In 1982, Shen Congwen returned to Xiangxi, and it has been 20 years since he left his homeland. He looked out at the turbulent Clear Water Bay in front of him, and his white-haired sister's boat had long since disappeared without a trace.
Two years later, a young man who claimed to be surnamed Mo gently pushed open the door of the Shen family. After a short conversation with Shen Congwen, who was already in his twilight years, the memories of the ninth sister appeared in his mind like a curtain.
Shen Congwen's deep relationship with the ninth sister
As the second brother, Shen Congwen has a deep relationship with his younger sister Shen Yuemeng. This special love made him have high expectations for his sister. So, at the end of 1927, he made a bold decision to bring his mother and sister from Xiangxi to Beiping to live together.
At that time, Shen Congwen was already a professional writer, and he supported his family by insisting on writing. With the support of his predecessors such as Yu Dafu and Xu Zhimo, his financial situation has improved significantly. Shen Congwen, who no longer worries about his livelihood, focuses mainly on the cultivation of his sister. In his mind, his sister should be smart, witty, elegant and dignified, and become an outstanding woman like Lin Huiyin.
However, this may just be Shen Congwen's wishful thinking. He didn't take into account Lin Huiyin's background of traveling to Europe when he was young, and his intelligence and sensitivity, while his sister Shen Yuemeng was deeply bound by traditional concepts and was a village girl who had not left the atmosphere of the countryside. In contrast, there is a huge gap between the two.
The divergence of hope from reality
Although Shen Congwen tried his best to cultivate his sister, it backfired. The younger sister doesn't seem to be following his elaborate track. Under the introduction of Mr. Hu Shih, Shen Congwen became a teacher in Zhonggong School. His only request was that his sister would be able to sit in on his class.
Shen Congwen designed a curriculum for her sister to Xi in the next few years, hiring the best teachers to teach her, including mathematics, French and English. However, despite Shen Congwen's hard work, his sister doesn't seem to be on the path he envisioned. For the boring and obscure French, my sister is more devoted to reading love**, and she is deeply immersed in it, unable to extricate herself.
Twists and turns in marriage
When the eldest brother married his talented sister-in-law Zhang Zhaohe, the younger sister's desire for love became even stronger. Sister-in-law Zhang Zhaohe saw his sister's thoughts and tried to find a suitable partner for her. A young man named Xia Yun, who works as a professor of psychology at Yenching University, enters the quiet life of his sister.
Xia Yun was attracted by her sister's youthful liveliness and playful cuteness, and her sister-in-law Zhang Zhaohe managed to match the two. However, despite Xia Yun's affection for his sister, for some reason, the relationship between the two ended without a problem.
The ups and downs of fate
When her sister was twenty-two years old, she experienced a fateful peach blossom catastrophe. A young man named Liu Zuchun broke into her life and initially gave her endless beautiful visions. However, Liu Zuchun's departure has become a nightmare that his sister cannot get rid of in her life.
Liu Zuchun initially came to the door because of Shen Congwen's reputation, but he got along happily with his sister, and the two gradually fell in love. However, the tragedy happened in an instant, and Shen Congwen couldn't imagine that his sister turned out to be a complete "love brain", immersed in the romance brought by Liu Zuchun, and gave up her plan to study, study abroad and become a socialite.
Shen Congwen's path of struggle for his sister is facing a complete collapse, and Liu Zuchun has also built a thoughtful, ambitious, and independent thinking progressive female image for his wife in his heart. However, the younger sister is not the "marionette" they imagined, and like many young girls, she lives in ignorance of the fantasy of future love.
In 1937, the July Seven Incident broke out, and Liu Zuchun participated in the front line of resistance against Japan and said goodbye without saying goodbye. This parting became a lifelong pain for my sister. Originally thought that she would be a good wife and mother, after her hopes were dashed, she gradually drifted away from the normal track.
The shattering of love brings a huge blow to the heart
Shen Yuemeng seemed to have become another person, and his thoughts and actions were different from ordinary people. At that time, it was a period of national crisis, the mountains and rivers were broken, and the lives of the Chinese people were in a difficult situation. The Shen family is no exception, and the pressure of life makes Shen Congwen and his wife have to carefully plan every expense. However, at the same time, Shen Yuemeng became extremely generous, and the food and goods in the house often disappeared inexplicably, and later Shen Congwen learned that it was his sister who gave all the family's supplies to the beggars.
At this time, Shen Congwen did not realize that his sister's psychological condition was serious, and if the previous psychology professor Xia Yun still had contact with the Shen family, he might clearly tell the Shen family that his sister suffered from bipolar disorder syndrome!This symptom is often after a major change in the relationship, the individual unconsciously becomes a strong person, hoping to be recognized by helping others, and looking for a sense of existence and worth.
However, at that time, Shen Congwen didn't know anything about psychology, and just blindly blamed his sister for being ignorant and acting arbitrarily. This undoubtedly made Shen Yuemeng worse psychologically, and further went down the road of mental disorder.
In order to alleviate the pain of her sister's lovelorn, Shen Congwen found her a job as an administrator in the library of Southwest Associated University. In the midst of busy interactions with colleagues, my sister's condition improved slightly, but the ransacking of the room became the last straw that broke her back.
During the Anti-Japanese War, on the day the Japanese bombed the school, the Shen family's house was also ransacked, and the younger sister hid all her longing for love, expectations for herself, and hope for the future in her small bedroom. Now, the mess in front of her makes her no longer able to bear the pain of life and the sorrow of fate. So, after a heart-rending roar, she completely fell into the eyes of the madman.
The rest of his life went insane, and eventually died of famine.
Since then, the unkempt and disheveled Shen Yuemeng can often be seen on the street, and she often mutters illogical words in her mouth, usually starting with a sentence "Amitabha", and then speaking a few words in English, sometimes smirking for a while, sometimes crying.
Facing his sister's madness, Shen Congwen's heart was full of deep guilt. He regretted bringing his sister out of Xiangxi in the first place. However, it was too late, and based on his work and financial situation, Shen Congwen decided to send his sister back to his hometown and entrust him to the care of his eldest brother and sixth brother.
The moment my sister returned to her hometown, the eldest brother Shen Yunlu scolded Shen Congwen, and the Shen family sank into endless silence and grief. What they didn't expect was that Shen Yuemeng ran away from home after staying at home for two or three months.
During her wanderings, she meets Mo Shijin, a mason who is unkempt and poor. Maybe it was fate, or maybe it was the cause and effect of his previous life, Mo Shijin's smile gave Shen Yuemeng great psychological comfort in the upheaval. So, the two made a private decision for life and lived a simple life, and soon after their child Mo Zilai was born.
Two hard-working people drove a small boat to work hard in the waterways of Xiangxi, making a living from fishing. During that time, people living on the shore often saw a haggard, gray-haired fisherwoman, who would recite Amitabha Buddha and speak English in a broken boat, hurrying to and fro.
Soon after, Xiangxi suffered a famine, and her poor sister starved to death in this disaster, ending her short and miserable life for forty-five years. When Mo Zilai pushed open the heavy door of the Shen family, a pair of rough hands on his uncle Shen Congwen's shoulders made him feel deeply saddened, and tears flowed down his face.
Conclusion
Shen Yuemeng is undoubtedly a microcosm of women who were imprisoned by thought in the old era. Although she was pampered by her family at a young age, received a good education, and was also loved by talented people, none of this allowed her to get out of the shackles of thought. She has always lived in people's expectations, immersed in the love trap she has set herself.
And Shen Congwen, an ill-fated person in his life, due to negligence and limitations of thought, his infinite care for her sister put a heavy burden of thought on her back, which eventually indirectly led to her sister's tragic life.
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