The woman's name is Li Shilan. These three characters were guessed by Yu Dong himself based on local oral accounts. The locals did not know how to write the woman's name specifically.
She should be from northern Jiangsu. The reason why she should be is because some people say that she is from northern Anhui, but the majority of opinions are from northern Jiangsu.
It is said that because his family was too poor, he ran away from home when he was a teenager and found a family on Zhoudao to marry into.
Without her mother-in-law, she was easily bullied. She gave birth to three daughters in a row, and her status in her husband's family became even worse day by day.
The subsequent story is just like what Liu Changmin said: he took poison, was fed fecal matter, and became mentally disturbed.
But Yu Dong figured out two more things, one was the whereabouts of her three daughters, and the other was why she had to go back and forth between her home and the Drum Tower every day.
Two of her three daughters survived. The second daughter fell into the river and drowned when she was three years old.
The eldest daughter is married far away and may not come back once a year. The third daughter has a better life and is married in the city. Her husband works in a certain public institution.
Only the third daughter could take care of Li Shilan, but the third daughter rarely came back. She probably only gave her mother some food every ten or twenty days.
When it comes to the third daughter, the opinions of the villagers are polarized. Some people think that the third daughter is a white-eyed wolf, and the old mother is crazy and does not know how to take care of her, just because she knows that she is enjoying happiness in the city.
Some people defended her, saying that it was not easy for her. She had a family and a family, and she had to take care of the children. It was good that she didn't completely abandon her. If she really took her mother over, she and her husband would not be able to live together sooner or later.
Since the latter had already defended his third daughter, he said a few more words.
It's not easy to talk about these three girls. The second baby died early, so he suffered less. Two girls, one girl and one girl, lived in such a home. From childhood to adulthood, their lives were harder than anyone else's.
Their father and grandmother didn't like them and didn't give them enough food every day. The villagers sometimes couldn't bear it and took them to their homes for a meal. But at that time, life was difficult for everyone, and there was a limit to how much help could be given.
When her grandmother and father passed away one after another, it became difficult for Li Shilan to take care of herself, let alone them.
The eldest son ran away when he was a teenager and came back several years later. When he came back for the first time, he brought his son with him. After that, she was the only one who came back.
The third child was introduced by people in the village and got married in the city. However, although she was in the city, her husband was much older than her, he was not good-looking, and he rarely came back.
About four or five years ago, Li Shilan fell and injured her leg. She was too old to withstand the fall and died within a few days.
The reason why she went to the Drum Tower every day was because someone taught her before she took the poison that she could petition to prevent her husband and mother-in-law from beating her.
She went to look for him several times but could not find anyone who could take care of the matter. She was even beaten by her husband for this behavior.
Later, she suffered from mental problems and forgot many things, but she still remembered the matter of petitioning.
Yu Dong guessed that petitioning had probably become her obsession, and the reason why she went to Jinyi for a while was probably because she heard someone said that there was a stone in Jinyi that could make wishes.
It is very likely that she no longer remembers that her abusive husband and mother-in-law are dead, and just wants to make a wish so that she will no longer be bullied.
When he came out of the village, Yu Dong was still in a heavy mood. No matter how many tragic stories he had heard, he would still feel sad every time he heard such things again.
Especially when something like this happens right around you, for real.
During this period, someone pointed to a spot in the field and told him: Li Shilan was buried there.
Yu Dong didn't go over, but just took a look from a distance.
A small earthen bag is half-hidden among the weeds. It is conceivable that when these drooping weeds fade and new grass grows again, this short grave will be completely hidden among the wild wormwood, making it difficult to detect.
After returning home, it only took Yu Dong more than a week to write the novel about Li Shilan, and then showed it to Su Tong. The novel has a total of 70,000 words, and Yu Dong wrote nearly 10,000 words every day on average, plus
The effort of copying.
Su Tong smoked half a pack of cigarettes before he finished reading the 70,000-word manuscript. Then he looked at Yu Dong: "The story is..."
He originally wanted to ask if there was a prototype, but stopped himself and said with a smile: "Didn't you write this novel specifically for "Zhongshan"?"
The reason why Su Tong said this is because there is nothing trendy in Yu Dong's novel. It is just a traditional realistic novel, which is indeed in line with the style of "Zhongshan".
But Su Tong was also joking. He certainly didn't think that Yu Dong would create to suit the style of a certain magazine.
Yu Dong did not speak, and Su Tong continued, "This novel is very good, but I think there are still some things that can be explored, such as the life of her two daughters and her petition, which can be expanded. Your article
The novel probably contains..."
"About 70,000 words."
"Seventy thousand words." Su Tong nodded, "I think it would be better to extend it to more than 100,000 words, do more digging, and make the work richer and thicker. Realistic works must establish models.
Typical images in the environment. You have done a very good job in this regard, but you can do better and make the environment more typical. You have to think about a question. We are in this era now, and there are many things that can be used by people of this era.
Look at it from a different perspective. But what about many years to come? For future generations, the typical environment described in your novel lacks some details."
Seeing Yu Dong thinking about his words, Su Tong laughed again, "Of course, this is just a little suggestion from me. If you don't want to change it, I can tell you directly that this novel has been passed and the next issue will be
I can serve it to you."
Yu Dong pondered for a while, then nodded and said, "Listening to what you said, there is indeed room for improvement. I'll give it a try. If it really doesn't work, I'll have to do this."
"You can do it, I believe you."
"Thank you, senior brother." Yu Dong said with sincere gratitude.
Su Tong smiled and waved, "You're welcome. It's your own strength that makes me believe in you."
"I'm not saying this, I'm saying thank you for the proposal you gave me."
Su Tong laughed even harder, "You're more than welcome to say thank you. Isn't this what we as editors should do? You don't think that our editors just make appointments, review the manuscripts, and then correct typos for you, right?
."
"I didn't say that." Yu Dong spread his hands.
"Okay, no more joking. You can revise this novel again and bring it back when it's ready. Also, have you considered what I told you last time? Do you want to come with me this time? There are only a few left.
It’s time.”
Yu Dong nodded, "Go, it just so happens that I have some things to do when I go to Yanjing this time."
——
——
Chapter completed!