She won't clear her name; she'll throw away all the scum.

Chapter 411

Director Yuan paused for a moment, then continued, "I tried to point out this unfairness, but they said that every family goes through this, every woman goes through this, so why am I the only one raising the issue? They even said I must have been cursed by someone."

Isn't it ridiculous? We, who have been giving all these years, are the ones being lectured by these men who enjoy being served by us. All I asked for was fairness. I hadn't even told them to live their whole lives the way we women do, and they couldn't take it anymore.

Another point is that I can understand men saying this to protect their own interests, but why do my mother-in-law and mother keep advising me to just obediently watch them go and live my life in a daze, saying that having such thoughts is a heinous crime? One night they even fed me talismanic water. What are they after? Do they want to work hard their whole lives and then be praised as virtuous at the end?

At this point, Director Yuan's eyes were full of confusion. "I was still too hard-hearted. I should have forced them to tell me where they got the talisman water and rounded up all these charlatans. I think both the police and the Red Guards would have been very interested in the crime of spreading feudal superstition."

Grandma Xia: "Everyone is soft-hearted. Your mother should be quite good to you, and your mother-in-law shouldn't be a difficult person to deal with, so it's understandable that you're soft-hearted towards them."

Director Yuan: "But I'm not convinced. I don't want to continue living this way, compromising myself in the old way."

Grandma Xia: "Uh...you don't want me to help you get a divorce, do you?"

Director Yuan shook his head and grasped Grandma Xia's hand. "Comrade Xia, I hope that more women can change their mindset. Let go of all the outdated ideas of valuing sons over daughters and the notion that women should be a certain way. I just hope that women can realize that they can have the same resources and opportunities as men and bear the same responsibilities, instead of being stuck at home in obscurity."

Director Yuan got excited and spoke somewhat incoherently, but Grandma Xia understood.

Having experienced it myself, I can better understand how difficult, bitter, and tiring it is for women in this era. I also know that it is difficult to change one's own mindset, let alone change the mindset of others.

"Director Yuan, I can't help you. If you want me to help some women who are stuck in a quagmire, I can help you. But if you want me to change their original ideas, I can't do that." Old Mrs. Xia refused very rationally and ruthlessly.

Director Yuan panicked, "Why?"

Grandma Xia: "I can't even manage my own children, I can't change their minds, how can I have the ability to make women fight for resources and opportunities, to cultivate their own ambitions, and to break free from the original patriarchal family environment, as you said? I can't do it. People's minds are the hardest to change. As the saying goes, a leopard can't change its spots. Even if they listen for a while, they will still jump back to their old ideas later."

Director Yuan: "As long as they listen to even a little bit, they will change a little. Even if it's not a complete change, as long as everyone changes a little, our current disadvantaged position will change a lot, and that is progress."

Grandma Xia: "I'm about to retire. In the next year or two, what can I do, and how many people can I change?"

Director Yuan: "I'll say it again, every little bit helps. And I hope you can try your best to get the position of Women's Director and postpone your retirement."

Grandma Xia sensed something was wrong. "What exactly are you trying to do? That's a leadership position."

Director Yuan: "Most of the leaders in every factory are men, and most men look down on women. Even in our textile factory, where women make up a large proportion of the workforce, there are very few female leaders. From the perspective of the male leaders, no matter how capable we women are, our chances of promotion will still lean towards the men."

Therefore, I hope you can take that position and give women more opportunities. I only ask for fairness; that shouldn't be an unreasonable request, right? Only when there are more female leaders will we women have more opportunities to climb the ladder, and they will realize that spending more energy on work will yield greater returns than spending energy on family. Anyone with a sound mind knows which to choose.

Grandma Xia was silent for a moment, then said, "What if the woman just likes to stay home and do housework?"

Director Yuan: "There are quite a few ambitious girls in our factory. Those who like to do housework can do housework. I'm not forcing them to climb up the social ladder. Not everyone likes to serve others for free. Many times, they just can't get out of this muddy home."

Director Yuan took a sip of water, his eyes reddening slightly. "Old Xia, you'll help me, won't you?"

Grandma Xia: ...Why did you call Old Xia along too?

To be honest, she was genuinely persuaded by Director Yuan's words.

This afternoon at work, she kept thinking about why most of the disgusting things happen to women. Whether it was her past, her sister's, or her previous family, it was always the women who suffered. In all her experiences from childhood to old age, from her past life to this one, men rarely suffered more at the hands of women than women did.

She was both angry and helpless.

Before, all I wanted was to escape that family and live my life well. I didn't care about the lousy people around me, and I thought it would be fine to live like that until I died.

But perhaps because she had been idle for too long, whenever she lay alone at night, her mind would wander to many things, and the unfair things that Director Yuan had mentioned would often replay in her mind.

She actually wanted to do it, but she didn't know how. If it weren't for her desire to do it, she could have ignored others when they came to her for help, and only cared about her own happiness, disregarding the lives of others.

However, she still got involved in Fang Yingdi and Zheng Qianlan's affairs. She wasn't short of money after her divorce. Unlike Jiang Wenhua, she simply wanted to help, and the idea of ​​payment was just a more reasonable excuse for herself.

Seeing Fang Yingdi and Zheng Qianlan was like seeing her younger self. Fang Yingdi was like her younger self, almost dragged down by her family; if it weren't for her sister, she might not be alive now. Zheng Qianlan was like her younger self when she was still in the Chen family, unable to understand things, stubbornly sticking to her path, burdened by her reputation.

While helping them, she was also saying goodbye to her past foolish self, thinking little by little about the foolish things she had done in the past, and also thinking little by little about how she should live the rest of her days.

If what Director Yuan said is true, it seems... she is not opposed to it, and even seems quite ambitious.

"Old Xia?" Director Yuan called out to her.

Grandma Xia: "I agree, but how do I get to sit in that position?"