Lu Xun wrote in the "Diary of a Madman": "I opened the history and checked it, this history has no age, and the four words 'benevolence, righteousness and morality' are written on each page. I couldn't sleep horizontally, and I looked carefully in the middle of the night before I could see the words in the cracks, and the two words 'cannibalism' were written all over the book.
In the old society, for the toiling masses, especially the women at the lowest level, it was a society of cannibalism. In a cannibalistic society, women have no financial resources, no dignity, no status, and can only survive by clinging to men.
Without the protection of men, it is difficult for women at the bottom of society to want to eat on their own labor. Whether you are cultured or uncultured, whether you are married or not, as long as there is no man to cover, women cannot live through a proper profession, upright, innocent, and decent.
The film "Crescent Moon" directed by Xu Xiaoxing, Huo Zhuang and Xing Dan is based on Lao She's novel of the same name, starring Sichenkova and Song Dandan, and was released in 1986 and won the Italian Silver Award at the 41st Salerno International Film Festival. The film tells the story of a mother and daughter who fell into a dusty woman in the old society in order to survive.
01. After Yue Rong's father died, her mother took her to remarry
During the Republic of China period, when Han Yuerong was seven years old, his father died suddenly. In order to make ends meet, my mother washed people's clothes and washed stinky socks like kraft paper. The mother worked hard and earnestly, but her income was meager and she could not support herself at all.
Her mother could only let Yue Rong pawn things in the house, and Yue Rong went back and forth between home and pawnshop again and again. Later, there was nothing left in the house, and the mother had to remarry. She took Yue Rong and married Cui Wu, who was honest and responsible, and Cui Wu regarded Yue Rong as her own.
After having Cui Wu, Yue Rong no longer had to pawn things, and the mother and daughter were no longer hungry. Cui Wu would often buy things for Yue Rong, and Yue Rong was always very happy. Later, Yue Rong was very envious when she saw other children going to school, so Cui Wu bought her a school bag and pen, and also sent her to school.
In order to provide for Yuerong to go to school, the family saves money. Yue Rong is very competitive, her academic performance is very good, she has won awards every year, and her mother and Cui Wu are very happy. Although the family is not rich, the family lives happily and depends on each other.
02. After the death of her stepfather, her mother quietly made a secret prostitute for Yue Rong to go to school
But the good times were not long, one day Cui Wu had an accident while working, and he died. After losing Cui Wu, she also lost her financial resources, and her mother could only start pawning the family's things again. The mother also went to fortune telling, and the fortune teller said that she was a kef and would not have a good life if she married again.
Her mother felt that she had no culture and could not find a good job, so she wanted to provide Yue Rong with reading, and only by reading good books could she have a way out. But with her strength, maintaining a livelihood is a problem, and where is the money for Yuerong to study?
So the mother sold herself and quietly became a prostitute. The mother exchanged dignity and flesh for money, and then used this money for Yuerong to study, hoping that Yuerong would have a good future without repeating her tragedy.
One day, Yue Rong came home from school and happened to bump into her mother picking up guests at home, and Yue Rong felt very ashamed and looked down on her mother. She didn't understand that her mother had hands and feet, why didn't she find a serious job, but she had to do such a despicable thing?
03, Yue Rong felt that her mother was disgraced and moved to the school
The mother immediately sent the guests away, and when the guests walked out the door, they saw the young and beautiful Yue Rong, so they snapped their fingers and teased Yue Rong: "Sell or not?" ”
Yue Rong was disgusted and angry, turned her head and left. The mother rushed to chase out, she knew that she had lost her daughter's face, so after catching up with her daughter, she cried and knelt down, saying: "Mom is helpless, you forgive Mom!" ”
Yue Rong did not forgive her mother, although she loved her mother very much in her heart, but she could not accept her mother doing something secretly, so she ran away from home.
Yue Rong told the principal about the situation at home, and the principal was a woman who sympathized with Yue Rong. She arranged for Yue Rong to live with her mother-in-law who was doing chores at school, and also asked her to help her mother-in-law do some chores to cover the tuition.
Every once in a while, the mother would quietly come to see Yue Rong, and she would put a few silver dollars under Yue Rong's pillow. Her mother did not meet with Yue Rong, she knew that Yue Rong did not want to see her, so she always secretly looked at Yue Rong from a distance.
04. After Yue Rong was driven away by the school, she lived with Gao Junsheng
Her mother decided to remarry again, and she came to say goodbye to Yue Rong and wanted to see the last side of Yue Rong. But she pleaded bitterly outside the door, saying that this was the last time she would come to see Yue Rong and let Yue Rong open the door. Yue Rong still did not open the door, and she leaned back against the door in the house, tears streaming down her face.
Later, Yue Rong's heart softened, and she finally plucked up the courage to open the door, but her mother was already gone. Yue Rong looked into the distance in the night and cried bitterly.
The old principal is retiring, the new principal does not agree that there are students living in the school, and Yue Rong must move away. Yue Rong went around looking for a job, and she had to have financial resources to rent an apartment. But she couldn't find a job at all, not even the laundry job her mother was looking for, and it was only for the first time that she understood her mother.
Yue Rong went to the school to ask for a few more days of leniency, but the person in charge said that the school was not an inn and must be moved away immediately. Gao Junsheng, the nephew of the old principal, also helped Yuerong intercede, but the school still did not agree, and Gao Junsheng helped Yuerong rent a house and gave her a few silver dollars.
Next, Gao Junsheng and Yue Rong fell in love, and the two people naturally lived together, and Yue Rong thought that she had found someone who could be entrusted for life.
05, Yue Rong learned that she was deceived by Gao Junsheng
After the two people have been loving and loving for some days, Gao Junsheng's wife came to the door, and she begged Yue Rong to leave her man. Yue Rong knew that he had been deceived, it turned out that Gao Junsheng had long been married, and he and Yue Rong were completely looking for flowers and asking for willows.
Yue Rong promised Gao Junsheng's wife and left Gao Junsheng, who walked alone on the street, not knowing where to go. At this time, there happened to be a hotel on the street recruiting handymen, and Yue Rong went to apply with other job seekers. Because she was young and beautiful, she was lucky to be admitted, and Yue Rong was very happy.
Yue Rong cherishes this job very much, and works diligently and diligently. But not long after, there was a guest who moved his hands and feet on Yue Rong, Yue Rong rejected the guest, the guest was very unhappy, and the boss had to dismiss Yue Rong.
With nowhere to go, Yue Rong wanders the streets and accidentally meets Gao Junsheng's wife. Gao Junsheng's wife said that Gao Junsheng had another woman, and she envied Yue Rong's freedom, not to guard the family, and wait for a man. Yue Rong smiled bitterly and said, "Freedom is the happiness of rich people!" ”
Yue Rong still returned home, but the house was in ruins, and her mother was gone.
06, the mother and daughter ice to release the previous suspicions, back to good
Yue Rong was cornered and could only choose to commit suicide, but was saved by the fortune teller. Since she did not die, Yue Rong decided to live, and she began to be a secret prostitute like her mother. By this time, she had fully understood her mother's pain.
At this time, my mother was a person again, because of her old age and decline, she could not even do the secret prostitution, and could only become a beggar.
After Yue Rong found out about her mother's residence, she quietly went to see her mother every once in a while, put down a few silver dollars under her mother's pillow, and then hid in the distance to watch her mother. When the mother saw the silver dollar, she naturally knew that her daughter had sent it, and she silently wept.
After a few years of secret prostitution, Yue Rong is already well versed in this way, and she will especially attract guests. But she contracted willow disease, and she felt that she would not live long, so she went to see her mother for the last time and put all her savings under her pillow.
The mother saw that there were more silver dollars this time than ever before, and felt that something was wrong, so she went to find Yue Rong on crutches. Yue Rong was lying on the bed waiting to die, and when she heard her mother calling her in the snow outside the door, she immediately ran out of the house. The mother and daughter finally released their previous suspicions, hugged each other and cried bitterly, and Yue Rong said, "Mom, how did you come?" ”
07. The government rectified social order, and Yue Rong was put in prison
The mother immediately grabbed medicine for Yue Rong and took good care of her, and slowly Yue Rong's illness got better. After Yue Rong's illness was cured, she began to pick up customers again, what did she and her mother eat without receiving guests?
Two or three years later, one night my mother died. Since then, in this world, Yue Rong has been alone.
At this time, the government straightened out social order and arrested beggars, prostitutes, etc., and Yue Rong was among them. An official came to inspect, and he taught Yue Rong to change his past mistakes, become a new person, work well in the future, support himself, or marry someone.
Yue Rong recognized this official, the same person who had once used to do something to himself in the hotel. She spat dismissively into the face of this morally upright guy.
Officials said that Yue Rong was stubborn and had no medicine to save her, so he ordered someone to put Yue Rong in prison.
epilogue:
In the old society, in the patriarchal society, women had no place, they had to live dependent on men. Once a man is lost, women are even a matter of survival, and what dignity and shame are talked about.
Face and morality are what the rich say to others, and for the poor, filling the stomach is the greatest truth. Cangmiao is honest and knows etiquette, and has enough food and clothing to know honor and disgrace.
When Yue Rong was desperate, she thought: I am not as good as a dog, the dog has a place to lie down and sleep; I am not allowed to lie down on the street, yes, I am a human, and a person can be inferior to a dog.
The mother thought that her fate was because she had no culture, and with culture, she could not live like her, so she became a prostitute to provide for Yuerong to study. Yue Rong read books and had culture, but she still couldn't find a job, and finally she embarked on her mother's old path.
The old society was a society that ate people, and the society exploited layer by layer, and the most bitter nature was the people at the bottom of society. Women at the bottom want to survive through their own labor, which is difficult because society does not provide more employment opportunities for women.
In prison, Yue Rong said: Money is stronger than people, and if people are beasts, money is the courage of beasts.
【Picture from the network】