The dream life was like water on the ground. It turned into gas and rose into the sky, and fell to the ground again as rain. A divorced woman with a child tended to meet prejudices in life. It was not easy to find either a job or love. Life seemed hopeless.
“We must not give up on ourselves.” A passionate, decisive, firm voice passed through the phone, as was Qiuniang herself.
Life is for creating miracles.
Start Again
“To hold your hand and grow old with you” may be the ideal love most girls ever dreamed of. Qiuniang entered marriage with her beloved person and most beautiful anticipations.
They lived in a small town in Heilongjiang, running a medium-sized shop and a chess room. Their life can be counted as being comfortably off; laughter of their children brought them joy to the married life. Qiuniang once thought that it was the most perfect life for her.
However, marriage could be both happy and fragile. The intervention of a woman shattered Qiuniang’s life.
No matter how passionate their love was, the breakup can be the same resolute.
Qiuniang knew very well how hard it would be for a divorced woman to bring up children. Her parents and friends tried to persuaded her to tolerate, for the sake of their children. But she could not nurse a grievance and her marriage could not continue with no responsibility. “I can’t forgive him, nor let an irresponsible man to be my children’s father.”
It took courage to abandon old friends and old life, leaving for a distant place after more than twenty years living in the town. Sitting on the train to Hebei, Qiuniang looked out of the window with her child on the arms. The red sun rose from the horizon in the distance, as if a hopeful beginning of her new life.
Dark Clouds Have Silver Linings
Qiuniang started from a line worker, and soon she was promoted as a quality inspector for her well performance. It was a hard job, but also her flaming life. However, destiny played a joke on her once more. Qiuniang hurt her back at work, preventing her from taking care of herself. The burden of caring for Qiuniang and her children temporarily fell on her grandmother.
After her divorce, Qiuniang was the only wage-earner of the family. Her heart was tormented every day at bed, for she had to rely on her elderly mother in a young age, "I feel so guilty for my mother as well as my children. It was a really painful time."
After a year, Qiuniang gradually recovered and was eager to continue working to support the family, but the sequela of her back injury prevented her from working long hours, causing many companies to turn her down. A parent in her child's class gave her hope in this dilemma and introduced her to live streaming.
"The mother of my child's classmate told me that (my) health is not very good, let along I need to take care of the children. As a flexible job, being a live streamer not only allowed her to arrange her life, but also provided certain income to improve her living condition. I was persuaded by her, so I decided to have a try."
In the past, Qiuniang tried live streaming in her spare time, but it was nothing serious. Her only audience were relatives and friends, less than thirty people. Although Qiuniang was not new to live streaming, she was still upset about becoming a professional streamer all of a sudden. When she started to face strangers, she was not as talkative as she is now, and the audience commented the same, "silly", "straightforward", "dumb". But because of her personality, Qiuniang began to attract her own fans and earned some money. In the second month of streaming, her family ate out to celebrate. Looking at the smiles of her mother and children, Qiuniang was also relieved.
"I will try my best to protect the family."
My Weakness, My Armor
For a mother, the children are both her weakness and her armor. After Qiuniang’s child was born, she became softer and more determined; more affectionate, and more fearless; more confident about herself and more empathetic to others.
Stepping into the business as a streamer, Qiuniang always choose to be her original self, with her personality, opinion, and traits...whether for her starting period or for now. "I want my children to know that, no matter what kind of business we are in, we should be down to earth, remember our original goals and don’t forget who we are. "
Before she started streaming, many friends reminded Qiuniang to maintain a certain sense of mystery, and do not reveal her age nor the fact that she was divorced, but Qiuniang thought otherwise. She felt that "divorce is not shameful, bringing up children on her own is not shameful, the true shame is to hide and deceive." Her truthfulness and honesty were applauded by her fans, they did not judge her past or leave, but show this woman with a bumpy life their respect and admiration.
Qiuniang was grateful for all understanding and support. She knew clear that “all support are precious". She remembered a viewer commented on the bullet screen in her third month of streaming that “Even if I eat instant noodles, I will still support you.” Qiuniang dropped tears in the middle of streaming, and told the viewer earnestly that: "You should make reasonable consumption. First ensure your own living, focus on your own job and then you can support me". Treat others with a true heart and you receive the same. Although the effect of streaming was unstable, there had always been a group of fans supporting Qiuniang. With the support of fans and her own efforts, now Qiuniang not only paid the down payment for her house, but also provided favourable learning conditions for her children. Qiuniang said delightfully, "All the scars from the past are medals given by life. I can live well on my own now."
Strong people will not be trapped in a dilemma forever. Qiuniang unfolds a new stage of life for her family and herself riding the wave of live streaming. She expects the best of the future, and she believes that happiness will follow your step as long as you hold on and stay optimistic.