Chapter 1 Grain Exchange
As Lin Qingqing and Xie Wei entered the courtyard of the brigade headquarters, they ran into Xie Baoshan, who was coming out of his office with a teacup in his hand. He looked at them in surprise and asked, "What brings you here?"
"Good morning, Captain," Lin Qingqing called out, explaining, "I'm here to see Director Yang."
In order to record work points for Lin Qingqing, Director Yang specifically mentioned this to Xie Baoshan, so what surprised him was not that Lin Qingqing came to the brigade headquarters, but that Xie Wei came with her.
"I went to the educated youth settlement to get a quilt from Comrade Lin, and I happened to need to talk to you about something, so I came along with you," Xie Wei explained.
Xie Baoshan saw the quilt on the back of the bicycle and looked at Xie Wei with a meaningful gaze: "I see. What do you need me for?" He was about to turn around and go back to his office, but he stopped and pointed to an office, saying, "Director Yang is in that office."
Lin Qingqing quickly agreed and said to Xie Wei, "Then I'll go first."
"Okay." Xie Wei nodded, watching Lin Qingqing walk into the Women's Federation office.
Xie Baoshan was about to go into the office when he noticed that the man hadn't followed. He turned around and looked at him for a long time, but the man didn't react. Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore and asked, "Do you want to come in with me?"
"No, thank you," Xie Wei said, snapping out of his reverie.
Xie Baoshan laughed in exasperation: "What exactly did you come here for today?"
“It’s nothing, I’ll tell you when you get back at noon,” Xie Wei said, straddling his bicycle. “I’m going back now.”
Without waiting for Xie Baoshan's reaction, he hopped on his bicycle and rode out of the brigade headquarters' courtyard. Only after he was far away did Xie Baoshan come to his senses, so angry he was speechless. He cursed, "You little brat!"
After cursing, he glanced at the door of the Women's Federation office and couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Did Xie Wei and Lin Qingqing come to the brigade headquarters together because they really had something to do, or were they just trying to curry favor?"
...
Lin Qingqing, who had just entered the Women's Federation office, was unaware of the confrontation between the two brothers outside. After greeting Director Yang, she began discussing the meeting.
When talking about meetings, one cannot help but mention the Women's Federation.
The All-China Women's Federation was founded in March 1949. It is an organization of women from all ethnic groups and walks of life, led by the Party, united to fight for women's liberation. Today, the Women's Federation can be found in every province, city, unit, township, and rural area.
While the Women's Federation appears to be developing rapidly and wielding increasing influence, its actual impact in rural areas remains limited. In remote villages, cases of baby girls being drowned, wives being beaten, and daughters being forced into marriage are commonplace.
Even though the geographical location wasn't remote, the members lacked food and clothing.
In Xingfeng Brigade, women were still not valued. In most families, sons could go to school, while daughters had to go to the fields early to earn work points. When the children grew up, daughters were hastily married off to pay for the sons' dowries. And after the daughters got married, the same path would repeat itself, valuing sons and neglecting daughters, as if people were divided into different classes from birth because of their physical structure.
What's even more frightening is that the vast majority of people don't see anything wrong with this.
Therefore, it is extremely difficult to defend women's rights and promote gender equality here. For example, Director Yang has been working on women's issues for over ten years, but she has only been able to resolve some trivial matters. When it came to being beaten, the women chose to remain silent.
Director Yang was unwilling to live such a mediocre life and had tried her best, but humans are social animals. Even if she could persuade one person, that person would be assimilated by the group once they were integrated into it. She could persuade one person, but she couldn't change everyone's mind.
Lin Qingqing's incident brought the plight of women at the grassroots level to the attention of Secretary Zhou of the commune. With his support, Director Chen of the commune's Women's Federation prepared to make a big effort, arranging for the Women's Federation cadres of various units and brigades to organize study sessions and discussions on this matter, in order to fundamentally improve the situation of women.
But Director Yang, having worked at the grassroots level for so many years, knew all too well that an ordinary study and discussion meeting was utterly useless. Yes, she could organize the brigade members to participate in the meeting, but what would happen afterward? Nobody would take it to heart.
After sitting down, Lin Qingqing asked, "How did you conduct meetings before?"
Director Yang got up and took out the documents from the previous meeting from the cabinet, handing them to Lin Qingqing. She quickly flipped through them; the documents all revolved around women's rights, and the wording was relatively simple, but documents are, after all, a bit dry to read aloud. Listening to Director Yang's description of the meeting, it was basically just reading the documents verbatim, no wonder the members were only paying attention.
After listening to Director Yang's explanation, Lin Qingqing asked, "What are your plans for this meeting, and what are your objectives?"
"Well, the commune's women's federation asked me to organize a discussion about the Zhao Chunhua incident, didn't they?" Director Yang paused after speaking, and continued after seeing Lin Qingqing nod, "You are the victim in this incident. I think that no matter what others say, it will definitely not be as engaging as you saying it."
Although she didn't have high hopes, Director Yang was determined to do a good job and achieve results. Therefore, after the commune women's federation assigned the task, she kept thinking about how to organize this meeting.
Finally, it was her daughter who enlightened her, saying, "Didn't Lin Qingqing, the victim in the Zhao Chunhua incident, settle down in Xingfeng Brigade? If we could invite her to tell the story, the effect would definitely be better than just reading from a script, right?"
After listening to her daughter's words, Director Yang suddenly understood and quickly found Lin Qingqing to discuss the meeting.
"I was thinking that after you finish telling the story of Zhao Chunhua, I would elaborate on some cases related to women's rights, hoping to give everyone new insights." This is the same old routine; it's been the same process for the past ten years.
After listening, Lin Qingqing asked Director Yang how he wanted to expand on the topic. Director Yang then took out his draft and began to explain it to Lin Qingqing.
The lecture lasted for about ten minutes. After it ended, Director Yang looked at Lin Qingqing expectantly and asked, "What did you think?"
To be honest, Lin Qingqing felt that Director Yang's plan had some problems.
It's not that there's anything wrong with Director Yang's draft; after all, she's been the women's director for over a decade and has organized dozens of meetings, so she can still write formulaic drafts.
In Lin Qingqing's opinion, Director Yang's problem was that she was too greedy.
She wanted to use this meeting to list all the issues and tell everyone what could and could not be done, but she didn't mention the harm or consequences of doing so.
As a result, the listeners will naturally become annoyed or even indifferent, and the meeting will have little effect.
However, although Director Yang was very enthusiastic, they had only just met. Unsure of Director Yang's temperament, Lin Qingqing hesitated and pondered how to express her opinion.
When Director Yang saw Lin Qingqing's furrowed brows, his heart sank as well.
Although, based on the information she received, Lin Qingqing was uneducated and lacked knowledge, she read those documents smoothly without any hesitation. Furthermore, the questions she asked seemed simple, but only someone with a keen eye could have posed them.
In their brief encounter, Director Yang had already begun to trust Lin Qingqing, so when he saw her remain silent, he said, "It's alright, tell me what the problem is, and we'll discuss it together."
Lin Qingqing hesitated before speaking, "Um... I think it's a bit too hasty."
"Urgent?" Director Yang looked surprised, not expecting her to say that.
“Your draft covers all aspects of women’s work and is very comprehensive, but if you just dump it all on someone at once, it’s easy to lose sight of the key points,” Lin Qingqing said as she thought. “I think improving women’s rights is a long-term task, like water dripping on a stone, it has to be done slowly.”
Director Yang fell into deep thought.
Did Lin Qingqing really not know the answer to the question she raised?
No, she actually knew, but the Women's Federation's work had been stagnant for so long that she had lost her initial enthusiasm and patience. So when tasks were assigned to her, she wanted to do them well, but on the other hand, she felt it was impossible, and in the end, this is how it turned out.
Director Yang looked up and asked, "How should we conduct this meeting?"
"I think we should first cut out the details that you added later that are not related to the Zhao Chunhua incident. If this meeting is successful, you can organize other meetings on related topics in the future. Anyway, there is plenty of time."
When he heard the first half of the sentence, Director Yang hesitated for a moment, but when he heard the second half, he suddenly understood.
That's right, it's not like she's quitting her work at the Women's Federation tomorrow. If she does well this time, organizing the next meeting will be a piece of cake. If she ruins this meeting for the sake of small things, it will be difficult to motivate everyone next time.
"Xiao Lin, you're right." After thinking it through, Director Yang changed his way of addressing Lin Qingqing from "Comrade Lin" to the affectionate "Xiao Lin".
Having set a general direction, the two began to discuss how the meeting should proceed if it only concerned the matter of Old Lady Lin.
Director Yang wanted Lin Qingqing to recount her experiences and the fate of Old Lady Lin and her daughter, so that people could learn a lesson from her.
But Lin Qingqing felt that this wasn't enough. Surrogacy was still a relatively rare occurrence; most people wouldn't think of it, and it would be difficult to find a suitable candidate. Moreover, in Lin Qingqing's view, rather than warning the perpetrators and hoping for a change of heart, it would be better to remind the victims and tell them what choices to make when faced with coercion.
"Relying on people leads to their downfall, relying on mountains leads to their abandonment." Director Yang pondered, "What are your thoughts?"
If Director Yang had to tell herself to trust Lin Qingqing when she first asked for her opinion, after talking for so long, she now completely trusts Lin Qingqing.
Perhaps, because of the young girl in front of him, his career might even take a turn for the better.
Lin Qingqing did have some thoughts in mind, and said, "You asked me to tell you about my experiences, but I feel that those things are not enough for women who have had similar experiences to understand what consequences their choices will bring. On the contrary, my leaving the Lin family and settling down in Xingfeng Brigade alone, compared to my previous life, might make people feel that this path is not so right."
After Lin Qingqing settled in Xingfeng Brigade, Director Yang did indeed hear similar comments, and she looked serious.
He stood up and said, "Then what do you think we should do?"
"contrast."
How do we compare them?
"Compare the tragic experiences I might have had if I had stayed with the Lin family with the life I would have had after leaving the Lin family and regaining my freedom."
During the conversation, Lin Qingqing's previously vague thoughts gradually became clearer.
Using the story as a springboard, she recounted the original owner's experiences to Director Yang. At first, Director Yang thought it was just her assumption, a mere story, and listened attentively, occasionally offering her own opinions. But as the story progressed, Director Yang's eyes gradually reddened, and even after Lin Qingqing finished telling the story, she still felt overwhelmed, murmuring, "How is this possible? Didn't...did anyone discover it?"
“Perhaps someone noticed, but everyone chose to remain silent,” Lin Qingqing said, lowering her eyes. She then asked, “What do you think of this story?”
Director Yang, who was feeling down, was pulled back to his senses by her words. He got up and paced around the office for a long time before stopping and hesitatingly saying, "The story is good, but isn't it a bit too much? And there are some things I just can't understand. What if some people don't believe it?"
Lin Qingqing felt a pang of sadness as she listened. Yes, if she hadn't witnessed it with her own eyes, who could believe it was true? In those seven years, she had met all sorts of people, who would disappear for months at a time, but apart from Xie Wei, no one spoke up for her, and no one wanted to uncover the truth.
But Lin Qingqing did not argue with Director Yang about the veracity of the matter, saying, "Isn't our goal precisely to warn the victims?"
Director Yang remained silent after hearing this.
After a long pause, she nodded and said, "Then let's try to follow this line of thought first, and we'll see what happens if we can't."
"Okay," Lin Qingqing readily agreed.
With the general direction set, both of them breathed a sigh of relief. Director Yang, whose back ached from sitting so long, walked to the window, opened it, and looked outside. People from the brigade headquarters were leaving one after another. Seeing her open the window, they called out, "It's lunchtime, aren't you going back?"
"Okay, I'll be right there," Director Yang replied, then turned and invited Lin Qingqing to his home for dinner.
Lin Qingqing quickly shook her head and said, "The cafeteria has already cooked my meal; it would be a waste not to eat it."
The educated youth settlement had a large canteen, and it was difficult to keep track of everyone's meals while cooking. To avoid waste, those who didn't want to eat in the canteen had to inform the staff in advance. Lin Qingqing hadn't expected Director Yang to invite her to his home for dinner, so she hadn't mentioned it before leaving today.
These days, food is expensive. Hearing this, Director Yang said helplessly, "Alright." He and Lin Qingqing went out one after the other, locked the office door, and after taking a few steps, asked again...
"I heard you asked the Lin family for a lot of grain this time?"
Although she didn't understand why Director Yang suddenly asked this question, Lin Qingqing still answered honestly: "There are 100 jin of refined grains, more coarse grains, but less than 200 jin, and some sweet potatoes as well."
“I see…” Director Yang murmured.
Lin Qingqing sensed the unspoken meaning in her words and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Here's the thing, I have an older sister who married into the city. She has a lot of children and not enough food, so she came to ask me if we had any extra grain. But my family is also quite large, and we can't give her much even if we divide it among ourselves. So I thought I'd ask around the brigade, but as you know, we can't do it in a big way."
In recent years, the country has been cracking down on speculation and profiteering. Although Director Yang was exchanging grain for her sister and may not have profited from the price difference, she still handled a significant amount of goods, making it difficult to clarify the situation if investigated. Director Yang is, after all, a member of the Women's Federation, so she needs to be extra careful in these matters.
Although Lin Qingqing was surprised that she would tell her this, she still nodded and said, "That is indeed a problem."
"Yes, that's why I didn't dare ask too many questions. I only contacted a few families I was close to." Director Yang paused for a moment before continuing, "When we were talking about grain, I remembered that you brought back a lot of grain from the Lin family. I was thinking if you had any extra, could you share some with me? Not too much, just ten or twenty catties would be fine, so you don't run out of food."
Lin Qingqing was thinking of going to the black market when she heard what Director Yang said, and she was a little tempted, but she hesitated: "Why did you tell me about this?"
Director Yang laughed heartily upon hearing this: "I've lived most of my life, and while I may not have seen more people than you've eaten salt, I'm always good at judging people. You're a good kid, so I trust you with this. Besides, we're close and we care about each other. Even if others find out, we can just say it's a private exchange of grain, and it won't cause any trouble."
At that time, rural areas were short of supplies, and farmers had no money or ration coupons, so they had to exchange grain for other goods. On market days, some people would even bring their agricultural products to sell. As long as it wasn't too outrageous or speculative, the authorities would turn a blind eye.
Hearing her say that, Lin Qingqing's worries disappeared.
It doesn't matter who you sell the grain to, Director Yang is still the head of the Women's Federation. Selling to her is better than selling to those nameless people on the black market.
Lin Qingqing nodded and said, "I can provide thirty jin of coarse grains. If you only want refined grains, I can provide twenty jin." Refined grains taste better than coarse grains and are more expensive. If needed, you can find someone to exchange them for coarse grains.
"That
"How about you give me twenty catties of coarse grain and ten catties of refined grain? Don't worry about the price, we'll exchange them at market price. If you need coupons, I can give you those too." Director Yang, remembering that Lin Qingqing had just come from the Lin family's house, asked, "If you need anything, just tell me. My sister and brother-in-law are both workers, they have a lot of coupons, like soap coupons, thermos flask coupons, and industrial coupons."
Director Yang's words were like a pillow being handed to a sleepy person; she nodded and said, "I do lack quite a few things."
"Then go back and make a list. Tell me what you need this afternoon, and I'll ask my sister if she has any, or if we can exchange with a coworker. Let's discuss it and see how to arrange it."
"Okay, I'll go back and calculate it."
After discussing it with Director Yang, Lin Qingqing pondered what to change during her afternoon nap.
Soap coupons are definitely needed, as are buckets and basins. A thermos... might be a bit expensive; we'll decide whether to buy it after clarifying the price. A lunchbox is also necessary; we can't always use Wang Fengxia's, but we should still ask about the price. If it's too expensive, we'll buy a porcelain bowl.
Just as Lin Qingqing was making her plans, Li Juan's voice rang in her ears. Startled, she opened her eyes and asked, "What's wrong?"
"What are you thinking about? Why are you muttering to yourself?" Li Juan asked, amused.
"I wasn't thinking about anything," Lin Qingqing shook her head and asked, "Is there something you need?"
Li Juan pointed to Wang Li's bed and said, "Did you two have a fight this morning? She just said she wanted to move to another dormitory, and Sister Wang called her out for a talk."
Lin Qingqing glanced outside and, not seeing Wang Fengxia and Wang Li, nodded and said, "There was a bit of a disagreement."
"What happened? Did she bully you?"
In just one sentence, you can see how much Li Juan and Wang Li don't get along. Lin Qingqing said with a laugh, "I'm not that weak, that she would bully me."
"That's good." Li Juan breathed a sigh of relief and sat back on her bed, saying, "It's good that she moved out; it'll reduce the chaos."
Lin Qingqing chuckled upon hearing this, but said nothing. She lay down on the bed, closed her eyes, and continued to think about what she still lacked and what she needed to exchange for.
Oh, right, I still have some cloth coupons. I need to buy two pairs of shoe soles, otherwise her two pairs of warm shoes will get punctured by her toes if they keep being passed around.
There are also clothes. Two of the clothes she brought from the Lin family are so patched they can't be patched anymore... Forget it, a cotton-padded coat not only needs cloth but also cotton, and she doesn't know how to sew. Hiring someone to make one would cost several dollars in labor. She'll just wear her old clothes for now and have a couple of spring outfits made when spring comes. She'll see how things go tomorrow and then decide whether or not to make a cotton-padded coat.
As she pondered these thoughts, Lin Qingqing gradually fell asleep.
...
After discussing work in the afternoon, Lin Qingqing and Director Yang talked about exchanging grain. She listed out all the ration coupons she needed. Then, Lin Qingqing explained her situation to Director Yang, asking her to help her find out the prices of the thermos and lunchbox. If they were too expensive, she would not need them; if it was inconvenient to ask, then it was fine.
Director Yang showed no impatience and agreed to everything. He then arranged with Lin Qingqing to bring the grain over the next day, while he went back to check what other ration coupons he had and would give her some tomorrow.
After discussing these matters, the day was almost over.
The two walked back together, not mentioning the grain exchange again, but instead discussing the details of the meeting. They reached a fork in the road and parted ways, each taking a different path.
This time, however, Director Yang didn't go straight home. Instead, she took a detour to the Xie family to find Xie Wei. Unfortunately, Xie Wei wasn't home, so she had Li Xingfang pass on a message that she was going back first.
After arriving home, Director Yang didn't have to wait long. Xie Wei returned right after dinner and asked how things went.
“I’ve already discussed it with her. She needs ten jin of refined grains and twenty jin of coarse grains, and I’ll charge her according to the market price. I’ve also listed out what she needs,” Director Yang said, taking a piece of paper from his pocket and handing it to Xie Wei. “She’s a little hesitant about whether to accept the lunchbox and thermos flask vouchers because she’s worried they’re too expensive.”
Director Yang was still a little worried: "I see she listed quite a lot of things; will you be able to find all the tickets?"
"More or less." Xie Wei said, placing the paper on the table, taking out a stack of tickets from his pocket, and pulling out the ones listed on the slip and placing them on the table.
Director Yang's eyes widened when Xie Wei took out the tickets. In all her years, she had never seen such a large stack of tickets before, and she couldn't help but ask, "Are these all issued by your unit?"
"Some were issued by the military, and some I got from my second brother." Some were from former classmates, but Xie Wei felt there was no need to explain so much, so he didn't say anything.
Director Yang suddenly realized, "That makes sense. Xie Wei's second brother is a teacher in the county town, so he must have a lot of votes. It's not surprising that the brothers have so many votes pooled together." But Director Yang was also a little puzzled. Since he liked Comrade Xiao Lin, why didn't he just give her the votes himself? Why did he have to go through her?
After much thought, Director Yang could only conclude that Xie Wei was too shy because it was his first time pursuing a girl.
Then she remembered what she had said to Lin Qingqing earlier that day, and the rumors in the brigade that she had fallen out with her neighbor and would have a hard time in the future. She thought to herself, they really misjudged her this time.
If Lin Qingqing hadn't left the Lin family, how would she have known Xie Wei?
Seeing Xie Wei's enthusiasm, Director Yang felt that her future was definitely bright!
Author's Note: First update
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