Chu Ju’s House Summary
There is a law in China that in the city, there can be only one child per family and in the village two children. It was shameful for a family not to have a boy. A poor family who lived in the village had one girl- Chu Ju. She was 13 years old. Her mom was pregnant and a new child will be born, hopefully a boy. But, when the day came, it was another girl who was born. Chu Ju decided to run away from her home, so her family could have a boy, and save her little sister from being sold to an evil woman. Chu Ju found a job at a small fishing boat. The family there gave her a bed and food, but now money. The woman was very kind to her, behaving as Chu Ju was her daughter, but her husband was very strict and unpleasant. She told the woman her life-story, so now she wanted to take Chu Ju home. Chu Ju didn’t want to go back, so she ran away again. She found a job at a silk farm. There she had a small salary, a bed and food. She made friends with three girls who worked there. After some time the silk-farm was turned into rice-paddies, on which families who lived nearby worked on. She found a job at a small family (old woman and her son). The old woman’s son left to Shangai, so now she was a daughter to this woman. She even had to live to Shangai to pay a fine, so the son would be freed from jail. He didn’t have a residence permit. She came back and soon the woman died. She left Chu Ju her rice paddy. Chu Ju visited her family, and went back to her rice paddy. She married her best friend who lived near her.
