After lunch, Han Chen and Xuemei took An'an and Lele home first. One reason was that the two sisters wanted to go home to make rice noodles and then go to bed, as it was almost one o'clock now; the other reason was that Feng Ru and her mother and son were at home and had not come over. Han Chen and Xuemei wanted to go home early to see if the three of them had eaten lunch.
When Han Chen and Xuemei arrived home, Feng Ru was cooking noodles in the kitchen of the new brick house. Xuemei shouted "Xiao Jin" several times!
Lin Jin ran out of the kitchen and asked, "Aunt, what do you want me for?"
"What delicious food is your mother preparing for you two brothers?" Xuemei asked.
"Noodles. I haven't eaten noodles for a long time. My brother and I miss them!" Lin Jin answered happily.
"Mian Tiao, then you help your uncle look after the two younger sisters in the crib. Han Chen, go to the well and use the well rope to pull up the bucket. There is a piece of meat in it. Ask your sister-in-law to cut some for the stir-fried meat sauce." Xuemei said as she mixed rice porridge with boiling water.
Han Chen was asked to go to the commune supply and marketing cooperative to buy meat early this morning. He bought a pound of meat and a fish. At noon today, he took the fish, half a pound of meat and two mooncakes to the old house. Now there is only half a pound of meat left in the well bucket in the water.
Feng Ru hasn't received her meat coupons for this month yet, but she bought six mooncakes yesterday, in two flavors: five-nut and red bean paste. Seeing that Feng Ru bought so many mooncakes, Xuemei only bought mooncakes for the festival, and didn't buy any for her family. With Feng Ru's purchases, they had enough to eat.
Han Chen and Xuemei fed the two sisters An An and Le Le and put them to sleep. Feng Ru and her mother and son also finished their lunch.
At that moment, a commotion could be heard outside. Han Chen opened the gate to the courtyard and saw a group of people from the Revolutionary Committee marching towards the village, escorting He Daming, the deputy director of the supply and marketing cooperative, his son He Ping, and a rather stout woman. He Daming, He Ping, and the woman's hands were tied together with hemp rope. All three had bruises on their faces, their hair was disheveled, and their bodies were filthy.
He Daming and his two companions were surrounded by people from the Revolutionary Committee on both sides, and behind them followed a group of people who threw stones at He Daming as they walked. Some of them were also cursing at him non-stop, and they spoke quickly and urgently. The main road to the village was about ten meters away from Xuemei's house. Han Chen didn't hear clearly. Han Chen looked to the front and saw a woman with short hair that reached her ears, who seemed to be leading the way.
Han Chen frowned, quietly closed the door, and then said to Feng Ru and Xuemei, "People from the Revolutionary Committee have come to the village to arrest someone. I don't know who committed the crime. I just saw that He Ping and his father were also arrested, as well as a woman. This matter should be related to these three."
Xuemei thought of the recent rumors in the supply and marketing cooperative, saying that He Daming was secretly keeping a mistress outside and had a son, and it seemed that his wife had discovered it.
Feng Ru didn't react when she heard this. She didn't know either of them. She just stopped the two brothers who were about to go out to play with their friends in the village and told them not to go out and play at home for a while.
It was almost four in the afternoon when Liu's father, mother, Ruirui, and Feifei returned. As soon as Liu's father closed the gate, Ruirui, who couldn't hide the truth, said, "Brother-in-law, sister, sister-in-law, something big happened in the village today!"
Before Ruirui could finish her words, Liu's mother glared at her and said dissatisfiedly, "Take Xiaojin and Xiaoren back to the house to do homework and read books. Don't get involved in these things!"
After Ruirui and Feifei took Xiaojin and his brother back to their rooms, Liu's mother said, "Li Deliang's eldest daughter, Li Fen, was arrested by the Revolutionary Committee. They said she was having an affair with the deputy director of your supply and marketing cooperative."
Xuemei was momentarily shocked by what Liu's mother said. Was Li Fen's brain water? Although she had a son, she was still only in her twenties. If she wanted to date someone, couldn't she just find someone good? What was the point of being with He Daming, a stale old man over twenty years older than her? Just because he was older and had a few bucks, she was really crazy to be with a man with a family who could be her father. He Daming stood next to Li Deliang, and He Daming looked at least ten years older than Li Deliang.
Xuemei recalled the rumors about He Daming in the past few days and asked in disbelief, "Mom, could Li Dabao be Li Fen and He Daming's son?"
Mother Liu glanced at Xuemei with a puzzled expression and said, "I don't know. He Daming's wife also came and said that Li Dabao was their bastard child. But He Daming and Li Fen denied it and said that Li Fen had the child with her ex-husband who died a long time ago. The child looks like Li Fen, so no one can guess for sure.
Li Deliang learned that Li Fen and He Daming's relationship had been discovered by the Revolutionary Committee, so he paid someone to write a letter of severance on the spot, stating that Li Fen had no relationship with him or Li Dabao. Ruirui also secretly witnessed Li Deliang slipping thirty yuan to the head of the Revolutionary Committee. In any case, the Revolutionary Committee only arrested Li Fen, criticized her for a while in the threshing ground, and then took her and the others away.
"We also heard the noise outside just now. Han Chen opened the door and took a look. He said he also saw He Ping and a woman being arrested!" Xuemei continued to ask.
"Their family is really crooked. The father is an adulterer and so is the son. I heard that someone reported him this time and he was implicated!" Liu's mother said with disdain.
"Xuemei, you have to be careful at work during this period and don't talk nonsense. This time He Daming and his son were both caught, which may be related to the power struggle in your supply and marketing cooperative. You have to be careful!" Liu's mother reminded.
Xuemei nodded. Even without Father Liu's reminder, they would have noticed. It seemed that the two team leaders under He Daming were targeting He Daming's position. Otherwise, once the rumors about He Daming started spreading, he would have been unseated. You know, everyone at the supply and marketing cooperative knew about He Ping and the widow, but no one reported it because of He Daming.
In the evening, we had dinner at home. We all made dumplings together, with fillings of minced meat, vermicelli, leeks, eggs and shrimps, made with a mixture of white flour and corn flour.
After eating dumplings, everyone sat in the yard eating mooncakes and watching the moon. Feng Ru looked at the full moon and felt sad unconsciously.
Xuemei sat down next to Feng Ru, patted her shoulder and said, "Sister-in-law, I miss my brother and the others!"
"How can I not think about it? I'm most worried about grandpa. He's old and his legs have always been in poor condition!" Feng Ru said with a worried look on her face.
The two old men who were sent down from the village were ignored by the people of Liujia Village. Not only did they have worse food and clothing than the villagers, they also had to do a self-criticism every few months. Otherwise, they were pretty safe there. I don't know what the people in the place where Lin Songguo and his group were sent down are like.
A few days ago, Wu Zhong and his wife wrote to say that they had found out the specific address where Lin Songguo and others were sent. The letter also wrote that it seemed that someone was protecting Lin Songguo and others, and asked Xuemei and others not to worry too much for the time being.
"Sister-in-law, Uncle Wu said in his last letter that brother and the others are doing well. Don't worry too much. You have to take good care of yourself. I believe that soon we will be able to send someone to deliver a message to brother and the others. Maybe we can go visit them in the future!" Xuemei comforted.
"I hope that day will come sooner. If I don't see them with my own eyes, my heart will always be hanging!" Feng Ru said looking at the full moon with anticipation, as if making a wish to the full moon.
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