I was married off to a disabled hero in lieu of marriage; my in-laws doted on me and I aspired to gr

The public trial of criminal offenders in Huailin City was held on the playground of Huailin No. 1 Middle School.

Tens of thousands of people, including students, workers, and ordinary citizens, came in a noisy throng.

Qiaoqiao is with Xiaoqi, Gu Tongan, Yao Xing, and Yao Hongbing.

The school teachers repeatedly announced over the loudspeaker that any student who attended the public trial and wrote a report afterward would receive extra points when applying for Party membership, which would be recorded in their personnel file. This would also be a bonus for promotion when they entered the workforce.

As a result, all the students with progressive ideas came.

Qiaoqiao is the daughter-in-law of the vice governor, so naturally her thinking is progressive. However, she came to the public trial not to gain points.

Qiaoqiao's family had a bad class background, and her grandfather was often criticized. Every time there was a big meeting, Qiaoqiao would get scared and have convulsions.

Now, Grandpa has been exonerated and is no longer criticized, but the fear etched into his bones has not been eliminated.

Countless times, Qiaoqiao dreamt of her grandfather being beaten bloody and mangled by the rebels. She felt as if she were there, as if she were participating in another denunciation meeting.

Today, Qiaoqiao wants to overcome the fear in her dream and conquer herself.

Upon entering the venue, Qiaoqiao instinctively grabbed Xiaoqi's hand. Xiaoqi asked, puzzled, "Yang Qiao, what's wrong? Your hand is shaking."

Qiaoqiao smiled casually, "It's okay, there are too many people, I was afraid we'd get separated."

Gu Tong'an, standing behind him, said, "If we get separated later, let's meet up at the big locust tree at the school gate. We'll have lunch at Yao Xing's house. Xiao Qi brought sauerkraut, and Yao Xing bought fish. We'll have fish stew with sauerkraut for lunch."

Xiao Qi smiled and said, "Yang Qiao, you have to try my family's pickled cabbage. My mother said that she has lived most of her life and has never eaten such delicious pickled cabbage."

"It's just pickled cabbage, it's pretty much the same."

What other creative ways can you make with pickled cabbage?

"No, no, you'll see when you try it. My niece can eat two bowls of rice with just a single pickled cabbage leaf mixed with it," Xiaoqi said, exaggerating a bit.

As the crowd moved forward, they saw a row of criminals kneeling on the platform ahead, their hands bound behind their backs, with signs sticking out of their sleeves that read: "Robber Yu Sheng; Murderer Shu Yunguang..."

Qiaoqiao was somewhat dazed. She seemed to see her grandfather kneeling with his head down, letting the rebels punch and kick him.

"Yang Qiao, are you scared? You're shaking."

Xiaoqi looked at Qiaoqiao, whose face was deathly pale and was covered in sweat despite the cold weather.

"Xiaoqi, I feel so bad, I don't want to watch anymore." Qiaoqiao's voice had changed.

"Then, let's stop looking and go back."

"No, you guys keep watching, you still need to write your reviews."

"It doesn't matter whether we write it or not, let's go back."

Qiaoqiao didn't want to look any longer and was about to back away when Yao Xing said, "Look, the corrupt official Li Zhihao will also be executed today. It's good that this kind of social parasite is killed."

Qiaoqiao stopped in her tracks. Yes, why should I be afraid? Grandpa was a victim of history, while the person kneeling in the hall today is the executioner of history.

My father-in-law said that Li Zhihao was neither talented nor virtuous, and that he only rose to the position of fertilizer factory director by virtue of his proletarian status and active participation in the rebellion. He was arrogant and treated the fertilizer factory as his own private property, embezzling 180,000 yuan.

Such a person deserves to die. What do I have to fear? In a sense, I am watching our Yang family's enemy be brought to justice.

Qiaoqiao let go of Xiaoqi's hand: "Xiaoqi, I'm much better. I'm not going back. I want to watch these criminals be sent to the execution ground."

Are you really alright?

"fine."

People around me were whispering: "Look, the fertilizer factory director, I heard his house is full of money, even his shoes are full of money."

"Isn't there money under the carpet? How can you walk if there's money in your shoes?"

"Oh, I have someone at the police station, that's what he said."

"Does starting a fire also cost money?"

"Absolutely, what a terrible thing to do."

The rumors became increasingly outrageous as they spread.

Qiaoqiao tried her best to overcome her fear and listened carefully to the announcements of each criminal's crimes on the radio.

The robber stole 75 yuan in cash from a female worker who had withdrawn it from a bank. His actions were heinous, and he was sentenced to death and executed immediately.

Seventy-five yuan, and you lost your life. What a terrible thing to do.

"Qiaoqiao, that murderer saw his wife cheating on him with another man, and in a fit of rage, he killed the adulterer," Xiaoqi whispered in Qiaoqiao's ear.

The broadcast announced again that Li Zhihao was exploiting the price difference to undermine socialism.

The people below the venue were in an uproar. No wonder they couldn't buy fertilizer in the countryside; he had monopolized it all!

Do you treat the country's factories like your own home?

Does the attainment of enlightenment by a person turn the workers into slaves of his household?

Someone started shouting in the meeting hall, "Down with Li Zhihao! Down with the scum! Down with the parasites! Kill his whole family!"

The indignant crowd joined in the shouting, and Qiaoqiao was inexplicably terrified.

Compared to other death row inmates, Li Zhihao deserves to die a hundred times over.

Some people threw stones at Li Zhihao, some threw rotten vegetable leaves, and some even threw urine at him.

No one threw eggs; eggs are too precious.

The public trial lasted for two hours. The criminals were put on trucks, paraded throughout the city, and then taken to the outskirts to be executed.

Qiaoqiao didn't have the courage to watch the criminals being executed, so she and Xiaoqi went back to Yaoxing's house to cook.

Gu Tong'an and Yao Xing rode their old-fashioned bicycles and followed the trucks transporting the criminals to watch the spectacle.

Back at the rented house, which is now registered under Yao Xing's name.

Qiaoqiao lay down on the kang (heated brick bed) and relaxed completely.

"Yang Qiao, don't you like watching public trials?"

Xiaoqi, familiar with the place, poured a cup of tea and handed it to Qiaoqiao.

"Xiao Qi, do you know what my family's class of origin is?"

"Your ingredients? Are they bad?"

"Yes, my grandfather was a private tutor who accepted tuition fees from his students and was classified as a rich peasant."

"Teachers also need to eat, so how come they're considered rich peasants?" Xiao Qi said indignantly.

"Where is there any reason to reason with him? Every few days, someone would take Grandpa away and make him kneel on the platform, letting people beat and scold him. Today, when I saw those criminals, I thought of Grandpa. Those days were the nightmare of my life." Qiaoqiao lowered her head sadly.

Those who haven't experienced it can't truly understand.

"Yang Qiao, your grandfather is different from today's criminals. Like many respectable and lovable people, your grandfather was deliberately framed by bad people. The country corrected the mistake, and your grandfather was exonerated. We should forget the past and face the future positively."

"Xiao Qi, you make it sound so easy. How can you forget? If it were your closest person kneeling on the stage, being humiliated, could you forget?" Qiao Qiao laughed self-deprecatingly.

"Yang Qiao, my family has a good class background, three generations of poor peasants. Because we were so poor, we were also humiliated. I believe that no matter what situation we are in, we can only forget the past and strive to look forward."

"No matter what the circumstances, we can only look forward. Xiaoqi, you're absolutely right. Dwelling on the past will only drain our energy."

"We are ordinary people living in this era, and we are not in control of our own destiny. We are college students, and we must learn from history. We must stand tall and ensure that the mistakes of this era never happen again."

"Hey, Xiaoqi, I think you shouldn't study history, you should study philosophy."

"You think I don't want to? Too bad I don't have enough points."

"We must stand tall so that the mistakes of history will never be repeated. Xiaoqi, you're absolutely right. We must become people who change the times."

"Yang Qiao, your father-in-law was a man who changed the times."

"Really?"

"It's true, if he hadn't done his best to promote it, our village wouldn't have been able to distribute land to individual households."

"Xiaoqi, the land allocation to individual households is a national policy."

"Where are the national documents? There aren't any documents yet, and your father-in-law dared to take the first step. He was a hero of the times."

"That's right. Last year, the people of Tonggang County were still starving, but this year every household is eating white flour steamed buns."

"My family will be able to eat white flour steamed buns next year too. We want to become like your father-in-law."