The neighbors around the Tong Family had lived there for decades, and some still knew their backgrounds, such as Fan Dayong’s family. His father had once worked as a servant for the Guo Family, and when he spoke of Grandmother Tong’s capabilities back in the day, especially the assets of both the Guo and Tong families, he would drool with envy!
Later, however, the Guo Family fell into decline. Guo Laotaiye was abandoned by his beloved concubine and secondary son, living a miserable life. He went to his ex-wife and eldest son seeking shelter but was driven away by Grandmother Tong.
Later, to protect her son’s reputation, Grandmother Tong rented a small, dilapidated courtyard for Guo Laotaiye to live in. He died within two years.
Grandmother Tong lived until after the founding of the nation, watching her granddaughter and grandson both marry before she peacefully left this world.
Her granddaughter Tong Jiahui’s marriage was also arranged by the old lady. Tong Yuheng’s father, Tong Linsheng, was adopted by Grandmother Tong when he was young and raised in their family for seven or eight years.
Those who knew they had grown up together said that Tong Linsheng was essentially Jiahui’s child groom.
Tong Linsheng was a poor distant relative from Grandmother Tong’s maternal family, five generations removed. During a famine year, both his parents died, leaving him orphaned at the age of nine.
With no one in the clan willing to take him in, they hoped Grandmother Tong would take him, even if he were to become a servant for their family in the future—at least he would have a way to survive.
Seeing how clever and bright he was, the old lady supported him through seven years of schooling. During his studies, Tong Linsheng secretly joined the Party, expressing his desire to join the army and fight the Japanese invaders. Grandmother Tong supported his decision, and he enlisted from then on.
He was gone for six or seven years, returning as an officer in the year the nation was founded. He expressed his wish to marry Tong Jiahui, who was still in university at the time.
The two were not closely related by blood, and Grandmother Tong, having watched Tong Linsheng grow up, valued his poor peasant background even more, so she agreed to the marriage.
After marriage, Tong Linsheng indeed cherished his wife deeply. Combined with their lifelong bond, the couple was deeply affectionate.
After marrying, Tong Jiahui gave birth to seven daughters, all of whom Tong Linsheng adored. He often joked that his family had the Seven Fairies, a blessing others could only dream of.
The Tong Family raised their daughters well—each with rosy lips and fair skin, healthy and lively. The couple spent their entire salaries on the children’s food and necessities, never willing to let them suffer.
Tong Jiahui’s father ran a small private clinic that later became part of a joint venture, earning a decent salary and often subsidizing their family.
During the years of the Great Famine, Tong Linsheng would travel dozens of miles to the mountains outside the city to hunt, ensuring his daughters could still have some meat in their diet.
If anyone said the Tong Family still had money, even Tong Jiahui herself wouldn’t believe it! Two years earlier, her father was accused of hiding wealth at home, but after the Red Guards dug three feet into the ground, they found nothing.
What family assets did the Tong Family have left? Whatever little money remained was mostly used to subsidize their household.
Yet some people were simply malicious. Although her father had taken the Tong surname after her grandmother, her grandmother’s branch of the Tong Family had a high class status. Those who fixated on this point wouldn’t let it go, and Tong Anfu had no choice but to be sent-down.
Tong Linsheng still had some reliable comrades from his army days. He sought their help to arrange for his father-in-law to be sent-down to a relatively lenient rural area instead of being sent to a reform-through-labor farm.
Now, with this group of widows and orphans being targeted by Fan Dayong, it was truly a terrible situation.
Fan Dayong never believed the Tong Family had no money. A starved camel is still bigger than a horse. How could someone as shrewd as Grandmother Tong not leave a backup plan for her own children?
“We know our own family affairs, but others might not believe it! I’m afraid they’ll still target Grandpa and Uncle!” Tong Yuheng was deeply worried about their current situation.
In the original plot, her grandfather Tong Anfu, under Fan Dayong’s instigation, was tormented to death during repeated struggle sessions. Her uncle, unable to bear the persecution and tragic deaths of his wife and children, took his own life.
“What should we do then? Should we write to your father’s comrade-in-arms and ask him to help look after them a bit?”
“Mom, he’s already helped a lot—bringing us things and letters. If discovered, he’d be at risk too! Besides, he has his own family and responsibilities; he can’t watch over them all the time.”
“Then what can we do? When your grandpa was sent-down, he insisted on cutting ties with me, afraid our family would be implicated. I’ve always regretted that…”
“That was the only option at the time. He did it for us, his granddaughters. How about we all go to the countryside? We could join Grandpa and Uncle there, support each other, and avoid being targeted by those monsters and demons!”
“Sister, if we go to the countryside, can we get assigned to Grandpa’s village? And will our younger sisters be able to handle it?” Yuyao asked.
“If it’s possible, it might be for the best. The situation is getting tenser. Even if nothing happens this year, there’s no guarantee about next year. But farm work is tough—I’m worried you won’t be able to bear it.” Tong Jiahui felt her eldest daughter’s idea made sense.
“Mom, some students in my class have recently been sent to the countryside. In our family, once my sister and I graduate, one of us will have to go too…”
Thinking of her classmates whose families had already arranged for them to go to the countryside, Yuyao thought of her own family.
Yuyao and Yuheng were one year and eight months apart in age. Yuheng started school a year late, while Yuyao started a year early, so the sisters ended up in the same class.
At the time, the twin younger sisters, Yuling and Yulong, were too small, and their mother was pregnant with the fifth child, too busy to manage. So Yuheng stayed home an extra year to help look after Yuling and Yulong.
It wasn’t until the fifth child could crawl and the twins could keep her company that Yuheng finally started school.
When Yuheng went to enroll, Yuyao went along. Asked her age, she said seven (counting by the traditional two-year offset), giving her nominal age.
Yuyao was talkative and charming, delighting the teacher. After testing her on a few math problems, which she answered correctly, the teacher simply enrolled them both.
At the time, she was still a few months shy of six years old by modern reckoning, but she wanted to stay with her sister and avoid playing in the mud with the twins!
The sisters were now in their final year of high school and would graduate next semester. One of them could take over their father’s former job, while the other would have to go to the countryside.
The twin younger sisters, Yuling and Yulong, were now in their third year of junior high, fourteen and a half years old, nominally fifteen. If they could graduate early with a junior high certificate, they might barely qualify as educated youth.
The fifth child, Yuhan, born in December 1957, was now twelve and in her first year of junior high. Then there were the sixth, Yuxuan, ten years old, and the seventh, Yuqi, seven. They could only follow their mother to the countryside.
“With our family of eight, it won’t be easy to stay together, will it? Can this even be arranged?” Tong Jiahui was worried.
If they were separated, it would be even more distressing. Her daughters were growing up quickly—such beautiful young girls. How could she rest easy if they weren’t by her side?
“Let’s ask Uncle Gu for help! We’ll trouble him once more!”
Uncle Gu was Dad’s comrade-in-arms. They had fought together against the Japanese invaders, the Kuomintang, and the American devils, and were transferred to civilian work together. However, Uncle Gu went to the Public Security Bureau, while Dad, for Mom’s sake, was assigned to the Steel Plant Security Section.
They were friends who had risked their lives together. Last time, it was Uncle Gu who helped arrange matters for Grandpa’s family. This time, we might have to trouble him again.