Lin Dabao and Lin Xiaoya hit it off immediately and excitedly slipped all the way to Hongqi Commune (Red Flag Commune).
This really opened their eyes.
Wow!
The commune compound was far more impressive than the production team. The red brick walls were painted with eye-catching slogans, and people were coming and going. Everyone was neatly dressed and full of energy, their expressions bright. They all carried things in their hands, looking like they had just bought them with ration tickets.
Canned food, milk powder, bolts of fabric—one after another—left the siblings dazzled.
Was this the good life their eldest sister would be able to live in the future?
Seeing that all the adults were busy talking, the two of them crept into the supply and marketing cooperative like little thieves, ducking their heads.
Inside, the goods were plentiful and dazzling. Behind the glass counters were candies, biscuits, and snow cream they rarely got to see. On the shelves hung brightly colored Dacron fabric and thick labor cloth. Their eyes practically went wide.
Lin Xiaoya tugged at Lin Dabao’s sleeve, lowering her voice while staring at a roll of red-checkered Dacron.
“Brother, look at that…”
Lin Dabao swallowed and made up his mind.
Summoning his courage, he swaggered over to the fabric counter, imitating the cocky way the village ruffians strutted about. He knocked on the glass countertop with an affected air of maturity and cleared his throat.
He said to Sister Zhang, the serious-looking sales clerk inside, who was wearing a blue work uniform, “Hey, comrade, take that roll of red-checkered Dacron out for a look.”
Sister Zhang lifted her eyelids and glanced at them. Two half-grown kids in patched old clothes, dirty, yet acting all smug—one look told her they weren’t the type who could afford Dacron.
Whose kids were here making trouble?
This was the supply and marketing cooperative, after all.
She didn’t move and dismissed them in just two sentences. “Do you have cloth coupons? This fabric is in short supply. If you want to look, you have to buy.”
Her attitude stung Lin Dabao. His face flushed with embarrassment, and his voice rose involuntarily.
“How do you know we don’t have coupons? We’re here to prepare my big sister’s dowry!”
Lin Xiaoya hurried to back him up, puffing out her chest.
“That’s right! My sister is the widow of martyr Gu Jianbin! My brother-in-law is military officer Gu Jianfeng! We’re here to buy things—how can you treat us like this?”
Sister Zhang had worked at the cooperative for years and had seen every kind of scene. Hearing this, she frowned, her tone turning even harsher.
Pointing at the glass counter with her finger, she lectured them:
“Little comrades, if you’re buying things, then buy properly. Why drag all this irrelevant stuff into it? We respect martyrs’ families and military officers, but buying things still follows the rules. Tickets and money—that’s what counts. No tickets, no money, then don’t make trouble here.”
She waved her hand, signaling them to leave.
“What do you mean making trouble? Who’s making trouble?!” Seeing that she didn’t believe them and even scolded them, Lin Dabao’s teenage temper flared up instantly. Any trace of guilt was replaced by stubborn arrogance.
“You’re looking down on us, aren’t you? Think we can’t afford it? Let me tell you—my brother-in-law Gu Jianfeng has plenty of money and tickets! My sister Lin Wanxing is a martyr’s family member—the Honor Plaque is about to be hung up! We’re here to buy a few things for her dowry. What right do you have to stop us from even touching them?!”
Seeing her brother getting more and more worked up, Lin Xiaoya threw caution to the wind as well. She loudly imitated the shrewish aunts, hands on her hips as she shouted:
“That’s right! Hurry up and bring out all the good new stuff from your storeroom! Otherwise I’ll have my brother-in-law come and find your leaders! You—you’ll regret it then!”
This was exactly how their parents usually talked. Whatever else, the kids had learned it perfectly.
Their commotion immediately drew the attention of other customers and staff in the cooperative.
People gathered around, pointing and whispering, brows furrowed in shock as discussions erupted.
“Whose kids are these? How can they talk like that?”
“Sounds like the two from the Lin family? Isn’t their sister marrying into the Gu family?”
“Oh my, this is serious—throwing around the names of martyrs’ families and military officers to bully people!”
“So young and already behaving badly. Their thinking is problematic! How do their parents even teach them?”
A middle-aged man who looked like a leader stood there in a worn Zhongshan suit, hands clasped behind his back, frowning.
Beside him, a young married woman lowered her voice and said, “Sigh… Lin Wanxing really has it hard, ending up with siblings like these. They’ve been spoiled rotten by the family—only thinking about taking advantage of others, never considering her situation at all. I even heard her complaining just yesterday, saying she kept teaching them to be frugal, to be content, not to take advantage of people, but they talked back and refused to listen!”
“If they were my in-laws, I’d have slapped them long ago! It’s only because Lin Wanxing has such a good temper.”
Only then did the middle-aged leader’s frown ease slightly.
He knew Gu Jianfeng and had originally been planning to give him a talking-to.
Someone who knew the Lin family saw that the situation was going bad and worried it would blow up beyond control, so she hurriedly slipped out of the supply and marketing cooperative.
She ran all the way to the Lin house to report the news.
Lin Wanxing was resting in the shade when she saw a neighbor come running over, panting heavily.
“Wanxing! Something’s wrong! Your Dabao and Xiaoya are arguing with people at the commune’s supply and marketing cooperative! They’re using the Gu family and your—your not-yet-married status to demand things! Go take a look quickly—if this keeps going, something big will happen!”
When Lin Wanxing heard this, her eyebrow twitched.
Oh, good. Those two idiots really did cause trouble. She thought at most they’d make a fuss at the Gu house—who knew they’d go straight to the cooperative.
The dumber the person, the bolder they were.
But this was exactly the opportunity she’d been waiting for.
She could finally draw a clear line between herself and these two muddle-headed fools, and at the same time further cement her image as someone who understood right and wrong—so no matter what the Lin family did in the future, they wouldn’t be able to pin it on her!
Lin Wanxing immediately stood up, exclaiming “Oh my!” as she anxiously wrung her hands.
“These two kids—why won’t they listen no matter how you teach them?!”
Her face instantly shifted to one of anxiety, shame, and a hint of despair and heartbreak. She thanked the neighbor who brought the message, then hurried toward the commune at a small run.
Once she was farther away, she slowed down, strolling leisurely the rest of the way.
By the time she slowly reached the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative, chaos had already broken out inside.
Lin Dabao was still wailing loudly, making a ruckus, and Lin Xiaoya was also crying and yelling.
Lin Wanxing pushed through the crowd and walked in. Her gaze swept over her siblings’ arrogant faces and the surrounding onlookers filled with disdain. Her thoughts raced—she slipped fully into character.
She walked up to Sister Zhang, the furious sales clerk, and the cooperative director who had rushed over after hearing the news. Her face was livid.
First, she bowed deeply, filled with boundless apology, her voice trembling with anger and choked with sobs.
“Sister Zhang, Director, I’m sorry! I’m truly, deeply sorry! I failed to discipline my younger brother and sister, and I’ve caused you such terrible trouble!”
That single move stunned everyone present—including Lin Dabao and Lin Xiaoya.
Immediately after, Lin Wanxing spun around to face her siblings.
She raised her hand and slapped each of them once!
Both Lin Dabao and Lin Xiaoya were completely stunned by the blows.
Lin Wanxing hadn’t held back at all. The original owner of this body worked the fields every day—her strength was no less than that of those burly women.
Then Lin Wanxing looked as if she were trembling with rage, tears about to spill as she shakily pointed at them.
Her voice was filled with grief and indignation, carrying the heartbreak of being betrayed by one’s closest family:
“Lin Dabao! Lin Xiaoya! You two—are you trying to anger me to death today?!”
She pointed at them, her finger shaking. “How many times have I told you?! Brother Jianbin gave his life for the country! His honor—his reputation—is more important than my own life! That is not something you’re allowed to use to throw your weight around or take advantage of others!”
She took a step forward, staring down at her stunned younger siblings. Every word seemed wrung from blood and tears—righteous, forceful—each sentence striking straight into the hearts of everyone around.
“Jianfeng is in the army, shedding blood and sweat to protect the country! And you—using his name here to run wild! Are you trying to push him straight into a pit of fire?!”
“You keep saying you’re adding to my dowry—this isn’t helping me at all! You’re stuffing my heart full of misery! You’re stabbing knives into my chest! You’re smearing mud all over the faces of the Lin family, the Gu family, and everyone who respects martyrs and honors soldiers!”
“Do you even know what you’re doing?! What you’re doing will keep Brother Jianbin from resting in peace underground! It will make Jianfeng, who’s working so hard in the army, unable to hold his head up! It will make everyone laugh at our Lin family for having no upbringing—and laugh at me, Lin Wanxing, for not even being able to control my own younger brother and sister!”
Lin Wanxing cried so hard she could barely stand, leaning against the counter beside her. That fragile, helpless yet deeply principled appearance instantly won everyone’s sympathy.
In the next instant, she suddenly dashed to the side.
“I might as well smash my head and die!”
“Hey, hey, hey! Don’t—don’t do that, Wanxing girl! Don’t think that way!”
The leader who had been watching with his hands behind his back was startled and quickly grabbed her.
“Oh my, Lin family girl, whatever it is, we can talk it through. Don’t be impulsive, don’t be impulsive.”
“If something happens to you here, how am I supposed to explain it to Jianfeng?”
The leader spoke earnestly, and only then did Lin Wanxing stop, wiping her tears in grief.
Her attitude was simply too heartbreaking. The onlookers snapped out of it—some comforted her, while others turned around and pointed accusingly at the two children:
“Listen! Just listen to what Wanxing girl said! That’s what a sensible person sounds like!”
“What awful kids! Look how angry they made their big sister—if it were me, I’d have beaten them to death already!”
“Exactly! So young and already thinking crooked thoughts! Smearing a martyr’s name—deserve to be beaten! Make them kneel on roof tiles when they get home!”
“Wanxing girl really has it hard—she just lost her fiancé, and now she still has to clean up after siblings like these…”
Lin Dabao and Lin Xiaoya were completely dumbfounded.
Lin Wanxing had never hit them before. How could she show up and immediately slap them—and after getting hit, they were still being scolded by so many people?
As more and more adults crowded around, growing fiercer by the second, cursing them one after another, even saying they should call their parents over to discipline them properly—
This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.
In an instant, fear surged up.
The two of them panicked and burst into loud, wailing cries!
……
While Lin Wanxing was tearfully and painfully lecturing her siblings, back at the Gu family courtyard, Gu Xiuxiu was sitting at her desk, scratching her head over a math problem.
College entrance exam review materials were piled all over the table. The kerosene lamp made her eyes sting, and the heat left her gasping for breath.
Suddenly, voices drifted in from outside the window.
“Have you heard? The two kids from the Lin family caused a scene at the supply and marketing cooperative!”
“Really? Why?”
“Hah! What else could it be—using the Gu family’s martyr status and Jianfeng being an officer to demand scarce goods from the cooperative!”
“Oh heavens… this is really… so embarrassing! I heard Wanxing girl rushed over just now—she was so upset she almost cried herself unconscious! She beat them and even tried to smash her head into the wall.”
The villagers’ chatter came closer, then drifted past outside the Gu family’s courtyard wall.
At first, Gu Xiuxiu didn’t pay much attention. She only thought the Lin family really were a bunch of people who couldn’t be shown in public—serves them right to be humiliated.
But the more she listened, the more her heart skipped a beat.
Using the Gu family’s name? Martyr status? Military officer?
Yesterday’s conversation with Lin Xiaoya suddenly flashed through Gu Xiuxiu’s mind.
What?!
Smash her head?!
Gu Xiuxiu’s face went deathly pale.
A sense of dread made it impossible for her to sit still any longer. She hurriedly dropped her pen and ran toward the commune’s supply and marketing cooperative, following the sound of voices.