The Long-Suffering Wife of 1986 Finally Sees the Light

1986, Heyan Village in southwestern Shandong.

It is Li Xiulian’s third year as a daughter-in-law in the Zhang family. Her husband has gone south to work and sent back 120 yuan.

Her mother-in-law signs for the money in front of her, counts it in front of her, then tucks it into her own pocket right before buying her younger sister-in-law a Dacron dress.

During the summer harvest, Xiulian carries six sacks of wheat, leaving red marks on her shoulders. There is no white-flour bun for her at the first meal.

She neither cries nor makes a fuss.

Before dawn, she goes to the riverbank to dig medicinal herbs, saving up one yuan at a time.

What her mother-in-law doesn’t know is that the daughter-in-law who never says a word is quietly growing a backbone.

Era fiction | mother-in-law and daughter-in-law | family life | no golden finger | heartache | comeback