Reborn in 1977, I will no longer be my brother's blood bag.

Inside the supply and marketing cooperative's hall, even the onlookers at the entrance fell silent.

There were three items on the counter.

Passbooks, ledgers, registration receipts. Everything was neatly arranged.

Sunlight streamed through the glass and fell directly on the passbook.

Lin Jianguo stood still, his gaze falling on the passbook, then on the account book, and finally settling on the registration receipt.

He neither reached out nor moved forward.

Dozens of eyes in the hall were fixed on him, waiting for his answer.

The Women's Federation director's pen was paused on the paper, the nib hanging there.

"Comrade Lin Jianguo."

"You can answer."

Lin Jianguo's Adam's apple bobbed.

"We've raised you for eighteen years."

at last!

He uttered his first words.

Wang Xiulan immediately took over.

"that is!"

"Without the Lin family, where would you be today?"

"Isn't the food and drink from home?"

"You're not living at home?"

"Now that you've got your wings, you're all grown up."

"They don't even recognize their parents anymore?"

People in the hall began to frown.

Many people in the village had heard this kind of talk before, but today, everyone felt that something was off.

Lin Xiuhe opened the ledger, turned to the last page, and pushed it to the front of the counter.

"I started working in the fields at the age of ten."

"I was twelve when I washed the whole family's clothes."

She took care of Lin Weidong when she was thirteen.

"I started cutting pig feed at the age of fourteen."

"I started earning work points at fifteen."

I fell into the river once when I was sixteen.

"I went to work in the fields the next day as usual."

"Does this count as my family supporting me?"

A collective gasp filled the hall.

Several elderly women looked at each other, because they knew about these things and had even witnessed them firsthand.

Lin Jianguo's expression grew increasingly grim.

"Whose child didn't go through this?"

"Wei Dong too."

"Yeah?"

Lin Xiuhe turned to another page. The corners of the ledger were worn and frayed. It recorded the flow of books sold and bought over the years.

"When Lin Weidong was fourteen years old."

"I do my homework every day after school."

"I'm cutting pig feed."

"When Lin Weidong was fifteen years old."

"Reading books indoors in winter."

I'm washing clothes by the river.

"When Lin Weidong was sixteen years old."

"The whole family saved up money to buy him reference books."

"I'm wearing a cotton-padded coat that's patched upon patched."

The hall grew quieter and quieter.

Behind the counter, Li Hongmei moved the abacus aside and didn't touch it again.

Wang Xiulan wanted to say something more.

But then he noticed that the way people around him were looking at him had changed.

She used to take these things for granted, but when they were laid out one by one and everyone saw them, the feeling changed.

The director of the Women's Federation closed her notebook and turned to look at Lin Jianguo.

"To support a college student."

"That's what you just said."

"Then I'd like to ask."

"Who says only one person can take the college entrance exam?"

Lin Jianguo stood there, his lips moved, but he couldn't find an answer, because there simply wasn't one.

It's only been a short time since the college entrance examination was reinstated. No one has ever encountered anything like this before.

But everyone knows that the national notice clearly states that anyone who meets the requirements can take the exam, and no one stipulates that you can only choose one.

The commune cadres finally spoke.

"Comrade Lin Jianguo."

"There's something wrong with your thinking."

Upon hearing this, many people in the hall changed their expressions; in this era, such words carried considerable weight.

Lin Jianguo's forehead was covered in sweat.

"I did not mean that."

"So what do you mean?"

The commune cadre opened the document and placed a page on the counter.

"Continuously apply to cancel registration."

"Reporting an identity issue."

"Inquire about how to collect the exam admission ticket on behalf of someone else."

"You did all of this."

"What are you planning to do next?"

In the supply and marketing cooperative's hall, no one spoke up for him, because everyone could tell that this wasn't just favoritism, it was preventing him from taking the college entrance examination.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

A young man rushed into the supply and marketing cooperative, his head covered in sweat.

"director!"

"director!"

"The county government called!"

Director Zhao was taken aback. "What call?"

The young man leaned against the counter, panting.

"About the college entrance examination."

"Notification from the county."

"Recently, some people have been maliciously interfering with candidates' registration."

"Each commune is required to compile statistics."

"Serious cases should be dealt with publicly!"

The hall erupted in chaos as everyone's eyes fell on Lin Jianguo once again.

Lin Jianguo stood there, as if he were being publicly put on fire.

Wang Xiulan panicked. She finally realized that the matter was no longer just a family quarrel or parents disciplining their child. It had escalated to the commune level, the county level, and might even result in public criticism.

The Women's Federation director put the notebook away.

"Comrade Lin Jianguo."

"Tomorrow at 2 PM."

"The commune meeting room."

"Formal mediation."

"Your whole family must be present."

A murmur arose in the hall.

Everyone knows that this matter has changed from a family affair to a public one.

Lin Xiuhe put the passbooks, account books, and receipts back into her cloth bag one by one.

Her movements were slow and steady. Before stepping out from behind the counter, she paused and looked at Lin Jianguo.

I'll go tomorrow.

"Some things to say."

"Let's get this straight all out at once."

Outside the supply and marketing cooperative, the wind blew the curtains.

The setting sun bathed the hall in a deep red glow, while over in the commune's meeting room...

A real showdown.

just began.

******

Commune Meeting Room

The next afternoon, the commune courtyard was much livelier than usual.

It wasn't even two o'clock yet, and a lot of people were already standing outside the meeting room. There were production team cadres, women's federation members, and villagers who had come after hearing the news.

This is the first time such a thing has happened since the resumption of the college entrance examination. A father is preventing his daughter from taking the exam and even causes a scene all the way to the commune. Everyone wants to see how it ends.

At the entrance to the conference room, Zhao Xiaomei stood under a tree, holding a book.

She had intended to go in, but turned back at the door. The exercise book in her hand was already curled up from being turned so many times.

The sound of a bicycle bell came from afar. Lin Xiuhe had arrived.

As soon as the car came to a stop, Zhao Xiaomei immediately went over to her: "Sister Xiuhe, were you nervous?"

Lin Xiuhe locked the bicycle: "Why are you nervous?"

Zhao Xiaomei opened her mouth, but then swallowed her words back.

She noticed that from the moment she met Lin Xiuhe until now, she never seemed to panic. Whether it was work, reporting someone, or even a situation like today, she remained the same as always.

"Let's go in," Lin Xiuhe said.

"Um."

The two walked together toward the conference room.

Just as I reached the entrance, another bicycle stopped. Zhou Zhiyuan had arrived. A bulging manila envelope was strapped to the back of the bicycle.

Zhao Xiaomei glanced at it again instinctively: "What's that?"

"Material."

"What materials?"

"We'll need it later."

After saying that, he walked into the conference room first.

Zhao Xiaomei stood there, feeling that someone was going to be unlucky. And the unlucky person wouldn't be Lin Xiuhe.

The long table was already set up in the conference room.

The Women's Federation director sat in the middle, flanked by commune cadres. On the other side, Lin Jianguo and Wang Xiulan had already arrived. Neither of them spoke; the enamel mug on the table steamed, untouched.

Upon seeing Lin Xiuhe enter, Wang Xiulan immediately sat up straight: "You actually came."

Lin Xiuhe pulled out a chair and sat down: "The notice said that I had to be there."

The Women's Federation director nodded: "Now that everyone is here, let's begin."