Gu'er understood what Lin Shan was saying.
Her mother had left her city for a small village. Because of her beauty, she was coveted by other men. If her father hadn't been there to protect her, she might have ended up as a farmer's wife in that very village today.
Gu'er knew about that era. In her own village, there were women who had been "sent down" and ended up marrying local men. One of them later abandoned her village husband and children to return to the city, while others had settled down there for good.
She had heard many such stories. Some women were forced into marriage, while others, desperate to return to the city, were preyed upon by village cadres.
Her father lamented that era. It was truly a heart-wrenching time.
