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

"Today's meeting is very meaningful. Although it is a family conflict, there is indeed exploitation and oppression involved."

Of course, there are also shortcomings in the work of our village cadres.

However, starting today, we will crack down on this behavior in the village.

Even though we're all family, we should all care for each other in our daily lives. There's no reason for one side to always be the one to suffer.

They're married and have their own families, yet they're still taking advantage of other people's livelihoods and selling their daughters. What is this if not exploitation? What is this if not oppression?

I know there are quite a few people like this in our village. If you're not too busy right now and want to divide your property, just come to the brigade headquarters and let them know. That'll be the way to divide it.

If anyone tries to sell their daughter again, I'll be the first to object. Those I can't control, I'll send them to the Revolutionary Committee. Those who have been criticized and denounced by the Revolutionary Committee will be sent to a farm for reform through labor.

That's all for today. Those who want to split up should go to the accountant to register. Alright, everyone, that's all for now!

Everyone looked at each other, and those who wanted to split up their households swarmed around the accountant. Su Daqiang walked away without looking back, and the other village officials also turned and left.

After quite some time, Granny Lin and Lin Siya had already arrived, but they hid behind a big tree and didn't dare to come out.

Terrified by the scene just now, and afraid that Bao Ya would tie them up and throw them on the stage, they hid far away and didn't dare to make a sound. Only after everyone had left did they dare to go up and check on the three people's condition.

Bao Ya had already seen them, but didn't intend to do anything to them. Now, Old Man Lin, Lin Dahe, Li Jinxiang, and Lin Xiaohong all needed to be served, so there had to be at least two people left who could still move.

After all, they still have the reputation of being relatives. They were injured and their own parents still have to take care of them. Who is disgusting and who is disgusting?

Despite Lin Laohan's objections, Lin Laosan had already sent him home. He wasn't going to plead for his good older brother; he'd schemed against him to the core.

Fang Mingda watched this farce from afar on the hillside, secretly astonished. He had underestimated a little village girl who could cause so much trouble.

"This girl is too much of a troublemaker."

"Hmm, she's quite capable of causing trouble, but if she couldn't, she might end up like her sister, being sold off."

Fang Mingda looked down at his old partner Wang Xiao and smiled strangely:

"It seems you quite admire this girl."

"What do you know, young master? Although women hold up half the sky, the village still follows the old almanac. How many people can control their own destiny?"

Bao Ya had someone throw Lin Dahe and the other two into a storeroom in the village committee. They didn't untie them, but only took the stones out of their mouths. Li Jinxiang had just let out a "yelp" when they were stuffed back in.

Bao Ya looked at her coldly: "If you dare to make a sound, you'll have to spend the night with a stone in your mouth, understand?"

Li Jinxiang nodded hastily. She couldn't be tough now; she was in pain all over from being beaten and just wanted to feel better.

The three people spat out the stones and waited to be untied. Bao Ya found it funny; making them feel good made her uncomfortable.

"That's all for today. It's getting late. You can write your self-criticisms tomorrow, detailing all your misdeeds. I'll only let you go if I'm satisfied. You also need to write me an apology letter. Don't forget."

After saying that, she started to walk out. Lin Dahe panicked and quickly moved away, calling out to her, "Bao Ya, you can't leave here overnight..."

Before he could finish speaking, Bao Ya swung the thick tree branch in her hand, hitting him all over and in the face, shouting, "I'll teach you to talk too much nonsense, I'll teach you to talk too much nonsense..."

"Why can't this be left overnight? No one will die in this weather."

This place is much better than the woodshed, you know? After Er Ya was beaten by her husband, she was thrown into the woodshed. The suffering you've endured today is nothing compared to what she went through!

If I hear your disgusting sweet talk again, I'll beat you to death.

After saying that, she saw Lin Xiaohong glaring at her fiercely. Bao Ya smiled slightly, picked up a tree branch, and lashed it at Lin Xiaohong's face again.

"What are you looking at? Look at your mother's ass! You're a piece of trash, you're nothing but a fart."

She slapped everyone in the face, since everyone in the village got a share today, and no one would care who hit whom.

Thick tree branches can't kill people, but in the dark of night, the three of them felt a chill just looking at each other.

Bao Ya thinks she might have violent tendencies, and that hitting people feels incredibly satisfying.

He gave Li Jinxiang a few more slaps before leaving the room.

She first had Simao deliver the 50 cents she had promised to the aunties, and then told the young men on rotation that they would each receive 20 cents a day, which she would cover herself.

The group was delighted to hear this, since there wasn't much work to do after the autumn harvest, and anything that could earn money was certainly desirable.

After giving her instructions, Bao Ya strolled home. It felt so good to spend money; with five hundred yuan in betrothal gifts in her hand, she was considered a small-time rich woman in the village.

For the next few days, she made sure Lin Dahe and the others wrote their self-criticisms. If they didn't write them well, she made them rewrite them, and if they still didn't write them well, she would beat them up.

Lin Dahe tried to get away with writing down all the bad things he had done over the years, but Bao Ya definitely wouldn't allow it.

If they don't confess their crimes, then Bao Ya's criticism of them won't hold water, and it will be troublesome if they are exposed later, and it might even implicate the brigade leader.

For the next two days, Bao Ya had the food sent by the Lin family replaced with wild vegetable pancakes, half a pancake per person each day, just enough to keep them from starving. The three who couldn't stand it finally behaved themselves.

They explained in detail how they used to slack off at home, how they took advantage of the family, how they sold Er Ya, how they schemed against Bao Ya, and even how they bought a job for their eldest son.

Bao Ya made them copy the self-criticism three times. Li Jinxiang couldn't write, so Lin Xiaohong and Lin Dahe wrote it for her. In the end, all three of them signed and put their fingerprints on it. She also wrote a separate apology letter to herself.

Bao Ya took the self-criticism to the brigade headquarters and had all the village cadres sign it. She also had the accountant copy down their work points from the past few years and attach it to the self-criticism.

One copy of each self-criticism was kept by the village, one was sent to the commune, and one was kept by the individual. One copy of the apology letter was kept by the village and one was kept by the individual.

They only let the three people go home after everything was finished, and in just four days, the three of them looked completely unrecognizable.

With everything settled, in the following days, Bao Ya read out the three members of the Lin family's self-criticisms every day through the village's loudspeaker.

She felt that this matter had to be publicized so that they wouldn't try to overturn her case and fabricate stories about her when she was no longer in the village.

After the first day of reading, Second Aunt took Wu Ya and Liu Ya and smashed up the room where Lin Lao Da and his wife lived again.

It's one thing for her to shirk work and be lazy, but when Li Jinxiang introduced Er Ya to a potential husband, she actually asked for a dowry of 100 yuan. She told Granny Lin that she would give 80 yuan, but she kept 20 yuan for herself. She wrote this in her self-criticism.

Having learned this lesson, I reckon the Lin family won't dare mess with me for the rest of their lives.

The day before her wedding, Bao Ya made a special trip to the Lin family home to visit them, and with a beaming smile, she told Old Man Lin and Old Woman Lin that she was getting married.

Despite all the turmoil the Lin family caused, Bao Ya never considered severing ties with the Lin family's old residence.

Sever ties? It's impossible to sever them completely. If I really did that, the Su family would have a negative opinion of me.

It's fine as it is now. We can deal with them next time without incurring legal responsibility. It's worth it.