“We must overthrow □□…”
“Eradicate the old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits that poison the people…”
At the very front, the brigade captain’s voice drifted through the brigade headquarters office. Looking at the dense crowd of people, Jian Lu didn’t take in a single word the captain said.
She felt a gaze coming at her from time to time from the front left. It was Hong Qiang’s.
Before long, the gaze disappeared. Out of the corner of her eye, Jian Lu caught sight of Hong Qiang cat-walking away. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.
“Lulu, Lulu.” Jian Xin patted her sister’s arm, finally snapping her back to her senses. “What’s wrong with you? What are you thinking about so intently?”
“Huh? Nothing.” Jian Lu glanced at her third sister, always feeling like something had flashed through her mind, but she couldn’t recall it. She’d only read that novel once, skimming through it, and couldn’t remember many details.
“Did you hear what the captain said? In five days we’re going up the mountain to hunt. When the time comes, our brigade will split the spoils—we’ll finally get to satisfy our cravings.”
“Hunting?” Jian Lu perked up with interest. “What can they hunt? Can we go?”
“We can’t go. They only pick the brigade’s young and able-bodied men. As for what they hunt—there’s plenty. Roe deer, wild boar, wild rabbits…” Jian Lu hadn’t been very social before, so Jian Xin didn’t find her current curiosity suspicious, only assuming her sister had grown up.
“We can’t go? Can’t we even catch a wild rabbit?”
“Of course not.” Jian Xin felt her sister still hadn’t woken up from sleep. “The captain just emphasized it—we can’t take collective property for ourselves. Everything in the commune belongs to the collective. Tables, chairs, benches—or wild rabbits and medicinal herbs on the mountain…”
Collective? Jian Lu’s eyes instantly lit up. She finally remembered what Hong Qiang had slipped out to do!
The book had mentioned that this person often secretly took scrap wood from the commune to sell, building up some savings that way. Later, his courage grew, and he even stole from the commune’s finance office—a full two hundred yuan. When this incident came to light, the Xingmin Production Brigade nearly didn’t have money to buy fertilizer, affecting the next year’s harvest.
She had a way to deal with Hong Qiang now!
Five days later, the winter hunt of Red Star Commune’s Xingmin Production Brigade began amid all the commune members’ anticipation.
Red Star Commune had been established over a decade ago and governed 15 production brigades. Xingmin Production Brigade was the best located among them—nestled by mountains and water, especially surrounded by mountains on three sides. The mountain forests were dense, and all kinds of animals were plentiful within.
During the famine years a few years back, everyone had organized trips into the mountains to hunt and fill their bellies, barely managing to pull through.
However, since the commune was established, private hunting was no longer allowed. Now it was all about collectivization—everything belonged to the public.
Jian Lu had come early in the morning with Jian Xin to watch the excitement. In the twenty-first century, where would she ever have seen such a mountain hunting scene?
At the foot of the mountain, ten of the brigade’s best hunters, selected for the task, were holding their tools and preparing to set out. A crowd of commune members whispered among themselves, their eyes shining, as if they could already see the scene of the hunters carrying back roe deer and wild boar.
Jian Lu stood on her tiptoes looking in and spotted a few familiar faces among the ten.
Hong Qiang, and the original book’s male protagonist—the educated youth Fang Yuanliang.
Withdrawing her gaze, the young girl’s peach-blossom eyes shifted, and she quickly looked elsewhere. Since she’d transmigrated here, she naturally had to avoid these two—one was the female protagonist’s man, and the other was the stubborn male supporting character. Both had nothing to do with her!
A group of young, able-bodied men entered the mountain. The other commune members watched from afar, cheering them on. As Jian Xin watched, she spotted the person she was about to marry and went off to talk with him.
“Comrade Jian Lu.” Not far away, a crisp voice sounded, like a babbling brook flowing past.
Jian Lu was a voice person—naturally delighted by pleasant sounds. She looked to her left with a smile and happened to see a little white flower—the original book’s female protagonist, Dong Danqin.
As the original book’s female protagonist, Dong Danqin was very gentle and kind, with a delicate, lovely appearance. When she smiled, it was like a gentle breeze brushing your face. Her voice was sweet and clear, and even her watery eyes seemed capable of speaking.
“Comrade Dong, is something the matter?” Meeting the original book’s female protagonist so suddenly, Jian Lu maintained a degree of caution. Unless necessary, she still didn’t want to get involved with the book’s male and female protagonists.
Dong Danqin spoke with a smile. “The captain asked us to organize a literacy class. You and Comrade Jian Xin can also come participate.”
Literacy class???
Jian Lu, who had originally graduated from a 211 university, felt insulted: “…”
Who are you calling illiterate?!
No, wait—she suddenly remembered. The original host really was illiterate!
The Jian family didn’t value education. Even if they did, they’d send the boys to school. Jian Hualin’s fourth brother’s three sons had all attended elementary school. As for the Jian family’s girls, none of them had ever been to school.
In the past two years, the commune had taken in quite a few educated youths. These city-bred youths were delicate and physically weak—naturally no match for farmers when it came to field work—yet they still got a share of the commune’s grain. Many commune members had complaints.
Since they were taking grain anyway, the commune cadres put their heads together. They couldn’t just give it away for nothing. Might as well put the educated youths to use—teach the country folk to read.
These educated youths from the city had all studied quite a bit, basically with a middle school education, and some had even attended high school. They were more than capable of teaching a bunch of illiterates who barely knew a few characters.
Dong Danqin, as the backbone of the educated youths, was quite trusted, and thus became the head of Xingmin Production Brigade’s literacy class.
Jian Xin, who’d returned after talking with her fiancé for a while, heard about this and nodded repeatedly. She smiled at Dong Danqin. “Sure, Comrade Dong. We’ll definitely come. Thank you!”
With that, seeing the complex, ever-changing expression on her fourth sister’s face, she tugged at her sleeve. “This is a great thing! We should learn a few more characters.”
Jian Lu’s heart was tired: “…”
She was at least a bachelor’s degree holder, alright!
Three days later, Jian Lu attended the literacy class run by the educated youths along with the other members of Xingmin Production Brigade.
She, a top-performing bachelor’s degree graduate, began learning pinyin.
Dong Danqin wrote and drew on the blackboard, teaching everyone pronunciation, teaching them to write, and along the way introducing some simple characters.
The focus was mainly on things related to production work—like wheat, corn, sweet potatoes, and the like. Everyone’s capacity to absorb was limited, so naturally the lessons centered on things they encountered in daily life.
“Lulu, do you remember how to read this character?” Jian Xin studied quite earnestly—she just felt Comrade Dong taught a bit fast.
Jian Lu glanced at the character “薯” (potato) on the blackboard. She was just about to speak when she caught herself. She was currently a illiterate who hadn’t attended a single day of school—she had to maintain her persona and not let it collapse.
“I don’t remember.” She shook her head, a hint of confusion mixed into her phoenix eyes, as if she truly hadn’t retained it.
“I forgot too.” Jian Xin felt a bit disheartened. She’d worked hard, but she had at least remembered some of the simple ones.
She tested her sister again. Jian Lu couldn’t gauge what a proper learning pace should look like, so she shook her head again.
Less than two days later, word had spread through the brigade: the Jian family’s fourth girl was pretty, alright—but a bit slow in the head.
Jian Lu, who had accidentally taken on the “beautiful but dumb” persona: “…?”
It’s not that I don’t want to scare you all!
Just as the literacy class was in full swing, the brigade’s hunting party returned.
The commune members swarmed to surround them. Jian Lu and her third sister squeezed into the second ring. Fortunately, both were tall and could see what was happening inside.
The young men had carried back a wild boar, a wild roe deer, three wild rabbits, and two wild pheasants—a rather bountiful haul.
“Captain, when are we slaughtering the pig? We can’t wait!”
“Divide the meat, divide the meat!”
Everyone had gone a month, or even several months, without touching meat. Seeing this meat now, how could they not crave it?
Brigade Captain Wei Xingde held his pipe between his teeth, looking at the game with satisfaction. He waved his hand grandly. “We’ll slaughter this afternoon! Every family gets a share of meat!”
Meat to eat?
Jian Lu gripped her third sister’s hand excitedly. Both their eyes shone—they were so hungry for it!
But she still had something important to do right now.
Everyone crowded around the pig-slaughtering scene—a sea of people. Nearly every household in the production brigade had come out. Hong Qiang, as one of the hunting participants, had earned quite a few praises. Some even wanted to introduce him to a wife.
But he glanced at Jian Hualin and only politely declined the village aunties. What other girl could compare to Jian Lu?
Jian Hualin was satisfied too. His future live-in son-in-law was strong and sturdy, a skilled hunter—someone who could hold up the household.
They were just waiting for the third girl to marry before preparing the fourth girl’s wedding.
The pig-slaughtering and meat-distribution scene was lively. Hong Qiang scanned the brigade cadres in the open threshing ground—they were all there. Taking advantage of everyone’s attention being on the pig, he cat-walked away and disappeared down the road to the brigade headquarters.
Almost no one noticed his departure—except Jian Lu.
Seeing this person actually leave, Jian Lu knew the opportunity had come. She immediately headed toward the brigade captain, who was standing at the outer edge of the crowd, puffing on his pipe as he watched everyone divide the pork.
“Brigade Captain.”
Brigade Captain Wei Xingde was forty-three this year, three years younger than Jian Hualin, but far more easygoing. Most of the time he wore a smiling face. Seeing the Jian family’s formerly quiet fourth girl approach, he nodded at her.
“Lulu, has your family gotten pork yet? Your dad and mom are probably watching closely.”
“Still in line.” For this matter, Zhang Cuixia was the most eager—she was already standing there with a basin, waiting.
Jian Lu smiled innocently and stated her purpose. “Brigade Captain, could you write us three letters of introduction right now? My third sister is getting married soon. My mother, my third sister, and I are planning to go to the county town’s supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things for the wedding.”
This was a good thing!
Wei Xingde swung his pipe behind him and beckoned Jian Lu to follow. “Your family has so many happy occasions. Come, come—we can’t delay.”
These days, going from the countryside to the city required a letter of introduction. Without one, you couldn’t enter the city. If you sneaked in and were caught, you’d be taken to the vagrant shelter. Population movement was controlled very strictly.
Since everyone was at the open threshing ground watching the pig slaughter and meat distribution, the brigade headquarters was quiet and empty at the moment—which was precisely why Wei Xingde had locked the door when he left…
“The man your third sister is marrying is my distant cousin’s son. After this, we’ll be sort of relatives by marriage. Remember to bring your coupons when you go to the county town to buy things. Be sure to bring the cloth coupons you came to borrow the other day—otherwise, even with money, you can’t buy cloth.” Wei Xingde assumed Jian Lu, who kept to herself, didn’t quite understand outside policies, so he carefully reminded her of a few things.
Jian Lu nodded obediently and agreed to each point.
The two walked to the brigade headquarters. Wei Xingde pulled out a string of keys covered in copper rust from his pants pocket, producing a jingling sound. He turned to Jian Lu and said, “There’s no one at the brigade headquarters right now—everyone’s gone to watch the excitement. I’ll hurry and write your letters of introduction so you don’t miss the meat distribution…”
Wei Xingde was just about to insert the key into the lock when he suddenly sensed something was off. Wait—why was the door ajar!
He thought to himself that something was wrong. He pushed the door open forcefully. The wooden door slammed heavily against the wall with a loud bang. Inside, Hong Qiang—who had just stolen a handful of money from the brigade headquarters—turned around and came face to face with Wei Xingde!
A wild boar weighed two hundred jin. Each family got three or four jin of pork. The pork was springy and smooth, its whole body giving off a gamy smell—but in the eyes of commune members who hadn’t eaten meat in so long, it was the best-smelling thing in the world.
The Jian family received three jin of front leg meat, evenly mixed fat and lean. Zhang Cuixia had originally wanted to grab fatty meat but didn’t manage it. “Forget it. This piece has about a jin and a half of fat at least. Better than Old Mrs. Wang—she got almost all lean meat. Tsk tsk.”
Old Mrs. Wang from the brigade had come late. She was fifty-one this year, quite spirited, with a round face that looked easygoing. She wasn’t upset about not getting fatty meat. Now only the lean meat everyone had picked over remained. Lean meat had little oil—naturally unpopular.
She didn’t mind. Meat was meat either way. She planned to cure it into bacon and send it to her son stationed thousands of li away. Her son had good teeth—lean or fatty, he’d eat it all the same. She carried her basin home.
“Jian Hualin, your family is about to marry off the third one. When are you planning to find a husband for the fourth?” After the meat was distributed, Old Mrs. Liu asked about the Jian family’s big matter.
Jian Lu’s good looks were obvious to all. Quite a few people did want to marry her. But a while back, word had gotten around that Jian Hualin was privately asking about finding a live-in son-in-law—and that made people hesitate.
“That’s right. Has she been promised to someone? If not, let her be my daughter-in-law.” Old Mrs. Wu spoke up with a bright laugh.
Everyone joked and teased the Jian family. Some had already privately heard the drunken Hong Qiang mention wanting to be the Jian family’s live-in son-in-law. The crowd was half-believing, half-doubting, and planned to ask Jian Hualin for clarification.
Jian Hualin figured the matter with Hong Qiang was more or less settled and was ready to give the commune members a hint. After all, he’d never had a son. Now that he’d finally gotten a live-in son-in-law, he really wanted to show off.
“Our Lulu has actually already…”
“Bad news, bad news!” In the distance, the brigade headquarters’ scorekeeper came running over shouting, cutting off Jian Hualin’s words.
“What’s wrong?” Old Mrs. Liu thought the young man was just being alarmist. “What’s the matter that’s got you so worked up?”
The scorekeeper swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva, then said, “Hong Qiang stole the money the brigade set aside to buy phosphate fertilizer this spring! The brigade captain caught him red-handed. He’s run into the mountains now! The captain wants us to organize people to go into the mountains and catch him!”
Everyone: “???”
Jian Hualin’s words, lodged in his throat, were forcefully swallowed back down. His live-in son-in-law had become a thief who stole collective property?