Chapter 50 Chapter 50 Part 2
Verify my situation?
Lin Xinghuo's first reaction was that the enemy who changed his surname from Jin to Lin had made some move, but after listening carefully to He Qing's explanation, he realized that it was not the case.
He Qing cursed "damn heaven," not knowing if he was referring to the weather or something else, before he said to Lin Xinghuo, "Since September, every school has been required to 'criticize Confucius,' and the students are making a fuss again... Now this trend has spread to various units, and the Cultural Relics Bureau is the first to lash out..."
Especially the Beijing Cultural Relics Bureau, which is located in the political center. Naturally, it has to face the first wave of impact when a wave comes. The Cultural Relics Bureau is also single, so it can be impacted. Anyway, the Cultural Relics Bureau is just an organization, and the country's important cultural relics are all well protected in the museum. As a result, some people with ulterior motives began to dig into the background of the staff under it.
"Your father's ancestors were capitalists," He Qing said, "and your mother was the daughter of an enlightened gentry." They were famous capitalists, and the enlightened gentry referred to the large landlord class who had sponsored the cause of democracy.
Lin Xinghuo was stunned. In this day and age, this kind of background was truly the worst of the worst, "one in a million." Touching the fox skull on her chest, she realized her mother was a black fox, her father a cultivator. Just treat her like a foundling of unknown origin; there was no need to cherry-pick a good parentage. Ten or so years ago, her master had considered assigning her the identity of the orphan of a cultured and well-educated young couple a good choice. After all, back then, there were struggles of all kinds, but this young couple wasn't greatly affected. On the surface, nothing seemed amiss. No one could have predicted such a movement a few years later, right?
"Your mother's side is okay. The letters and other things that showed her support for the revolution are all there. The Tang family voluntarily handed over their family property, and the related relatives are relatively safe in their hometown in the suburbs of Beijing. But your father's side..." He Qing sighed: "There is basically no one left. Maybe those who are still alive have lost contact, so you are the only direct relative who can be found." It was the Tang family that sheltered their son-in-law and transferred the young couple to a snowy province far away from the center of the storm. Unexpectedly, their daughter and son-in-law lost their lives in the blizzard.
He Qing's point was that this background was incredibly sensitive. "Our county responded that you were picked up and raised by mountain dwellers, a thoroughly proletarian, and your background is inherited from your adoptive grandmother. We didn't hear back from them, but we need to get your file in order to be safe. Director Zhang, could you change your surname to your adoptive grandmother's? Did you have a previous name?"
Lin Xinghuo was speechless. She pointed toward Lotus Peak behind Nanshan Mountain and asked, "Do you know my master's origin?" She was a long-time immortal nun in this area. How could she possibly know her master's surname? Besides, she didn't want to change it. Her father's surname was probably Lin, and the fact that her master had arranged this identity for her must be related to the deceased capitalist's descendant also having the surname Lin.
"I don't know my master's surname, but I do have a former name." Seeing He Qing's eyes light up, Lin Xinghuo had to break his expectations: "'Miaofa'! My original name was Lin Miaofa. Do you think this name is okay?"
He Qing choked. A name like Ni'er, Fen, or Xia would be fine. The names that come in a lot of names would be inconspicuous. Although Xinghuo sounds red and professional, it just sounds too cultured. It is a name that people can remember as soon as they hear it.
"Then let's do this," He Qing told Lin Xinghuo the solution they had come up with: "We'll add another procedure for you to go to the countryside to join the production team. First, your household registration will be changed to that of an educated youth, and then you can re-register it in the Buxiantun Brigade."
Lin Xinghuo couldn't understand what the difference was, so He Qing showed her the copied "The Emphasis on Performance is the Party's Class Policy". This was an editorial that was mainly promoted to young people from bad backgrounds in 1965. The editorial stated that young people who chose the revolutionary path of going to the countryside and drawing a clear line with their exploiting class families could become true revolutionaries.
"The educated youth file is based on the class background of your adoptive grandmother, which means you were of middle peasant origin." Nowadays, many children whose parents have a bad class background will remarry with the one with a good class background after their parents divorce. After the child goes to the countryside to work as an educated youth, the class background of the child will only be registered as that of his or her current stepfather/mother, and thus he or she will be classified as working class.
Lin Xinghuo was stunned. The master was truly remarkable. The Buxian Monastery had been prominent in its early years, so how could he be classified as a middle peasant? She had originally thought he was at least a rich peasant.
He Qing had wondered about this earlier, too, but he found out after asking the old archivist. "Did you know when class classification was done during the land reform in 1950, your area..." He pointed toward Nanshan Mountain, rubbed his face, and continued, "How many work teams changed? Two team leaders were injured just going up the mountain, and later there were those who could see but couldn't touch the gate... Only after pinching their noses and being classified as middle peasants did they return home with their lives intact." Buxian Temple was originally designated as a palace for landlords, but later supplementary materials indicated that the land it belonged to had long been donated to poor peasants, leaving only a dilapidated building.
That's why he was so anxious when the higher-ups inquired about Lin Xinghuo's situation. After all, he didn't know the old nun's abilities, but he had witnessed Lin Xinghuo's capabilities firsthand. If the county didn't intervene and sent a working group, their fate would be even worse than that of the people who had gone to Lotus Peak. All of this went on, and the county leaders' plan to keep quiet was completely ruined.
"Master, you know how to make yourself a middle-class peasant, but what kind of troublesome background have you given your disciple?" Lin Xinghuo complained inwardly.
But who knew the true story of that young couple? Rumors only told us they were intellectuals. Inside the Buxian Temple, enveloped in thick fog and forming its own little world, the old fairy sneezed, scratched her nose, and happily reached for the smoked chicken in the rice bowl. The chicken tasted truly delicious, likely specially fed with the magical rice her devoted disciple had given her. It would have been even better if it had been served hot.
The old fairy touched the dark patterns embroidered on the new cotton-padded jacket with her clean hands. She recognized the runes of the amulet and was optimistic that her daughter Guaiguai had a great talent in formation. Sooner or later, she would be able to break the formation of Buxian Temple and set herself free. After the spiritual energy became thicker, the formation became stronger and stronger, and the restraint became greater. In the past, in order to prolong her life, she had to be tied to the formation. Now she couldn't even open the formation. Fortunately, Miaofa's soul returned to its place last year, otherwise it would cost her half her life to set her free this year.
"Your background is relatively easy to resolve." He Qing squatted under the eaves where he could not be exposed to the snow and spoke to Lin Xinghuo. This place was safe from eavesdroppers. His main purpose for coming this time was not just this. "The weather this year was extreme, and the harvest was poor across the region. Add to that the tension, and the suburban farms are having a particularly hard time. People are barely making ends meet."
He opened and closed his lips twice, and spoke with difficulty: "I want to move the farm to the Buxiantun Brigade. It's relatively isolated here, the people are honest, and the members are relatively tolerant. It just so happens that there is an experimental field here, and they must be short of manpower to work..."
Lin Xinghuo was bewildered. Liangzigou's relief grain had already been distributed, and the farms on the outskirts of the county should have been among the first to receive aid. How could they still be unable to survive? However, the caracal, who had been sleeping with his head coiled around her shoulder like a scarf, was familiar with the surrounding area and relayed, "He's talking about the cadre school farms, or labor reform farms." Lin Xinghuo understood immediately. These farms were specifically used for the labor reform of cadres defeated during the movement. Without certain qualifications or rank, ordinary "reactionary academic authorities" really couldn't enter such places.
However, this type of transformed farm is usually located in remote and poor rural areas, so it is a bit strange that the one in this county is located on the outskirts of the county.
Thinking so, she asked directly.
Seeing that Lin Xinghuo showed no resentment, He Qing breathed a sigh of relief. He apologized to Lin Xinghuo first, then took out a pack of cigarettes wrapped tightly in a handkerchief from his pocket, took out a cigarette, lit it, and then said, "Director Zhang of the Revolutionary Committee, I, and Minister Guo of the Armed Forces Department all have a relatively neutral stance. When we built the farm in accordance with the instructions, we chose the suburbs of the county that could be relatively taken care of... Now there is definitely no place for relief food there, and on top of that, the students are making trouble again. That place is close to the county town, so it is a target and will be taken away sooner or later. The people there must have suffered for six or seven years at the beginning. Now they are starving and being struggled against again. By the spring of next year, I really don’t know how many of the more than 50 people will be alive?" Especially now that winter has come and schools have been closed again, the students have nowhere to use their energy, and if they are not careful, someone might die, just like in the year when the trouble was the worst.
Lin Xinghuo understood after hearing this. The county's labor camp had actually been under the watchful eye of the powerful. Listen, the head of the Revolutionary Committee, the head of the Production Command, and the Minister of the Armed Forces, who controlled the military—power, food, and weapons. No wonder she'd noticed the atmosphere in her county was the best of any county or city she'd visited on her trip to the provincial capital's black market a few days ago. Even Chang, the boss of the provincial black market, had backed off and told her he wouldn't be doing business there until at least the first half of next year, urging her to avoid the trips.
He Qing felt rather embarrassed. After all, ever since Buxian Village had voluntarily turned over its surplus grain for county distribution, the leadership knew the villagers would have enough to eat this year and wouldn't need relief rations. But he suddenly wanted to bring in fifty or so mouths to feed, which was like taking advantage of someone else's prey. After all, the famine would last nearly six months from winter to spring, and these people would be a burden, a burden competing for food with the entire Buxian Village community!
"There's really nothing we can do," He Qing said. "The district has sent a special guidance group to deal with this bullshit, and those people are staying at the county level, keeping a tight watch." It was all that person saying, "Those places that don't take the criticism of Confucius seriously are like places where a needle can't penetrate, and waves can't get through." Oh my god, because they didn't suspend classes for the students to criticize Confucius for the past two months, the county has become a target of public criticism, and the guidance group has been brought down. Now, even trying to secretly allocate food to the labor camp for the winter is out of the question. Director Zhang at the county level has done everything he can to prevent the guidance group from moving the criticism of Confucius to the farm. Any further delay would mean the farm would face two major disasters: food shortages and struggle.
"Who are all those people in there?" Lin Xinghuo asked. Not to mention the brigade's overflowing granaries, she could already produce enough food for fifty people. Being able to take food is one thing, but whether it's worth it is another. At least, like Liangzigou, they should know whose food they're carrying. While the work is tough, Liangzigou has truly benefited from Buxiantun. With the relief grain allocated from above, surviving next spring's famine won't be a problem. The key is that working here for so long has brought about a significant change in the relationship between the two villages. It's not easy for a poor village to find a place nearby where they can trade their labor for food. Now, complaints about Buxiantun are almost nonexistent in Liangzigou.
"There are veterans who have survived hundreds of battles, university professors who have studied abroad, and friendly capitalists who have established industries..." There are quite a few people who were exiled to the cold and snowy province. He Qing and others gave them certain protection, but they were also selective and considered. Some of them really had bad character, and they have tried to move to other places in recent years. It just so happened that some spineless and scheming people also wanted to leave here and live in the south where the climate is better.
Lin Xinghuo had a clear idea. These were good people who had simply been wrongly accused and mistreated. There was nothing more to argue about. Not to mention that most of these people would eventually resume their jobs and potentially benefit Buxiantun. Lin Xinghuo considered herself solely for her own benefit: she felt she might be able to gain some merit again, just like the Liangzigou incident. On the day the relief food arrived, she was meditating when a few small golden dots fell from the sky, benefiting her entire family. Even the book transformed from the inheritance plaque had a new page...
She figured the old Party secretary would be interested in someone with such talent. He'd been touching the books in the library the other day and sighed, "These students are being wasted. What have they learned in all these years? A good junior high school graduate can't even understand a 'Tofu Workshop Manual'!"
In fact, it wasn't just the old Party secretary who felt their education was being delayed. Lin Xinghuo himself felt that the ten students assigned to the experimental fields by the brigade had learned very little. The least educated of the ten, a student who had only been in the first grade of junior high school for a few months, couldn't even recognize all the characters in Lao Peng's experimental notes. Lin Xinghuo privately asked Wei Chunfeng why this young man had been admitted to the county junior high school? And why did he quit school after just a few months and return to farming?
Wei Chunfeng snorted and pulled out a newspaper to show Lin Xinghuo: "In July of this year, there was a trend of 'handing in blank papers'. Just imagine, this guy is already seventeen years old and has just finished high school. What kind of grades must he have? Anyway, he just happened to respond to this trend and was blown into the county middle school. Isn't it infuriating? Lingdang from the Cen family is such a good student, but he didn't even get into the county middle school in the past two years! But fortunately, this kid doesn't have those evil ideas. He can't keep up in the regular classes, and the school has started to fight against those educated 'stinking old ninths'. He was even more scared, so he simply dropped out and came back home. He's not stupid, just like Chunxing, he's not smart in some areas. Maybe if he learns more from the experiment, he will get better."
In fact, what the village lacks most now is educated professionals——
Sure enough, after talking to the old branch secretary and the team leader, the old branch secretary's frown, which had been furrowed when he heard about the increased burden, relaxed. The old man's mind was very quick, and he asked He Qing, "What about the quota for educated youth in the Buxiantun team this time?"
After two years of failing to recruit new educated youth, the old Party Secretary was almost overwhelmed by the pressure from the commune. Coincidentally, this year's brigade had a bumper harvest, and during the commune's earlier autumn harvest summary meeting, they'd hinted to the old Party Secretary that Buxian Village would have to take on at least ten of the next wave of educated youth. This frightened the old Party Secretary to the point of embezzlement. It wasn't that he didn't want to support the organization's efforts, but the village, both educated youth and members, had finally managed to rally their forces. If a new wave of unruly young people were to be thrown into the mix, and if, like the ill-fated Red Farmer Commune, they recruited a few "fighters" devoted to class struggle, that would truly upset the situation. Moreover, Buxian Village still held many secrets that were difficult for outsiders to know.
When the old branch secretary was bargaining with He Qing about the educated youth issue, he kept glancing at Lin Xinghuo. After a few glances, He Qing understood. He only heard Minister He laugh and say, "Well, when I proposed moving the farm to your village, I took into account that we have this soil. It's very suitable!"
What kind of soil? A village steeped in feudal superstition. How does this square with the misguided stance of those within the labor camp, who believe in being the eldest brother, never mind the second? If the farm's affairs were reported, none of those secretly sheltering them would be able to escape. Not only would their families be implicated, but in serious cases, the entire county would be in turmoil. Some people have the audacity to label this county "the shady headquarters of local tyrants." Therefore, only by focusing on the equally serious situation in Buxian Village can we be reassured.
"Now that the farm has moved here, we naturally can't add any more burdens to you." He Qinghe promised amiably. With the farm still there, he didn't dare let any strangers into Buxian Village anymore. "But the educated youth originally from our village must also do a good job in their work."
The implication is that you should not let the old educated youth get in the way.
The old branch secretary immediately took the opportunity to back down: "Xiao Lin said before that the experimental field was too far in. If the land on the other side of the river valley is more fertile, it's just that the Songwazi River over there was a large area moved eastward 20 years ago. It didn't originally belong to our Buxian Village." It doesn't even belong to this county or city. In fact, this area of Songwazi River has always been a bit ambiguous. This side is too remote, and the water conservancy departments on both sides have never argued over this section, so the ownership is not clear.
That river valley, far from the collective, would have provided another good reason for the farm's relocation. After all, Buxiantun was known for its abundant harvests. If the county were to move such a sensitive location as the labor camp to the more affluent brigade, some would have felt the leadership was misaligned. Even if they used the excuse that Buxiantun had newly designated experimental fields and had these people doing hard labor, there would still be those who argued that if there were not enough people, some could be transferred from the production teams with the worst harvests to Buxiantun, and that the advanced could lead the backward. Now, they were simply saying that the farms should reclaim wasteland in the river valley. There were plenty of such places throughout the county, and we could arrange for anyone who wasn't afraid of flooding!
He Qingduo was a shrewd man and immediately said, "I've checked before. Isn't the boundary between our brigade and the other side the Songwazi River? Everything on the west side of the Songwazi River belongs to our brigade. Is the boundary marker broken? Please rest assured, our brigade, you've solved the problem for the county. I'll go back and ask Director Zhang for a new boundary marker."
"It's just that this river valley is low-lying after all. If the Songwazi River floods... it won't be safe." He Qing said with some worry. Everyone knows that the river valley is fertile, but why is it left barren? Isn't it because they are afraid of it being flooded again?
The old branch secretary was beaming as he stuffed the information He Qing brought into Lin Xinghuo's hands. "You just said we have soil here, how come you forgot?" Even when you drink water, you still remember the well diggers. Why do we have this feudal and superstitious soil? Haven't you experienced its power?
He Qing responded with an "oh oh oh" and the two old foxes looked at Lin Xinghuo with kindness. There was no need to say anything; it was all on their faces.
Well, the river valley is fenced off for at least twenty hours!
Lin Xinghuo: "..." What else could she say? She shouldn't be thinking about the big fish in the Songwazi River, shouldn't be thinking about digging a pond in the experimental field, and shouldn't be thinking about everything just for a bite to eat.
But spiritual beasts are different from human beings in their cultivation. They rely on eating and drinking to increase their cultivation! Lin Xinghuo pulled the caracal off his shoulder and covered his hands with it, his heart full of self-touching. I have endured so much for you.
The caracal looked at her sideways, covered his hands obediently, and asked in a voice transmission: "Who eats the second most?" His appetite exceeds that of Huahua, the stinky cat, and he has the nerve to blame the spiritual beast for everything?
As the one who ate the most, the caracal took his position very seriously. He even comforted Lin Xinghuo, "A parent should eat a lot!" Otherwise, how could he be a parent? How could he support his family? The caracal did its best to hold Lin Xinghuo's hand with its soft fur, feeling that he had done his best as the head of the family.
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The author has something to say: Although it’s late, the second update is coming on the 28th~
Note: In 1965, China Youth Daily published an editorial entitled "The Party's Class Policy Emphasizes Performance," which featured several young people from poor backgrounds who actively participated in the revolution in rural areas.
"Where criticism of Confucius is neglected, it is impossible to penetrate." —Symposium on the Education Front on the Criticism of Confucius, September 1973.
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