She Only Cares About Cultivation

The nut wouldn’t eat anyone else’s food, and wherever she went during the day, it followed. In their house, valuable and useful things were stored in her space, so even if the front door was wide open, there was no worry about thieves.

Occasionally, someone passing by her house would greet her kindly, and she would respond in kind. If they exchanged a few words, she would generously give them her leftover dishes. So, while not many people interacted with her, quite a few spoke well of her.

The furniture in her house was originally made with the help of the village carpenter. She obtained the paint herself from space and applied a festive red color to the polished furniture, making it look new. The same went for the house and front doors, which she asked villagers for help with. At the time, she hadn’t started cooking, so she paid them wages. Her generosity earned her a good reputation, but soon after, when she declined a matchmaker’s proposal, rumors began to spread.

’Comfort woman’ became a frequent term on people’s lips. Other than her, unjustly labeled as such, in the village, there were two young girls rescued after Japan’s surrender. In front of these girls’ families, no one dared to speak, but gossip still persisted privately, an unavoidable reality.

At first, she didn’t pay attention to them, but later learned of their situation and went out of her way to visit the two children. Before the incidents, both were bright seventeen or eighteen-year-old girls. Now both in their twenties, they rarely ventured out, staying home doing chores, with no plans to marry. They avoided men and spoke with their heads lowered. She knew it was trauma’s aftermath.

Not marrying might actually be fortunate, as long as their families didn’t despise them. Living alone wasn’t an issue, better than marrying and having that past constantly brought up and salt rubbed in their wounds.

However, when a woman doesn’t marry, her parents, brothers, and sisters do not think much of it. But once brothers marry, with sisters-in-law and daughters-in-law, is there a place left for this sister or sister-in-law?

If one’s family is good, sister-in-law good, daughter-in-law good, then it’s fine. But how many such families exist?

Unfortunately, the two girls faced just such a situation, staying at home for seven years, then both incidents erupted in one month, seemingly coordinated.

One family faced a sister-in-law’s tantrum, the other a daughter-in-law’s, both for the realistic reason that their presence at home affected their nieces’ or nephews’ marriage prospects.

Maybe fate hadn’t abandoned them, when the two were about to jump into the river, they encountered her out walking her dog. After saving them, she scolded them thoroughly.

In their twenties, though no longer little girls, they cried like children.

"Sister An, you don’t know, women in the village have no status. Before marriage, they obey elders; after, they listen to husbands. With no backing from family or husband, here, you might just become an object of ridicule, anyone can step on you. We’ve really had enough of these cautious days, pleasing others, enduring grievances, gaining no sympathy, just seen as deserved. Any dissatisfaction leads to nose-pointing scolding. For a year or two, parents might help, but as they age and need care, they look to their son’s wife attitude, and at that point, the daughter becomes the trigger for everything."

Qiuxia, now twenty-six, was seventeen nine years ago. She stayed in a brothel for a year and was near death when rescued, later saved by the government. But surviving has been harder than dying for her.

Caihua, now twenty-three, was only fifteen eight years ago, endured a few months in a brothel, and was severely tormented when rescued.

Yishui felt deeply for them, imagining how they have endured all these years. If not truly at wit’s end, would they have agreed to jump together?

She hadn’t watched any movie about comfort women, unable to bear it, not even daring to imagine such scenes. Yet the living evidence stood before her. What reason did she have not to save them?

After pondering, Yishui decided to stand up for them. Looking at the two girls, she asked firmly.

"Do you want to live as I do? Live for yourselves? I can teach you skills to make a living, but there’s one condition: sever all ties with your family. If you can, I’ll help you; if not, I’ve saved you once, I don’t plan to do it again. Fate is what it is, take care of yourselves!"