The 1960s: The Story of a Country Girl's Journey to the City

"Ahem!" The old Party Secretary suddenly spoke to Old Man Lin.

"Hey bro, that's enough already. Your eldest son is the one who's benefiting. They've raised all the kids. You should at least give your brother a way to survive, right?"

An uncle from the Su family behind them chimed in.

"Dahe, look at the way you've raised your son! This is how he treats his sister. Everyone in the village is watching."

Old Man Lin and Lin Dahe understood that this was a warning to them: hitting the Su family's granddaughter on the Su family's territory meant they didn't want to stay in the village anymore.

"We used public funds to buy him the job back then, so how come he can't get away with it now? All the junk in this house combined isn't worth as much as that job!"

Lin Baoya said it casually, and Old Man Lin and Lin Dahe tried to brush it off.

"Baoya, it's not right for a young lady like you to get involved in the family's division of property."

Old Man Lin, disregarding his dignity, couldn't help but speak up. He said that if his grandson's job were also divided up, the eldest son's family wouldn't get any advantage and would have to rely on his eldest son to support them in their old age.

Before Lin Baoya could speak, Lin Laosan stepped forward and addressed everyone:

"My daughter makes the decisions regarding our three households. Don't try to fool me just because I'm illiterate."

"You, as a grandfather, didn't feel anything wrong when you left your granddaughter to be raised by other families without contributing a single grain of food, but didn't feel anything wrong when you were scheming with your eldest son's family to get a dowry for your granddaughter?"

Lin Baoya spoke calmly, addressing them one sentence at a time, showing no intention of giving them any face. She then turned to Lin Laosan and said:

"Dad, we want this job. With this job, you and Mom won't have to work in the fields anymore. When my brother grows up, we can transfer the job to him. Our whole family will be settled. It's much better than keeping this piece of junk from the Lin family."

"Yes! My daughter is right! I want this job. Your family has taken so many advantages; it's our turn now."

Lin Laosan is a complete scoundrel now. He doesn't strive for anything, and his parents won't even remember him until they die.

Seeing that Lin Laosan's reckless nature was acting up again, Lin Laoda tried to put on his older brother's airs, suppress him, and get away with the matter.

"Third brother, you're becoming more and more outrageous!"

"Ha, it's acceptable for the older brother to suck the blood of the younger brother? I don't care, I want this job! If you don't give it to me, I'll cause trouble at the factory tomorrow."

Old Man Lin closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Then let's convert the job into cash. I paid five hundred yuan for this job in the first place..."

"And bicycles!"

Lin Baoya chimed in again.

"Are you ever going to stop?"

Seeing that Lin Baoya was going to include the bicycle in the calculation, Lin Xiaoquan couldn't help but yell.

"If I could take advantage like you guys, I definitely wouldn't care about these things."

"The bicycle cost 180 yuan, let's split it together with what's in the box."

At this point, Old Man Lin no longer insisted on favoring the eldest son's family. If he persisted in his own way, he feared that his three brothers would become enemies.

"How about we split the money in the box first, and I'll give you IOUs for the work and the bicycle?"

Lin Dahe tentatively spoke. Everyone hesitated and looked at Bao Ya.

"No way. Uncle, how many work points do you earn in a year? You'll never be able to pay this back, even if you die. This is clearly a case of defaulting on a debt."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Lin Dahe slammed his hand on the table. He could see now that this brat was just trying to make things difficult for them.

"Make him write an IOU," Bao Ya pointed at Lin Xiaoquan. "He took advantage of us, so naturally he should pay it back. If he dares to renege on his debt, we'll have a place to reason with him."

Lin Dahe said that writing an IOU was a pretext for defaulting on the debt. He knew Lin Xiaoquan wouldn't have the money now, so he decided to have Lin Xiaoquan write an IOU. Firstly, Lin Xiaoquan had a monthly salary and thought he could pay it back. Secondly, his job was a constraint on Lin Xiaoquan; if he dared to default, Lin Xiaoquan could cause trouble at his factory, and Lin Xiaoquan wouldn't be afraid of him not paying.

"Lin Baoya!"

"What are you yelling about? You're taking all the benefits for yourself. Ask them if they're willing to help you pay back the money."

Bao Ya pointed to Lin Xiaohong and Lin Xiaowen beside him. The two men turned their faces away, their meaning clear: they were unwilling.

"Alright, let Xiaoquan write you an IOU!"

"father!"

Lin Xiaoquan was a little anxious. When he saw Lin Dahe winking at him, he stood aside sullenly.

The rest was easy. The total amount was 386. Old Man Lin and Old Woman Lin took 86, and each of the three families took 100. The tickets were divided into three portions.

The work and bicycle totaled 680. 80 went to Old Man Lin, and the remaining 600 was divided among the three families. Lin Xiaoquan wrote an IOU for 200 yuan to each of the second and third wives.

The fabric that Lin Baoya had gathered was divided among the families, the grain was divided into four portions, and this year's work points belonged to each family. From now on, the second and third wives would give Old Man Lin and Old Woman Lin 5 yuan plus 100 jin of grain every year. Finally, the pots, pans, bowls, and chopsticks were all divided up.

The three families will use their private plots first, and the brigade will allocate more land to them when someone builds a house later.

Finally, Lin Baoya brought up the fifty yuan she owed herself again, took out the receipt written by the old Party Secretary, and asked Lin Dahe to make up the money, saying that it would be deducted from the eldest son's share when the family was divided.

Having no other choice, Lin Dahe took another fifty yuan and gave 25 yuan each to the second and third wives.

In the end, the eldest son's wife received fifty dollars, the second and third sons' wives each received 125 dollars, and Lin Xiaoquan also gave her an IOU for two hundred dollars.

After the family property was divided, the last chicken in the backyard was killed, and the brigade cadres were invited to eat. Lin Baoya told Simao to take the distributed grain and cloth to the Su family's old house, and told Lin Laosan to cook there from now on. Since his daughter had spoken, Lin Laosan had no objection.

Li Jinxiang, along with several of the eldest son's children, were all gnashing their teeth at Bao Ya. Bao Ya glanced at them sideways, thinking, "Hmm, it would be bad for them to leave like this."

"Second Uncle, why don't you ask my eldest uncle to mark out the land for the house this afternoon? Let's build the house before the autumn harvest."

"Build a house now?"

Lin Lao Er was a little reluctant to part with the money that had just entered his pocket.

"If we don't build it now, when will we? Once all the money has been taken by others, we won't be able to build it even if we want to."

As she spoke, she glanced at the eldest son's family and continued, "Our family is moving out. We'll stay at my grandmother's place until the new house is built. You can decide what to do."

Lin Lao Er looked at his sister-in-law and her children, and after thinking about it, he felt that Bao Ya was right. Without Lao San's family, his eldest brother could only scheme against him.

After lunch, Lin Lao Er took Lin Lao San to the brigade headquarters and asked the brigade to allocate a plot of land for their home.

The third Lin family took a piece of land behind the Su family's old house, and the second Lin family also marked out a piece of land not far away.

Finally, he asked the brigade to help him buy bricks, wood, and everything else needed for building the house, and even paid a deposit of 100 yuan. Seeing how eager Lin Lao Er was to pay the money, the brigade cadres were dumbfounded. Was he in such a hurry to spend money?

Holding the advance payment slip from the brigade, Lin Lao Er finally felt relieved. The money was paid, and it wouldn't be taken back. The house was built; he would finally have his own home.

That evening, when they learned that Lin Lao Er had used the money to build a house, the eldest son's wife and Lin's mother kept throwing things around and cursing. Even the eldest son's children wouldn't look at them properly. Lin Lao Er knew that he had done the right thing.

Luckily, I listened to Bao Ya's advice; it was a close call.