#人世故事##xi'antoutiao#​#number one weekly#​#turn my life diary# Story: "The bird is said to be a monster transformed by the obsession of a dead mother, walking at night with her child in her arms, The cry of the child in his arms turned into the cry of a bird. "Today's story happen

Stills from the documentary "Folk Songs on the Plains"

These words were heard by the grandfather sitting outside. He rushed in, took out the pot of rice and smashed it on the ground.

The next step was my grandfather and my father beating my mother. My dad kicked my mom to the ground. Grandpa went up and slapped her two or three times. Then my dad pulled a bamboo stick from nowhere and started beating my mom. She struggled on the ground without fighting back.

I slept with my mother and she talked to me a lot that night.

She asked me, if your parents divorced, who would you choose to marry?

I said I choose to follow you.

My mother said, if we go to court, you must say this! Two brothers, whoever they choose, remember to choose me.

I said yes.

My mother said that she and my father were divorcing, but at that time I didn’t know what divorce meant. I only knew that they were supposed to separate but they were not divorced. The next day, when I was sleeping in a daze, my mother suddenly shook me awake. She said, you must listen to your father at home, because my mother is going out to work.

At that time, I thought that my part-time job meant going out to farm. I said yes, and I didn’t cry or make a fuss. But I saw my mother boiling a lot of eggs on the stove, at least a dozen, and she left two for me.

Then I went back to sleep.

When I woke up in the morning, my dad asked my mom where she was. I said she went to work. He was very surprised. He went out for a while and then came back. Grandpa and I sat at the door without talking.

Since then, I haven't seen my mother again.

My mother is a person who yearns for freedom. In the past, people from the village who had returned from working outside came to my house to play. They told my mother how nice it was outside and how high the building was. My mother yearned for it.

She said that when we grow up, she must go out to take a look and take a walk. He said it with a smile on his face. At that time, I felt that my mother would leave sooner or later.

Stills from the documentary "Folk Songs on the Plains"

Hangzhou

However, after my mother left, the love I received was not missing. At least my father and grandfather would take care of us more carefully. My father never hugged me before, but after my mother left, every day when my father came home, he would kiss me with a mouth full of flowers. Life is still happy. The only thing that makes me feel sad is that children without mothers are always bullied. I know that my mother went out to work, but in the village, others would introduce me as

- she is the one my mother ran away with.

Where is my mother? How is she doing?

My mother once sent a photo back. She never went to school, didn't know a word of the word, and even if she had something to say, she didn't know how to write a letter, she just sent a photo. Grandpa received the photo, tore it into two pieces and threw it on the ground.

Actually, I don’t really remember what my mother looks like, but I don’t know why, but I think it’s my mother in the photo. I secretly picked up the photo, taped it from behind with black electrical tape, and hid it under my pillow. I still have it.

That photo is printed with "Photography at the West Lake in Hangzhou". My mother had braids, was very thin, and looked pale.

This photo proves that I do have a mother, but she is outside.

This is the only time in four years that I have heard about my mother.

Anhui

In 1999, when I was 9 years old, one day, my mother suddenly came back.

At that time, many friends and I were playing in a banana forest behind the village. My second brother suddenly ran over and said, sister! younger sister! Come home quickly, mom is back!

At that time, I was already very vague about the word "mother". I had even forgotten what it felt like to have a mother.

But the person in the photo is about to appear in front of me, and I am still very excited. Everything I was playing with was thrown there, and a bunch of friends ran home with me.

My mother looked like that when she came back, with a braid, very white, and a thin sweater and cardigan. She gave out sweets to everyone. I am very proud and happy that my mother is back.

Stills from the documentary "Folk Songs on the Plains"

All the uncles and aunts in the village surrounded my mother.They said, call mom, this is your mom. I didn't dare to scream at first, so my mother kept stuffing candies into my pocket, and then I called out. She held me in her arms and looked at me carefully, but my brothers stayed away. After

came back, my dad often said sarcastically to my mom, "Why are you coming back if you can have a good life outside?" Then there was a quarrel, a fierce quarrel.

I'm not curious about where my mother went, but my father asked her and she said she was abducted to Anhui.

My dad didn’t ask any more questions, maybe he didn’t want to know more.

The promise four years ago

My mother did go out to work in the beginning. It was during the process of working that she met a fellow villager who married in Anhui. The fellow villagers took her to Anhui and married an honest local man.

They did not hold a wedding banquet, nor did they obtain a certificate. My mother also hid the fact that she had two sons. She only said that her husband died in a mining accident in Guizhou and that I was the only daughter in the family.

However, it was only after my mother arrived in Anhui that she realized that the so-called honest people had intellectual problems, and the place was too poor and life was very difficult. After going round and round, my mother returned to Guizhou.

A woman who ran away is back. My mother never mentioned to anyone in the family that she was married in Anhui.

All of this was supposed to be a secret hidden in her mother's heart forever, but fate played a trick on her, and soon she got on the train to leave again.

That happened about a month after my mother came back. One morning, she suddenly told me, you and your dad are pretending to have stomachaches, and I will take you to take a train. Have you ever taken a train?

I said I had never sat on it, but I didn’t want to go. I was cutting the pigweed that was fed to the pigs at home. If I left, no one would cut the pigweed.

My mother said, "You still want to do such hard work?" I'll take you to a place where you don't have to work.

I still don’t want to go. My mother tried her best to lobby. At that time, I didn’t have any girls’ clothes, so I wore what was left by my brother. My mother said, I will take you to buy some skirts, tutu skirts, very beautiful ones. I compromised and said I would go with you.

Zhu Zhu’s hometown

Around 9 o’clock in the morning, I started to pretend to have a stomachache. My dad and grandpa were very worried, so my mom told me to take me to see a doctor. Then she took me on a short train. After arriving at the main train station in the city, I began to realize that something was wrong. I realized that I was about to be taken away, so I burst into tears and said that I did not want to leave. The staff at the

station noticed me. They thought I was a child abductor, so they took us to the studio and asked, "Who does this belong to you?"

I just said this is my mother. Then why are you crying?

My mother told the staff that her father and I were divorced and her father was unwilling to raise her, so I took her away. After hearing this, the staff of

also began to persuade me, girls should follow their mothers, and your two brothers should just follow your father.

At that time, I suddenly recalled that I had told my mother before that if I got divorced, I would choose her. So after they gave me a few words of advice, I listened.

I fulfilled the promise I made four years ago and left with my mother.

The end of the train

After riding the train for two days and waiting at the station for another half day, a man with a little pain in his feet came towards us. My mother smiled and pulled me up and said, "Call me uncle." I didn't scream and hid behind her.

The man smiled and said, sister-in-law, just come back!

We got on a tractor and set off towards our so-called home.

After arriving at the place, I saw a little girl over one year old. My mother said, this is your sister. It was the same scene as when my mother returned to Guizhou that day. A bunch of people in the village gathered around and asked questions. They also pulled my sister over and said, this is your mother, call her mom.

Watching that scene, it was like history repeating itself.

Stills from the documentary "Folk Songs on the Plains"

It was the first time I met my uncle. He is about 1.7 meters tall, very thin, has very heavy wrinkles on his forehead, is a bit bald, and is always smiling. I don’t know how he knew my name. He called me, touched my head and said, I’m so tall.

I didn't speak or show any expression. I was hostile to him because I had a premonition that he was going to be the one to replace my father.

We live in a very small house. There are three beds in a room of about 20 to 30 square meters, separated by curtains. My life outside the province begins here.

Mystery

Just took the train for two days, my home has changed, my hometown has changed, and my family has changed. My mother has another family in Anhui and gave birth to a younger sister.

After hearing this, you may have a lot of doubts like me.

First of all, how did my mother, an illiterate woman with little money, escape with me?

In fact, before she left, she went to see another woman. She was also a Guizhou native who married to Anhui. I didn’t know who she was, but later I understood that they were a network, a loose network of women from the same hometown who had gone out. In that era of limited information, they were on the edge and relied on this method to understand the outside world and help each other or use each other when needed.

Some people live a good life because of it, and some people are trafficked because of it.

And my mother relied on this aunt to return to Anhui. Later, this network will come into play more than once.

But why does my mother want to go back to Anhui?

After I returned to Anhui, I had a very bad life. My family was already poor, and my uncle's family was still partial. They secretly gave everything to my sister, and even accused me of stealing. As the child of another man, my mother could definitely have imagined that I would be in such a situation, so why did she have to bring me to Anhui?

She was helpless. She wanted to go back to Guizhou and live a good life, but she suddenly found out that she was pregnant with her uncle's child in Anhui. In addition, my father's sarcasm touched on her pain points. If the broken mirror could not be reunited, then she would simply return to her home in Anhui.

But she didn’t want to leave me there. She said that I would be a big girl soon, and she was afraid that no one would teach me, so she decided to keep me with her. After

missed

, he arranged for me to go to school and live an ordinary life.

When I was about to enter the sixth grade, something unexpected happened in my family. At that time, my younger brother had been born and my family was very poor. My mother wanted to send me back to Guizhou.

She asked me to write a letter back anonymously, to report that I was safe first, and to see how Dad and the others would react. If I get a reply, I'll see if I want to go back.

Of course I want to go back, I have dreamed of going back. I always wake up crying from my dreams. I dream about my grandfather, my father, and my home. Every time the weather forecast on TV mentions Guizhou, my eyes light up. I know that's my home.

When I was in school, if someone mentioned Guizhou, such as Huangguoshu Waterfall or something, my tears would fall down. I really missed home.

I have never shown this side in front of my mother because I am very green. They wanted me to call my uncle over there "Dad", but I was stubborn and refused to do so, so I held back even though I was having a hard time.

But my mother must know that I miss home. She won't let me tell anyone here that I have two brothers. Sometimes when the family sits together for dinner and talks about Guizhou, I can't help but mention the names of my two brothers. My mother would step on me from under the table. Then when no one is around, she will ask me, do you miss them? In fact, my mother thinks so too. Once when it rained heavily, she looked outside with a sad face and said, if it rained so hard at home, I wonder if your brother had brought an umbrella when he was grazing cows outside.

Stills from the documentary "Folk Songs on the Plains"

We will definitely see you again when we grow up

The letter was sent, but there was no reply.

However, my mother has always been in contact with my third uncle. She had a small book with phone numbers, and I copied down the three men’s numbers.

Once my mother asked me to get oil for an extra dollar. I stood by the phone booth for a long time, my heart beating fast. I gritted my teeth and called my third uncle. He was surprised that I found him.

I said, Third Uncle, I want to go home.

My third uncle said, I know you miss home, you live there with your mother first, and your third uncle will come to see you.

Third uncle can't help me either. I'm desperate.

When I was in the first grade of junior high school, one day, my brother called the landline in the village. I guess it was my third uncle who gave this number to my brother. The village asked us to answer the phone. I went with my mother and was very impressed.

I stood next to my mother and heard my elder brother yelling on the phone. He called my mother’s full name. Remember, if you don’t send my sister back, I will definitely find you. I will definitely Kill you.

My mother kept crying and only explained to him the reason for bringing me out, but nothing else. She was very careful, and she kept pulling on my mother's clothes when I wanted to talk to my brother. My mother said, you kid doesn’t know how to speak, so you called me to ask for money, and your brother doesn’t have any money either. I have already said everything that needs to be said, and then she hung up the phone.

I didn't sleep that whole night, and thoughts flooded into my heart like crazy. When I went to school after

, I couldn't pay attention to class seriously, and my tears kept flowing. When the head teacher saw it, I told him what happened. He was silent for a long time. He said that the teacher can't help you, and he only hopes that you can be happier in the days to come. Finish reading the book first. Your brother will not kill your mother. You are related by blood and you will definitely see each other when you grow up.

I will not see you again

"I will definitely see you when you grow up."

This sentence became the belief that supported me to survive.

The winter there is very cold, but because my family is poor, my mother and I wear a pair of cotton pants. I went to school, and my mother could only stay at home and cover herself on the bed. When I come back, my mother will put on cotton pants and get up to do things.

My mother also asked me if I wanted to take a break from school, but I insisted on going to school. As long as I go to school and become independent, I can find my father and brother.

However, before I finished reading the book, my mother took me away again.

I don’t know when she made this decision.

During that time, there was a lot of noise at home. It wasn't my uncle who was quarreling with my mother, but his brother and my mother. My uncle and brother said that his wife ran away under my mother's persuasion and never came back.

But my mother said she didn't do it. So they often argue.

Because of this, poverty, and my mother really wanted to take me away, it was still winter, when the sky was slightly bright, my mother said, if you pretend to have a stomachache today, we will leave this place forever.

I really wanted to leave, but my brothers and sisters were still very young, so I felt very reluctant to leave. When I left, I really looked back every step of the way.

My younger brother was only two years old at that time. He had a round face and was very clingy. My uncle was standing at the entrance of the village holding his younger brother. He thought we were going to the town to see a doctor, so he said to his younger brother, "Goodbye to my sister and goodbye to my mother."

I know in my heart that I will never see you again. As we walked, I asked my mother why she didn’t bring my younger siblings.

My mother said, hurry up and leave, there are so many words to talk about!

Stills from the documentary "Folk Songs on the Plains"

Jiangsu

This time the car was bound for Jiangsu. After

arrived, an auntie greeted us. Later I found out that my aunt was the sister of a friend from Anhui who played very well with my mother. She rented a small house with only one bed. After I went there, I slept with my mother on one side, and my aunt slept with her daughter on the other side.

The next day, my aunt took my mother everywhere to look for a job. About a month later, I started working in the electronics factory above my mother's building. My mother lied to others and said that I was 13 years old. I would work for a while to save some tuition fees, and then I would go to school. The boss just agreed to let me do it.

One day, after my mother and I came back from get off work, my aunt said that she would introduce a boyfriend to my mother and that she would come over soon and let my mother clean up. I was shocked, wrong, why should I introduce my boyfriend?

After dark, a tall and thin man in his 50s, about 1.75 meters tall, appeared in his aunt's rental house. Then my aunt asked my sister to take me out to play.

My sister told me, did you see that, that is your future father.

I felt very sad after listening to it, and I hated my mother a little bit. Not long after

, my mother asked me to move to the factory dormitory, and she wanted to move to my uncle's house. I was also angry and moved in without hesitation.

From Guizhou to Anhui, and then to Jiangsu, the marriage introduction network is like a rolling snowball, pushing faster and farther.

It seems to have become a method and habit for my mother to survive.

I can’t understand that I only want to work and earn money to go back to Guizhou. So even though we worked in the same building, my mother and I didn't see each other very often.

Because she deliberately hid, she wanted to give me some food, but it was difficult to find me.

In this case, if we want to meet each other, something big must happen.

One day, my mother came directly to the workshop to find me. She said that your brother and the others were coming over.

I was shocked. How did you find my brother? Are they coming to pick me up?

Brother finally came, but Zhu Zhu and her mother failed to return to their normal life track. Mom will remarry, and her hidden secrets will one day be exposed.

The story is not over yet to be continued.

-Cover illustration Cedric

-Article pictures provided by the narrator and the documentary "Folk Songs on the Plains"