From Broken Family to Life Winner: A Reborn Mother's Journey

Su Li and the others were in a rush because the story had turned bloody.

And it was about the age-old, timeless conflict between a mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law.

The incident began with a vicious mother-in-law who had been abusing her daughter-in-law, despising her for being unable to produce a son and giving birth to three daughters instead.

She frequently beat and cursed the three little girls as well. Unable to produce a son, the daughter-in-law felt she had no ground to stand on and could only grit her teeth and bear the abuse.

She endured it for more than a decade as her daughters grew up.

As the saying goes: either erupt in silence or perish in it.

In the end, this meek daughter-in-law erupted.

Her mother-in-law and even her own husband didn’t love their daughters, but she doted on them. She was the sole reason her three daughters had managed to grow up healthy.

Her three daughters were her whole life. She could usually endure the abuse, but when she learned that her mother-in-law planned to marry her eldest daughter off to a widower in his thirties just for the bride price, she finally snapped.

Driven to fury by the vicious mother-in-law, the woman grabbed a kitchen knife, hacked her, and then drank a bottle of pesticide herself.

The husband worked out of town to support the family, so it was usually just the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law at home. They argued so often that the neighbors had grown used to the noise.

But that day was different. The commotion was too loud, and the daughter-in-law’s cries and curses were piercing. A concerned neighbor came over to check and found the mother-in-law lying in a pool of blood as the daughter-in-law was drinking pesticide.

All hell broke loose.

The kitchen knife had struck the mother-in-law’s shoulder. The daughter-in-law, in her immense fury, had swung with such strength that the blade was embedded in the bone and couldn’t be removed.

The daughter-in-law, who had drunk an entire bottle of pesticide, was also on the brink of death. Neighbors rushed them both to the hospital for emergency treatment.

A story this big was, of course, a magnet for reporters.

The daily paper where Su Li was a trainee was no exception. They rushed to the hospital as soon as they heard the news. When they learned both women were in surgery, the senior reporter Su Li was shadowing decided to stake out the location.

She would wait at the hospital and sent Su Li to check out the family’s home.

”Interview the neighbors, write down everything they say. Then, if possible, take some photos of the house. Get the shots if you can, but don’t force it.”

Su Li had been a trainee for a while now. Thanks to her calm and mature demeanor, her mentor was already giving her the responsibilities of a proper intern.

”Okay.” Su Li nodded and set off immediately.

A sensational story like this, guaranteed to spark public debate, had to be reported thoroughly.

Su Li rushed to the scene, not even having time to stop by the library.

This had happened before, though. Little Tang Mo would just ask the old librarian to go with him to buy lunch. The man was very fond of Little Tang Mo and always helped him out.

Su Li’s thoughts briefly drifted to Little Tang Mo on the way, and she silently apologized to him.

When Su Li arrived, the police were already on the scene, along with a crowd of neighbors and quite a few other reporters.

Without hesitation, Su Li sprang into action. She conducted her interviews, and since she couldn’t get inside the house, she snapped a couple of photos from the doorway.

By the time she finished and returned to the hospital, it was already afternoon.

The senior reporter waiting at the hospital had a grim expression, her face etched with emotion.

The mother-in-law had been saved. The daughter-in-law, however, had drunk an entire bottle of pesticide and couldn’t be resuscitated. She had died just a moment before Su Li walked in.

As Su Li arrived, she saw a middle-aged man with a grief-stricken face and three girls wailing their hearts out.

The eldest of the three was in her teens, while the youngest was about Little Tang Mo’s age, around seven or eight. They were all crying so hard they could barely breathe.

”What a tragedy,” the senior reporter sighed heavily.

”We’ve been promoting ’gender equality’ and ’sons and daughters are equal’ for so long, but it’s useless. This preference for sons is still impossible to stamp out.”

Su Li couldn’t bear to look at the children. ”Ma’am,” she said, ”it will get better. In the future... it will.”

’In another ten or twenty years, things would be different. While some people would still prefer sons, most people would have moved past that way of thinking.’

’By then, having a son or a daughter would truly be seen as the same. Parents would love their children, boy or girl.’

’Many men would even come to prefer having a daughter to dote on.’

The senior reporter shook her head. ”It’s not that easy.”

But despite her words, the senior reporter pulled herself together to do her job.

After finishing their on-site reporting and interviewing a few bystanders for their opinions, she and Su Li returned to the newspaper office.

Once they had the material, the most important step was writing the article. After a draft was finished, it had to be submitted to the chief editor for review, followed by proofreading, layout, and more.

Su Li asked her mentor for permission to write the first draft herself.

The senior reporter admired ambitious young women, and seeing Su Li’s enthusiasm, she immediately agreed.

”Go ahead, you write it. I’ll look it over for you when you’re done.”

She rubbed her stomach. ”I didn’t even get lunch. I’m starving.”

You can’t work on an empty stomach. The reporter decided to get some food first and finish the article when she got back. She invited Su Li to join her, but after a moment’s thought, Su Li declined.

While her mentor was out eating, Su Li wrote a first draft as quickly as she could and showed it to her when she returned.

”Not bad. This is really well-written.”

The senior reporter nodded repeatedly as she read. ”The perspective you’ve taken is very original, and your prose is fluid. However...”

The senior reporter thought for a moment. ”However... this article of yours would be better for the day-after-tomorrow’s edition. I’ll write the one for tomorrow.”

Seeing Su Li’s confusion, she patiently explained that Su Li’s article was better suited as a follow-up piece, once the initial story had attracted public attention. It had an original perspective and enough depth, but it wasn’t right for the first report going out tomorrow.

”We’ll see how it goes. If we need a follow-up story tomorrow, we can use your piece. It’ll be ready to publish with just a few tweaks.”

The senior reporter praised Su Li, ”You’ve got talent. Real talent.”

After that, she started on her own draft, discussing it with Su Li as she wrote and teaching her a great deal in the process.

When the mentor’s article was finished, Su Li read it and was thoroughly impressed.

”Ma’am, you write so well.”

”You do too. Mine is just the result of years of practice. I certainly wasn’t this capable at your age. Keep up the good work, and you’ll have a bright future.”

Su Li listened, feeling both humbled and overjoyed. She even forgot how hungry she was.

Or rather, she was so hungry she’d gone past feeling it.

After a flurry of miscellaneous tasks, Su Li realized she had completely missed lunch. By the time everything was settled, it was already the end of the workday.

When her shift ended, Su Li ignored the gnawing emptiness in her stomach and rushed to the library to pick up Little Tang Mo.

But at the library entrance, she saw Bai Shan pacing anxiously.

”Bai Shan?” Su Li remembered Little Tang Mo’s ”older friend” well, so she greeted him. ”What’s wrong?” He looked extremely worried.

Bai Shan’s eyes lit up when he saw Su Li, and he clattered down the stairs toward her.

”Auntie, Tang Mo went out an hour ago and he’s still not back!”

Su Li was in no mood to dwell on the fact that Bai Shan, who was actually a bit older than her, had just called her ”Auntie.”

”What do you mean? Isn’t Little Mo inside?”