Meng Yan's Transformation

Chapter 479 A Talented Woman Marries a Mute

"What happened, cousin? What is this iron pillar gesturing to you?"

As I spoke, I had a sense of foreboding.

"Tiezhu told me that the old man who used to row the boat has passed away, and he's now the sole operator of the ferry. Tiezhu married his granddaughter, Yan Wenying—the same bright and talented girl you met when you came to me for advice on your graduation thesis that summer."

My cousin looked at me in surprise as she spoke.

"How is this possible! Tiezhu is a deaf-mute, how could he marry Xiao Wenying?! Impossible! Tiezhu is lying!"

I roared hysterically.

My overly excited expression surprised Tiezhu, and he gestured to my cousin to ask why I was so excited.

"He doesn't believe you can marry Xiao Wenying..."

My cousin responded to Tiezhu using sign language.

"How is this possible! How could Xiao Wenying marry a mute?"

Zhan Mengyan exclaimed.

"Look, Zhan Mengyan, you're interrupting me again! I won't talk anymore!"

Zhan Zixun looked serious when he spoke.

Zhan Mengyan stuck out her tongue and sat up straight.

"Stop keeping me in suspense and continue. I want to know if the talented Xiao Wenying really married the mute Tiezhu?"

While Zhang Xincheng was speaking, he nudged Zhan Zixun, motioning him to continue telling the story.

"Hmm! Hmm!" Zhan Zixun cleared his throat and continued speaking:

Dumb Tiezhu babbled again and pointed to a corner of the boat.

Only then did my cousin and I notice that there was a woman in the corner of the deck.

"Tiezhu, you're talking about your wife Yan Wenying! She really didn't go to school to marry you!"

As my cousin spoke, she looked at me in disbelief.

My cousin and I scrutinized Yan Wenying in astonishment. She huddled in a corner of the deck, head bowed, as if avoiding my gaze. Her eyes were hollow, sunken, a faint lingering desire for survival lingering in her pupils, gradually consumed by despair. A baby slept soundly on her back as she mechanically wove a fishing net, her fingers etched with dirt and the marks of labor—thick calluses and roughened fingers. Her body was emaciated, her ribs jutting out like piano keys beneath her thin shirt. Her hair was tangled and dry, without a shimmer. Her skin, cracked and yellowed from malnutrition, seemed like crumbling bark. The corners of her mouth were cracked and flaking, and there were tear marks in the corners of her eyes...

"Is that you? Xiao Wenying! I'm your big brother! Do you still remember me? We talked about Darwin's theory of evolution, and you told me about the pincer worm... I also borrowed two of your books. When I returned them, you weren't there. I gave the books to grandpa. Did he return them to you?"

When I spoke, my voice was trembling, almost begging, hoping that Xiao Wenying would look up and take a good look at me.

"Wa, wa..." The baby on Xiao Wenying's back started crying. She skillfully took the baby off her back, turned around, lifted her clothes, and fed the baby. The baby stopped crying after drinking milk.

I turned around too, feeling so heartbroken that I couldn't breathe.

We were all silent.

Dumb Tiezhu, grinning gleefully, pressed for the boat fare. My cousin gave us ten times the boat fare.

Dumb Tiezhu was extremely happy and kept giving us thumbs up and praising us for being good people.

When Dumb Tiezhu went to untie the rope, I glanced at Xiao Wenying. She was patting the baby in her arms, looking into the distance with empty eyes.

My heart feels like it’s been crushed by an invisible hand—she was once a beautiful bouquet of flowers in my life, but now she’s just a cold blade of grass, trampled underfoot; she was once a girl as bright as stars, but now she can only rely on that tiny ray of light, flickering alone in the lonely night sky; she was once a girl as poetic and picturesque as a poem, but now she’s just a yellowed scroll, exuding memories of the past; she was once a moving song, but now she’s just a sad bass, no longer resonating; the girl who was once abandoned by the world, she’s just an ignored symbol, unable to express emotions; she was once the shining pearl of the world, but now she’s just a shell, close at hand, yet far away from our eyes…