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

In no time at all, the barefoot doctor and the village midwife arrived. They looked at the pregnant woman lying in the car and shook their heads.

The midwife spoke directly: "Rong family, your second daughter-in-law is only eight months pregnant, it's not her due date yet. She's barely breathing right now, I can't continue this pregnancy. Don't let it end up killing her, go to the hospital right now! Everyone heard me, I've made myself clear, don't blame me if anything goes wrong!"

After saying that, she turned and left. She knew all too well what kind of people this family was; they didn't treat their daughter-in-law like a human being at all, and even after causing her a lot of trouble, they still wanted to extort money from her.

Seeing that the midwife had left, the barefoot doctor also spoke up: The pregnant woman has severe heatstroke and is already showing signs of dehydration. She should go to the hospital for an IV drip; the village can't treat her.

When Granny Rong saw that they both said that, she started throwing a tantrum again:

"They all act according to the wishes of the brigade leaders. Don't think I can't see through it; you're doing this on purpose..."

Everyone was speechless for a moment.

"Hurry, he's about to die."

Grandpa Niu looked at the people on the bus, his hand that had been supporting his stomach drooped down, and called out.

"What?"

Su Daqiang was so anxious he couldn't care less about anything else; he couldn't let someone die because of this. Everyone had worked hard all year, and if they got less grain because of this, they would be devastated.

When Su Daqiang saw Bao Ya arrive, he kept giving her meaningful glances, as if to say, "Stop watching, hurry up!" The two of them used to work together so well, why did they suddenly start watching the show?

"If something really happens, we'll lose our title as an advanced brigade this year, everyone will get less grain, everyone get out of the way, I'll break her legs and drag her aside! I'm doing this for everyone, you all have to be my witnesses."

Bao Ya recalled the original owner's behavior and seemed to get the hang of it, so she grabbed a hoe from the roadside and swung it at her.

Granny Rong, lying on the ground, didn't actually close her eyes. She kept her ears open, listening to the sounds around her. As soon as she heard Lin Baoya say she was going to break her legs with a hoe, she immediately let go of the brigade leader's trousers and scrambled to the side. The hoe landed on the muddy ground and missed.

"Everyone, lend a hand! Pull the Rong family members aside. Beat up any who disobey! Quickly!"

Su Daqiang had lost patience with them.

Hearing the brigade leader's words, the people around tried to pull the Rong family members away, and chaos ensued. Seeing the situation was getting out of hand, the eldest Rong couple turned and ran home, abandoning their elderly mother.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Su Daqiang and Grandpa Niu drove the mule cart out of the village, and even kicked Qi Lao Er, who was squatting by the roadside pretending to be in pain, to make him follow.

When Granny Rong saw the car leave, she tried to stop it again, but Bao Ya grabbed her arm. However, the old woman was quite strong and tried to break free of her hand to chase after the car in front.

Bao Ya was having some difficulty pulling her along, and shouted to the aunties watching the commotion:

"Aunties, find a rope and tie her to the tree."

"What?"

Everyone was stunned and looked at Bao Ya in confusion.

"What I mean is, if Granny Rong gets too emotional and something happens to her, you'll have to take care of her for the rest of her life!"

"What?"

"Why should I?"

"Is this for real?"

Granny Rong rolled her eyes and turned to crash into a tree by the roadside. The aunt next to her was quick-witted and several people grabbed her.

"Look how agitated Granny Rong is, let's find a rope and tie her up."

Several aunties agreed that this made sense, so they used the hemp ropes used for bundling grass by the roadside to tie Granny Rong to a tree.

Granny Rong watched as this group of old women attacked her alone. She started swearing again.

Wang Chunhua didn't stand on ceremony and stuffed a towel used for wiping sweat into her mouth, finally calming her down.

Wow, that old woman's got some energy. Bao Ya sat under the shade of a tree, fanning herself with her hand, chatting idly with a few aunties. After about an hour, guessing they'd arrived at the hospital, she said to the aunties:

"I see that Granny Rong is much calmer now, let's untie her."

The women hesitated, looking at each other and thinking: What if this old hag tries to kill herself again and tries to extort money from them?

"Untie her. She should know she was wrong, right?"

Bao Ya asked Granny Rong in a consultative tone, and Granny Rong quickly nodded.

Several aunties hesitated before letting her go.

When Bao Ya saw Rong Pozi's eyes darting around while she was untying the rope, she knew that Rong Pozi was up to no good.

Sure enough, as soon as the rope was untied, Granny Rong tried to ram herself against the tree with all her might. Wang Chunhua grabbed her hair and pulled her back.

"Bao Ya, look at this old hag."

Bao Ya looked at Granny Rong and asked her with a smile, "What are you going to do?"

"They injured me when they tied me up, so they have to take care of me in my old age."

"Why should I?"

"You said it!"

Did I say that?

Bao Ya cast questioning glances at the aunties.

Several seasoned aunties immediately understood and said in unison, "No!"

Granny Rong realized she had been tricked and was about to start cursing.

"Hey, look who's that?"

Bao Ya pointed to a group of people in the distance and said that there looked to be a dozen or twenty of them running this way.

An auntie squinted at it, clapped her hands, and laughed.

"It's the Rong family's second daughter-in-law's family. You old hag, see how they deal with you."

Granny Rong gasped in shock. So many people? She turned and ran, faster than a rabbit.

Bao Ya cupped her hands around a megaphone and shouted to the crowd, "Where's Rong's second sister-in-law's brother? Rong's mother-in-law is over there! Go easy on her, don't kill anyone! And Rong's eldest son and his wife, don't cripple them, they have to go to work tomorrow!"

The meaning is clear enough, isn't it? Fight if you need to, as long as no one dies. Boss Rong and his wife were also involved, so they deserve to be beaten.

After he finished shouting, several women from the other group chased after Granny Rong like rabbits.

The women under the tree watched this scene without moving, muttering to themselves:

"With so many people, won't anyone get killed?"

"I don't think so!"

"How about we ask Seventh Grandfather to go and take a look?"

Seventh Grandfather is the most senior member of the Su family and the current patriarch. Important matters require his assistance.

"Yes, my seventh uncle has trouble walking, so please be careful not to make him fall."

After saying that, Bao Ya strolled towards the village, eager to witness another exciting event.

When she arrived in the village, she couldn't remember which house was the Rong family, but it didn't matter; the one that was the liveliest at the moment was the Rong family.

Following the sound from east to west, we found a group of people outside the courtyard wall. The sounds of ping-pong balls and screams coming from inside indicated they were having a great time.

Bao Ya wasn't in a hurry. She stood at the back of the crowd and peered inside. She wasn't going to move forward, lest some clueless person try to drag her into the fight, which she didn't want to do.

Many people from Rong's second daughter-in-law's family came. I heard that she has four older brothers, and the eldest brother already has a grandson. Tsk, four brothers can still be bullied to the point of losing half their lives, they are so useless.