their hard work to regain their family's wealth and dignity.
Ten years may be fleeting for a person's life, but for a family burdened with humiliation, every day is as long as a year.
It was not until ten years later that the injustice on the eldest brother was washed away. It turned out that he was the chef at his grandmother's side. He overheard his son showing off that he had stolen the jewelry.
The chef who was loyal to his grandmother immediately told his grandmother about the incident and ordered his son to apologize to the Zhang family. It turned out that that night, after the chef's son stole the jewelry, he jumped to the roof of Zhang Youyi's house, but he did not escape and hid in the sedan that his grandfather only used to see the emperor. The Zhang family searched around but forgot about the sedan.
Although the truth has been revealed, the rift between the two families will never disappear.
Growing up·Fate in the bookish ink
The inexplicable crime caused the family's life to fall from heaven to hell.
The second and fourth brothers studying in Japan have to rely on their own efforts in exchange for tuition and living expenses to reduce the burden on their families.
Even so, there are still seventeen people in the family waiting for food. The family, which has never had to worry about food and clothing, has completely fallen into the first life crisis in their lives.
My father has been practicing medicine for many years, but has never received any medical fees, because with the assets of the Zhang family, there is no need to rely on medical practice to maintain a living.
Even if people heard about what happened to the Zhang family, they were willing to believe that the father was innocent.They believe that a person who doesn't even charge for medical treatment and saving lives would not commit theft. Those who believed in his father's medical skills made a special trip to his home to see him.
At first, it was very difficult for my father to ask for money after he had been treated. But for the sake of the family's livelihood, he had to start collecting consultation fees.
My father relied on the medical fees to support a family of seventeen people. Although it was difficult, he never forgot to maintain the dignity of the Zhang family.
Zhang Youyi also learned from her father that no matter what situation she is in, she must try her best to maintain her dignity. Even in her subsequent marriage to Xu Zhimo, she was disliked by her husband in every possible way, but she never sold her dignity to save her marriage.
In the eyes of her mother, as the daughter-in-law of the Zhang family, she believes that it is her responsibility to resolve the conflicts between the Zhang family. Although her mother knew that the mistakes made by Zhang Youyi's cousin were unforgivable, she still persuaded her father to be tolerant of him with generosity and love.
Mother loves her father the most. She doesn't want to see his father looking sad all day long. Although her persuasion failed many times, her mother would still persuade her father to relax as long as she seized the opportunity.
Perhaps the mother's consolation played a role, and the father decided that if there was a major festival, the family would still go back to the old house to celebrate, and also worship the ancestors with the Zhang family's descendants.
Returning to the old house to worship the ancestors is already the biggest concession for my father.
In her father's patience, Zhang Youyi learned to persevere and regard family as a responsibility. It is precisely because of this that no matter how many changes happened later, , although her heart was sad, she still had a calm look on her brows and eyes.
Even though life was difficult, the father did not neglect his children's education. He firmly believes that education can change the destiny of children. He used part of his income to hire a teacher to live in his home.
After breakfast every day, the boys in the family would sit in a row next to the long table and start class. My father believes that as long as one is Chinese, one should still accept traditional Confucian education and also keep pace with the times and accept advanced Western ideas.
My father sent his second son and fourth son to learn German and French, and also sent him to Japanese University to study abroad, so that they could learn advanced foreign ideas and technologies.
The second brother became a philosopher, and the fourth brother became a banker, adding a touch of glory to the Zhang family.
Although he values education, his father believes that as long as girls can recognize some words, the most important thing is their moral cultivation. The so-called "morality" is actually " three obediences and four virtues " and "three cardinal principles and five constant principles".
Her father had never had strict requirements for Zhang Youyi's education. Zhang Youyi didn't know many words, couldn't write beautiful calligraphy, and didn't have enough knowledge. These all became Xu Zhimo's dislike of her.
This is not Zhang Youyi's fault, it is a common understanding in that society. Even if Zhang Youyi's father pays attention to education, he will not spend too much energy on his daughter. But this can be a reason for your husband to find fault with you.
Zhang's neighbors have two girls who study in a new school in Shanghai. Zhang Youyi can see them wearing school uniforms every day to catch the train. There was not much decoration in that dress, but in Zhang Youyi's eyes, it was the most beautiful dress in the world.
My mother could not understand Zhang Youyi's desire for education, because in her era, women did not need to know much knowledge at all. Her mother is worried that once she receives education, she will not listen to her husband's family because she knows too much, and may be rejected by her husband's family.
However, what the mother did not expect was that Zhang Youyi would be abandoned by her husband because she did not receive an education. Education, which was originally thought to be insignificant, ruined her daughter's marriage.
Love · Who painted a stroke of sadness on the destiny book
When the years have faded the reserve of youth, and when a girl reaches the age of first love, a red thread of marriage will be firmly tied to her wrist. The other end of the red thread is her husband, and what is connected by the red thread is called marriage.
In that era, many people were firmly bound by the red thread of marriage from the moment they were born, just like Zhang Youyi's parents, who were already destined for life before they were born.
Sometimes, one person's marriage affects the livelihood of the family. No one knows what the Zhang family will eventually become like.
Planning a wedding for the unmarried children in the family is the most important thing at the moment. Especially girls, as long as they find their husband's family, they will have someone to rely on in their life.
At that time, the eldest daughter was just fourteen years old, and her mother hurriedly found a fortune teller to tell her fortune. The fortune teller said that the eldest son should not get married before the age of twenty-five, otherwise his husband would die early. The "burden" of getting married fell on Zhang Youyi, who was only nine years old.
When he learned that he would get married earlier than everyone else, this child under ten years old actually knew what sadness was.
In 1913, her father called thirteen-year-old Zhang Youyi to the living room and handed her a small silver photo box. The person in the photo is a young man.
This man has a big head and a pointed chin. He wears a pair of round gold-rimmed glasses. He looks very elegant. The eyes behind the lenses reveal an aura that cannot be concealed. The moment
saw the photo, Zhang Youyi already understood her father's intention.
His father asked Zhang Youyi what he thought of the person in the photo. Zhang Youyi carefully told his father: "I have no opinion."
In addition to obeying his father's orders, Zhang Youyi also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Judging from the photo, this man does not The disgusting and gentle attitude made Zhang Youyi conclude that he was by no means a reckless man, let alone a treacherous person.
If she marries this person, at least it won't make her life difficult.
After getting married, Zhang Youyi was indeed neither beaten nor plotted by her husband, but she was completely ignored by her husband as if she were nothing.
Xu Zhimo is three years older than Zhang Youyi, but he has always maintained a childlike attitude. He likes to accept new things and hates being bound by the world.
Perhaps Xu Zhimo was too childish, so Xu Zhimo’s father chose Zhang Youyi as his wife. Because Xu Zhimo's father heard that Zhang Youyi had been taciturn since she was a child and had a stable personality. Not only did her family match Xu Zhimo, she could also provide Xu Zhimo with better tolerance and care, and it could also help Xu Zhimo's naughty personality to be restrained.
Xu Zhimo was unwilling to let his future life be restricted by the so-called "parents' orders". Xu Zhimo, who had just turned sixteen, had a strong rebellious mentality in his heart.
But the education he received since childhood made him obey his parents' arrangements. The superficial obedience is just to cover up the rejection in the heart.
Zhang Youyi once thought that she was lucky. The husband her parents chose for her was a man who combined traditional ethics and advanced ideas. This reminded her of her brothers. Their brothers were all so outstanding, successful in their careers, and knew how to take care of their families. She naively thought that Xu Zhimo was also such a person.
However, Xu Zhimo is a romantic person at heart. He longs to meet a woman just like himself. The two of them can accompany each other and guard the love that belongs to them with romantic style.
However, Zhang Youyi was not the ideal wife in Xu Zhimo's mind. Although she longed for freedom, she learned to put family first under traditional education.
Fourth brother Zhang Jiayao noticed Xu Zhimo's article "On Novel and Social Relations". In addition to the amazing talent displayed in the article, even the calligraphy in the article made Zhang Jiayao amazed.
When he learned that Xu Zhimo was the only son of a wealthy local family, Zhang Jiayao didn't think too much about it. As long as his education and family background were outstanding, he would not consider the other person's appearance, height, fatness, or even personality.
Zhang Jiaao sent a letter to the Xu family that night, proposing that Xu Zhimo marry his sister Zhang Youyi, and the letter was signed with his real name.
Soon, Zhang Jia'ao received a reply from Xu Zhimo's father. The letter contained only one line: "I Xu Shenru am fortunate to have Zhang Jia'ao's sister as my daughter-in-law."
After Zhang Jia'ao returned from studying in Japan, she became the secretary of the governor of Zhejiang. Many local people knew Zhang Jia'ao's reputation. When Xu Shen received Zhang Jia'ao's letter, he felt happy.
Just like this, these two simple letters decided Zhang Youyi's life.
ends with
As soon as her brother brought her together, she became the wife of a talented man named Xu Zhimo.
She respects her elders, cares about her husband, and can keep her duty. However, her hard work failed to win her husband's love.
At that grand wedding banquet, Xu Zhimo chose to escape from a loveless marriage and pursue his dream.
Zhang Youyi, under the gentle appearance of traditional women, wraps the independent spiritual core of modern women.
She is unique because of this, and she also experiences sadness because of it.
What is her married life like? How does a silent marriage lock up a bride?
How do those heartbreaking things bear new fruits?
See you in the next article!
