strike

The next morning, the sharp whistle for work sounded as usual.

Liu Xiaoling and the others looked at Lin Xueyin who was still lying on the bed, and looked at each other in confusion.

"Xueyin, it's time to get up. Aren't we going to the back mountain today..." Liu Xiaoling reminded in a low voice.

Lin Xueyin turned over and faced the wall. Her voice was lazy, like someone who had just woken up, but it was unusually clear: "I'm not going."

"What?" Wang Lina raised her voice in shock. "You're not going? That's arranged by the brigade! Your work points will be deducted! If it's serious, there will even be a criticism meeting!"

"Button it if you want." Lin Xueyin pulled the quilt up to cover her head, her voice muffled, "I'm not feeling well and can't get up."

This was clearly an excuse. Although she had trouble sleeping last night, she sounded calm now, not like she was ill at all.

Zhang Zhaodi was anxious: "Xueyin, don't be silly! Zhao Xiaofeng is waiting to find something to hold against you! If you don't go, won't it just be delivered to her door?"

Lin Xueyin under the quilt closed her eyes tightly, her fingers tightly grasping the corner of the quilt.

Of course, she knew the consequences. She didn't care about the deduction of work points; the criticism meeting was nothing more than humiliation. But she also knew that weeding the terraced fields in the back mountains was not only physical torture for her, but also mental humiliation and subjugation.

Zhao Xiaofeng and Zhao Jianguo wanted to use this method to force her to submit, to see her in such a miserable state, and to see her bow down to them.

She refused.

Although she had been spoiled since she was little, she had a stubborn streak bred by her parents' pampering. No one could force her to do something she didn't like. Back home, her parents had to accommodate her wishes to some extent. Now that she was in the countryside, was she really going to be manipulated like that?

Strike! Once the thought took root, it grew like wild weeds. Since her teaching job had been unreasonably ruined, since they had assigned her heavy work that she couldn't handle to harass her, why should she just accept it?

"I said, I won't go." Her voice came out from under the quilt, with a kind of determination that was like a broken jar.

Liu Xiaoling and the others were unable to persuade him, and seeing that time was running out, they had no choice but to go to work with a heavy heart.

Lin Xueyin was alone in the dormitory. She threw back the covers, sat up, and stared out the window at the gradually brightening sky. Her heart wasn't as calm as it appeared. This was a risk, a silent defiance. She knew the storm this would bring, but she would rather face it than endure the hopeless labor and deliberate humiliation.

Sure enough, the news spread before the morning was over.

"Have you heard? That newcomer, Lin Xueyin, was assigned by the brigade to weed, and she actually dared not go!"

"Strike? She's so brave!"

"After all, she's a city girl, she can't stand hardship, and she even dares to go against the team!"

"Now we're going to have a good show. Will Captain Zhao let her go?"

Zhao Xiaofeng was recording work points when she heard the news. She was stunned at first, then a look of ecstasy crossed her face. She was just worried about finding new evidence, and Lin Xueyin had come to her on her own! Resisting labor and disrupting production were more serious charges than "ideological problems"!

She immediately dropped the account book and ran to her father Zhao Jianguo to report the matter with exaggerated details.

Zhao Jianguo was furious when he heard this. Lin Xueyin was clearly challenging his authority! Last time, under pressure from Song Zhiyuan, he had forced his daughter to apologize. He was already furious, and now that Lin Xueyin had walked into the trap, how could he let her go?

"She's rebelling! Does she really think the Red Flag Commune is her own backyard?" Zhao Jianguo slammed the table. "Spread the word. Hold a general meeting of all members tonight to criticize Lin Xueyin's bourgeois behavior of resisting labor and engaging in passive sabotage!"

——

Song Zhiyuan was bent over planting rice on the ridge of a field when he heard the news. He paused for a moment, then slowly straightened up and looked in the direction of the educated youth station.

A hint of admiration, almost imperceptible, flashed across his deep eyes.

He hadn't expected that the girl who looked so timid and whose eyes only turned red when she was wronged actually had such a fierce temper. She chose the most direct and risky way to resist - refusal.

This wasn't a cowardly escape, but a fierce struggle. She would rather endure criticism than endure unfair arrangements.

This made him even more certain that she wasn't as fragile as she looked. It also intensified the strong possessive desire in his heart. She was more worthy of being held tightly in his hands.

He didn't immediately go to her, nor did he go to Zhao Jianguo. He knew that the evening's criticism would be inevitable. But he wanted to let her face this storm alone for a while. He wanted to see where her bottom line was and how resilient she was.

At the same time, he was also secretly calculating how to use this opportunity to completely eliminate the hidden danger of Zhao Xiaofeng, and... make it impossible for Lin Xueyin to escape from him again.

——

At the educated youth center, Liu Xiaoling and a few others came back from work at noon and saw Lin Xueyin sitting leisurely under the old locust tree at the door reading a book, which made them even more anxious.

"Xue Yin! How can you still sit still? There will be a criticism meeting for you tonight!" Liu Xiaoling snatched the book from her.

Lin Xueyin raised her eyes, her face expressionless, even calmer than she had been this morning: "I know."

"You know and still..." Wang Lina almost stomped her feet.

"What else?" Lin Xueyin interrupted her, glancing at her roommates. "I'll weed and work myself to death, satisfying their desire to make things difficult for me. And then what? There'll be a next time, and a next time. Since it's going to be hard either way, why should I follow their script?"

She stood up, took back her book, and said calmly, "Let the criticism meeting be a criticism meeting. I won't lose any meat."

After saying that, she turned and returned to the dormitory, leaving Liu Xiaoling and the others standing there, shocked, helpless, and even faintly impressed. At least, they didn't dare to openly oppose the team like Lin Xueyin did.

Lin Xueyin leaned against the door, listening to the faint chatter outside. Her palms were already sweating. To say she wasn't afraid would be a lie. But she had no regrets. Going on strike was the only way she could think of to preserve her meager dignity.

Night gradually fell. Gas lamps were hung on the threshing floor, casting a dim glow and dotted with shadows. A storm was brewing for Lin Xueyin. And at the center of it all, she changed into clean clothes, carefully combed her hair, and even secretly applied some cold cream, preparing to face her uncertain fate.