Freedom for Three Hundred Fifty Thousand

The air in the town was stagnant, as always. The dusty afternoon sun cast a dull glow on the sooty windowpanes of Wang Afu's house. Inside, the air was even heavier. Wang Afu's long sighs and his wife Li Xiujuan's silent resistance stood between them like an invisible wall.

The cause was children. Or rather, the child that should have been born, the "heir" who existed only in Wang Afu's mind. Li Xiujuan had stated unequivocally that she would not bear any more children. Not just once, but many times. Her voice, initially faint, had gained a tone of firm resolve with repetition.

Wang Afu couldn't understand it. "Isn't it as natural for a woman to bear children as for a hen to lay eggs?" he thought, and it seemed many people in the town, though unspoken, thought the same. Li Xiujuan's refusal struck him as a kind of madness, an act against the natural order. His family had been merchants for three generations; the family line could not be broken—this was his absolute logic.

Their discussions always went nowhere. To Wang Afu's insistent "Why?", Li Xiujuan would only reply, "I just don't want to anymore." Wang Afu couldn't grasp the inexpressible fatigue with her own life, the cry of individuality contained within that simple "don't want to." To his ears, it was merely unsettling noise that threatened the continuation of his family.

The eyes of those around them were cold too. "What's wrong with the Wang family's wife?" "Who does she think she is, not even bearing an heir?" "Poor Wang Afu." Such whispers rode the wind and reached Li Xiujuan's ears. She became even more withdrawn, and her silence further infuriated Wang Afu.

Eventually, the topic of divorce emerged. From whom, it wasn't clear, but it felt inevitable. Once raised, the discussion became strangely concrete. What had been merely an emotional tangle was replaced by tangible items like division of property and alimony. And then, the matter of the "compensation" came up.

Compensation for the "loss" Wang Afu supposedly suffered due to Li Xiujuan's refusal to bear children—specifically, the loss of the opportunity to have an heir. It was presented as the sum of three hundred fifty thousand. It was as if a price tag had been attached to the child that was supposed to be born. Or perhaps, as if Li Xiujuan's womb had been branded unusable and priced accordingly.

At the mediation, an official-looking man read out the clauses in a toneless voice. What did Li Xiujuan think when she heard that number? Insult? Relief? Or perhaps an indescribable mix of both? She merely lowered her head and gave a small nod. Wang Afu, for his part, frowned slightly but wore a strangely businesslike expression, as if thinking that this would settle the troublesome matter. Three hundred fifty thousand would settle the score for the lost future, or perhaps for his wife's right to refuse. He might have been calculating it that way.

The divorce was finalized. The three hundred fifty thousand yuan appeared as numbers in Li Xiujuan's bank account. With that money, she began preparing to leave the town. Her luggage was sparse. Perhaps the attachment to the house she had lived in for years, the affection for her husband, seemed light compared to the weight of the money. Or perhaps, they were too heavy to carry, so she had no choice but to leave them behind.

The day she left town, the sky was overcast and gloomy. Wang Afu did not come to see her off. Rumor had it he had already started looking for a new wife. This time, a woman who would "bear children properly." The townspeople watched Li Xiujuan's retreating figure from afar, whispering again. "Three hundred fifty thousand, that's a lot of money." "If freedom can be bought with that, maybe it's cheap." "No, it's probably like a fine for abandoning her duties as a woman."

Li Xiujuan never looked back. Had she gained freedom, or just three hundred fifty thousand yuan? Would the "future" bought with that money be what she truly desired? No one watching her thin back knew the answer.

The stagnant air of the town remained unchanged. When one episode ends, seeds for new gossip are sown. Perhaps a new woman would eventually move into the house Li Xiujuan left, and the talk of bearing children or not might repeat itself. Only the figure, three hundred fifty thousand, would linger for a while in the corners of people's memories like a strange stain, perhaps like a tombstone, or maybe a monument. And then, that too would fade. That's how things are in this town.