Reborn in 1966

Chapter Fifty-Nine: Entering the County

Pei-Yin and her three grandmothers were tidying up the vegetable garden in the backyard, preparing to plant vegetables, when they heard a noise and rushed to the front yard to see what was going on. What happened in the morning had frightened them all, and they were all a bit paranoid.

After catching his breath, the young man finally told the story. When the grandmother heard that they were coming to arrest her husband, she was so anxious that her vision blurred. This was going to drive her to her death.

Just then, Grandpa returned home from the production team's livestock shed. As soon as Grandma saw him, she grabbed his hand and said, "Dad, you'd better go hide quickly. Those people are coming to arrest you and force us to sign documents! Good heavens, what's going on? Even when our family was fighting the local militia, it wasn't this scary!" Grandma started crying as she spoke.

Since Tian Lingling came back yesterday afternoon, Grandma has been suffering blow after blow, and she is on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Grandpa carefully inquired about the young man's account of the incident and said to Tian Lingling, "Lingling, take this man to your third grandfather's house first and tell him what happened. I'm not going anywhere else; I'll stay at home. Although my old bones aren't heavy, they're still quite strong."

Tian Lingling agreed and quickly led the people to her third grandfather's house.

When Grandma heard Grandpa say he wasn't going anywhere, her face turned red with anxiety. She said, "Old man, why are you so stubborn? Look at our Shengqin, those people are all ruthless and heartless. Listen to me this once, go out and hide for a while, and come back when things have calmed down."

Grandpa took out the large eye bag tucked into his belt, tapped his pipe, and said, "Damn it, things are already like this. If I run away, they'll still come after our family. Let's just settle this once and for all. I don't believe they can do anything to me."

Seeing her husband so stubborn, Grandma wiped away her tears and went inside.

Grandpa Tian was furious upon receiving the letter. These people were truly persistent, resorting to any means to persecute others. They could even come up with such insidious tricks; it seemed their reign wouldn't last. As the old saying goes, "Those who act justly gain much support, while those who act unjustly find little." Nothing lasts long without popular support. The eldest son of the Shen family was already over sixty; what if something happened to him? Who would be responsible? It seemed they really needed to devise a plan to both drive these people away and extricate the Shen family from this situation. Otherwise, being constantly targeted by them couldn't continue.

After thinking it over, Third Grandfather sent someone to the fields to call Fourth Grandfather back. After explaining the situation, they discussed countermeasures and made sure that nothing else would happen before they went their separate ways.

As for Director Feng, after going to the county's Revolutionary Committee, he found some people and used a Liberation truck to take him to Shenjia Village.

The director told the young men, “We are making revolution for the great leader Chairman Mao. Comrades, when we arrive, you must obey my command. Whoever I tell you to arrest, you arrest. You must not be soft-hearted. If you are soft-hearted, you will be sympathizing with counter-revolutionaries. Zhou Wende from the machine factory will be your fate.”

The young men exchanged glances, each seeing ambition in the other's eyes. This was their chance to demonstrate their resolve to their superiors. They couldn't afford to hold back; they had to take concrete actions to show their leaders their unwavering determination to overthrow the counter-revolutionaries.

The Great Liberation Army arrived at Shenjia Village, swaying and rattling along.

It was the time when people were finishing work, and the villagers were coming and going to go home for dinner. Everyone knew what was going on with this large Liberation truck that had come by that morning, so they didn't bother going home for dinner and followed it to the Shen family's courtyard.

Director Feng instructed someone to knock on the door, and it was Grandpa Shen who opened it.

Grandpa Shen asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Director Feng asked, "Are you Shen Shengqin's father?"

Grandpa nodded and said, "Yes, what do you want to see me about?"

Director Feng said, "We'd like to ask you about something. Come with us!"

Before Grandpa Shen could speak, several young men from the village stepped forward and said, "Who are you? Why should our villagers go with you? You can take people away, but you'd better bring the necessary paperwork first."

Director Feng said, "I'm just handling the paperwork. I came from Beijing. The counter-revolutionary Shen Shengqin fled, so we went back to find his father to learn some information."

The able-bodied men in the village said, "You say so, but who can vouch for you? Back then, more than twenty young men from two different families in Shenjia Village went to the front lines to fight the Japanese, and they weren't this arrogant in public. Who do you think you are?"

Director Feng said, "Do you know what kind of behavior this is? This is counter-revolutionary behavior!"

A young man said, "We are not counter-revolutionaries, we are opposing you. You keep saying we are counter-revolutionaries, but you are just showing off that you are a revolutionary. Fellow villagers, arrest them all and let's go to the county revolutionary committee to clarify things!"

Director Feng said, "You dare! I'm from Beijing!"

Before he could finish speaking, his arms were twisted behind his back and he was taken away. Several junior officers who had come with him were also arrested.

Grandpa San came over at this moment and said, "It's you again. This old man hasn't left the village in a long time. This time I'll go to the county with you and we'll clear things up. Peibing, you drive."

Peibing was a child of the Shen family. He drove a tractor in the village, and he had no problem driving such a large tractor.

The Liberation truck carried another large load of people back to the county town.

The county revolutionary committee is a new organization, established at the beginning of last year. The director of the Xiping County Revolutionary Committee is over forty years old and took office last year after seizing power. He used to be a worker at the Xiping Brewery, but since becoming the director of the revolutionary committee, he has been acting extremely arrogantly.

The Revolutionary Committee of Xiping County was similar to other places. Some of the original county cadres were responsible for some daily work. These workers and peasants, who represented the advanced class, held the major policies and guidelines. There were also some military cadres who represented the army. Of course, the one who could make the final decision was the director of the Revolutionary Committee.

The Revolutionary Committee Director's surname is Ma. Despite his usual airs, he is a very filial son at home, just like Zhou Wende. He listens to everything his seventy-something-year-old mother says. It is said that Director Ma's mother is related to Shenjia Village. It was because of this relationship that the third grandfather of the Tian family and the fourth grandfather of the Shen family dared to arrest several people from Beijing, take them back to Xiping County, and force Director Ma to drive them out of Xiping County.

Director Ma got up early in the morning and went to the Hongqi Restaurant in the county to buy his mother's favorite steamed buns. After serving his mother breakfast, he leisurely went to work.

The Revolutionary Committee's office was the former People's Government. With this power grab, the former county party secretary was ousted, and a group of worker, peasant, and soldier representatives directly moved into the largest power center in Xiping County. Director Ma worked directly in the former county party secretary's office.

No one had reported the incident in Shenjia Village that morning to Director Ma. Director Feng, who came from Beijing, was treated with the utmost hospitality by Director Ma. Just think about it, he was from Beijing, someone from Chairman Mao's inner circle. Of course, he had to be treated well. He could do whatever he wanted, and he could help find whoever he wanted. When he heard that he was looking for someone from the machinery factory, Director Ma helped connect him with Zhou Wende and said that if he needed anything, he could come to him again. So when Director Feng came to him for help that morning, Director Ma didn't hesitate. To prevent the guest from Beijing from being bullied, he selected a few brave men to accompany him in the Revolutionary Committee's large Liberation truck and they went out.

Director Ma was humming a tune, just about to go home for dinner, when he saw the Liberation truck coming back. He was about to greet his superiors with a smile when he noticed a lot of people standing in the back of the truck.

Approaching with some doubt, Director Ma saw that Grandpa Tian from Shenjia Village was being helped out of the driver's seat. When he saw that Grandpa Tian's legs twitched first, he immediately went over to help him out and asked, "Oh, Grandpa Tian, ​​what brings you here?"

Turning around, he saw those visitors from the capital being led to him.

Director Ma was so shocked that he opened his mouth wide and couldn't speak. He looked at Director Feng, who was full of resentment, then at his third grandfather, whose face was ashen, and then at the villagers who had just come back from the fields, including Tilitala, who got out of the car. Upon closer inspection, he also saw his own relatives.

Third Grandfather said, “Director Ma, I’ve come here today to talk to you about this. You see? These people claiming to be from Beijing are even more ruthless than the Japanese invaders and local militias back then. They arrest people as soon as they enter the village. Director Ma, you have to stand up for us ordinary people.”

The director stared at these people in astonishment, as if several thunderclaps were exploding in his ears. Wasn't Director Feng just out on business with his men? How come he's being escorted back by people from Shenjia Village? Shenjia Village! Who within dozens of miles doesn't know Shenjia Village? The people of that village are not only known for their courage and integrity, but also for their many powerful figures outside. Who would dare to provoke the people of that village?

Director Ma said, "Third Grandfather, this Director Feng is from Beijing. Is there some misunderstanding? Let's go inside and talk about it slowly."

Third Grandfather said, "Alright, let's go inside and talk about it slowly. I'm over seventy years old, and this is the first time I've ever seen something like this. I have to tell you all about it."

Director Ma quickly ushered everyone into the office and said, "Third Grandfather, let's release the person first."

My third grandfather said, "Letting them go is fine, but you have to make them show their work IDs and letters of introduction from their work units. If they don't have these things, this old man will risk his life to go to Beijing to reason with them. Just because someone comes from Beijing doesn't mean they can claim to be from Chairman Mao's side and be there to do revolution for him. Would Chairman Mao really do something so unreasonable? It's not that I'm being nosy, but our Shenjia Village made a very important contribution to the liberation of our area back then. How many of our village's able-bodied men left and never came back? Director Ma, others may not know, but don't you? Didn't your eldest uncle go to the front lines to fight the Japanese and never come back?"

Director Ma nodded repeatedly in agreement, as he really dared not offend this third grandfather.