novelraw Chapter 27. He single-handedly turned the entire Qing Shi County into a chaotic mess.
Chapter 27. He single-handedly turned the entire Qing Shi County into a chaotic mess.
The reason for this is that a new director of the G committee has arrived in the county—Qian Wenyi.
Director Qian sent people to take turns stationing themselves at various brigades to supervise, but those people went too far, liking to find fault with people and using these methods to make money.
Those who were sent down to the countryside were in big trouble from then on. They were often criticized for not doing enough work, for not admitting their mistakes well enough, and for being accused of being "bad elements hidden among the people"!
Some villagers spoke a few words to them, and the stationed personnel wrote it down in a notebook, searched their homes, and accused the cowshed staff of trying to corrupt and win over the revolutionary masses...
"Is the situation that bad? With Director Qian causing so much trouble, isn't the county committee doing anything about it?" Tong Yuheng's heart sank. Had their family escaped one danger only to fall into another?
"Why should we care? The county head has been reported for his capitalist hedonistic ideas and is now under investigation after being suspended from his duties!"
"We used to deliver things to the families of your Uncle Zhang's comrades every month or two, but ever since that Director Qian came, we haven't dared to go for almost two months!"
"Auntie, you mustn't get caught doing anything wrong. Protect yourselves first. Don't do anything like passing messages for others lately. I really didn't expect things to turn out like this here. Uncle Zhang must have gone to a lot of trouble for our family, right?"
"You mean the matter of your family being assigned to the Chen family's large group? Those people seem to be principled on the surface, but in reality, they're greedy for money. They'll agree as soon as they get a benefit."
"But if you really come, and they keep targeting you, trying to take advantage of you all the time, that won't do either."
"We'll be careful. Auntie, how are Grandpa and the others?"
"I heard your aunt is sick. I asked my sister's youngest son to send some anti-inflammatory medicine over a few days ago, but I don't know if it's the right medicine for her."
Miao Sanfeng's second sister, Miao Yafeng, married into Chenjiatun, and they also secretly delivered things to the Tong family.
Upon hearing this news, Tong Yuheng couldn't wait to go to Chenjia Brigade to check on his maternal grandfather's family. With these thoughts swirling in his mind, he ate dinner, declined Miao Sanfeng's offer to stay, left the gifts he had brought for them, and returned alone to the town's guesthouse.
She carefully recalled the contents of the original book, remembering a few words related to Director Qian:
This man is a henchman of a certain force, who uses despicable methods to persecute those who have been sent to the countryside and amass wealth like crazy! People call him "Money Fiend" behind his back. He single-handedly turned the entire Qingshi County into a mess!
In the original book, it was he who ordered his grandfather to be beaten during a struggle session, causing his fatal injuries. His aunt and cousin also died tragically, and he was responsible for their deaths as well.
Why is he targeting my maternal grandfather's family? Is there any other reason or purpose behind this? Did the Fan family cause trouble?
Lying on the hard bed in the small guesthouse in town, Tong Yuheng couldn't calm down no matter what.
Upon entering the space, she found that some vegetables and grains had begun to ripen over the past few days, which she harvested and placed in another room.
The "Guide to the Mysterious Jade Space" states that the room in the farmhouse with cabinets and shelves is a storage room for preserving food.
The harvested goods can be stored here for years without spoiling. Goods brought in from outside can also be stored here; she keeps the food she takes with her when she goes out.
I'll go visit Grandpa and the others tonight and bring them some things...
Tong Yuheng had already found out the way to Chenjiatun during the day. As for where the cowshed was, he could find it slowly, since the village wasn't very big anyway.
Chenjiatun is about five or six kilometers away from the town, and a narrow rural road leads there without any side roads.
The town's guesthouse was a small courtyard house. She climbed out of the back window and headed straight for Chenjiatun.
Although the villages have now been transformed into production brigades, the villagers still prefer to call them by their original names.
Tong Yuheng arrived at the destination in just over twenty minutes, covering a distance of less than six kilometers.
Under the moonlight, the dozens of houses with some snow still on their rooftops looked particularly peaceful and serene.
The village had long been electrified, and a dim, low-wattage light shone in the courtyard of the brigade headquarters. The walls of every house were very low, made of mud bricks, reaching only to an adult's chest.
Each family has a front and back yard where they can grow vegetables. Now, because of the cold weather, the vegetables have all been harvested, leaving only bare rows of frozen ground.
In most households, the woodshed is in the front yard and the outhouse is in the back yard. To get from the front yard to the back yard, you have to go straight through the passageway in the main room.
Tong Yuheng wandered around outside the small village, looking for houses that might be "cowsheds". Sure enough, he found several low and dilapidated houses on the east side of the village.
This is a fairly large courtyard. The front yard is very spacious, with three large main rooms and several smaller side rooms on the left and right. All the houses are shorter than those of ordinary villagers. The cowshed is located in the middle of the courtyard.
The cows were in the main house. Tong Yuheng peeked inside and saw that the cowshed was very clean, with straw laid out on half of the floor to prevent the cows from getting cold while lying down.
The Chen family brigade had two oxen, which were important for labor during the spring plowing season. The brigade leader valued them highly, not allowing them to do heavy work even when pulling carts, and treated the oxen better than his own son.
Half of the yard is enclosed by logs, which is a place for the cows to roam.
Tong Yuheng heard someone coughing in the left wing room and quickly hid.
She threw a small stone at the window, and soon an old man with a hunched back came out of the house. It was her maternal grandfather, Tong Anfu!
He cautiously looked around, and finding no one, he went into the cowshed to check on the two cows. Seeing that everything was normal, he breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to go back to the house.
At this moment, Tong Yuheng had already entered his grandfather's residence through the half-open door. A boy of about ten years old was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) fast asleep.
He was his cousin, Tong Yucheng, who had gone to the countryside with his parents and grandfather. The once fair-skinned and chubby boy was now sallow and thin, lying on the bed like a narrow strip, which made Tong Yuheng feel very sorry for him.
This cousin is less than half a year older than Yuxuan and is his uncle's only son. His aunt was his uncle's junior in college; they started dating while in university and got married after she graduated.
Back then, my uncle took the initiative to go to work in my aunt's city so that he could work with her in the future. He waited for her for two whole years before finally winning her heart.
The couple visits Yanshi two or three times a year. The two places are only a little over 100 kilometers apart, and it takes three hours by train. The journey involves a whole day of travel, so the family doesn't get to spend much time together.
My grandfather was reported for having a high social class background, being classified as one of the "Five Black Categories," and this was done by the Fan family. My grandfather's house was searched several times, but no contraband items were found.
He had already been transferred to work at the hospital, and the joint-venture Chinese medicine shop had closed down. He had made many friends over the years of practicing medicine, and with the help of others, he hadn't suffered too much.
Because his family background was something he couldn't change, he was eventually sent to the countryside, and Tong Linsheng only had time to ask a friend to find him a relatively comfortable place.