Back to the 60s: The Struggle Career of a Charmed Wife

Luo Zhonghua and Cheng Kun, upon hearing this, didn’t know how to respond.

At this moment, they finally witnessed Feng Qingxue’s eloquence, which they had never expected. They always thought Feng Qingxue was gentle and soft-spoken, as everyone in the army said, but they hadn’t anticipated her to be so articulate and her words so well-reasoned.

Cheng Kun coughed twice, feeling that he mustn’t be led astray by Feng Qingxue, cleared his throat, and said, "Look, Comrade Qingxue, don’t change the subject. What does this talk of half the sky have to do with your returning to the unit? How did we get on this topic? You’ve led our thoughts so far off the mark, they’re miles away from the main issue."

"Exactly, exactly." The topic had been diverted.

Feng Qingxue said earnestly, "Not at all, my point is to tell you both that returning to the family to take care of the children is no easier than working. In my children’s situation, it’s very difficult for me to balance work and family. In the end, I have to choose one over the other, so you two can’t blame me for not having the revolutionary ideal of being devoted to the point of exhaustion, of death before dishonor. You two can achieve that because you don’t distribute your energy and efforts between your family and your work; you devote it all to the unit, to your work. But I’m different, you can’t expect me to both take care of my family and work diligently. I’m just one person, I can’t split myself in two! Many times, I envy you men, like my husband Lu Jiang, who can just concentrate on his work, unlike us women who have to hold up ’two halves of the sky’."

Now, Luo Zhonghua and Cheng Kun understood.

Upon further reflection, what Feng Qingxue said was not without reason.