Chapter 33: Stood Up

The next day, after breakfast and once the two brothers who worked in the family had left, Leng Hui and Tang Lin, mother and daughter, followed closely behind and headed out.

They first went to the black market and sold the radio they had repaired yesterday for thirty yuan.

It had only cost them a little over one yuan at the scrap yard; selling it after repairs yielded a pure profit of twenty-eight yuan, with the components sourced from the Space being negligible in cost.

Leng Hui tucked the thirty yuan into her Space. "Mom, it turns out earning a living through skill is much more reliable than selling manual labor."

Immediately after, Leng Hui brought up the matter of selling bamboo shoots last time—how they had spent an entire morning searching the mountains and exerted immense effort to get them down, only to sell them for a few cents.

Thinking of the several radio shells still at home, Tang Lin suggested, "We still have a few radio shells at home. We can go to the market to look for whatever components are missing and see if we can complete them."

This was also the first time she truly felt that any skill learned in the apocalypse might become their best foundation for survival in this era.

Leng Hui nodded. "Alright. However, your body hasn't fully recovered yet, so leave the component hunting to me. Let's head to the Neighborhood Committee first."

Before long, the mother and daughter arrived at the entrance of the Neighborhood Committee. Before they could even enter, they saw Song Zhishan rushing to work.

Because she was in a hurry, a thin layer of sweat had formed on Song Zhishan's forehead. Upon reaching the entrance, she naturally noticed Tang Lin and her daughter.

She took a breath first and asked, "Why have you two come again today?"

Tang Lin was momentarily stunned; she hadn't expected Song Zhishan's tone to be somewhat impatient. She said apologetically, "We've caused you trouble again."

Since they were already there, it was impossible not to go in.

Song Zhishan led the way, and this time they went directly to her office.

"Sit down first. I'll have Xiao Li help boil a pot of water and pour some for you." There was no smile on Song Zhishan's face, and her lips were tightly pursed; she was clearly in a bad mood.

Tang Lin pulled Leng Hui down to sit. "Thank you, Director Song. We aren't thirsty, so please don't trouble yourself. Sit down and rest for a moment."

Song Zhishan ignored her, walked to the door, and called out. A moment later, a young man ran over, grabbed a thermos, and headed out.

Song Zhishan wiped the sweat from her forehead before finding the time to ask about their business. "After you went back yesterday, what did you decide? Your husband should have changed a bit, right?"

Tang Lin spoke helplessly, "Director Song, I have wanted a divorce from the very beginning. I never thought they would change just to avoid a divorce. Since you have time now, please do us a favor and issue a certificate."

Song Zhishan hadn't expected Tang Lin's resolve to divorce to be so firm. She didn't know whether to praise her for her strong will or scold her for being stubborn.

"Why must you be so headstrong? How many divorced women actually live well? A man is the pillar of the household; sometimes they are a bit assertive, but as women, we must understand and tolerate them.

Otherwise, why do those books describe women as water? Water is soft and embraces all things. When dealing with men, we women should use softness to overcome hardness; clashing head-on with them is a major taboo."

In this era, how many couples actually divorced?

If it didn't happen in other neighborhoods, it certainly couldn't happen in the neighborhood under her jurisdiction; the impact would be terrible.

From the start, Song Zhishan had no intention of helping them issue the certificate. She would try to persuade them, and even if she couldn't convince them, she would keep trying.

"Director Song, 'do not do to others what you would not have them do to you.' Judging by your mental state and your attire, your own marriage doesn't seem to be going very well either.

You were late for work today, clearly because you were delayed by domestic matters. If we follow your logic of understanding and tolerating men, then there shouldn't be any conflict in your home.

But the facts prove that even you cannot do it. On what grounds should my mother continue to pay the price for this unhappy marriage by swallowing her grievances?

Now that she has realized marriage only leaves her physically and mentally exhausted, cutting her losses is what she should do. Is asking you for a certificate really that difficult? Is the Women's Federation above you forbidding you from issuing divorce certificates for the women in your jurisdiction?"

Leng Hui was truly provoked by her. Was there any point in intentionally stalling such a simple matter like issuing a certificate?

Song Zhishan was startled by Leng Hui's sharp questioning. "Don't talk nonsense! The Women's Federation exists to protect women's rights, promote gender equality, and help our female comrades solve their difficulties."

By throwing such a heavy accusation at her, the girl was practically trying to ruin her.

Leng Hui pressed further: "There should also be assistance and support provided when the rights of female comrades are infringed upon in areas like employment, education, and marriage and family, right?

Now my mother needs your help and support regarding her marriage, so why don't I see you supporting her? You are making excuses even to issue a divorce certificate—what exactly is your intention?"

"Why can't you child understand my good intentions?"

Song Zhishan was initially quite panicked, but her years of work experience allowed her to stabilize her emotions quickly. She sighed and began to take a conciliatory approach.

"As the old saying goes, 'It is better to tear down ten temples than to break up one marriage.' Everyone's married life involves some degree of friction and compromise. The ideal marriages seen in movies only exist in dreams; in reality, nine out of ten marriages are chaotic after the wedding.

Believe me, life after divorce is not as wonderful as you imagine. If something happens to the man in the family, who will step up to support the household?"

Tang Lin had been suppressing her temper, but seeing that Director Song still wouldn't budge even after the conversation had reached this point, she lost her patience as well.

"Director Song, I will be blunt: I am definitely getting this divorce. If you don't help me issue the certificate today, the worst that can happen is I go to the higher-level Women's Federation. I refuse to believe there isn't a single place in this world that truly stands up for women."

Tang Lin's threat actually worked somewhat. Song Zhishan was truly afraid that the women in her jurisdiction would cause a scene at the Women's Federation. Having no other choice, she came up with another excuse.

"Why are you women so impossible to reason with? You've lived half your lives and still don't know how to be flexible. You really won't turn back until you hit a wall. Fine, let's do this."

Song Zhishan said with great reluctance, "I can't issue a certificate with only the party involved present. Next time, bring your husband along. I will ask for his wishes. If he also agrees to the divorce, I will issue the certificate."

"That sounds like a reasonable human response. Fine, I'll bring him this afternoon. I hope you don't pull any more stunts then."

Tang Lin pulled Leng Hui and walked away, completely ignoring Song Zhishan's unsightly expression.

Truly, the Yama is easy to meet, but the little ghosts are hard to deal with.

To use a tiny bit of power to make things difficult for ordinary citizens—it was clear her character was not great.

They thought the matter was settled and that there would be no further complications, but unexpectedly, Leng Yongkang had to take an hour of leave this afternoon to come to the Neighborhood Committee together, only to find that Song Zhishan had gone missing.

When they asked others at the office, they were told she had gone out to handle some business.

Leng Yongkang hesitated. "Should we wait for her here?"

He had been taking a lot of leave lately, which was bad for his work; it would be best to finish everything in one go.

He had never truly thought that Tang Lin would actually leave him; he felt this was just a game of "playing hard to get" to catch his attention.

To appease her, he didn't mind playing along.

Tang Lin laughed out of sheer anger. "Wonderful! So that's the game you're playing with me!"

She told Leng Yongkang not to wait and to go back to work first.

The woman was clearly avoiding her; they wouldn't find her by waiting here all afternoon.

After Leng Yongkang left, Tang Lin inquired with the staff at the Neighborhood Committee about Song Zhishan's address.

However, the staff remained tight-lipped, clearly having been instructed by Song Zhishan in advance.

After circling around without any results, Tang Lin let out a cold laugh, pressing her tongue against her molars. If Song Zhishan thought this would stump her, she had vastly underestimated her.