Nanhu City administered 47 townships in total, and which township didn't have over a dozen or even dozens of villages under its jurisdiction?
On top of that, many villages and towns had been renamed after the founding of the nation, which further increased the difficulty of finding someone. Qian Changjiang, the director of the Shanghu Township People's Commune, furrowed his brows as he glanced at the document in his hand. Lengquan Village—it didn't seem like there was a Lengquan Village under his Shanghu Township. He casually tossed the document onto the table.
He didn't have a good impression of overseas Chinese. A while back, an overseas Chinese had come to the city to search for relatives, and word had it he'd caused quite a stir in the neighboring Dayu Township, turning things into a complete mess.
In his view, anyone who'd managed to flee abroad back then was nothing but a landlord or wealthy tycoon. From the very root, they weren't of the same class. Trying to pry real gold and silver out of their pockets for investment to earn foreign exchange—that was pure wishful thinking. Just look at Dayu Township: after all that fuss, they ended up with nothing but egg on their faces. The man simply took his relatives and left.
Qian Changjiang shook his head, wondering which commune would be unlucky enough this time to host one of these living ancestors.
What Qian Changjiang never expected was that the "unlucky" one would be his own Shanghu Township.
That afternoon, after the commune meeting concluded, Qian Changjiang casually mentioned that another overseas Chinese had returned to the country to search for relatives. Zhou Hong, the commune's women's affairs director, instinctively looked at Qian Changjiang upon hearing this. "Director Qian, are you talking about Lengquan Village? Are you sure it's Lengquan Village? That's in our township—the Beiquan Production Brigade was called Lengquan Village before the founding of the nation."
"What? What did you say? Are you sure?"
In his excitement, Qian Changjiang knocked over the teacup on his desk. How had this landed on his plate? What kind of nonsense was this?
"Director Zhou, are you certain?"
Guo Weihua, the secretary of the Shanghu Township Commune, had a glint in his eyes. With the national policies where they were, if he could actually persuade this returning overseas Chinese to invest in building a factory, his position could climb another rung. He also understood Director Qian's concerns—after all, Dayu Township's cautionary tale was right there for all to see.
But as a Party member, how could one shrink back in the face of difficulty? Just because Dayu Township couldn't accomplish something didn't mean Shanghu Township couldn't either.
"Secretary Guo, Director Qian—my sister-in-law's natal family is from the Beiquan Production Brigade. On the back mountain of the Beiquan Production Brigade, there are multiple natural spring outlets, and the spring water runs cold, never drying up in winter or summer. That's how it got its name—it was called Lengquan Village before the founding of the nation. However, I've never heard of anyone there having overseas connections."
A puzzled look appeared on Zhou Hong's face. If someone had overseas connections, how could they have slipped through the cracks during those turbulent years? That would take some real skill.
Guo Weihua looked at Qian Changjiang. "Director Qian, where are the detailed documents?"
"They're in my office. I'll go fetch them."
Qian Changjiang's expression wasn't good. There was already plenty of work around the commune during the autumn harvest season, and now they'd have to waste manpower and resources hosting a returning overseas Chinese. He'd done plenty of laughing at Dayu Township's misfortune, and now, just a few days later, the boomerang had come flying right back at him.
Still, despite his displeasure, as a Party member he had basic discipline and obedience. Unlike Secretary Guo, he wasn't hoping this overseas Chinese would bring any benefits to Shanghu Township—as long as the man didn't cause trouble, that would be enough.
After Qian Changjiang brought back the documents, Guo Weihua read through them first, then handed them to Zhou Hong. "Director Zhou, take a look."
Zhou Hong took them and furrowed her brows slightly. "There are a few families surnamed Lu in the Beiquan Production Brigade, but I've never heard of anyone named Lu Jinchuan. After all, that name sounds like it would mark someone as having a bad class background. I suspect he might have changed his name. Perhaps we should send someone down to ask around."
Guo Weihua nodded in strong agreement. "This is an opportunity for Shanghu Township. We need to take it seriously and handle it as a special case. Let's have our comrades at the police station make the trip—send someone to the Beiquan Production Brigade right away. Once there's any news, report directly back to the commune."
.
In those days, for the sake of collective honor, as long as nothing as serious as a death occurred in the village, matters were settled privately. So when the villagers suddenly spotted two public security comrades in navy-blue uniforms riding bicycles into the village, the people working in the fields instinctively stopped what they were doing.
"Why are public security comrades here? Could it be that Old Lu's eldest daughter died in town?"
"Oh dear, what a tragedy. She was such a good girl. Li Baoqing is truly despicable."
"Do the police get involved in husband-wife fights?"
"What do you know? Nobody bothers with the usual bickering. But if someone ends up dead, then Li Baoqing might just get himself a 'peanut'."
For the past two days, Li Zhuzi's household had been shrouded in dark clouds. Even Li Yaozu, who was usually the loudest troublemaker, had been behaving himself at mealtimes, not daring to clamor for meat. As for Li Baoqing, he'd long since disappeared somewhere to fool around.
Wang Siniu had been severely beaten by Li Zhuzi and still couldn't get out of bed. From the inner room, she'd let out an occasional "ow, ow" or wail tearfully about being "wronged."
Li Baolan, the eldest daughter of the Li family, had a hint of impatience in her eyes. After changing Wang Siniu's dressing, she sighed and said, "Mother, what do you want me to say? This is a new society now. How can you treat your daughter-in-law like this? Even if you can't stand her, at least Baozhen gave birth to a boy and carried on the Li family line. You should at least show some respect for the Buddha even if not for the monk. That's all water under the bridge. You're a grandmother now, how can you still not let it go? Tell me, what's the point of making things like this now?"
"You ungrateful girl, you actually believe Shi Cuixia's nonsense. How could I do such a thing? I'm being wronged!"
"Keep your voice down. If Father hears you, he'll discipline you again, and I won't be able to stop him. Also, I can only stay two more days at most. There are things to take care of at home."
"I knew I couldn't count on you, you heartless thing."
Before Wang Siniu could say more, Li Baolan turned and walked straight out of the room. Anyway, her mother wouldn't dare wail loudly right now. She hadn't told her mother that these past two days, her father had been spending his days at the brigade headquarters and only coming home at night to sleep.
Just as she reached the yard to feed the chickens, she ran into Li Zhuzi, who was hurrying in with two public security officers. "Father, what's this?"
Li Zhuzi's face was grim. "Nothing. The comrades just have a few questions for your mother."
Wang Siniu was lying on the bed. She turned her head and saw the uniformed public security officers, and her face instantly turned pale. Decades had passed, and there was no evidence anyway. They couldn't possibly accuse her of adultery and shave her head for a public parade, could they?
"Comrades, I'm innocent! It's all Shi Cuixia's nonsense, slandering me. She just hates me for treating her daughter badly."
Li Zhuzi's face grew even darker. "What nonsense are you spouting? Answer whatever the comrades ask you. They're here to learn about the Lu family's situation."
He then turned to the officers beside him with an apologetic smile. "I'm really sorry. Our family used to be in-laws with the Lu family. My son was useless—had a bit too much to drink and raised his hand against his wife. The Lu family cared about their daughter, so the two families went their separate ways."
"Comrades, I want to report something! Lu Changgui is the young master of a landlord family. His parents both went abroad—he has overseas connections!"
Wang Siniu thought Li Zhuzi was trying to take down the Lu family, and her eyes lit up, her whole spirit lifting. She shouldn't have been soft-hearted back then. She should have had the whole family sent down to the farm to shovel manure.
Hearing this, Li Zhuzi's mouth twitched with anger. He must have been blind back then, marrying such a brainless fool.
"Comrades, I apologize. She's illiterate and doesn't know about the country's new policies."
The two public security officers exchanged a glance. They didn't care about the personal grudges between the Li and Lu families. Besides, no matter what, Li Zhuzi was the brigade captain of Beiquan Brigade, so they should give him some face. They waved their hands to indicate it was fine and directly asked Wang Siniu whether she knew what Lu Changgui's former name was.
When she shook her head, they asked how she knew the Lu family had overseas connections.
"Back in the old society, my family was poor. My parents sold me to the Guan family as a servant girl. The third young lady of the Guan family had a secret affair with Lu Changgui. But the third young lady was born to a concubine, and the old master of the Lu family looked down on her. It was a chaotic time then—the Lu family sold off their assets and went abroad. Later, somehow Lu Changgui came back, but the family's money was all in the old master's hands. Lu Changgui only had a few silver dollars on him at the time, so the third young lady naturally wasn't willing to live a hard life with him. Later, the Guan family fled too.
I only found out later that the Lu family's ancestral grave was on the other side of the back mountain. I don't know why Lu Changgui settled in the village. I was momentarily confused and soft-hearted, so I didn't report him. I never even mentioned this to my husband. There's no fault on my part in this, is there?"
"Alright, we've learned what we needed to learn. Thank you for your trouble, Captain Li. We also need to make a trip to the town health clinic. We'll be on our way."
Before leaving, the older of the two officers quietly offered Li Zhuzi a piece of advice—enmity is better resolved than kept, especially since they were once in-laws, practically family.
Li Zhuzi forced a smile as he saw the two officers off, then looked even more dejected.
The Lu family was probably going to rise again. It was just a pity that the Li family didn't have that kind of good fortune.
With things having escalated this far, how could they ever be reconciled?
Lu Chuyu was lying on the bed in the guesthouse, bored out of her mind, playing dead. Suddenly, the phone on the nightstand rang. She rolled over in bed and picked it up.
"Ms. Lu, I'm Zhang Liping, a receptionist at the Nanhu Overseas Chinese Affairs Office. Good news just came from Shanghu Town Commune—your relative has been found. He now goes by the name Lu Changgui. The public security comrades at Shanghu Town Police Station have confirmed it with Comrade Lu himself. Congratulations."
Lu Chuyu feigned excitement. "Comrade Zhang, thank you for your hard work. When would be a convenient time for me to visit my uncle?"
"Would two days from now work? We need some time to prepare as well. Also, reporters from the city newspaper and comrades from the commune's propaganda department would like to tag along and do a story. Would you be willing to cooperate?"
It was just like getting a pillow just as you're feeling sleepy.
This was equivalent to helping her collect Emotion Points, so why would she refuse? Naturally, she agreed readily.
"By the way, Comrade Zhang, I also have a small request. I heard that our city has a transport team. I was wondering if I could borrow two transport trucks. I'm planning to buy some large gifts tomorrow to send to my uncle's family. Of course, I won't use them for free—just name your price for the fee."
What big items did she need transport trucks for? And two of them?
Zhang Liping didn't quite understand, but she didn't refuse either. However, this wasn't something she could decide on her own—she'd need to report it to her superiors. But based on her understanding of the leadership, it probably wouldn't be a problem.