Divorced by her husband's family and rejected by her own! She defiantly turned her life around

Aunt Yu was afraid of those officials and dared not go, so she went to the Shili Xiang Restaurant instead.

When the waiters in the restaurant saw Yu Feng's mother arrive, they didn't say anything unpleasant or drive her away. Instead, they went up to her and asked why she had come to the restaurant.

"Auntie, what brings you to the restaurant? Is something the matter?"

"I want to ask you about Yu Feng. He went out and hasn't come back. I don't know anyone in the county, so I can only come here to ask you."

"Auntie, Yu Feng is in trouble, and you didn't know?"

"What's wrong? I don't know. He hasn't been home for a long time, and I'm very worried about him."

I'm a complete stranger in this county, and I don't go out much, so how would I know?

"Auntie, don't wait anymore. Yu Feng isn't coming back. You shouldn't stay in the county town either. Go back to the village quickly."

"Explain yourself clearly, what exactly happened?"

"Yu Feng led some local thugs to steal things in Liujia Village, but they were caught and handed over to the authorities. The county magistrate then sent them all to work in the mines."

Aunt Yu was struck dumb; everything went black, and she fainted. This terrified the shop assistant, all because he had been too talkative.

The shopkeeper came over and pinched Aunt Yu's philtrum. After a while, she woke up, sat on the ground, and cried with snot and tears streaming down her face. "My son! My poor son! How can I live without you?"

"Auntie, please don't cry here. This is a restaurant, and the customers will be here soon. Don't let it affect the business."

Aunt Yu sat there crying, ignoring everything else. The shopkeeper was thoroughly annoyed; neither of the mother and son was easy to deal with. Last time, her son almost ruined the restaurant, and this time it was her again. He ordered two of the shop assistants to drag her out and throw her far away.

Aunt Yu continued to sit on the ground, wailing, attracting a crowd of onlookers. "Sister, what happened to you? Get up and tell me. The ground is so cold, don't catch a cold!"

"I can't live like this anymore. My daughter-in-law took the family's money and ran off with someone else. Everyone says that my son was arrested by the county magistrate and forced to work in the mines."

"Feng'er is such a good person, how could he possibly do such shady things?"

"You said your son was taken to work in the mines. What's your son's name?"

My son's name is Yu Feng.

"Yu Feng, Yu Feng, this name sounds familiar, like I've heard it somewhere before."

Oh, I remember now. Didn't the county government post a notice a few days ago? It said that six people went to a place called Liujia Village and not only tried to steal things, but also tried to harass the girls. As a result, they were caught and sent to the government. The county magistrate said that their behavior was bad and sent them to work in the mines for 10 years.

I remember it clearly; one of them was named Yu Feng, because his name was the most respectable among the six people there. The others were either named Er Gou (Second Dog) or San Mao (Third Hair).

"So Yu Feng is your son? Bah! You still have the nerve to cry here? The good son you raised only does despicable things. Sending him to work in the mines would be too good for him."

"No wonder your daughter-in-law ran away with the money. What good will come of being with someone like that?"

……

The atmosphere at the scene changed instantly. People who had previously sympathized with Aunt Yu were now pointing fingers at her and looking at her with disdain.

Aunt Yu finally understood that her son had really committed a crime and had been sent to work in the mines.

Her heart ached as if it were being cut by a knife. "Feng'er, how could you be so foolish? How could you do such a thing? How can your mother live like this?"

Aunt Yu slowly stood up from the ground and walked dejectedly towards the rented courtyard. When she got to the door, she found it locked and a bundle lying on the ground.

She picked up the bundle from the ground, slung it over her shoulder, and looked at the empty alley. Tears welled up in her eyes again. She had no money and no one to turn to. Where could she go?

She wanted to find work in the county town to earn some money and then inquire about her son's whereabouts. She searched for two days in a row but no one hired her. She hadn't eaten for two days and was both hungry and cold. So, she spent the night huddled under someone's gatehouse.

These days are just too hard to bear. The only place she can go now is Liujia Village. Although they have been driven out of the village and have no house or land, she has a grandson. She doesn't believe that the people of Liujia Village can be so cruel as to drive her out of the village and leave her alone to freeze and starve to death.

Zao Hua is a kind child. As long as I am willing to admit my mistakes and humble myself, she will definitely take me in. I can help her take care of her children and do housework.

She was so hungry that she didn't even have the strength to walk back to Liujia Village. She knelt down on the ground not far from Shili Xiang Restaurant and began to beg.

"Kind people, please have pity on me and give me some food!"

"Manager, that beggar is really affecting our customers' appetites by begging here. Should I kick her out?"

"Give them some food and send them away, otherwise the guests will say we're bullying them."

The waiter wrapped two large steamed buns in oil paper, walked up to Aunt Yu, and stuffed the oil paper into her arms. "Here are two steamed buns. Take them and leave quickly. Don't interfere with our business."

Aunt Yu looked up and saw that it was the shop assistant. The assistant was also a little surprised. Why was she begging for food here?

Aunt Yu was embarrassed to run into an acquaintance. She forced a smile, said nothing, picked up her things, and left.

Feeling the warmth of the two steamed buns in her arms, she felt her whole body warm up. She quickly took the buns and left the city gate, found a secluded spot, and secretly ate both buns.

It feels good to have food in my stomach; my body isn't so cold anymore, and I have some energy.

She tidied her hair and straightened her clothes before heading towards Liujia Village.

The road was so long that Aunt Yu didn't dare to stop along the way. She hurried as fast as she could and didn't reach Sifang Town until it was dark.

The Four Directions Formation was a familiar place to her, and once she arrived there, she was no longer so afraid.

The moon had already risen, and the night breeze was a bit chilly. Aunt Yu wrapped her clothes tighter around herself and hurried towards Liujia Village under the starlight.

The village was quiet, there was no one around. Everyone should be asleep by now. She walked all the way to her own courtyard gate and knocked on the door hard. She just knocked without saying a word, afraid that Zao Hua would recognize her voice.

Aunt Yu patted the door for a long time, but there was no sound from inside. It was pitch black, and she couldn't see anything even though she peeked through the crack in the door.

She looked up and bumped into the lock, only then realizing that the door was locked and there was no one inside.

"Where did Zao Hua go so late at night? Did she go back to her parents' house?"

Aunt Yu had knocked on the door quite hard, which alerted the neighbors. The neighbors and her son came out with sticks and saw someone standing at Zao Hua's door.

"Who is it? What do they want?"

"Brother Donglin, it's me, Yu Feng's mother."

"It's you? What are you doing back in the middle of the night? Didn't the village chief already forbid you from returning to the village?"

"I really have nowhere else to go, so I have to go back to the village. Do you know where Zaohua and her child went?"

Donglin looked down on Aunt Yu. Their neighbor of over ten years was actually this kind of person.

"I don't know, please stop banging on the door, it's disturbing our sleep."

Aunt Yu had no choice. She was already at her doorstep and couldn't spend another night outside, so she decided to climb over the wall to get in.

She took two bundles of firewood from the woodpile in front of her neighbor's house, placed them at the base of the wall, stepped onto the top of the wall using the firewood as footholds, and jumped down with her eyes closed.