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

"Why? What do you mean they don't care? I went to take the exam peacefully, and she came over and scolded me for no reason."

If it weren't for her affecting my mood, I would have a job now, and I'd even transferred my household registration to the city.

You think you can just brush this off with a casual "never mind"? You're dreaming.

I'll let it go, but Xu Shengmei has to give me a job and publish an apology in the newspaper, otherwise this isn't over!

As soon as Tan Xinmin closed his eyes after hearing this, he knew it wouldn't be that easy.

He had read the testimonies of the people who came to testify voluntarily. How could they dare to say such things in public and have so many people hear them? Old Xu was in big trouble.

"Comrade Xiaolin, isn't that a bit of a stretch? It's a fact that you hit someone. But that job is still just a pipe dream..."

Hou Longteng forced himself to continue arguing, saying he shouldn't have answered that call in the first place.

"Director Hou, are you saying that everything she said to me was true? Why don't you detain me? I won't accept a settlement."

"You casually dismiss ruining people's futures, so you also think we rural people are just peasants who should never have a chance to turn our lives around, right?"

"No, Comrade Lin, you can't misunderstand me. I mean, this matter has blown up too much, and it's having a bad impact..."

"What does it matter to me whether the impact is good or bad? It's not like I made the impact worse."

Bao Ya didn't even want to look at him properly now, turning her body to the side as if she didn't want to talk anymore.

"Young comrade, leave yourself a way out, so you can meet again in the future."

Xu Jicong, who hadn't spoken until now, suddenly spoke up. He didn't quite understand why the two leaders from the police station had seemed so embarrassed from the beginning.

After listening to the conversation between Director Hou and Lin Baoya, I felt that it was really unnecessary for a director like him to lower himself to beg a little girl.

"To leave an enemy a way out is to seek one's own death. I always try to wipe out my enemies without hesitation."

Bao Ya didn't care what he said. The premise of leaving a way out was that he would live longer than her, but now it seemed that might not be the case.

They don't know what next year will bring, but they do.

She wasn't afraid of the Xu family retaliating against her; one letter of denunciation and their whole family would be finished.

Moreover, with so many people hearing this today, those forced to go to the countryside in the coming years will inevitably vent their resentment on their family. They don't even need to write their own complaint letters.

Xu Jicong frowned upon hearing her words; he hadn't expected this girl to be so assertive.

"You hit someone and then tried to justify yourself. Don't you know that hitting someone is illegal?"

"It is illegal to beat up good people, but it is to eliminate harm for the people by beating up bad elements."

I also want to ask you a question: you are a former soldier, so why did you raise a daughter who hates the people and looks down on the working class?

Have you always harbored resentment towards the country?

Xu Jicong and Hou Longteng only said that she hit someone, but never mentioned the reason for the hit, because they also knew the weight of those words and thought she was easy to fool.

Hearing Lin Baoya's words, Xu Jicong's face became even more gloomy. He knew all too well the weight of those words. If they were to take it seriously, his whole family would probably be sent to a farm.

"Don't talk nonsense. Shengmei is still young; she didn't mean it..."

"She's still young? She seems to be about my age. And when we were in school, she often scolded classmates from poor families in the village like that. If you don't believe me, you can go and visit our former classmates. I guarantee you'll be surprised."

When Bao Ya spoke, her eyes were fixed on Xu Jicong, and the half-smile on her face made Xu Jicong feel a chill in his heart.

He only returned from military service last year, and before that he didn't spend much time with his children, so he didn't think anything of it.

That year, he also noticed that his daughter was somewhat spoiled, especially towards the poor relatives in her hometown, whom she looked down upon.

The girl in front of me is my daughter's former classmate, so she used to be at school...

Thinking this through, Xu Jicong dared not think any further, and a sense of unease crept into his heart. He knew he really needed to discipline his daughter properly.

"Comrade Xiaolin, do you think we can make a deal...?"

Seeing that his two old buddies, who were bluffing, hadn't gotten any advantage, Tan Xinmin could only try to speak up.

They had witnessed this girl's ability to cause trouble, and they couldn't let her continue. The city leaders made it very clear on the phone that they should try to minimize the impact.

"Stop this. Can we stop with the nonsense and just talk about compensation? Otherwise, we're not going to talk anymore."

Bao Ya turned around and looked in the other direction, her meaning clear. Their bluffing tricks wouldn't fool her.

"Young comrade, we really can't offer you a job. If we did, Shengmei wouldn't be taking the exam today."

How about we convert it to cash? We'll give you a hundred dollars, how about that?

Xu Jicong softened his tone and discussed it with Bao Ya. He understood that the three of them couldn't scare her at all. Don't underestimate her just because she's a country girl; she knows quite a lot.

"Tsk, you think you can buy my future for a hundred dollars? Section Chief Xu really looks down on us country folk."

A job and my city residency are only worth 100 yuan? Without city residency, my daily life will be inconvenient.

Xu Shengmei ruined my life, and she actually thinks she can just give me a hundred yuan to get rid of me?

He said that 100 yuan was no pressure for him, and he would have to add more.

"Hey, Comrade Lin, since we can discuss this, just name a reasonable number. After all, none of us are well-off, and we all have families to support, right? Hehe."

Seeing that the two of them had started discussing the price, Tan Xinmin quickly chimed in.

He had witnessed how Lin Baoya had calculated the bill last time; she asked for several thousand yuan right off the bat—who could stand that? If they could negotiate, they should do it quickly and reach a conclusion; they absolutely couldn't let the negotiations fall apart.

Xu Jicong looked at Tan Xinmin and wondered why the two of them seemed to know each other so well. No wonder the old man hadn't said a word earlier.

"Comrade Xiaolin, why don't you name a number? If it's about right, we can go home and pool our money together."

Xu Jicong knew he would have to spend some money today, so he stopped dawdling and simply let Lin Baoya name her price, saying they could discuss it further if it wasn't right. This way, he wouldn't accidentally overpay.

Bao Ya thought about it. They couldn't give her a job, and even if they did, she couldn't accept it. Who knew if they would sabotage her or make things difficult for her?

Furthermore, if someone reports him next year, this job will also come to light, and things will get complicated then. Money is the most practical solution.

"Well, since you've put it that way, I'll take the loss and give you five hundred yuan."

This is roughly the price for privately transferring jobs these days; please don't tell me there aren't any, leaders.

Seeing that Hou Longteng was about to speak, Bao Ya immediately cut him off. Selling jobs is not allowed in principle, but it definitely happens privately; Lin Xiaoquan bought his job.

"five hundred?"

Xu Jicong wanted to ask her why she didn't just rob her, but he was afraid of angering her and making things impossible to discuss. He took a deep breath and discussed it with Bao Ya in a low voice:

"Comrade Xiaolin, do you think five hundred is a bit too much? If we had five hundred yuan, we could also help Shengmei find a job, so she wouldn't have to take the exam on her own."

He was too proud of his status to say anything more, but he really couldn't come up with five hundred yuan.