Reborn in 1966

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Speculation

Another person said, "That's right. Maybe Shengqin was harmed by them, and he's putting on this show at their house to avoid taking responsibility."

As soon as this claim was made, everyone immediately felt it was the truth, and they began to speculate wildly about various details. Some even said, "Do you think they were trying to force a confession out of her? She refused to confess even at the cost of her life, so they killed her?"

The person next to him said, "Yes, that must be it."

Another person listening in said, "Oh dear, these rebels are utterly wicked. Look at Shengqin's family, with their orphans and widows, how could they do such a thing? No way, we're from the same village. If we don't stand up for Shengqin after he's been wronged like this, anyone in our village could end up like him."

The people listening nearby nodded in agreement and said, "You're right. If we don't stand up for them, people will think that everyone in our village is a pushover, and anyone can become the next 'easy man' in the future. Fellow villagers, we can't just sit idly by."

Everyone nodded, ready to step forward and help the Shen family should anything happen to them.

Director Zhou was already sweating profusely, feeling like he had swallowed a bitter pill. He couldn't express his bitterness, nor could he say that Shen Shengqin had been tortured and forced to confess, nor could he say what they wanted from Shen Shengqin. People of his age all knew that back then, Shen's eldest daughter and son-in-law led the villagers in fighting the Japanese and the Kuomintang in this vast area. Although Shen's eldest son, Shen Shengsi, was now labeled a rightist, everyone knew that he was living a very good life in Shenjia Village, and his relationship with those rightists and counter-revolutionaries who had returned to their hometowns for reform was far better than that of others.

Originally, these rebels planned to take Shen Shengsi back to hold a denunciation meeting. Once they entered Shenjia Village, they never left. Although the current situation was very favorable to the rebels, who doesn't have relatives? Relatives visit each other, and if you do things too ruthlessly, your relatives won't have any say, and your own windows might be smashed at any time.

The people of Xiping County will never forget the contributions Shenjia Village made to the entire Xiping area back then.

As Director Zhou was struggling with his decision, Director Ma stepped forward and shouted, "Quiet down! We're here to arrest counter-revolutionaries! What are you doing? Are you trying to protect them? That's tantamount to a counter-revolutionary crime!"

Everyone was stunned when they heard "current counter-revolutionary," as that was a serious charge.

Seeing that he had stunned everyone, the young man said to Director Zhou, "Old Zhou, what's going on here? We're just looking for someone, why are you making such a fuss? Why don't you take some people inside to see if they're there, and then see if there's anyone in the village who's close to them, and then take some people to check there too?"

Director Zhou was bitter inside, even more so than he was outside. You can get things done and leave without a care in the world, and you'll still get the attention of your superiors when you go back. But what about me? My ancestors have lived in Xiping County for generations. Not to mention anything else, my parents received a lot of help from Shenjia Village during the war years. I also experienced it myself. When there was a famine during the fight against the Japanese, the Shen family gave a lot of their own grain to help their neighbors, and I ate some of it myself.

If my parents find out that I brought people to someone's house to arrest them, I'll not only get a scolding when I get home, but I'll probably be forced to kneel as punishment. No matter how much the "Destroy the Four Olds" campaign is being carried out, I still have to listen to my parents.

Director Zhou stood still, so Director Ma gave him a push and said, "Old Zhou, hurry up and carry out the order."

Director Zhou said, "Director Ma, I think we should forget about it. It seems that Shen Shengqin hasn't come to the house either. Let's look for him somewhere else."

Upon hearing this, Director Ma's expression immediately turned serious. He said, "Director Zhou, how can your stance be so wavering? Shen Shengqin is a current counter-revolutionary. If you sympathize with him, you will be treated as a current counter-revolutionary as well."

Director Zhou remained silent, while Director Ma directed several junior officers, saying, "You, you, you, hurry up and go check inside the house and backyard to see if the person is hiding inside."

Several people agreed and were about to barge into the house when an old voice said at the door, "Let me see who is running rampant in our Shenjia Village."

When the third grandfather of the Tian family arrived, Pei Yin breathed a sigh of relief. All her pretense and acting here was just to buy time. Secretary Tian led a group of people to carry his second uncle to the city hospital. It seemed that the person who came from Beijing this time was Director Ma. He was young, impetuous, and arrogant, so he was easy to deal with. What she was afraid of was a cunning old fox.

Third Grandfather pushed through the crowd and walked into the courtyard. He said to Director Zhou, "You must be a child of the Zhou family from Zhoujiazhuang. I never expected this. Back then, our Tian and Shen families made so many contributions to the revolutionary cause, and today you've brought people to ransack our homes."

Upon hearing his third grandfather mention "searching the house," Director Zhou hurriedly waved his hands and said, "Third grandfather, third grandfather, I just came to see if Shengqin had come to the house, not to search it. Please don't misunderstand."

Director Ma, disgusted by Director Zhou's cowardly manner, walked up to Third Grandfather and said, "We suspected that Shen Shengqin was connected with a counter-revolutionary organization. Who knew that Shen Shengqin would run away last night? We were still suspicious, but Shen Shengqin's escape proves that he really is connected with this counter-revolutionary organization. You should hand him over immediately."

Third Grandfather said, “Young man, you can eat more, but you can’t say whatever you want. If you say Shen Shengqin is a counter-revolutionary, then he is a counter-revolutionary. If you say he ran away, then he ran away. We all watched with our own eyes that he was taken from your hands. Now you’re turning around and demanding our people back. We’re demanding our people back from you.”

Director Ma said, "How can you be like this, old man? I told you that Shen Shengqin is a counter-revolutionary, but you still keep protecting him. You should know that protecting a counter-revolutionary is also considered being a counter-revolutionary. For your own sake, you should hand him over."

Third Grandfather said, "You say Shen Shengqin is a counter-revolutionary, so he is a counter-revolutionary? You have to hand him over so we can see him. We're handing over a living person to you, and you still come to our house to demand him so brazenly. We won't agree to that."

The villagers behind him chimed in, "That's right, we can't agree to that. Shengqin isn't in their hands, so we have to ask them for him back. Today, we'll help get him back together."

Some people shouted, "You always like to extract confessions through torture, did you beat someone to death?"

Director Zhou realized that his initial idea of ​​currying favor with his superiors was a huge mistake. How could he have been so foolish as to think about helping to prepare materials? Did he not even consider that the people of Shenjia Village were not so easy to mess with?

It was too late to say anything now. Director Zhou grabbed Director Feng's arm tightly and whispered to the young men in green military uniforms behind him, "Behave yourselves and don't move."

Director Feng was still struggling when Director Zhou said in a low voice, "Don't talk nonsense. You don't know the people in this village. Let's go back and talk first."

Director Feng glared at Director Zhou and said, "Old Zhou, how could you do this? They are counter-revolutionaries. How can we be so subservient to counter-revolutionaries? How can we face our great leader Chairman Mao like this?"

Director Zhou said, "You don't know what's going on here. Hurry up, let's go back and talk about it later."

Third Grandfather said, "Zhou boy, I'm putting this out there: Shen Shengqin was summoned away by you, so you have to bring him back to me safe and sound. You can't decide Shengqin's crime; we have to go to the county revolutionary committee for a meeting to determine the charge. Otherwise, you'll be like Qin Hui, treacherous officials!"

As Director Zhou pulled Director Feng out, he said to Third Grandfather, "Third Grandfather, don't worry, I will definitely bring Shen Shengqin back to you safe and sound."

The villagers accompanied them to the village entrance, watched them get on the Liberation truck and head towards the county town before they went to work.

On the bus, Director Feng coldly said to Director Zhou, "Old Zhou, when we get back to the county town, we need to go to the county revolutionary committee and have a good talk about what happened today. How can we bow down in front of these counter-revolutionaries?"

Director Zhou wiped the sweat from his brow and let out a long sigh after watching them walk away. Hearing Director Feng say that, he felt very annoyed and said, "Alright, Director Feng, let's go back to the county and discuss how to find him. But Director Feng, your method was a bit violent. How could you beat him so badly? What will we say to him if something happens to Shen Shengqin?"

Director Feng curled his lip and said, "Old Zhou, I'm not trying to criticize you, but that's how we revolutionaries have to be. If you don't take a hard line with the die-hards, when will they ever open their mouths?"

Director Zhou said, "Director Feng, you should think about how we're going to explain this to their family if we can't find them."

Director Feng said, "Confess? What do they want to confess? Humph, he's just a counter-revolutionary. If we can't find him, so be it. If he won't talk, we'll just look for someone else who can."

When Director Zhou heard this, he felt a chill in his heart, realizing that he no longer cared about Shen Shengqin's life or death. He said, "We still have to find him first. What if Shen Shengqin ran away because he couldn't withstand the torture? What if something happened to him on the way?"

Director Feng said, "Forget it, forget it. I'm pressed for time and have a lot of work to do. I only have this many people. I need to get the materials out and go back as soon as possible. The struggle in Beijing is getting more and more serious."

Director Zhou had already made up his mind. Once he returned to the county town, he would find an excuse to get away from Director Feng from Beijing as soon as possible, and then arrange for people to find Shen Shengqin. If he handled the matter well, he would gain the favor of his superiors and be promoted. Who would remember the director of the Revolutionary Committee of a small factory in a small county town so far from Beijing? If he couldn't handle this matter with Shen Shengqin, he wouldn't have a good life in Xiping County either. He was a filial son, and he would have to endure it if his parents beat him with a big stick. Thinking of his parents' gratitude to the two families in Shenjia Village, Director Zhou had a headache. He guessed he would be scolded when he got home that night.

Thinking about all this, Director Zhou became even more determined to stay away from these people from Beijing.