Chapter 1 Severe Punishment
Hearing the sound, Old Lady Lin turned around and saw a middle-aged man standing behind the weeds on the bank, glaring at her angrily. Old Lady Lin was initially flustered, but then recognized that this man wasn't from Linjiazui Brigade. She immediately put her hands on her hips and started yelling, "What business is it of yours what my daughter and I are talking about! You called me ridiculous, and you were even eavesdropping! Doing such a despicable thing, watch out if you ever have a son!"
Lin Hongwei, whose entire body was hidden by weeds, had his eyes twitching wildly again. Looking at Secretary Zhou's dark face, he no longer needed to think about what might happen today! He quickly stood next to Secretary Zhou, pointed at Old Lady Lin, and said, "Just shut up!"
Lin Hongwei was a little shorter than Secretary Zhou, and when he stood in front of her, Old Lady Lin could only see the upper half of his face. So, Old Lady Lin didn't recognize him at first and shouted, "Who's that old geezer?"
"Secretary Lin!"
As soon as Old Lady Lin finished speaking, she heard her adopted daughter shouting towards the shore behind her. She was slightly taken aback, "What..."
Lin Hongwei could no longer restrain himself. He strode around the weeds and down the gentle slope at the end. Seeing him, Old Mrs. Lin was a little dazed, but before she could react, she heard Lin Qingqing say, "Secretary Lin, you must stand up for me!"
Old Mrs. Lin suddenly came to her senses, fear and panic rushing to her head, and her face changed. "Qingqing, what are you saying! What do you want Hongwei to do for you? Hongwei, don't listen to her nonsense. I treat her like my own daughter, and I'm very good to her!"
"If necessary, letting her have a child for her own daughter would be very good for her."
Although Old Lady Lin wasn't much older than Lin Hongwei, she was of a higher generation. Having called her "Auntie" for decades, Lin Hongwei hesitated upon hearing her say this, wondering if there was some misunderstanding. But before he could speak, Xie Wei's indifferent voice came from behind him. Turning around, he saw Secretary Zhou's face was even more gloomy than before, and he immediately felt a chill.
“Auntie, I usually respect you as an elder, but what you did was really despicable! Making your adopted daughter have a child in place of your biological daughter, how could you even think of such a thing!” Lin Hongwei said, feeling that Old Lady Lin was utterly heartless.
Old Mrs. Lin acted arrogantly in front of Lin Qingqing, saying that the Lin family had saved her life, and it was only right for her to bear a child for the Lin family's daughter. However, she also knew that this had to be done secretly; if others found out, she would be gossiped about. Therefore, Old Mrs. Lin had no intention of admitting to their accusations, pointing at Xie Wei and saying, "What's wrong with you, child? You just start accusing people without even trying?"
Although Xie Wei saved Lin Qingqing, there were many people in the field not far from the pond at the time, so he left after seeing someone take Lin Qingqing home. Old Mrs. Lin's heart was entirely focused on her daughter returning home, and she hadn't even considered going to Xie Wei's house to thank him. Yesterday, when Lin Qingqing came to visit, she was heartbroken due to severe bleeding and didn't go with her.
So although Grandma Lin felt that Xie Wei looked somewhat familiar, she didn't recognize him. Seeing that he was young and wearing an old military uniform, she naturally assumed that he was a young intellectual who had just been sent to the countryside.
Although the educated youth were all from the city, they had a hard time returning to the countryside after being sent there, so they were actually worse off than the rural people! Old Mrs. Lin wasn't afraid of him.
Hearing what Grandma Lin said, Lin Qingqing almost burst out laughing. However, knowing the importance of things, she forced back her joy and squeezed out tears, saying, "Mother, isn't that what you and Third Sister were planning?"
"What business is it of yours what we adults are having to say?" Old Mrs. Lin was already anxious, and when she heard Lin Qingqing adding fuel to the fire, she couldn't hold back and reached out to hit her.
Lin Qingqing wanted to shake off her hand, but remembering that important figures were watching, she forced herself to shrink back and cover her head with her arm. Fortunately, after being hit twice, Xie Wei came over, grabbed Lin's hand, and pushed her to the ground.
Old Mrs. Lin plopped down on the ground and immediately began to wail, "Lin Hongwei! You're the brigade secretary! You just stood by and watched as the educated youth bullied poor old people!"
Lin Hongwei felt bitter upon hearing this, but when he looked at Secretary Zhou, he saw that his face was tense and he hesitated to speak.
Xie Wei seemed not to have heard what Grandma Lin said, and told Lin Qingqing, "No one will bully you anymore."
Lin Qingqing slowly lowered her hand, opened her eyes to look at Xie Wei, and hesitated before asking, "Really?"
“Really.” Secretary Zhou stepped forward and said gently, “Young lady, we heard what you and this comrade said.”
"But now we need to understand a few more things. Can you tell me what exactly you were talking about?"
Lin Qingqing lowered her eyes and twisted her hands together without saying a word.
Xie Wei thought she was scared, so he pointed to Secretary Zhou and said, "This is our commune's Party Secretary, and the people behind him are the commune's staff. If you have any difficulties, just tell me. Don't worry, the organization will do its best to help you solve them."
The old lady Lin, who was sitting on the ground throwing a tantrum, stopped crying when she heard Xie Wei's words. She suddenly opened her eyes, glared at Lin Qingqing, and said, "Lin Qingqing, I am your mother!"
Secretary Zhou sensed the threat in Old Lady Lin's voice and his gaze darkened slightly. "Young lady, don't worry. The country stipulates that every citizen has personal freedom. Even your parents cannot control your fate, much less force you to have children for someone else."
Lin Qingqing looked at Xie Wei, and they met eyes. He nodded solemnly.
"As you can see, she is my adoptive mother." Lin Qingqing lowered her head and told the story of how her hometown suffered a famine, how she was abducted, and how she was rescued by Lin Youfu.
As Lin Qingqing recounted her story, Grandma Lin gradually felt relieved.
Although his adopted daughter wasn't as obedient anymore, she still had some conscience and knew the Lin family had done him a great favor. He thought that if he could get away with this today, he would postpone tonight's plans until things calmed down before discussing the matter further. However, he still needed to work on his adopted daughter's mindset to prevent her from causing trouble again.
While Grandma Lin was thinking, Lin Qingqing finished explaining the background and then changed the subject, saying, "The story begins two years ago. My third sister, Lin Ying, was smart from a young age. She went to high school, but after graduation, there were no spots available for university, so she returned to the brigade and became a primary school teacher."
Lin Hongwei added, "Lin Ying is indeed a smart child."
Secretary Zhou snorted lightly upon hearing this. No matter how smart someone is, to do something like having their sister bear a child for them shows that their character is bad.
"Two years ago, my third sister met her current husband, and the two quickly became a couple and got married with their parents' consent. However, after the marriage, my third sister was unable to conceive. About a month ago, she and her husband went to the hospital for a checkup and found out that the problem was with her."
Hearing this, everyone by the stream fell silent. Old Mrs. Lin wiped away her tears and said, "My daughter has such a hard life!"
“My third sister’s husband is the only son in his family. Ever since they got married, his family has been urging them to have a child. My third sister found out that she couldn’t have children. She was very scared, so she went back to her parents’ home to ask my mother to let her have the child for her. My mother didn’t agree at the time.”
"You're talking nonsense!" Old Mrs. Lin shouted.
The staff member behind Secretary Zhou asked curiously, "How did you know about this? Did they tell you back then?"
Lin Qingqing slowly shook her head. "I heard it."
Lin Hongwei said, "Then why didn't your mother agree back then, but now she's forcing her adopted daughter?"
“Five days ago, I fell into the water. At that time…” Lin Qingqing looked up at Xie Wei and said, “Comrade Xie saved me.”
Secretary Zhou looked at Xie Wei with surprise, but seeing that his expression remained unchanged and he showed no intention of explaining, he temporarily put aside his doubts and listened carefully to Lin Qingqing's words: "Third Sister also came back that day. It turned out that her mother-in-law knew that she could not have children and forced her to divorce her husband. She begged my mother again to let me have a child for her, and my mother agreed."
Lin Qingqing gave a timely, bitter smile. "They were discussing this by my bedside, but they didn't realize that I was already awake at that time."
Looking at the pale-smiling little girl in front of them, and thinking of her tragic fate, the group couldn't help but feel sympathy for her.
Just then, Old Mrs. Lin got up from the ground and rushed over to stop Lin Qingqing from speaking. But Xie Wei reacted quickly, binding her hands and feet in a few moves, rendering her immobile. Old Mrs. Lin was already blinded by rage, shouting, "You ungrateful wretch! What have I ever done to wrong you? Why are you framing me and Yingzi like this! Father Weimin! Open your eyes and see what kind of vicious woman you saved! She's trying to drive our whole family to our deaths!"
If they hadn't overheard their conversation, the group might have believed Old Lady Lin. But they clearly heard Old Lady Lin pressuring her adopted daughter, and after hearing Lin Qingqing's additional explanation, no one believed Old Lady Lin, much less sympathized with her.
Therefore, after Xie Wei took out a handkerchief and tied it to Lin's mouth to stop her from shouting, no one spoke up to stop her.
Lin Qingqing was talking about her conversation with Grandma Lin yesterday when she saw Xie Wei's actions and almost couldn't hold back her smile. She finally managed to compose herself and sobbed, "Mother said that if I didn't agree, I would be an ingrate, but he's my brother-in-law! How could I..."
"Comrade Lin, you did the right thing!" Secretary Zhou comforted him. Hearing this, the matter was quite clear. He said to Lin Hongwei with a stern face, "You just told me that the people of Linjiazu Brigade are simple and honest, and that no one locks their doors at night. Is this what you call simple and honest? It's absurd!"
Hearing Secretary Zhou's words, Lin Hongwei lowered his head and smiled bitterly. He never expected that such a malignant tumor as Old Lady Lin would emerge in the brigade!
"Tolerance will only encourage unhealthy tendencies! This matter must be severely punished!" Secretary Zhou said, looking at Old Lady Lin. "We must not tolerate such a cancer and bad element! She must be educated and reformed! Before she is reformed, we cannot allow her to remain among the masses and influence other positive and upright comrades!"
Seeing how angry Secretary Zhou was, Lin Hongwei dared not speak up for Old Lady Lin and quickly nodded, saying, "I will make the arrangements immediately!"
Secretary Zhou was not satisfied and said, "It's not enough to just make arrangements; we also need to issue a notice to the entire commune so that the masses know and learn from this!"
When she heard that she was a cancer and would be subject to "education and reform," Old Lady Lin was stunned. When she heard Secretary Zhou say that it would be publicized throughout the entire commune, Old Lady Lin could no longer hold on, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted to the ground.
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