The brigade leader's face was filled with anger: "You're good for nothing but slacking off! If you cause trouble again, you'll lose work points!"
He then glared at Song Wei: "And you, stop causing me trouble."
Song Wei didn't argue with the brigade leader and obediently nodded: "Yes, Uncle Brigade Leader."
The old woman didn't dare to cause any more trouble, because if she continued, she might not only lose everything but also have her work points deducted.
So she could only glare at Song Wei resentfully, muttering curses.
Song Wei was too lazy to pay attention to her now, her hands moving quickly as she threshed the corn.
The older women who had watched the whole scene looked at Song Wei differently.
This educated youth Song was really something; she could make the old woman suffer a loss without gaining any advantage—they couldn't do that.
Knowing that the old woman was cursing because she wasn't happy about not getting any benefit, no one paid her any attention.
A group of old women, busy with their work, couldn't sit still; they had to chat about what was happening in the village.
"The Lin family is really awful. Yesterday, Heidan brought back such a bundle of firewood, and so late, that whole family didn't leave him any food. The five-year-old was ruined like a three-year-old,"
Granny Wang said, her tone full of disdain for the Lin family.
"That Lin family is truly wicked. This is their grandson! How could they do such a thing?"
Hearing Heidan and Granny Wang's later words, Song Wei was pretty sure she was referring to the little boy from yesterday.
She feigned curiosity and asked, "Is the Lin family from our village? I think I've seen Heidan before; there's no boy in the village thinner than him."
"Of course! Song, you're new here, you don't know, the Lin family is ruthless..."
Song Wei was very supportive, and Granny Wang and the others were happy to tell her about the village gossip.
Old Zao Village has three major surnames: Jiang, Lin, and Wang.
Everyone else had fled here during the famine and settled down. After the People's Commune was established, several surrounding villages merged into Ping'an Brigade, resulting in a variety of surnames. Over the years, there's been no longer any xenophobia.
Heidan is Lin Tieniu's grandson. Lin Tieniu and Lin Zhoushi had four sons and one daughter. Their third son had a difficult birth, and Lin Tieniu almost died after being attacked by a wild boar in the mountains.
So, from birth, Lin Laosan's mother felt that the child would bring misfortune to his parents. She even secretly consulted the village shaman, who gave him a reading, which was something like a cursed star, nothing good.
When she talked about this, Aunt Wang lowered her voice considerably, because you can't call it feudal superstition anymore.
"Lin Laosan grew up with great difficulty under the blatant dislike of the Lin family elders. The Lin family treated him like a workhorse, not only making him work but also not feeding him properly."
"Later, all the brothers in the Lin family got married, and it was as if the family had forgotten about Lin Laosan. In the end, Lin Laosan himself met Heidan's mother and brought her back to the Lin family with two bags of coarse rice."
Aunt Xiu added from the side, "Heidan's mother's family wasn't any better. They were a family that favored sons over daughters and didn't treat the girls in their family like human beings. That year, the harvest was bad, so Lin Laosan brought her back with two bags of coarse rice."
"Even so, when the Lin family elders found out, they almost beat Lin Laosan to death, saying that he had misappropriated their grain, which Lin Laosan had clearly earned himself."
Aunt Wang said, "That couple were truly unfortunate."
"Both of them are hardworking people, but unfortunately the Lin family elders don't think much of them. Old Mrs. Zhou is even more tormenting Lin Laosan's wife all day long, making her wash clothes in the river in the dead of winter when she is pregnant."
Later, when Lin Laosan and his wife's eldest child was still in her womb, Lin's sister-in-law aborted it, which completely enraged and disheartened Lin Laosan. He went to the brigade leader and the Lin family elders, arguing and demanding a division of the family property, threatening to kill himself at the Lin family's gate if they didn't comply.
Perhaps frightened by Lin Laosan's ruthlessness, they eventually agreed to the division. The Lin family was ruthless, leaving them with nothing, not even a broken bowl.
The older women clearly looked down on the Lin family.
"However, that couple was hardworking. The brigade leader arranged for them to live in a dilapidated mud-brick house, and their lives gradually improved. The house was tidied up, and they received a considerable amount of work points each year.
On the other hand, the Lin family, having lost Lin Laosan, their work points were extremely low in the first year; they almost didn't receive any grain. That family was just lazy." "
Unfortunately, when Lin Laosan's wife was pregnant with Heidan, the Lin family's commotion made her health poor, requiring good medicine. Lin Laosan fell off a cliff and died while searching for medicine in the mountains.
His wife, upon hearing the news, was so shocked that she gave birth prematurely. Heidan died just two days after birth, leaving the family with only a half-grown boy and a newborn.
Even then, the Lin family wanted to seize Lin Laosan's house. Lin Zhen, that kid, gritted his teeth and took his newborn brother to ask his great-grandfather for help, then joined the army, promising to send money back every month to support his brother. Over the years, he only returned once, when Heidan was a little over a year old, staying for only three days before leaving again. Heidan was so young then, he probably doesn't remember what his brother looks like at all.
Unfortunately, the commotion outside was too intense back then. The Lin family, in their arguments, eventually took the then two-year-old Heidan back, using this to stop Lin Zhen from sending back child support. However, that money never actually reached Heidan." "
It's obvious the money was embezzled."
Song Wei was stunned: "They kidnapped him and then didn't take good care of him? Have they no shame?"
Aunt Wang sneered: "What shame do they have? Just wait, that kid Lin Zhen is no simpleton. When he comes back and finds out his brother has been raised like that, he'll definitely come after the Lin family."
After all, back then, when Lin Zhen's mother was pregnant with Heidan, the Lin family made trouble and almost caused her miscarriage. That kid dared to go to the Lin family with a kitchen knife and cause trouble.
After hearing the Lin family's story, Song Wei felt her eyes had been opened, and at the same time, she finished her work.
She found the scorekeeper, recorded her work points, patted her butt, and left.
During this time, Granny Niu was so jealous that she directly called her by name and cursed her.
Song Wei: "Aunt Niu, you're not fast enough. Are you slacking off again?" "
Her voice was incredibly loud, and the squad leader, hearing the commotion, quickly came over.
Song Wei continued, 'Don't just bully me for being lazy and not working! Bullying me is a small matter, but if it delays the work and the team can't pay the grain tax, that'll be a big problem.
You should learn from Aunt Wang and Aunt Xiu; look how much they've done and you've only done so little. Tsk tsk, your awareness is lacking.'
Aunt Wang and Aunt Xiu, who were called out, proudly puffed out their chests.
The squad leader came over and immediately turned pale.
'Old woman, it's you again! Can't you ever work properly? Do you even want your work points?'
Song Wei exclaimed and picked up the corncobs on the ground near Old woman.
'Oh dear, they're not even cleaned yet; there are still so many corn kernels hanging on them, what a waste!'