After exchanging a few words about Cao's youngest daughter, the aunties put her out of their minds and started talking about other gossip.
"Hey, have you heard? Cao Jin from Cao Dashan's family is back." Seeing that no one around her had anything to talk about, Liu Hongmei hurriedly pulled Cao Jin out for a walk.
Sure enough, upon hearing the name, the aunties immediately perked up. The Cao family had provided plenty of gossip for the Xinshan Brigade.
Sure enough, when their family was mentioned, the aunties became incredibly enthusiastic, chatting away with great passion.
Shen Mu Ning's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this name.
I originally wanted to ask Aunt Guihua and the others about Cao Jin.
Now that the aunties are talking about him, Shen Mu Ning has to listen carefully, and she wishes she could take a small notebook and write it all down.
This Cao Jin is the one who is about to plot against me. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.
"Yes, my child told me yesterday that he saw Cao Jin wandering around the brigade."
"Yes, I saw him yesterday too."
"But you said he hadn't been back for more than half a year, so why is he back this time?"
Everyone in the Xinshan Brigade knows that Cao Jin had previously tried to provoke a female educated youth, and as a result, her parents came and beat him up.
At the time, Chen Zhaodi wanted to ask the brigade leader and the secretary to stand up for their family.
However, the captain, who knew the truth of the matter, only discussed it with the parents and agreed that since their daughter had not been harmed, they would just give her a beating and leave it at that, without any other punishment.
The family also knew that Cao Jin was only pretending to pursue his daughter within the brigade, and had not yet had time to implement the later tactic of coercing her through rumors.
So they could only do as the captain said: beat people up to vent their anger.
Thinking of calling the police or making a report would not only ruin his daughter's reputation, but would also cause no loss to Cao Jin.
The incident caused quite a stir at the time, and the family quickly brought their daughter back to the city because of it.
As for Cao Jin's behavior, that's common knowledge in the entire brigade.
Since then, Cao Jin has rarely stayed in the brigade, only occasionally coming back at night, and disappearing again early the next morning.
Hearing their conversation, Li Guihua snapped out of her thoughts and joined them.
"I don't know why he came back, but I heard my wife say before that Cao Jin was a thug under the Red Guards."
The brigade leader often went to meetings at the commune, so he received information faster than others in the brigade.
"Huh? I'd only heard that he was out there messing around, but I'd never heard of this before."
Liu Hongmei and the other aunties were extremely shocked, because these days, anyone who got involved with a Red-letter soldier was doomed.
The people in the Johor Bahru brigade may not have received much education or have much worldly experience.
But they also knew that in their county, there were countless instances of soldiers using only a letter of denunciation to ransack homes, criticize and denounce people, or send them to the countryside.
Furthermore, they arrest anyone who submits a tip-off, regardless of their character or background.
Even the home of a well-known philanthropist in their county, the owner of a traditional Chinese medicine shop, was ransacked.
After that, the traditional Chinese medicine shop closed down, and they never heard anything about their family again.
Even though the people in their brigade were all people who had drifted from their hometowns during the war and only established villages here after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
When it came time to classify people by social class, every household in Xinshan Brigade was a poor peasant family, with no property other than the land they had reclaimed themselves.
So, except when someone was being transferred to the Johor Bahru brigade, no one ever came to this place.
But the people of the Johor Bahru brigade kept quiet about the Red-Letter Soldiers; they didn't want to encounter such cruel and unjust things.
Now, upon hearing that Cao Jin had actually infiltrated the ranks of the Red Guards, everyone was suddenly a little frightened and subconsciously laughed as they spoke.
"Then do you think he won't bring his Red-Letter Soldiers to wreak havoc on our brigade?" Liu Hongmei touched her arm, which suddenly felt the hairs stand on end.
She had witnessed the methods of the Red Letter Soldiers, which was why she was so afraid.
Liu Hongmei's family home was in Lianshan Brigade, which was separated from Xinshan Brigade by a mountain. There used to be a small landlord in her family's brigade.
Since the class system was implemented, many people have reported that wealthy households are heartless and that those with foreign connections are accusing them of treason and collusion with the enemy.
Some people's whistleblower letters have solid evidence, while others are just made up.
The landlord from her maternal family owned most of the land in the village.
However, during the War of Resistance against Japan, his family sold most of their land to the villagers at a low price and then donated the money to the country.
However, due to jealousy from some villagers, a letter of denunciation was sent, which brought about the destruction of his family.
Their family property was confiscated, their house was seized, and the whole family was subjected to criticism and struggle sessions before being sent to the ground.
The family lived in a cowshed, did the hardest work, and ate the worst food.
Even though most people in the brigade wanted to help them, they didn't dare to be too blatant because they were concerned about the people who wrote the whistleblower letters.
At that time, Liu Hongmei happened to be visiting her parents' home when she saw the soldiers with red lettering storming into her house.
Take all the valuables you can carry with you from the house, and smash other large furniture items.
The landlord's family members were all kidnapped, and they were subjected to insults and beatings along the way.
Ever since Liu Hongmei witnessed that scene at her parents' home, she has tried her best to stay away from there and is afraid of hearing about the Red-Letter Soldiers again.
Hearing this news suddenly, she got goosebumps all over her body. She felt a sudden drop in temperature and even felt a bit cold.
"Probably not. Our brigade is full of poor peasants. Even if he wanted to fabricate a letter of denunciation out of thin air, those soldiers probably wouldn't want to make the trip."
Besides, he's currently running errands for others, and the little bit of money they give him is enough for him to make a fortune. Cao Jin probably wouldn't do that.
"Yes, my husband said not to worry about the Red Guards. Our brigade has a good class background, so they won't come."
Although their brigade was established after the meeting, there were still people in the brigade.
Although the family moved away from the Johor Bahru brigade after their son entered politics, they still help out whenever the brigade needs it.
If Cao Jin had ended up like this three or four years ago, the brigade leader and secretary might have been worried.
But now, the Red-Letter Soldiers don't have as much power as they used to.
Even if they are not under the jurisdiction of the local authorities, they still have to take into account the officials in charge of the higher-level government.
"That's good, otherwise I was afraid he would just find some excuse to make a mess of our brigade."
Liu Hongmei was finally relieved after hearing Li Guihua's words.
If the captain said there's nothing to worry about, then there's definitely no problem.
This is also because the brigade leader and secretary have been so diligent and effective in their management over the years, which has earned the trust of the people in the brigade.
Upon hearing the news, Shen Mu Ning quickly wrote it down. Fortunately, she didn't intend to rely solely on information from the novel's plot.
Otherwise, she would have leaked such a big piece of news.
Although the brigade leader said that the soldiers with red lettering wouldn't come to Xinshan Brigade, these educated youths weren't from Xinshan Brigade.
If they anger Cao Jin and she reports her or the educated youth settlement, then they'll be in big trouble.
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