The 1960s: The Story of a Country Girl's Journey to the City

This time, Sister Chen stopped sharpening her knife, but still ignored Wu Dayong.

Instead, he held the cleaver in front of him, tested the sharp blade with his other hand, and silently curled the corners of his mouth into a strange smile.

Coupled with the flickering candlelight, the atmosphere was incredibly atmospheric. Wu Dayong was almost scared to death.

Then, Mrs. Chen suddenly stood up, and because of the big movement, she knocked over the small stool with a loud "bang".

The sound of the bench falling seemed to strike Wu Dayong's heart, sending a shiver down his spine. Seeing Chen's actions sent a chill down his spine.

Sister Chen's hand holding the kitchen knife remained unchanged; her unfocused eyes, as if she had lost her soul, led her stiffly towards the outer room, muttering to herself:

"Cut the watermelon, cut the watermelon..."

Wu Dayong almost fainted when he saw her walk past him with a knife in her hand.

Sister-in-law Chen did not linger in front of him, but slowly walked to the bedside in the outer room, muttering "cutting watermelon" as she did so.

When Wu Dayong saw her go to the outer room, he knew something was wrong. He quickly got out of bed, trembling, and followed her without even putting on his shoes.

Old Mrs. Wu is old and a light sleeper. She heard the noise in the room, but she is a little hard of hearing and too lazy to ask. After all, it was her son and his wife's room, and it was normal for there to be some noise at night. She turned over and prepared to go back to sleep.

Unexpectedly, just as she closed her eyes to fall asleep, she felt a shadow loom over the headboard, and then a hand touched her face.

The man said "cutting a watermelon" as he touched her face twice before pressing his hand firmly against her face.

When she opened her eyes, a cold glint flashed before her eyes, and she saw a kitchen knife coming down towards her face.

"what!"

"Duang"

The cleaver landed right on Old Lady Wu's pillow, about ten centimeters from her head, and chopped off a few strands of her hair.

Old Mrs. Wu opened her eyes wide in terror, like a dying fish with its mouth agape, then her eyes rolled back and she fainted.

But the person by the bedside wasn't done yet; the kitchen knife was raised again.

Wu Dayong seized the opportunity and grabbed Chen's hand that was holding the knife.

He tried to speak to his wife, but no sound came out, and he stomped his feet in frustration.

He never expected that his wife would actually swing the knife downwards; that last stab almost scared him to death.

Wu Dahua, who was sleeping next to Old Lady Wu, was also startled awake. She was now slowly moving towards the wall, afraid of making any noise that would attract the attention of Sister Chen.

Taking advantage of the moment, Wu Dahua scrambled to the innermost part of the bed, her hands gripping the blanket tightly and trembling.

"What...what does she want to do? She..."

"Shh..."

Wu Dayong quickly stopped Wu Dahua from speaking, afraid of upsetting Chen's wife. He could clearly feel his wife's hand gripping the kitchen knife tightly.

If someone gets provoked and starts wielding a kitchen knife, someone might actually die today.

Seeing that Wu Dahua was hiding far away, Sister Chen felt that it was about time. Suddenly, she shuddered, as if waking from a dream, and looked ahead in confusion.

"Dayong, how did I get here?"

Then he looked at the kitchen knife in his hand.

"what!"

Sister Chen screamed, threw the kitchen knife far away, then rolled her eyes and collapsed softly into Wu Dayong's arms.

Wu Dahua was so frightened by the kitchen knife thrown at her that she lost her voice. She quickly covered her head with the blanket and felt a warm flow gushing out from below. She had lost control of her bladder.

After a few minutes of silence, the damp heat beneath them gradually brought them to their senses.

"She...she did it on purpose!"

Wu Dahua peeked out from under the covers and, seeing that Chen's wife no longer had a knife, finally managed to squeeze out a few words through gritted teeth.

She figured the kitchen knife was originally kept in the outer kitchen, and that Aunt Chen must have hidden it inside beforehand. And she was right.

Just as I was about to voice my guess, I heard a loud "bang," and a gust of wind blew the door open.

The words I wanted to say suddenly got stuck in my throat.

She didn't hear her second sister-in-law opening the door to get a cleaver from the kitchen at all; this was clearly an attempt to kill her.

The next day, at the crack of dawn, Old Lady Wu and Wu Dahua hurriedly fled back to the village as if their lives depended on it, not even bothering to ask for the money back.

After Wu Dayong left for work, Aunt Chen went to Bao Ya's house. When she entered and saw that Bao Ya was alone, she started laughing non-stop.

She had been married to Wu Dayong for so many years, and she had never let that old hag suffer such a great loss before.

"Bao Ya, you didn't see it, both of you were so scared you wet the bed."

Aunt Chen laughed until tears streamed down her face. She wiped her eyes as she spoke to Bao Ya.

Bao Ya nodded in agreement, and continued:

"Hmm, that's good. Keep it up. And tonight, take my kitchen knife back and sharpen it too."

"Okay, I'll grind it for you right away, it'll be quick."

As she spoke, Sister Chen was about to roll up her sleeves and sharpen her knife.

"No, try to calm down when you get home tonight. If your mother-in-law leaves, you'll be back to normal right away, but Wu Dayong definitely won't change. These symptoms need to last for a few days to be effective."

"Still going on? How long will it last?"

Mrs. Chen was a little confused. Wouldn't it be enough to scare the person away? Continuing like this would just make her seem like a real lunatic.

"Just sharpen two or three more kitchen knives. Don't act too normal most of the time. If you don't like what Wu Dayong says, you'll have a breakdown."

As soon as you get your salary this month, spend it all and don't leave a single penny for his mother. If he argues with you, you'll have a breakdown.

If you make the same mistake again in a while, I'll reduce your mother-in-law's pension to five yuan. In the village, five yuan a month isn't even enough to cover everything.

Bao Ya's words left Chen's wife stunned. She wasn't worried at all that Wu Dayong would send her to a mental hospital, since at that time, no one had the means to stay in a mental hospital.

"Is this even possible? Will it work?"

Sister Chen hesitated, afraid that if she used this trick too much, it would stop working.

"It will definitely work. You need to make him accept the fact that you are sick and that you have an episode whenever you are unhappy."

Over time, he'll become very careful to avoid things that upset you. From now on, he'll have to think twice before making any unreasonable demands of his mother.

Imagine someone who seems mentally unstable is sharpening a knife while you sleep. Wouldn't you be scared? Besides, you already feel guilty towards that person.

Bao Ya wouldn't encourage people to say things like "divorce" or "cut ties." Even if you get divorced, will finding another man necessarily be better? Not necessarily.

Therefore, whether you are comfortable in a relationship depends primarily on yourself, not on others.

Firmly uphold your bottom line and do not allow anyone to cross it.

Bao Ya is a woman of action; if you do one, I'll definitely repay you with fifteen. Dare to cross that line even half a step, and I'll break your legs.

She never tells anyone where her bottom line is, because her bottom line may occasionally rise, but she will definitely fight back if it is crossed.