There was a commotion in front of the house of the old village chief Zhou Dazhu.
Grandma Jinhua, the mother of Zhou Qi's family, came out of her home and went straight to the home of Zhou Dazhui, the father of the village chief Zhou Hongming.
Zhou Dazhu has a son and two daughters. His son is Zhou Hongming, and his two daughters are older than Zhou Hongming and are married in the town.
Although Zhou Dazhu and Zhou Hongming did not separate, they did not live together. Zhou Dazhu did not like his daughter-in-law Li Cuilian's temper and wanted to avoid getting angry when they lived together.
The house Zhou Hongming and his wife lived in was the new house Zhou Dazhu built for them when Zhou Hongming got married. The old couple Zhou Dazhu lived in an old house only a dozen meters away from Zhou Hongming's house.
Granny Jinhua was short, with feet that had been bound before liberation and then unbound. Foot binding was a remnant of feudal society. Before liberation, one of the criteria for selecting a daughter-in-law in some wealthy families was that the girl must have "three-inch golden lotus" feet.
"Three-inch golden lotus" sounds nice, but it's actually quite scary. Think about it! Three inches is only the length of an adult's palm. No matter how small a person's feet are, they're always longer than their palm, right?
The pain of achieving "three-inch golden lotus" feet was unbearable. When foot binding was performed, the girl had to be relatively young, as the bones in her feet would have hardened and become difficult to bind. Generally, girls were under seven years old. During foot binding, the woman would break the girl's toe bones one by one, turn them over to the soles of the feet, and then tightly wrap them with cloth strips.
The foot that grew that way was already deformed. Moreover, breaking the bones and then regrowing them was a very painful torture.
Grandma Jinhua's family has been poor peasants for generations, so the "three-inch golden lotus" that is admired by wealthy families should not be hers.
Grandma Jinhua was a poor person. Her mother died when she was eight years old. Grandma Jinhua's father was a gambler. After losing all his family fortune at the gambling table, he set his sights on Little Jinhua.
Even if a little girl of seven or eight was sold to a wealthy family as a maid, she wouldn't fetch much. Jinhua's father, determined to do this, hired a maid to bind Jinhua's feet, planning to send her to a wealthy family as a concubine in a few years, so she could be sold for more money.
The process of bones being crushed and then regrown was excruciating. Not only did Xiao Jinhua's feet ache, but her heart was also deeply wounded by her outrageous father. An eight-year-old girl, unable to survive on her own, had no other choice but to accept her fate.
Less than half a year later, the country was liberated, and Xiao Jinhua's feet were also liberated. To protect women and children, the state issued a special order to ban foot binding and other persecutions against women and children.
However, Xiao Jinhua's feet had been severely injured after all. Even if the foot binding was later untied, Xiao Jinhua's feet would never grow back to their original shape.
It wasn't just her feet that were freed; it was her dead heart that was freed. After her feet were freed, Jinhua stopped obeying her father. At sixteen, she found a young man from the same village to marry, and she didn't ask for a single cent in betrothal gifts, much to the fury of her father.
For decades, Jinhua has been walking with her feet on the edge. She would rather walk slowly than fast, otherwise, she might fall at any time.
Grandma Jinhua walked very fast today with her small feet. The amazing thing was that the distance from her home to Zhou Dazhu's home was more than 100 meters, but Grandma Jinhua walked across in one breath.
When Grandma Jinhua arrived at Zhou Dazhu's house, she saw that the gate was closed and she didn't know whether Zhou Dazhu and his wife were at home.
"Zhou Dazhu, come out." Grandma Jinhua blocked the door of Zhou Dazhu's house and shouted with full energy.
There was no sound in Zhou Dazhu's house. Today was the eighth day of the lunar calendar, and it was the big market in Sanhe Town.
Could it be that... Zhou Dazhu and his wife went to the market? Granny Jinhua thought.
No, now that I'm here, there's absolutely no way I'm going to go home like this. No matter whether Zhou Dazhu is at home or not, my son's grievances cannot be in vain.
Thinking of this, Granny Jinhua sat down in front of Zhou Dazhu's house and burst into tears: "You damn Zhou Dazhu, your words are like farts, blown away by the wind. Back then, you begged me not to go to the town to complain, and only two years later, you're already looking for revenge?"
As soon as Grandma Jinhua started crying, all the neighbors around Zhou Dazhu's house ran out to watch the fun.
Zhou Dazhu had been the village chief of Zhoujia Village for decades and had always held a high prestige. Over the years, no one had dared to cause trouble at Zhou Dazhu's house.
"Granny Jinhua, what happened? Did the old village chief do something to offend your family?" An auntie who was watching the scene had sharp ears and vaguely guessed what Granny Jinhua meant. She couldn't help but ask.
Granny Jinhua ignored the others' questions and continued crying, "Zhou Dazhu, Zhou Dazhu, when you begged me back then, I agreed without hesitation. But your son has been sitting firmly on the chair for the past two years, and you haven't kept your word since then!"
Huh? There's some big gossip here? The bunch of old ladies watching stopped asking questions and just pricked up their ears to listen to Grandma Jinhua's scolding.
Granny Jinhua wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve and continued to cry and curse, "My poor son! He was dragged down by the team's old ox while working, broke his bones, and now he's lying in bed, unable to get out! Zhou Dazhu, Zhou Dazhu, you and your son are so cruel! You want to starve my son and his family to death so that your family can secure their official position?"
"Golden Flower Granny, what did the old village chief do to piss you off?" an old man, unable to bear it any longer, asked. He was a member of the First Squad. A few days ago, during the food distribution, his team had even forgiven Zhou Qi's family's debt, ensuring that everyone in the family could have food. So what? Not satisfied with the debt forgiveness? And why did Golden Flower even come to the old village chief's door to cause a scene?
"Yes, yes, Granny Jinhua, we're all from Zhoujia Village and know their difficulties. Everyone voluntarily gave up their own interests and settled the debt for them this year. How could there be another problem?" One of the onlookers thought Granny Jinhua was unhappy about the grain distribution and was very upset. After all, her family had contributed to the Zhou family's debt, even if it was only a few pounds of grain and a few cents, but it was well-intentioned, wasn't it?
"Sister, thank you, fellow villagers!" Granny Jinhua was a sharp woman. Of course, she understood the meaning of the aunt's words and quickly thanked her. She continued, "I am deeply grateful to the fellow villagers for helping my daughter and her family. However, these unscrupulous Zhou Dazhu and his son actually said that the villagers' agreement does not count and asked my daughter-in-law to return the grain to the team!"
"Ah? Is there such a thing?"
"This is too much. How can his family survive?"
"Why not? It's my own food, and I'm willing to give it to his family to repay the team's debt. Who can say it doesn't count?"
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For a moment, the sound of people talking began to buzz.
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