The kang (heated brick bed) for left-behind women

When Lin Dachun pushed open the door to the cave dwelling, it was already close to dusk.

The familiar aroma of cooking smoke wafted from the kitchen, mingling with the fragrance of stewed dishes.

Inside the house, Li Ruoxue was facing away from him, busy at the stove, sticking cornbread into the pan.

Li Ruoxue looked up at Lin Dachun, her eyes flickering, her cheeks flushed from the fire, and her voice barely audible: "Dinner's ready!"

The dinner table.

"I saw you coming down the mountain with a woman? She seemed to be standing next to you. Who is she?" Li Ruoxue asked.

"Li Meili, Lin Xiaohu's wife, I don't know where she heard some gossip about me, but she keeps pestering me with questions, it's really inexplicable," Lin Dachun replied.

"Now, do many village women like you?" Li Ruoxue asked.

"Huh? You like me? I'm already this old, an old man, why would you like me?" Lin Dachun laughed.

"Oh." Li Ruoxue lowered her head and ate her meal shyly.

At this time.

A village woman pushed open the door and came in, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Brother Dachun, please save me, please save my child."

Lin Dachun put down his chopsticks and immediately stood up.

Standing at the door was Lin Yali from the Lin family in the village.

"Sister-in-law Yali, what's wrong?" Lin Dachun asked.

As she spoke, Lin Yali immediately knelt down.

"Sister-in-law Yali, what happened? Don't worry, tell me slowly."

Lin Dachun hurriedly went over and helped Lin Yali up.

Li Ruoxue was at a loss.

"Tell me first, what happened?" Lin Dachun asked.

"The old village chief is going to burn my only son to death, to cut off my family line!" Lin Yali cried.

"Why??" Lin Dachun asked anxiously.

The peaceful Linchangtun was suddenly torn apart by a horrifying scandal.

Sun Taohua, the seventeen-year-old daughter of the Sun family at the east end of the village, is pretty and has already arranged a marriage with a family in a neighboring village.

The night before last, he was found naked and curled up in a haystack with Lin Liang, the only son of Lin Yali, a widow in the west of the village.

Sun's parents felt as if the sky had fallen. Holding the betrothal gifts, they rushed to the old village chief's house, crying and demanding an explanation, or they would kill themselves by smashing their heads against his door.

The village chief, nearly seventy years old, is the most senior and rule-abiding elder in the village, believing that "etiquette and law are paramount."

Upon hearing this, he was furious, believing that it was not only immoral but also a violation of natural law and the law, bringing great shame to the entire forest farm.

The old village chief immediately sent men to arrest Lin Liang and Sun Taohua.

In the threshing ground in the center of the village, almost the entire village gathered like never before.

The atmosphere was as heavy as if a lead weight were pressing down on you.

Torches were stuck around the area, crackling and burning, casting flickering light and shadow on people's faces, which were filled with fear, anger, curiosity, or numbness.

The old village chief stood on the millstone, his face ashen, leaning on the pear wood cane that symbolized his authority.

Lin Liang, with his hands tied behind his back, knelt before the millstone, his face ashen.

"The villagers all saw it! They all heard it!" The old village chief's voice trembled with anger and a cruel determination to enforce "family law." "That little beast Lin Liang! He's utterly depraved, humiliating an innocent woman and ruining the century-old reputation of our Linchang Village! In this new society, the People's Government upholds the law, but our village's old rules cannot be abolished! This kind of despicable, heinous scoundrel, according to the rules passed down from our ancestors—will be burned alive as a warning to others!"

The words "lit up the sky lanterns" were like ice water poured into a hot oil pan, causing a huge commotion in the crowd!

That was a form of vigilante justice used against the most wicked people in the old society; it meant burning them alive!

Several timid women covered the child's eyes.

Some of the younger men looked reluctant, but seeing the old village chief's horrifying face and the murderous glares of the Sun family parents, they dared not utter a sound.

Several elderly men, who usually followed the old village chief and claimed to uphold social morality, directed two strong men to pile a pile of dry firewood doused with kerosene on the open ground next to the millstone, with sparks jumping around the pile.

Lin Yali pulled Lin Dachun along, and Li Ruoxue had already arrived at the scene.

Upon seeing this, Lin Yali let out a piercing scream, broke free from her support, and threw herself at the old village chief's feet, her forehead pounding against the ground repeatedly: "Village chief! Ancestor! Spare me! Liangzi is still young, he's confused! Please, take him to the authorities, let the government execute him, don't burn him! Please!"

Blood streamed down her forehead, mingling with dirt and tears, a truly gruesome sight.

The old village chief closed his eyes and ruthlessly kicked her away: "Going to see the officials? Going to see the officials is a crime punishable by death! It's better to use our rules and erect a monument for the whole village and the surrounding area! Let everyone know that the forest farm village cannot tolerate such beasts!"

The torch was raised toward the woodpile, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of kerosene.

Lin Liang collapsed to the ground, making strange hoarse noises in his throat, forgetting even to beg for mercy.

A twisted sense of satisfaction, as if a great enemy was about to be avenged, flashed across the faces of Sun's parents, but more than that, there was a numb hatred.

Most of the villagers were stunned by the barbaric and terrifying scene, standing there frozen in place, as if the air had solidified.

Just then, a voice as steady as a mountain, yet carrying an undeniable power, pierced the deathly silence of the scene:

"Village chief, this fire must not be lit."

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Lin Dachun parting the crowd and striding over.

His face was expressionless, but his eyes were sharp as knives. He first swept over the pile of firewood and Lin Liang, whose face was ashen, and then looked at the old village chief with a gloomy expression.

"Da Chun, are you going to plead for this little beast?" The old village chief's voice was icy.

"I am not pleading for anyone." Lin Dachun stood firm, his voice clear, ensuring everyone could hear. "Lin Liang's crimes deserve death or torture; the law will decide. But the law does not include a provision for 'lighting someone up in the sky'!"

He pointed to the pile of firewood, his finger steady: "Old village chief, everyone understands your feelings and the injustice done to the Sun family. But have you considered this? If this fire really starts today, it won't just be Lin Liang who burns to death!"

His gaze swept across the entire room, lingering particularly on the faces of the young people who looked reluctant: "From now on, what will our Linchangtun become in the commune and the county? A barbaric place where vigilante justice and burning at the stake!"

"How can the young people in our village hold their heads high when they go out? What will the government think of our village when they find out? Who will bear the blame for 'undermining the rule of law'? You, sir? Or the whole village?"

These words were like a bucket of cold water poured on the hearts of many people who were blinded by their emotions, especially those whose children or grandchildren worked in the commune or elsewhere.

The old village chief's expression also changed.

"Our village has always been like this," the old village chief replied.

"Did everyone forget the last time the county's legal education team came to promote the law? Bad habits, the death penalty, and ignorant superstitions must all be broken. This is called breaking feudalism," Lin Dachun said solemnly.

Everyone fell silent immediately.

"Then tell me, what should we do? We definitely can't let them go. This kind of immoral thing must be dealt with by setting an example." The old village chief was a stubborn old man; he came from the era of foot binding.

"You call it immoral and indecent? The cause of this matter hasn't even been investigated yet, and you're already jumping to conclusions?" Lin Dachun walked up to Sun Taohua and Lin Liang and asked seriously.

"Lin Liang, Sun Taohua, tell me the truth: did Lin Liang rape you, or were you two dating, and Sun Taohua, did you consent?"

Lin Liang glanced at Sun Taohua and, unusually, said with backbone, "We are in a free-love relationship, Taohua, I want to marry you."

After saying this, Sun's father ran over, slapped Lin Liang, and cursed, "What utter nonsense! My daughter would never fall for a poor boy like you!"

"Your mother was a widow. Back then, she had an affair with a man from another village, which drove your father to his death. You wicked son, now you want to ruin my daughter?? Humph. You're delusional."

"I."

Lin Yali was speechless upon hearing this.

"Daughter, tell your father the truth, did Lin Liang rape you? Don't be afraid, your father will stand up for you. We can't let this brat get away with it," Father Sun scolded.

"I."

Sun Taohua didn't know how to answer.

She was afraid of her father, and also afraid of implicating Lin Liang.

"Tell me, girl, did he rape you? You need to think this through carefully, he's ruined your life." Sun Taohua's mother pleaded earnestly.

"Sun Taohua, just tell the truth. There's no need to lie or deliberately slander. Just say what you mean. No one will force you," Lin Dachun reassured her.

After thinking for a moment, Sun Taohua said, "I did it voluntarily."

Upon hearing this, Sun's parents immediately fainted from anger.

"Old village chief, since it was voluntary, there's no such thing as punishment or being burned alive, right?" Lin Dachun said, trying to uphold justice.

"snort."

The old village chief snorted, decided to leave the matter alone, and walked away angrily.