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

"Baoya, listen to your grandpa... He's been so worried these past few days that he can't eat."

Lin Dahe continued, refusing to believe that a mere young girl could truly be so indifferent to her reputation.

"You're not leaving, huh? You'll regret this!"

After saying that, Bao Ya turned and ran outside, shouting at the top of her lungs, "Help! Someone's driving me to my death! Help! Lin Dahe is driving me to my death!"

Passing by Old Man Lin, he kicked the ankle of the kneeling Old Man Lin was in hard.

"Click"

"Ah, ouch~" Old Man Lin was in so much pain that he couldn't get up. This time he really knelt down, and several people hurriedly tried to help him up. They didn't even notice what Bao Ya was shouting.

Bao Ya ran and shouted.

"Help! Someone's dying! This is driving me crazy!"

Hearing the shouts, Su Daqiang and Su Erqiang quickly ran outside. Before they could even speak, Bao Ya gestured for them to go back. Afraid they wouldn't understand, she ran over and said to them:

"Go back, don't come out!"

The two brothers exchanged a glance, turned around and went home, closing the door behind them.

Now that the autumn harvest is over, everyone is quite idle. People are everywhere, under the big trees, at the intersections, and around the millstones. Except for those who have gone out to do short-term work, most of them are resting at home.

Upon hearing Bao Ya's shouts, everyone ran towards the scene, thinking something had happened. Some wanted to help, others wanted to watch the commotion, and soon a large group of people arrived.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong, Baoya?"

"What happened?"

“…………”

"My uncle is trying to drive my grandfather to his death!"

"What?"

Everyone looked at Bao Ya with surprise and doubt. What had they heard?

"My uncle abuses my grandfather. He sends him to our house demanding money, and if he doesn't get it, he won't feed him. Today he even broke my grandfather's leg. You can go and see for yourselves. He's still at my house right now."

When everyone heard this, they thought, "There's such a thing? We have to see it!" They were already bored out of their minds, and this was a welcome surprise.

Then, most of the villagers went to her house.

Su Daqiang listened to the commotion from under his own wall. He saw his son, Simao, also sneaking around under the wall, eavesdropping. He kicked Simao in the backside.

"What are you doing here? Go help your sister!"

Knowing his niece as he does, he knew she was up to something again.

Si Mao wasn't angry after being kicked. He glanced at his father, got up, and ran outside.

"Call a few more people."

"knew"

The two spoke in hushed tones, like thieves, which made Old Lady Su in the room purse her lips in disapproval.

Bao Ya led the group to her house. Before anyone could ask, she embellished the story of what had happened that day.

"Everyone, please be the judge. My uncle is getting more and more outrageous. He used to support his two younger brothers, but they did nothing. Now that the family has separated, he's forcing my grandfather to come to my house and ask for money."

"My grandfather wouldn't give me food if he didn't come, and he even broke my leg. Can you believe he's so heartless?"

"What? Lin Dahe, you're such a scoundrel! No one in the whole village is as shameful as you. You don't work and just rely on others to support you."

"That's shameless!"

"If he had any shame, would he have let his two brothers support their entire family for so many years?"

"that is"

Sensing something was amiss, Lin Dahe stepped forward and pressed his hands down.

"Quiet down, everyone, listen to me."

Bao Ya wanted to laugh at his pretentious manner. Even now, he still wanted to imitate the village cadre. He was still dreaming. Today, she was going to expose him completely.

Bao Ya suddenly stood up straight and said loudly to everyone:

"Today, I will uphold justice even at the cost of my own family!"

The scene fell silent instantly. Here it comes again. Last time, Bao Ya exposed the Lin family's affairs completely by turning against them for the greater good. This time, there's going to be a good show.

Bao Ya immediately transformed into a Little Red Guard and righteously addressed everyone:

"My uncle's family used to be lazy and relied on my younger brother to support them. They acted like landlords and rich people. I didn't correct them in time, which made them go further and further astray."

Now he shows no remorse and still wants to force us to support his family. He uses his own father as a scapegoat, starving him and even breaking his leg to force us to submit.

We must not tolerate such bad elements today, I want to report him!

"What?"

"A few men, tie up Lin Dahe and Li Jinxiang, and take them to the village committee."

What? Everyone looked at each other, and no one moved. What's going on? We thought it was just a family fight, why are they tying people up?

Just then, Si Mao, along with several young men, carrying ropes and sticks, squeezed through the crowd and began to pull at Lin Dahe.

Lin Dahe panicked when he saw this. He originally wanted to play the victim in front of the villagers to force Bao Ya to back down, but he didn't expect Bao Ya to pull a big stunt on him.

"Bao Ya, are you crazy! I'm your uncle!"

"Yes, I've gone mad! You've driven me mad! I don't have an uncle like you! Today I'm going to punish you with the dictatorship of the proletariat! Quick, tie them up!"

"Bao Ya, you little slut, how dare you..."

Li Jinxiang struggled and yelled at Bao Ya.

"Gag them!"

Without saying a word, several young men went up and pinned Lin Dahe down, quickly tying him up securely.

Li Jinxiang is a tough woman to deal with; even the young men couldn't bring themselves to do anything about her.

Seeing this, Bao Ya shouted to the crowd:

"In the past, several aunties would help, and each of them would give 50 cents."

Several women immediately squeezed out from the previously quiet crowd. Five cents! Why not make some money? The women quickly tied Li Jinxiang up securely.

"Let's go to the brigade headquarters!"

At Bao Ya's command, everyone automatically parted, making way for them. Simao and a few other young people pushed and shoved Lin Dahe and his wife out.

Lin Dahe was a little dumbfounded. How could it have turned out like this? Li Jinxiang cursed him with foul language.

Seeing that things were not going well, Old Man Lin, ignoring his leg pain, rushed forward and grabbed Bao Ya:

"Bao Ya, what exactly are you trying to do? That's your uncle..."

Bao Ya grabbed Old Man Lin's wrist and whispered:

"Grandpa, don't worry, I will definitely avenge you and make Uncle realize his mistakes. From now on, we will all take good care of you!"

After saying that, he gave Old Man Lin a sinister smile and turned to walk out.

As Old Man Lin watched Bao Ya's retreating figure, he felt the hairs on his body stand on end and couldn't help but shiver.

Upon arriving at the brigade headquarters, Simao pushed Lin Dahe and his wife onto the platform where village officials usually gave speeches, making them stand in the center.

Li Jinxiang kept cursing and swearing all the way, hurling all sorts of nasty insults. The young men were disgusted by her, and Si Mao found two small stones along the way and stuffed them into their mouths.

Once on the high platform of the village office, Lin Dahe became a little more sober. Wasn't this how the game of fighting the landlord was played back then? What exactly was Bao Ya trying to do?

Bao Ya waved her hand, signaling the young men to step back, and then stepped forward herself. Upon seeing Bao Ya, Li Jinxiang charged like a mad dog, only to be pulled back by the young men behind her. Even so, she continued to hurl insults at them.