Myth about women

Author: Lü Zheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: Shao Lin is holding the five-eye cotton shoes newly issued by the prison, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face, dripping onto the shoes and also onto her discouraged heart. Before her imprisonment, she was the owner of the Tianshun Hotel, once powerful and influential. Shao Lin, strong and fashionable, had many beautiful memories. It seemed fate had destined her to wear these five-eye shoes through a journey in life. Shao Lin was born in 1970 into an intellectual family, with both her parents working in the news industry. Her father, Shao Hongbing, was the deputy editor-in-chief of a central media outlet, a nationally renowned journalist, and her mother worked at the same organization as her father. Not only did her parents earn a decent salary, but they also received substantial monthly honoraria. Their family lived a relatively affluent life in the 1970s.
In the first grade of primary school in 1976, Shao Lin noticed that most boys and girls in her class were uniformly wearing white plastic-soled five-eye cotton shoes, while she alone wore a pair of red leather cotton shoes, feeling somewhat out of place. Upon returning home, she asked her mother to buy her a pair of five-eye cotton shoes like her classmates.
“Mom, can you buy me a pair of five-eye cotton shoes tomorrow too? All my classmates are wearing five-eye shoes, and I’m the only one in leather shoes.” Her mother looked at the young Lin in surprise, asking, “Is your leather cotton shoe broken?”
“No, it’s not broken,” Shao Lin replied. “If it’s not broken, why should I wear cotton shoes? The teacher didn’t require us to wear cotton shoes.”
“All the classmates are wearing cotton shoes, but I don’t want to wear leather shoes.”
“Are you cursed? Others can’t even wear shoes if they want to. This pair of leather cotton shoes was bought from Hong Kong by your grandfather and cost over 100 yuan. If you don’t wear them now, they’ll be too small.” Her mother insisted on not buying them, and the young Shao Lin cried bitterly.
The incident passed quickly, but it left a knot in her heart for a long time, causing her discomfort. Unbeknownst to her, the five-eye cotton shoes she couldn’t wear as a child would later be worn in prison, as the prison issued winter uniforms with five-eye cotton shoes, and there was no choice but to wear them.
After her imprisonment, during the first visit, her father came with her younger brother. The usually witty and humorous Shao Hongbing patted Shao Lin’s shoulder, saying, “Little Shao, don’t blame old Shao for not trying hard to get you out. I did my best, but there was no way. You broke the law, and you have to face the consequences. If you have to blame someone, blame yourself for being too impulsive. A life was beaten to death by you and your buddies.” On this occasion, to comfort Shao Lin, he was as cheerful as visiting family in the army.
Shao Lin, however, felt no joy. She lowered her head, her eyes slightly moist.
“How have you been? You should speak!” Shao Lin wanted to speak but her throat was choked. She still kept her head down.
“Why, missing your dad?” Shao Hongbing looked down and saw his daughter’s tears had already dripped onto the ground.
Shao Lin shifted her feet as far back as possible. She didn’t want her father to see the five-eye cotton shoes on her feet. P2-3