On the second day of the Lunar New Year, amidst the crackling sounds of firecrackers, Fang Zheng Toy Factory resumed operations. They had received several large orders before the new year and needed to work overtime to meet their deadlines.
Workers, tempted by the extra pay, had returned, but they grumbled nonstop about not being able to rest even during the New Year, cursing the evil capitalist ways.
Jennie Yang, once a worker herself, was now counted among the capitalists.
She walked through the factory in six-centimeter heels and a dazzling outfit, a confident smile on her face. In stark contrast to the grimy, despondent workers, though they shared the same space, she seemed to belong to a different world altogether.
She could feel the intense gazes of jealousy directed at her, and she relished that feeling.
Not everyone possessed the attributes that could spark envy.
“I heard she nailed those big orders herself, Disney and all. Many big factories lost out to her. Apparently, Disney’s boss decided on our factory after just one meeting with Jennie Yang. Just look at her, prancing around, who knows how she actually got those orders.”
“Shush! Keep it down! She seems to dislike that name, once I called her by it and she glared at me.”
“Thinks changing her name makes her a foreigner? Please. She’s just a hen that can’t lay eggs! I got married later than her and I’m already pregnant. Look at her, flat as a runway. Probably has some real issues.”
A few female workers snickered lewdly. Suddenly, one clamped her mouth shut and glanced sideways. The others quickly got the hint and looked over to see Jennie Yang strutting past like a proud rooster.
The women glared silently at Jennie Yang, then lowered their heads and continued their tasks, either assembling parts or sticking labels on toys.
Jennie Yang pretended not to hear anything, though she had heard every word.
She could tolerate being called flirty, she could tolerate comments about her name change, but being called a barren hen was something she could not bear.
This was her Achilles’ heel.
A week later, the gossiping female workers were dismissed one by one for various reasons, decided by the workshop manager. But the workers weren’t fools; they guessed that Jennie Yang was the mastermind.
Having nothing left to lose, the dismissed workers created a scene at the factory gate, hurling unbearable insults.
Jennie Yang’s infertility became public knowledge overnight.
The slurs that a woman can’t bear children, or that a man is impotent, are the vilest because the accused can’t easily prove them wrong. A woman can’t get pregnant on demand and might never conceive, which doesn’t necessarily mean it’s her fault. A man can’t just drop his trousers to prove his virility—even if he did, some would say it’s all for show.
Jennie Yang was furious, especially with the workshop manager. She had intended for the gossiping women to be removed quietly, in a manner that would make them grateful rather than resentful. But the dismissal was handled crudely.
She knew the mindset of the lower classes all too well from her own background. They could be oppressed, scolded, and even insulted, but taking away their livelihood would make them fight back.
She had never anticipated that the person to stop the spreading rumors would be Liu Tianshi.
Liu Tianshi stood at the factory gate with a megaphone, declaring to the dismissed workers and the passersby that he was the one who was infertile, not his wife.
He was both kind and foolish, Jennie thought.
The storm outside had calmed, but a storm within the home erupted.
Her mother-in-law was furious, scolding her daughter-in-law day and night. She couldn’t stand her precious son being mocked and pointed at. She blamed everything on her daughter-in-law and would have driven her out immediately if not for her son’s intervention. In ancient times, she might have made her kneel in the ancestral hall for a month.
The immediate solution was to have a child, which would dispel all rumors.
Naturally, her mother-in-law believed her son had no issues; the problem must be with Jennie Yang. She demanded Jennie Yang undergo medical tests. If an issue was indeed found, it would be a good excuse to drive her away, and Liu Tianshi’s father wouldn’t protect a daughter-in-law who couldn’t continue the family line.
Jennie Yang’s worst fear was coming true.
She dared not go for the tests because she truly had an issue.
Exposing it would mean losing Liu Tianshi’s support and everything she had strived for.
It seemed she had no choice but to seek help from that one person.
That person always helped her unconditionally, protected her, and helped her through several crises. She owed him a debt she couldn’t yet repay and had hoped never to trouble him again, but now, she had no other option. After all, he was the only one who knew her secret.
To show his protest against his mother, Liu Tianshi decided to accompany Jennie Yang for the tests.
A week later, the results were unexpected.
Liu Tianshi indeed had a problem; he was infertile.
Jennie Yang clutched the test report, feeling a chill seeping through her bones. She squatted on the ground, powerless.
Having a child was essential to secure her place in the Liu family. Without a child, she would be swept out like trash. She had meticulously planned her marriage into the Liu family, and yet fate played such a cruel joke on her.
Thrown out by her mother into the freezing cold as a child, the sensations of desolation and fear returned, tightening around her chest like a noose, making it hard to breathe.
She hated this feeling, hated the mother who gave it to her. She couldn’t kill her mother, so she had to kill this feeling over and over again, but it always resurrected, shadowing her relentlessly, forcing her to kill it yet again.
She sat on a hospital bench, pondering the Liu family’s reaction to the test report.
Liu’s mother would certainly refuse to believe it and would take Liu Tianshi to another hospital for reevaluation, likely dragging Jennie Yang along. Her secret would undoubtedly be exposed then.
Although Liu’s father rarely spoke of it, he cared deeply about having descendants. He occasionally mentioned raising a grandson as a strong successor. Still vigorous, would he seek another woman to bear him a son? He definitely would.
Liu Tianshi, naive and immature, was easy to manipulate. Currently, he treated her well, still caught in a sweet dream of love. But what about the future? Couples grow weary of each other; without children, they would inevitably divorce. With children, even if divorced, she would remain tied to the Liu family.
She was a thorough pessimist, always preparing for the worst.
One way or another, she needed a child.
She remembered the child she had abandoned.
She hated snowy days, especially snowy nights. That child had chosen to be born on the night of the first snow. Their destinies were incompatible.
In that dilapidated, drafty warehouse, reeking of trash, she gave birth to that child.
She shivered with cold, her limbs stiff, the cold surpassing even the pain of childbirth—two extremes of agony, one from her mother, the other from that child. She hated them both.
She composed herself, contacted that person, and had a new report forged. She returned to the Liu family with it. Liu’s father was delighted, saying both were normal and having children was just a matter of time. Liu’s mother didn’t smile, just kept urging.
She silently plotted and schemed, thinking she had everything under control.
However, she realized that Liu Tianshi seemed to sense something was off, appearing moody as if he had something on his mind. He treated her the same in front of his parents, but when they were alone, he was colder than before.
She cautiously probed; he hid it even better, but there was no disguising the truth in bed. He seemed suddenly disinterested in her, a stark change from his previous eagerness.
Her passionate advances finally reignited his old fervor, but at the crucial moment, he faltered, desire waning.
This situation persisted for over a month. They both realized the gravity of the issue. She tried to find the cause; he avoided discussing it. Suggesting medical help repelled him; he claimed to know where the problem lay.
If this continued, how could she have a child? Her plans could not proceed.
Tracing the issue back, it started after their hospital visit, so it must be related to the physical exam. Perhaps knowing he was infertile had affected him psychologically?
She contacted that person, who assured her Liu Tianshi couldn’t possibly know.
What was the real problem?
Liu Tianshi acted nonchalant, casually inquiring about her past—her childhood, her student days, what she did before moving to the provincial city.
He thought she wouldn’t notice his sneaky investigations if he wove them into casual conversations, but she was already on high alert. She carefully navigated his questions, avoiding revealing her true past—the past she wanted desperately to escape.
Her carefully crafted lies had always easily deceived the simple-minded Liu Tianshi, but this time, they failed. His belief was feigned.
She watched his every move closely, sensing their marriage was on the verge of collapse, her painstakingly built life about to crumble, her dreams of a better future just a fleeting illusion.
Her fear was so intense that she dared not sleep at night, surpassing even the terror of being thrown out into the snow by her mother.
She discovered he had bought a ticket to Yao City. She secretly followed him, watched him disembark, and wander aimlessly around the city.
What was he planning? She was anxious, wishing she could confront him and lay everything on the table. The taste of her fate in someone else’s hands was bitter.
Approaching noon, Liu Tianshi entered a hotel, the best in Yao City, and didn’t come out.
She waited nearby in a small shop and suddenly spotted a familiar figure hesitating at the door before entering the hotel.
Her heart raced uncontrollably. Liu Tianshi’s purpose in Yao City was to meet him.
How did they know each other? How had Liu Tianshi contacted him? Why hadn’t he told her? What would he tell Liu Tianshi? He had promised never to betray her, but what was this?
She bit her lip until it bled, unaware of the blood as she was consumed by her thoughts.
