06
A dozen young men and women, dressed neatly and without any work, came to the edge of the field at the entrance of the village.
One of the women was about 25 years old and was chatting in a gentle and affectionate manner to the group of young men and women.
The woman had an oval face, fair skin, delicate features, and looked innocent and harmless, the kind of girl that men liked the most.
When Fugui saw the woman, he glanced at Yang Qiujin who was still planting rice and deliberately raised his voice and shouted, "Hey, Director Shi, what are you doing?"
The oval-faced woman whom she called Director Shi turned around when she heard this and saw her and Yang Qiujin not far away. Her eyebrows were slightly wrinkled, but they disappeared in an instant. She said in a businesslike manner: "Sister-in-law Fugui, I am taking the educated youth to familiarize themselves with the brigade. Please ask the brigade commander to teach them how to do their work."
Starting from the 1960s, many educated youth in the city responded to the call of the country and took the initiative to go to the countryside to contribute to national construction. Before their vanguard brigade, there had never been educated youth who went down there, only two rightists who were sent down from the capital for labor reform.
I don't know what happened this year, but the city was in turmoil. Junior and senior high school students stopped attending classes and put on red armbands, becoming little red soldiers. They posted big-character posters everywhere, held demonstrations, and smashed things, making everyone panic.
Many young faces also appeared in their countryside, the so-called educated youth, who were half-grown children from the city who were forced to work in the countryside.
Shi Fangfang is the women's director of Hongqi Commune, the daughter-in-law of the commune secretary, and Yang Qiujin's sworn enemy. She usually wanders around the commune, dealing with conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and disputes between sisters-in-law. When she has nothing to do, she just lies at home and enjoys her retirement. She lives a better life than Yang Qiujin, which makes the women in the commune envy her.
The rich daughter-in-law was a flatterer: "You have to do this kind of thing yourself, Director Shi, it's really hard work."
"As for the cadres, naturally the most capable ones should do the most work." Shi Fangfang smiled and looked at Yang Qiujin who stood up and turned around, and said meaningfully, "Why, the cadres of your vanguard brigade are also working in the fields?"
Before the rich family even opened their mouths, Yang Qiujin spoke first: "What do you mean cadres have to work in the fields? Do you think that being a good cadre means being a sly person like you and never working in the fields? You are lucky to marry into the Ji family and have the commune secretary to support you. It is normal for you to have nothing to do as a cadre and play around."
Everyone in the entire commune knew that the person who had an engagement with Chen Shengqing was Shi Fangfang.
When Grandpa Chen was still alive, Grandpa Shi liked the well-behaved and obedient Chen Shengqing very much. The two families were old friends, and the two children were born in the same year and month. Grandpa Shi felt that the two children were destined to be together, so he arranged an engagement for them with Grandpa Chen, agreeing that the two children would get married when they grew up to be 18 years old.
Who knew that when Shi Fangfang was twelve years old, her family was in trouble. Mr. Shi was classified as a rich peasant, Shi Fangfang's father was labeled as a low-class person, and her uncle was labeled as a rightist. The family was forced to die or be injured by the sudden change.
Soon Shi Fangfang's mother became a widow. Because of her mother's bad background, no one dared to marry her for fear that it would bring trouble to their family.
In order to support Shi Fangfang and her two siblings, her mother had to sell her body and have affairs with men in the village. A few years later, she got involved with Yang Qiujin's father, Yang Chenghua.
At that time, there was a rumor in the brigade that Yang Qiujin was in love with Ji Mingchen, the son of the commune secretary, and that the two families would get married after a while.
The Ji family is a medical family. Several of the elders in the family are from the Red Army. The family is wealthy and the Ji family is both red and professional. More importantly, Ji Mingchen is handsome and has excellent grades. He is the only college student in the entire Hongqi Commune who was admitted to university.
Such a proud and talented man in everyone's eyes actually got together with Yang Qiujin's hot and sexy little black girl. The villagers were jealous and said all kinds of things.
Shi Fangfang, who was eager to climb up the social ladder, get rid of her bad qualities, and give her mother and brother a good life, became interested when she heard this.
Thus, a carefully planned Hongmen Banquet began. Yang Qiujin was drugged by her father and carried to Shi's house by him. Chen Shengqing was tricked by Shi Fangfang to go to Shi's house, and was drunk by Shi Fangfang and her daughter, and then lay down beside the unconscious Yang Qiujin...
The matter was done, and the affair between Yang Qiujin and Ji Mingchen was naturally exposed, so Chen Shengqing had no choice but to marry Yang Qiujin and take responsibility for her.
Shi Fangfang was born with a gentle and pure appearance that men liked, and she learned many ways to coax men from her mother. Finally, she got along with Ji Mingchen as she wished, married into the Ji family, and became the director of the women's department with the help of her father-in-law. After marriage, she gave birth to a son and a daughter, and lived a very carefree life.
Yang Qiujin certainly did not treat such a kind-faced but evil woman who was plotting against her well. She beat Shi Fangfang every time she saw her in the past few years. Shi Fangfang tried to defend herself, but she always avoided her and seldom came to the Vanguard Brigade in recent years.
"Pfft——" Some members who knew the inside story laughed unceremoniously after hearing what Yang Qiujin said.
Such laughter was like an invisible slap in the face, hitting Shi Fangfang's face and making it feel hot.
In these years, she has been humble in the Ji family, and has pretended to be gentle, virtuous and generous in front of outsiders. However, with Yang Qiujin around, what she has done cannot be covered up no matter how she explains it.
Because in the eyes of the public, although Yang Qiujin was fierce, she was kind and honest by nature and would never lie. She teamed up with her widowed mother, Yang Chenghua, who was despised by everyone in the village, to frame Yang Qiujin and took away her good marriage. Even those who usually didn't get along with Yang Qiujin had to scold Shi Fangfang for being shameless!
Shi Fangfang bit her lip, pretending not to hear Yang Qiujin's veiled sarcasm, and said softly, "Qiujin, what you said is wrong. We are all cadres, and different cadres do different jobs and have their own duties. You can't expect everyone to be like you, lying on the ground all day long and not doing their work."
The other members who were watching the excitement widened their eyes at this irony, and they kept muttering in their hearts that this scheming Shi Fangfang was different. From these words, she made Yang Qiujin seem like a do-nothing in just a few words.
"Yes, the majority of the working people are not doing their work." Yang Qiujin smiled, her brows were clear, and she bared her white teeth and said, "Everyone is playing in the fields. While playing, crops grow in the fields. While playing, the crops grow and mature. While playing, we have food to fill our stomachs. If everyone is like me and not doing their work, what else can we do? Why? Just watching you busy cadres eat to fill your stomachs."
When the members heard this, they also figured out that something was wrong. They said to Shi Fangfang unhappily, "Director Shi, we work so hard every day in the fields to grow crops and store food for the country. How come you say that we are not doing our job?"
"That's right. After being the director of the Women's Department for a few years, she really thinks she is so powerful that she looks down on us working people."
"Everyone knows that she became the director of the Women's Department through her father-in-law's connections. She and her whore-in-law framed Qiu Jin and robbed her of her good marriage. Otherwise, she wouldn't be living a good life today."
"If you ask me, this kind of evildoer should be sent to the police station for sentencing, and then sent to a labor camp for a few years of reform before being released. Otherwise, with her rampant behavior, who knows how she will go about harming other people's daughters in the future."
"Hey, it's not like Qiu Jin didn't call the police, but it was useless. The police said there was no evidence and detained Shi for two days. Not only did she get away with it, she even became an official. This is really a disaster that will last for thousands of years."
......
Shi Fangfang heard the voices of the members' discussions, and her face turned red and white. She had not expected that with just her casual words, Yang Qiujin would direct the conflict to the masses, turning the masses into guns in her hands, shooting at her, leaving her speechless.
Shi Fangfang suppressed the rage in her heart that made her want to have a big quarrel with Yang Qiujin, and always remembered to maintain her image of being gentle, virtuous and good-tempered. She couldn't be as aggressive as Yang Qiujin and become a shrew that everyone hated. She said, "I'm too lazy to talk to you, the innocent will be innocent," and left in disgrace.
However, she had only taken two steps when she saw a postman riding a 28-inch bicycle, riding quickly from the village, shouting as he rode: "Yang Qiujin, your letter is from the army!"
Troops? Shi Fangfang paused. Chen Shengqing?
The members of the brigade were all very surprised, and each one was even more excited than Yang Qiujin: "Oh, is it a letter from Shengqing? There has been no letter for two years. Qiujin, please take a look."
When Yang Qiujin suddenly heard the letter from the army, her throat rose up and her heart began to beat violently uncontrollably. She took the envelope from the postman with trembling hands, and was afraid to read the letter, fearing that it was a letter from the army saying that her husband had been sacrificed.
"Qiu Jin, don't just stand there, open the letter and take a look." The members who gathered around to watch the excitement saw her holding the letter without moving, and they urged her one by one.
Yang Qiujin calmed down and told herself not to let her mind wander. She opened the envelope, took out the letter, and saw a familiar line of words on it: "Dear mother, Comrade Yang Qiujin, I am writing to you.
I haven't written to you for two years. I'm sure you must miss me and worry about me. I would like to sincerely apologize to you here.
Because I was carrying out a special mission in the past two years, it was inconvenient for me to write letters from where I was, and the letters I wrote were also withheld by the inspection department, so there has been no news for two years.
Now that I have completed my mission and have been promoted to the rank of battalion commander, I have applied for family leave from the army and am on my way home. I will arrive soon and will then go home to apologize to you two.
Unfilial son Chen Shengqing. xx year xx month xx day. "
"Qiu Jin, what did Shengqing write?" Many people in the brigade were illiterate and it was impossible for them to get close to the couple and read their private letters, but many people could not resist their curiosity and asked.
"He, he said he was promoted to battalion commander and will be home soon." Yang Qiujin couldn't tell what she felt in her heart. There was joy, surprise, bitterness, expectation, grievance, and all kinds of emotions piled up together, making her eyes red. She choked up and said to the captain: "Captain, I have to take a leave to tell my mother-in-law this good news."
Li Xiu'e was probably still on her way home and didn't know about the letter.
"Go ahead." The captain expressed his understanding: "It's not easy for Shengqing to write to me. We have to tell Aunt Li the good news."
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