At the end of Tajiao Lane lives the 87-year-old Sister Liu, who is still in good shape and is a good talker. From the photo hanging on the wall, you can tell she was a pretty girl when she was young.

She said she used to have eight sisters. Due to poverty, when she was young, her father sent her to his paternal aunt. As a young girl, she witnessed the miserable lives of her sisters after marriage: Her eldest sister, married a rich man as his concubine at 15, and committed suicide not long afterwards; the second one became a widow at a young age after she married a farmer, who died from disease soon after. Then, at 18, Liu persuaded her grand aunt to comb her hair into a bun, and became a self-dressing woman.

"It's all right to live on my own, with all the freedom. We get up early in the morning to weave straw mattresses, and then sell them in the market. I have been living such a life for decades. Nothing goes wrong ", she said.

When young, every one of the self-dressing women was good at weaving straw mattresses, which sold well at that time, and they had no difficulty feeding themselves. However, as they have gotten older, they are no longer able to weave. Besides, the price of straw is going up, and fewer people are buying straw mattresses. Therefore, it is hard for them to make a living. Nowadays, they mainly live on a government subsidy and their savings.

Asked if they have ever felt lonely, they all shook their heads, and said, "We are not lonely at all, and we are satisfied with our current life. We don't even feel the slightest regret."

Author: Jessie

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