Chapter 39
"Captain Han, I really misjudged you. I thought that even though you had retired from the army, you would not forget the spirit of loving and protecting the people in your bones."
Yang Qiujin's eyes were filled with disappointment: "You don't dare to offend Cao Jun, but I do. I can't just sit there and watch those beautiful girls being ruined by those beasts!"
Han Yongxin was silent, "Comrade Yang, you take it for granted. You are just a female comrade. How can you deal with Cao Jun and Ma Gaoyuan who are backed by the District Revolutionary Committee? As a military dependent, even if you live in the army, as long as they want, they can frame you, smear you, and take you away."
"When an enemy comes, we will stop him with our generals; when a flood comes, we will block it with earth." Yang Qiujin said calmly, "I am a lesbian, but I am also a person with a conscience. I will do what I can within my ability. As for the rest, I can't control that much."
She has been in the army for more than two months. During these two months, she has never stopped her morning jogging, fighting, and military boxing training. She can clearly feel that her body is stronger than before, her abdomen has developed a vest line, and her arms have solid muscles.
When Chen Shengqing was in the army, he would occasionally fight with her. In a head-on confrontation, those officers who spent their days eating, drinking, gambling and doing nothing might not be her match.
Of course, she wouldn't be stupid enough to confront him head-on. To deal with someone like Cao Jun who has a powerful backer, she had to think of a safe and permanent solution.
Han Yongxin saw that she was determined to take care of this matter, and sighed helplessly. Before she left, he said, "Comrade Yang, if you really want to take care of this matter, I can't just sit back and watch. It's just that it's not convenient for me to show up directly. If something really goes wrong, you have to find a reason to use me."
Yang Qiujin knew that the reason why Han Yongxin did not go along with Liu Xiaoshan and others was because Han Yongxin's parents were both killed by Japanese planes in his early years, and his wife could not stand the loneliness while he was in the army, so she had an affair with another man and divorced him.
He is an orphan with no parents and no relatives. He has no weaknesses that can be exploited by others, so he is not afraid of anything and can do whatever he wants.
Yang Qiujin didn't know why he didn't want to interfere in the affairs of those female educated youth, but his words were enough.
No matter how powerful the Revolutionary Committee was at the local level, it was impossible for it to confront the armed forces head-on. Although Han Yongxin was no longer a real company commander, the militia had weapons in their hands, and in a strict sense, they were reservists.
If Cao Jun and Ma Gaoyuan and their group really want to do anything to harm the female educated youth, the militia has the right to arrest them.
Having decided to intervene in this matter, Yang Qiujin immediately returned home, packed some clothes, took some toiletries and bills and put them into the package, opened Chen Shengqing's small elm box, and took out a sharp military dagger from it.
This was the weapon Chen Shengqing had given her before he left, saying it was for self-defense. She had always thought that she would not be in danger as she traveled back and forth between the army and the farm, so she placed the dagger in Chen Shengqing's box and had no intention of using it.
Now that she has to take care of those female educated youth, it will inevitably anger Cao Jun. She doesn't know what will happen then, so she thinks it is better to bring some self-defense weapons with her.
She put the sharp military dagger in her pocket, took the package, walked out of the room and shouted, "Tianyou, are you done?"
Chen Tianyou was in his little room, hurriedly stuffing the toy marbles and a slingshot that Chen Shengqing bought for him into his schoolbag: "It will be ready soon, Mom."
Yang Qiujin walked into the small room and saw him stuffing the slingshot into his bag before he could even zip it up. She raised her eyebrows and said, "Chen Tianyou, where did you get the slingshot?! Didn't I forbid you to play with the slingshot?"
Chen Tianyou was too naughty and aggressive. He often quarreled and fought with other children of the same age in his hometown. In order to prevent him from hurting or scratching other children, some parents demanded high compensation. Yang Qiujin trimmed Chen Tianyou's nails regularly and did not allow him to play with slingshots, wooden swords and other lethal toys, so that he would not scratch or hit others.
"This, this was given to me by Big Brother Dadan." Chen Tianyou stammered.
Dadan is Zhao Erfeng's second son. He is ten years old this year. He started school late and is only in the second grade of elementary school this year. He is also very naughty.
"Why would Dadan give you a slingshot for no reason? Did you steal it?" Yang Qiujin asked with a stern face.
"I didn't!" Chen Tianyou hastily denied, "I used the candy my father gave me to exchange for it with Dadan."
Chen Tianyou has also entered the period of changing teeth. He complained of toothache last month and his front teeth have been loose for nearly a month but have not fallen out yet.
When Yang Qiujin found that his teeth were a little loose and were about to be replaced, she forbade him to eat sweets. All the candies in the house were locked in a cupboard in the house. Who knew that Chen Shengqing was secretly giving candies to the child behind her back.
Yang Qiujin laughed angrily, "Okay, you and your son are actually practicing Yin-Yang policy against me! See how I deal with you two when your father comes back! Give me the slingshot."
"Mom, I'm already a big kid. I don't fight or cause trouble like I used to. If you don't believe me, go ask Teacher Li. I've been very well behaved recently and haven't fought with anyone." Chen Tianyou had a tearful face and reluctantly took out his slingshot: "Mom, please don't take my slingshot, please."
His eyes were round and bright, his little face was white and tender, and he looked very cute. He looked at Yang Qiujin aggrievedly, like a poor abandoned puppy.
Yang Qiujin felt soft-hearted, thinking that her child had indeed been more obedient recently, so she did not insist. "You can play with the slingshot, but you can only play with it at home or within your mother's sight. You are not allowed to bring it to school, and you are not allowed to shoot people, cats, dogs, or hurt animals. Do you understand?"
"I heard it." Since Chen Tianyou could play slingshot, he agreed very quickly.
The boy zipped up his bag, put on his backpack, followed Yang Qiujin out of the yard, and asked curiously, "Mom, where are we going?"
"Let's go find Sergeant Ruan first, and then go to the farm. We will stay at the farm for a few days." Yang Qiujin untied Benying's noose, let Tianyou sit on the horse, and rode herself to the sentry post outside the military camp. She greeted the guard on duty and asked him to help call out Ruan Xiangming.
"Sister-in-law, what do you want to talk to me about?" Ruan Xiangming was the squad leader under Chen Shengqing's camp. He didn't have to patrol the border this month. Chen Shengqing had told him before he left that he should take good care of Yang Qiujin and her son, and try his best to help them if they encountered any problems.
He naturally kept in mind the instructions given by his respected superior, and would often go to the outside of the Chen family when patrolling the military compound. When he heard the sentry say that Yang Qiujin was looking for him, he immediately put down what he was doing and came out.
"Squad Leader Ruan, it's not a big deal to look for you." Yang Qiujin exchanged a few polite words with him, and then went straight to the point: "Have you been patrolling near Tianshan Farm recently?"
Tianshan Farm is a long way from the real border and can be considered a small granary in the rear, but it is also within the patrol range of the border troops.
Ruan Xiangming said, "I am done with my rest today and I just happened to be patrolling that area. Is there anything I can do for you, sister-in-law?"
Yang Qiujin touched Benying's head, which was standing there impatiently and shaking his head, and said, "Do you care if a bully bullies a female educated youth?"
Ruan Xiangming was stunned. "What do you mean?"
Yang Qiujin briefly told Ruan Xiangming about Cao Jun's story.
Ruan Xiangming frowned and said, "Sister-in-law, this is a bit difficult. The farm is the farm, and we are us. Although we all belong to the same construction corps, we have different divisions of labor. It is difficult for our border defense department to interfere in the affairs of the farm."
Yang Qiujin said: "Since we all belong to the same corps, we are a family. When you are on patrol, you encounter crimes. As soldiers, you cannot sit idly by. There are unhealthy trends and unjust things on the farm. As a family, you must protect your family members. If you allow this unhealthy trend to develop, the farm will be completely corrupt from the inside. When the time comes, the snakes and rats will gather together and harm the entire farm and the surrounding people, which will not only bring disaster to production, but also bring disaster to the people. It will also affect the border line of your border defense department. If they want to corrupt the border troops, the consequences will be disastrous. You don’t have to worry about the people from the Revolutionary Committee retaliating afterwards. You are a member of the Border Defense Department. Your class background and family background have been reviewed by the organization. The Revolutionary Committee can’t find any handle to hold you accountable. Besides, I will take the responsibility if the sky falls. If they want to investigate, it was me who persuaded you to do it. It has nothing to do with you.”
Ruan Xiangming was silent for a while and said, "I have to report this matter to the regiment commander and Political Commissar Liao before making a decision."
Yang Qiujin had never intended for him to agree right away. It was normal for him to follow the military rules and procedures. "Go ahead. Remember to come to the Tianshan Farm Headquarters more often after 10 p.m."
Ruan Xiangming quickly went to the regiment office and told Guo Shengrong about this.
Guo Shengrong asked Liao Zhenxing: "What do you think?"
"What can I think? Captain Chen is a ruthless man, and I think his wife is not much different." Liao Zhenxing sorted out a document on the table. "Zhai Hongbo was in the same barracks with you back then, but now he can't even control a small clerk. He is really a tiger in plain water being bullied by a dog. Aren't you worried about having no place to put the people assigned to you by Kyoto? Isn't this an opportunity? As long as you help old Zhai deal with the nosy people, and you give him one or two people, he will agree."
"You are still good at scheming." Guo Shengrong laughed. "Captain Chen's wife is good at handling things! Squad Leader Ruan, from today on, you will lead two more squads to patrol near the farm. Bring me enough guns and bullets. If you encounter any crimes, treat them as counter-revolutionaries, spies, and those who dare to resist will be executed on the spot! But remember, we are just patrolling!"
"yes!"
After getting the ideal answer, Ruan Xiangming was even more excited than Yang Qiujin. He immediately ran to the barracks and called a group of soldiers to hold a meeting.
Yang Qiujin and Chen Tianyou stayed in the small office in the company warehouse for three days.
At first, Ren Ying was quite uncomfortable, saying that the office was too small and it was too crowded for the three of them to live in it, and she wanted to move back to the cowshed.
Yang Qiujin was stopped: "No matter how crowded it is here, it is better than being crammed in a cowshed with a bunch of stinky men. I will stay here with the children for a few days and go back to live here after a while."
Ren Ying knew that she was worried about her. "Sister Yang, you don't have to accompany me. We have been rehearsing for more than a week. Officer Cao and Deputy Director Ma are both normal. It's okay."
Yang Qiujin said, "Whether you have something to do or not, I am always worried about you going to rehearse so late at night. If you go to rehearse tonight, I will go with you. I will stand by and watch you rehearse. I will not disturb you."
Since she said so, Ren Ying couldn't refuse and didn't say anything else.
When it got dark, Yang Qiujin asked Chen Tianyou to go to bed, but Chen Tianyou refused: "Mom, I want to go to the cultural center with you, too. I want to protect Sister Ren."
"Chen Tianyou, you eavesdropped on my conversation with your sister Ren again, didn't you?" Yang Qiujin stretched out her hand and pinched his ear. "How many times have I told you not to eavesdrop on adults' conversations?"
"It hurts, it hurts." Chen Tianyou covered his ears and grimaced. "I didn't mean to listen to you. You've been practicing martial arts and fighting techniques more diligently these days, and you often fiddle with dad's dagger. I'm not a fool. I know what you want to do if I use my brain to think about it. Besides, it's so dark here. I can't sleep alone without you. Just take me with you."
"Oh, you still think you're right, don't you?" Yang Qiujin put her hands on her hips, "Tell me what a little brat like you can do by following us? Don't let it happen that you can't help us, but make things worse."
"I have a slingshot. I will slingshot anyone who bullies Sister Ren." Chen Tianyou took out the slingshot, pulled the thick rubber band on the slingshot with his little hand, put a transparent marble with a flower lining on the rubber band, pulled the wrapped marble hard, and made an aiming motion.
"Our Tianyou is a little boy now. He knows how to protect others." Ren Ying looked at his confident look, touched his head with amusement, turned to Yang Qiujin and said, "Sister Yang, let Tianyou go with us. We only rehearse for two hours. Nothing will go wrong. Let him go with us to see what we are doing and watch our performances in advance."
Yang Qiujin no longer objected. Ren Ying and the others had been rehearsing for so many days without any problems, and the official evening party would be in a few days, so she hoped that she was just overthinking it.
Anyway, it gets dark late in the border areas and the children go to bed late, so it would be good to let Tianyou go and see the world.
She took Chen Tianyou and Ren Ying on Benying and rode to Diwozi first to say hello to Han Yongxin just in case, and then rode to the cultural center of the regiment farm.
It was a dark and windy night. There was no moon in the sky, but the bright stars illuminated the earth.
Ever since Chen Shengqing went to patrol the border, Yang Qiujin has been riding Benying to pick up Chen Tianyou every day for more than a month. He is no longer afraid of Benying or riding a horse.
Seeing the beautiful stars in the sky and feeling the gust of wind brought by Ben Ying's fast running, he opened his arms to grab the corner of Yang Qiujin's clothes, letting the night wind blow on his little body, and shouted with a laugh: "Ah - so comfortable!"
"Tianyou, sit tight and don't fall off." It was the first time for Ren Ying to ride a horse in her life. When she saw his movements, she was frightened and broke out in a cold sweat. She quickly held him tightly between herself and Yang Qiujin, fearing that he would fall off the horse.
Yang Qiujin said without even turning her head: "Don't worry about him. He is just a dog who only cares about food and not punishment. If you tell him to hold on tight, he will fall down, but he won't believe you. He won't believe you until you fall down like a dog eating shit."
She smiled and said, "Children, especially boys, are all unwilling to listen to advice. My younger brother used to be like that..."
The conversation stopped abruptly here, probably because she was thinking of her wonderful family.
Chen Tianyou didn't care what the two of them were talking about. He sat between them, not afraid of falling at all. He just kept opening his arms, gurgling, and laughing heartily.
Under the shining stars in the dark night, the running shadow was moving rapidly along the main road of the farm in the boundless wilderness towards the farm headquarters.
The Workers' Cultural Center is located in a rather remote place, far behind the Youth League Office Building. Usually, apart from some cadres who come to borrow some books to pretend to be cultured people, there are almost no people coming to the cultural center.
It was around 11 o'clock in the evening. A few dim lights were on in the auditorium of the cultural center. About twenty young and beautiful women were standing on the side of the auditorium, rehearsing their own performances.
Directly below the auditorium, there are rows of wooden chairs for people to watch.
Ma Gaoyuan, Cao Jun, and four other male leaders sat in the front row, watching the beautiful and smiling female educated youth rehearsing on the stage. Ma Gaoyuan looked at Cao Jun with an itchy heart and asked in a low voice, "Are you ready?"
"Don't worry, leader. Everything is ready." Cao Jun whispered in his ear, "Tonight, I guarantee you'll have enough fun with all the lesbians you want."
Ma Gaoyuan smiled contentedly and was about to say something when he suddenly saw Yang Qiujin and her son following Ren Ying who had just entered the museum. He frowned and asked, "Isn't that the military wife who opposed you? Why is she here, and she brought a child with her."
Cao Jun's eyes flashed coldly, and he turned his head and winked at a man, "Go and see what's going on."
The other party immediately found Yang Qiujin and said with a smile: "Hello, Comrade Yang, I am Section Chief Jiang from the Finance Department. I remember that you were not on the list of performers for the Dragon Boat Festival Party. Why did you bring your children to the Cultural Center at this late hour instead of going home?"
"The child has never seen our farm's cultural center and wanted to come and see it, so I brought him here." Yang Qiujin said indifferently.
Chen Tianyou followed her lead and looked around, exaggerating, "Wow, the cultural center is so big and beautiful! Is that the auditorium? There are so many beautiful ladies."
Yang Qiujin gave him a look of praise and said to Secretary Jiang, "I have nothing to do after get off work and the child can't sleep, so we can watch him for a while. When the child is sleepy, I will take him home."
This statement immediately blocked what Section Chief Jiang wanted to say next. Section Chief Jiang said, "Is that so?" and left in a huff.
Yang Qiujin looked at his back with a gloomy face and pulled Chen Tianyou to sit in the right corner of the audience seats.
This location is a bit remote, but it is close to the entrance of the cultural center, and at the same time it can monitor Cao Jun and others sitting in the front row.
As soon as she sat down, Ren Ying went to the stage to prepare for rehearsal.
Chen Tianyou couldn't sit still and wanted to run around. Yang Qiujin couldn't stop him and repeatedly said to him: "Just walk around the auditorium. Don't run anywhere else. Be careful not to run into bad people who will tie you up and throw you into the canal to feed wild dogs."
Chen Tianyou nodded repeatedly, "I understand, Mom. I won't run around."
He crawled here and there hunched over along the dark tables and chairs in the back row where there was no light, and soon disappeared.
Yang Qiujin followed the place where he disappeared and looked carefully, making sure that his small figure was still looming in the auditorium. Only then did she turn around and look at Cao Jun and others in the front row with relief.
Ma Gaoyuan saw that Section Chief Jiang had returned empty-handed, and his face was very unpleasant: "At this critical moment, there are outsiders here. How can we act later?"
"Don't worry, Deputy Director Ma. I won't let anyone disturb your elegant business." Cao Jun's eyes were heavy. "I will send someone to deal with them immediately."
He stood up, walked to the backstage of the auditorium, and said to several men who were playing cards in silence under a large curtain in the backstage: "Stop playing, there is something to do. Go find a six or seven-year-old boy wearing a military green gown, tie him up, and then quietly tie up a woman wearing a floral gown sitting in the back row of the auditorium, and throw them to the Gobi Desert to fend for themselves."
"It's easy to talk to the little boy, but why are the women in the auditorium tied up? Aren't those female educated youth all in front of the auditorium?" asked a man with a pointed chin and monkey face.
Cao Jun said, "Don't worry, I will ask all the female educated youth to come to the backstage to change clothes. You better hide well."
"Change clothes?" The men looked at each other and saw lust in each other's eyes.
"We will definitely hide well. After all, this is a rare opportunity to feast our eyes."
"Cao, when you finish your work, don't forget your brothers. They want to have a taste of these beautiful young women."
"What nonsense! Go and lock up the cultural center first. Wait for the female educated youth to come in and change clothes before you go and kidnap them." Cao Jun said impatiently, "When we get tired of playing, we will reward you."
The men immediately disappeared into the darkness with smiles on their faces and moved separately.
Cao Jun took out a packet of medicine powder from his pocket, walked to the tea room in the backstage, poured the whole packet of medicine powder into three teapots, shook each teapot evenly, and then turned and walked to the auditorium in the front stage.
What he didn't know was that before he came into the backstage, Chen Tianyou, who was wandering around looking for candy, had already sneaked into the backstage changing room and heard their conversation clearly.
Chen Tianyou may seem silly and not very smart in other things, but he is quite smart in these matters.
When he heard that someone wanted to tie him up and do something bad, he immediately calmed down and listened to the entire conversation. Then he tiptoed and sneaked from the backstage to the auditorium. Then he quietly moved to the back of Yang Qiujin's seat from a place where the stage lights could not reach. He whispered, "Mom, someone wants to do something bad."
He told Yang Qiujin what he had just heard: "Mom, what should we do now?"
At this time, Cao Jun stopped the educated youth who were rehearsing on the stage and said that Deputy Director Ma had bought a set of stage performance costumes for each of them. The backstage also made tea for them and prepared some fruits, melon seeds and peanuts. He asked them to go backstage to change clothes and take a rest.
The female educated youth were originally worried about what to wear on the day of the performance, but when they heard that Deputy Director Ma had generously bought each of them a performance costume, they were extremely excited and swarmed to the backstage.
Yang Qiujin became a little anxious when she saw this. If she didn't stop the female educated youth from drinking tea now, they would definitely be in trouble.
But if she goes, no one will inform Han Yongxin and Ruan Xiangming. What should they do?
In just a few seconds, she thought of countless ways, and finally placed her hope on Chen Tianyou: "Son, Mom now has a dangerous and glorious mission for you to do. Are you willing to do it?"
Chen Tianyou immediately straightened his chest and said, "Comrade Mom, please speak."
"Sister Ren and other beautiful sisters are in danger and need mom's help, but mom's strength is limited. They need the help of Uncle Han or Brother Ruan. Can you ride on Benying and go outside to find them to save Sister Ren and the others?"
Chen Tianyou thought of Benying, the tall horse that shook its head and jumped at any time, and he was afraid that he would not be able to ride Benying and would be thrown off.
But when he thought of the pretty sister who fed him White Rabbit candy on the train and needed his help, he nodded earnestly, "Mom, I'll go. Please teach me how to ride a horse."
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