 After being publicly humiliated, she attempted to kill herself by taking sleeping pills, but was saved (she later attempted suicide for a second time during the Cultural Revolution and was saved again).The couple were both arrested and sent to different laogai ("reform through labor") camps, leaving their infant son with Cong's mother.Cong and Zhang did not see each other for more than a year, until they were both sent to Qinghe Farm, a notorious labor camp outside of Tianjin.