In 1965, Li Zongren, who was living in the United States, ended his wandering life and returned to his motherland. Just like when she went to the United States, when she returned to China this time, the woman standing next to Li Zongren was still Guo Dejie .
In the eyes of the outside world, Guo Dejie and Li Zongren, who had been active in the political arena of the Republic of China for a long time, had a deep love for each other. However, what few people know is that Li Zongren’s first wife was not Guo Dejie, but Li Xiuwen.
Li Xiuwen and her son's family
Li Xiuwen was born in an ordinary farm family in Guangxi. She grew up in a poor family. Since she was the fourth among sisters, everyone called her "Fourth Sister". When
was not born, Li Xiuwen already had an older brother and three older sisters in her family. At that time, people had a very strong concept of favoring sons over daughters, so she did not receive special attention from her family when she was born.
When Li Xiuwen was five years old, she got seriously ill, and her family hired a nurse practitioner from the village to treat her. However, after several days of treatment, her condition showed no improvement.
It was the busy autumn harvest season. Both parents had to go to the fields to harvest grain, and the brothers and sisters also had to help. The family could not take care of the sick Li Xiuwen, so they left her alone in a small gray room at home and left her to fend for herself.
In fact, Li Xiuwen's parents had given up hope at this time. They just waited for their little daughter to die and found a secluded place to bury her.
Unexpectedly, after being left alone in the "little gray room" for two days, the dying Li Xiuwen actually recovered. That day, the family had just returned from working in the fields when they heard Li Xiuwen from the small gray house shouting that she was hungry and wanted to eat.
When her parents heard the sound, they were extremely happy and quickly fed her porridge. Unexpectedly, Li Xiuwen miraculously recovered after taking it.
Li Xiuwen
The news that Li Xiuwen recovered from her serious illness spread all of a sudden in the village. People in the village said that she was blessed with great fortune, blessed by the gods, and had an extraordinary destiny.
After hearing the discussions among the villagers, Li Xiuwen's father was also doubtful. One day, he asked a fortune teller to read Li Xiuwen's fortune. After the fortune teller carefully looked at Li Xiuwen's face, he carefully assigned her horoscope, and finally said to her parents with a smile: "Your daughter is rich and wealthy, and has extraordinary fortune. She is not an ordinary person!"
Upon hearing this, Li Xiuwen's parents were overjoyed. From then on, they valued this daughter even more. Not only did they not let her go to the fields to do farm work, but her food and drink expenses were also different from the other daughters.
Strangely enough, not long after, the "blessing" came true. Li Xiuwen's mother, who was over forty, became pregnant again and gave birth to a son.
The Li family is a single generation of three generations. Li Xiuwen's father was very happy when he got another son in middle age. People in the village even spread rumors about Li Xiuwen, and everyone believed that she brought blessings to the Li family.
Li Xiuwen is not only "blessed", but also a good-looking person and a good actress. When I was fifteen or sixteen years old, many people came to propose marriage.
However, in order for Li Xiuwen to marry into a good family, her parents did not rush to get her engaged and always carefully checked for her. Over time, Li Xiuwen grew older, but she still stayed in the boudoir.
When he was eighteen years old, Li Zongren’s family from a neighboring village came to propose marriage. After the matchmaker compared the two people's horoscopes, she praised them repeatedly and said that they were a perfect match.
Li Zongren
Li Xiuwen's parents were quite satisfied with Li Zongren's horoscope. However, they heard that Li Zongren had many brothers and sisters in his family, and the old couple were worried that their daughter would have a hard time getting married, so they were very hesitant.
Seeing that Li Xiuwen's marriage was still undecided, her sister-in-law was worried. At that time, people considered it a very shameful thing for a daughter in the family to be older and not yet married. Li Xiuwen's sister-in-law didn't want to keep this sister-in-law all her life, so she was always acting strangely at home.
Li Xiuwen was strong-willed by nature, and she did not want to see her sister-in-law's face anymore, so she angrily said to her mother, "No wait, I will marry this person!"
Fate was destined, and it turned out that the two families had a long history. When Li Xiuwen was seriously ill when she was a child, the doctor her family invited to treat her was Li Zongren's grandfather.At that time, it was widely rumored that the fourth sister of the Li family in the neighboring village was blessed with good fortune and good fortune. The old doctor, who was quite confident in his medical skills, just laughed and said nothing.
Soon, the two families got married. After her marriage, Li Xiuwen learned about her relationship with her husband's family. What she didn't expect was that her husband turned out to be a seemingly gentle and elegant student.
However, Li Zongren did not dislike his wife who could not read a word, but patiently advised her to learn how to read. For this reason, Li Zongren also specifically persuaded his parents to allow the women in the family to read and write during the slack time.
When he first got married, Li Zongren was studying abroad, while Li Xiuwen was at home serving his parents-in-law. She is hard-working, virtuous, and kind, and can get along well with her parents-in-law, elders, and brothers and sisters.
Li Zongren is the ninth in the family, so the Li family also affectionately calls Li Xiuwen "Ninth Sister".
李宗仁
The newly married couple have always had a harmonious relationship. However, due to long-term separation in two places, with less gatherings and more divorces, they did not have their first child until several years after their marriage. Unfortunately, the child died within a few months of his birth.
In the sixth year of the Republic of China, Li Zongren was promoted to battalion commander and stationed in Xinhui. After a lull in the war, Li Zongren wrote home and asked to pick up Li Xiuwen to accompany the army. After that, Li Xiuwen worked as a military wife in Xinhui for several years. During this period, she gave birth to her only son Li Youlin .
At that time, people believed that the delivery room was an unlucky place, and those who entered without permission would be deprived of the right to enter the ancestral hall to offer incense. However, Li Zongren didn't care. When Li Xiuwen gave birth, Li Zongren stayed outside the door the whole time. As soon as he heard the baby crying inside, he immediately rushed into the delivery room, regardless of the midwife's obstruction.
The birth of their son added a lot of fun to the life of the couple. However, the good times did not last long, and war soon broke out again, and the couple had to face separation again.
In 1920, the Guangdong-Guangxi War broke out, Li Zongren was ordered to fight on the front line, and Li Xiuwen first followed the army to Yulin, Guangxi. However, the war gradually became fierce after that, and Li Zongren was busy with the military all day and had no time to take care of his wife and children, so he sent someone to send Li Xiuwen, mother and son back to their hometown in Guilin.
However, the situation in her hometown was not optimistic. In desperation, Li Xiuwen took her son and her parents-in-law to Shanghai to seek refuge.
In 1923, Li Zongren's parents-in-law received a letter from Guiping , saying that he had married a new man there. After the parents-in-law learned about it, they couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Li Xiuwen's daughter-in-law, so they suggested that she take her son to the reunion.
Li Xiuwen listened to her parents-in-law and took her son all the way from Shanghai to Guiping. Seeing her husband standing at the door to greet her early, and holding her son in his arms, he was even more happy and unwilling to let go. Li Xiuwen felt relieved after she had been hanging all the way.
However, when she thought that her husband had just married a new man, she couldn't help but feel a little sad. Under Li Zongren's arrangement, the first wife met the new couple. When she met Guo Dejie, Li Xiuwen felt that she had no advantage. The other person was not only young and beautiful, but also educated.
Li Zongren and Guo Dejie
In fact, compared to Li Xiuwen, Guo Dejie is indeed better at officialdom socializing. She is often active in the circle of wives of military officers, and sometimes ridicules Li Xiuwen behind his back for being a "country woman."
Li Xiuwen was not interested in social status at all, nor did she get involved much, nor did she ever think about trying to gain the upper hand. She knew that if she acted violently, it would not be a bad idea to embarrass Guo Dejie, but it would only be used as a joke for outsiders after dinner and drinks. In fact, it would make her husband look ugly.
Therefore, with an attitude of calming down the matter, Li Xiuwen tried to ignore Guo Dejie's arrogance. In addition, Li Xiuwen also couldn't stand the way the ladies in the circle spend their days eating, drinking and having fun, so she rarely participated in their activities. She just stays by her son's side every day, supervises her nephews to study, and tries to avoid appearing in the same place with Guo Dejie at the same time.
At first, Li Xiuwen and Guo Dejie got along fairly well. Guo Dejie never lost his temper in front of Li Xiuwen. Li Xiuwen saw that the Guo family elders were all respectful and honest people, and respected them very much. Generally speaking, their life as a threesome was relatively smooth.
Later, in order for his son to receive a good education, Li Zongren arranged for Li Xiuwen and his son to go to Hong Kong.After that, the three people never lived under the same roof again.
Young boy Li Youlin
After Li Xiuwen's mother and son left, Guo Dejie often went out to socialize with Li Zongren as "Mrs. Li", and as Li Zongren's status increased, Guo Dejie's reputation outside also grew.
may feel that he has the "confidence" to make a big impact outside, and Guo Dejie has become less and less scrupulous about acting at home.
In 1942, Li Zongren's mother passed away in his hometown, and Guo Dejie returned to Guilin with Li Zongren to attend the funeral. According to local rules, when the memorial ceremony is held, as the daughter-in-law of the family's matchmaker, Li Xiuwen and her sister-in-law should kneel side by side in front, and Guo Dejie should kneel behind Li Xiuwen.
However, Guo Dejie has always regarded herself as "Mrs. Li", and she is very unwilling to accept this arrangement of the Li family. While kneeling down, Guo Dejie kept trying to squeeze in between the two of them, and even pulled Li Xiuwen hard with her hands, trying to pull her behind him.
In the important place of the mourning hall, people came to express their condolences in an endless stream. Li Xiuwen originally did not intend to make a statement, but Guo Dejie had no intention of stopping and put his hand on her hair several times, causing her scalp to hurt.
In the end, Li Xiuwen couldn't bear it anymore. She turned around and glared at Guo Dejie and said, "Behave yourself!"
As soon as she said these words, she immediately attracted the attention of the people around her. Guo Dejie felt that she couldn't hold it in her face, her cheeks suddenly turned red, and she bit back, telling everyone that it was Li Xiuwen who hit her.
Li Zongren's eldest brother saw this and knew it well, but he didn't say much. He just asked Guo Dejie not to stay as his daughter-in-law and to follow him to the man's place to pay his respects.
Li Zongren and Guo Dejie
Li Zongren has no objection to his elder brother's handling. Indeed, as long as the two of them didn't cause trouble in front of him, he was usually willing to pretend that nothing happened.
Although her husband turned a blind eye, fortunately, most of her husband's family supported Li Xiuwen and her son, which made her not too sad after being separated from her husband for a long time.
Many years ago, Li Zongren's father died of illness in Shanghai. Before his death, he entrusted his 10,000 yuan savings to the highly respected "Eight Gong" in the family and asked him to pass it on to his family.
After the funeral, Hachigong discussed with Li Zongren's mother, Mrs. Liu, and asked her how to get rid of the money.
Mrs. Liu Tai said, "This money should be given to Sister-in-law Jiu. De Lin (Li Zongren) took Guo Dejie away. Sister-in-law Nine took care of her son alone. In the future, Lin will go abroad to study, which will cost a lot of money. Besides, this is the last wish of Youlin's grandfather. There is no need to discuss anything. Only Sister-in-law Jiu should accept it."
In this way, relying on the compassion of her parents-in-law, Li Xiuwen had a sum of money on hand. In the long run, Li Xiuwen used the money to purchase some real estate in Guilin.
In 1937, Li Xiuwen asked Hachigong to buy a large old-fashioned house with five rooms and three bays in Yixue Lane, and converted the back room into a two-story house to live in. Later, in order to save more money for his son, Li Xiuwen purchased an old-fashioned house with three rooms and two shops in Guilin for rent.
In 1941, in order to escape the plane and have a place to live for his son who returned to the United States after studying in the United States, Li Xiuwen used the savings he had saved in recent years to find a suitable piece of land in Guilin and asked Guangzhou architects craftsmen to build a small French-style Western-style building.
This small foreign-style building was so majestic that it was second to none in Guilin at that time. Even Li Zongren and Guo Dejie were amazed when they saw it. However, after the fall of Guilin, this small western-style building was also burned down by the Japanese.
years of operation were ruined. Fortunately, Li Xiuwen was strong and open-minded, and spent this period of time optimistically with the help of relatives and friends. In addition, Li Youlin has grown up at this time. He is not only successful in studies in the United States, but also has a family and a career, which also makes Li Xiuwen very happy.
Li Xiuwen and his son Li Youlin
In 1949, Li Youlin returned to his hometown in Guilin with his wife and daughter, preparing to take his mother Li Xiuwen to settle in the United States. The group arrived in Hong Kong first and just waited for Li Xiuwen to get a visa before flying to the United States.
However, what he didn't expect was that Li Zongren, who was also in Hong Kong, suddenly suffered from stomach disease . The situation was urgent. Li Youlin had to go to the United States with Li Zongren and Guo Dejie in advance for medical treatment, leaving his wife Jenny to accompany his mother to wait for the visa.
However, due to various reasons, Li Xiuwen's visa application was not approved at that time, and her plan to go to the United States could only be postponed again and again.
Until 1952, upon the advice of a friend, Li Xiuwen finally decided to transfer to Cuba, and then look for an opportunity to go to the United States to reunite with her son and his family.
After living in Cuba for five and a half years, Li Xiuwen, who had suffered the pain of separation, finally received a residence permit to enter the United States and lived with her son as she wished.
Although her husband was also in the United States at this time, he still did not live with Li Xiuwen's family, but still lived with Guo Dejie. However, with the company of her granddaughters, Li Xiuwen enjoys family happiness in New York.
Li Xiuwen and Li Zongren
But the children will grow up one day. As the granddaughters grow up and leave home one after another, Li Xiuwen becomes more and more lonely. The tree is thousands of feet high, but it is still inevitable for the fallen leaves to return to their roots. The older she gets, the more she misses her life in her hometown.
Since Li Zongren returned to China in 1965, Li Xiuwen has always received good news from her husband from the motherland. Li Zongren wrote to Li Xiuwen more than once, telling her about the gratifying changes that had taken place in his hometown and urging her to return to China as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, before Li Xiuwen left to return to China, Guo Dejie and Li Zongren died of illness in Beijing.
Her husband's sudden death from illness further strengthened Li Xiuwen's determination to return to China. In 1973, with the help of the staff of the Embassy in the United States, Li Xiuwen successfully boarded a plane back to China. After
, under the proper arrangements of the government, Li Xiuwen settled down in Guilin and lived with her relatives and friends in her hometown. Her children and nephews were all around her, and her son often came to accompany her. She had a prosperous evening.
In addition, Li Xiuwen is also very interested in finding fun in life. She was used to working, so she put all her energy into the small courtyard where she lived.
Even though she was already over 80 years old at this time, she was still restless and would grow vegetables in the yard whenever she had time. Under her care, her small yard is full of vegetables and full of life at first glance.
In 1992, Li Xiuwen, who was hardworking and kind-hearted throughout his life, passed away in Guilin at the age of 102. Although her marriage is not a perfect one, she is tenacious and contented, does not fight for anything, and her life has a different scenery.
