Reborn in 1966

Chapter Seventy-Five: Fighting

Pei Yin thought the voice sounded a lot like Tian Xiaomin's. She followed her grandmother inside and found her third brother sitting to one side with his head covered. Tian Xiaomin was sitting on Shen Peize's lap, swinging a hammer while asking Shen Peize, who was already crying his eyes out.

Grandma quickly went up and pulled Tian Xiaomin down. No matter what, she was an adult, and if she saw children fighting, she had to separate them, regardless of whether they were her children or not.

When Tian Xiaomin saw that it was Shen Peitian's grandmother, he stood aside and watched as his grandmother pulled Shen Peize up from the ground and brushed the dirt off Shen Peize's body. He said, "Grandma Shen, you don't need to discipline him. He's just asking for it. He can't beat someone himself, so he hires someone to do dirty work. He didn't even bother to find out if I, Tian Xiaomin, am so easily fooled."

Grandma said, "Oh dear, my little darlings, why are you fighting instead of playing? You're all just kids. What if something serious happens?"

Peitian said, "Grandma, I didn't provoke him. He brought his men to block and beat me up, but Tian Xiaomin chased them away. Shen Peize is shameless."

Grandma said, "Shut up. Do you even know what it means to have a sense of shame? See if your dad doesn't beat you when you get home."

Pei Tian, ​​with his neck stiff, said, "I'm in the right this time. I didn't lay a hand on them. So many people saw it. I didn't lift a finger when they came. It was Tian Xiaomin who stepped in to help when he saw injustice."

Grandma came over, and several other adults followed. After all, their own children were still there, and they couldn't rest easy without checking on them.

When someone heard Peitian say this, they laughed and said, "Oh my, you must be a really studious kid. You can even say 'I'll draw my sword to help those in need' now." Their tone was incredibly teasing.

Grandma said, "What does a little kid like him know? He probably heard that somewhere. Peitian, you're coming with me to work. You can't go anywhere else. If you run off again, I'll tell your dad and he'll make you go to work in the fields with him."

Even a child this age is still quite playful. Hearing his grandmother say this still had a lot of influence on him. He said to his grandmother, "Grandma, come and see if I have any cuts on my head. Shen Peize and his gang are really awful. They threw stones at me from far away, and one of them hit my head."

When Grandma heard this, she was both anxious and angry. She thought, "Peitian is a clever child. Why did he run away as soon as he saw things were going wrong? He even let them hit him without fighting back. What if something serious happens?"

Grandma ruffled Peitian's hair and looked at him. There was a red, swollen patch on his scalp. He kept groaning and gently pressed the swollen area. Peitian gasped in pain. Peiyin was very worried. He had such a big bump on his head. They should take him to the hospital. At the very least, they should get an X-ray to check for any intracranial injury. But thinking about their current situation, she felt discouraged. At most, she could take him to Dr. Wang. If he was better, they could get some anti-inflammatory medicine. Otherwise, they could just have him take a look at the doctor and then go home to rest.

When several villagers saw the large bump on Pei Tian's head, some remained silent because of Shen Peize's father's position as village chief, while others, who were closer to Shen Peize's family, said, "Peize, how could you be so cruel? If you had seriously injured him, how would you explain it to his family?"

Shen Peize, who had already stood up straight, wiped his nose and said, "He's a black kid, so what if we hit him?"

The man angrily said, "Is this how your father raised you? You think you're right to hit someone?"

Shen Peize said, "We have to beat the black offspring of the five black categories as hard, otherwise we'll just sympathize with them. This is a matter of class stance. If you sympathize with them, you're standing on their side, and you're the same kind of people as them."

Suddenly, Tian Xiaomin kicked Shen Peize, who had just stood up, and he fell down again with a "plop," tears and snot streaming down his face.

Tian Xiaomin said, "You're talking nonsense. You're full of big talk and have no shame. You can't beat someone yourself, so you call for help. I was the one who beat you last time, why don't you come back to me for revenge? Shen Peize, let me tell you, I'll beat you every time I see you, until I beat you into submission."

Several grandmothers standing nearby rushed forward. Some pulled Tian Xiaomin, while others helped Shen Peize up. The grandmothers looked at Shen Peize, who was still crying with snot running down his face, sighed, and took Peitian's hand as they walked into the village. They had to find Doctor Wang to give the child a proper check-up. This was a head injury, and if something really happened, the child would have a long life ahead of him.

An old woman said, "Xiaomin, why are you like this, child?"

Tian Xiaomin said, "If we're talking about class stance, my class stance is firmer than anyone else's. My family has been poor peasants for generations. Shen Peize, do you dare to compare yourself to me in that regard?"

Tian Xiaomin had his reasons for speaking. Shen Peize's great-grandfather was a spendthrift who squandered all of the family's land and houses by smoking opium, which made Shen Peize's family poor peasants. After liberation, because his family had no permanent property, they were fortunate enough to be classified as poor peasants. But since they were all from the same village, everyone knew each other's situation.

Upon hearing Tian Xiaomin's words, Shen Peize didn't dare to say anything more. He knew his family's situation better than anyone else. If his father were to be removed from his position as village chief because of this, many people would probably come after him, since he had bullied many people in the past.

This fight is different from the last one. Last time, there were no adults to witness it at the school gate, but this time many people saw it.

When children fight, adults usually don't get involved. Kids fight all the time when they're playing together, but it's rare to see someone like Shen Peize who hires others to help him fight.

Grandma led Peitian, followed by Peizhi and Peiyin, and they shuffled towards Doctor Wang's house.

Dr. Wang was on his way to the fields. As the village's barefoot doctor, he had to carry his medicine kit to the fields during the busy farming season to treat any injured people he encountered.

When Grandma brought the child to the door, Dr. Wang was about to leave with his medicine kit when Grandma called out from a distance, "Dr. Wang, wait a minute, wait a minute."

When Dr. Wang saw Grandma, he quickly opened the door to the examination room and said, "Grandma Shen, please take it easy, please take it easy."

Grandma ran over and said, "Dr. Wang, Peitian got a big bump on his head! Please take a look, please take a look quickly!" Grandma's face turned red with anxiety.

Dr. Wang had Peitian sit on a stool, and by the light from the window, he looked at the lump and said, "Oh dear, what happened? How did you get such a big bump?"

Pei-Chih said, "Shen Peize did the beating, or rather, he got a few older students to do it."

Grandma said, "Don't talk nonsense." Then she turned to Dr. Wang and asked, "Dr. Wang, do you think everything is alright?"

Doctor Wang asked Peitian, "Peitian, how are you feeling? Do you feel nauseous? Do you want to vomit?"

Pei-Tian said, "I haven't tried anything, I just have a headache."

Dr. Wang said, "It's nothing serious, it's just a little swollen from the injection, it'll heal on its own."

Pei Yin was very worried. The bump on Pei Tian's head looked as big as an egg. Doctor Wang looked at it with his own eyes and said it was nothing. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed unreliable.

Grandma said, "It's good that you're alright. Do you think we need to get some medicine?"

Dr. Wang said, "No need for medicine. Just keep the lump away from water for the next few days and avoid eating anything with a fishy smell. It will get better in a while."

Grandma said, "Okay, thank you, Dr. Wang. I'll take the child home and let him rest properly."

Peiyin thought about going home and persuading her parents to take Peitian to the hospital for a checkup. But then she remembered that when her second uncle went to the city hospital to have his leg checked, he said that all the experienced senior doctors there had gone to work in the countryside. Her second uncle's leg surgery was done by an old doctor who was brought back from some farm by Secretary Tian. If Peitian went to the hospital, without those equipment, the doctors there might not be as skilled as Dr. Wang.

When Grandma returned home and saw her grandson, her heart ached terribly. She wanted to tell the child that if anyone hits him again, he should run away. But then she remembered the last time Peitian got into a fight, and how the eldest son in the family beat him up, saying that their family's class background was bad and they shouldn't cause trouble outside. Her heart ached with both sorrow and pain, and she really didn't know what to do.

Peitian said to his grandmother, "Grandma, it's okay, it doesn't hurt at all anymore. From now on, I will definitely run away when I see things are not going well, so that I won't cause trouble or get beaten."

The grandmother stroked her grandson's head and nodded, feeling utterly disgusted with the state of the world.

When Shen's mother saw her mother-in-law bring her three children back, she felt a sense of unease. She knew something must have happened if they returned before the end of the workday.

After hearing what had happened, and seeing the large bump on Peitian's head, Shen's mother's eyes reddened. No matter which child it was, they were all flesh and blood of their mother.

What the few people in the Shen family courtyard didn't know was that the story of the children's fight that afternoon had already spread throughout the entire village. Shen Family Village wasn't big, with only two surnames, and both surnames shared the same ancestor. Shen Peize was actually of the same generation as Shen Peitian, yet he had managed to get an older child to beat him so badly, hitting him on the head with a stone. Shen Peize's father, Shen Shengnong, the village head of Shen Family Village, couldn't sit still anymore. He was a village cadre, and although he had some minor privileges, he couldn't abuse his power. During the famine years, his family had eaten a lot of grain from Shen Shengsi's family. Now that they were in trouble, his children were treating their children like this. Although no one dared to say anything to his face, the villagers might gossip behind his back, saying he was ungrateful.

Grandpa Shengquan and Shen Shengnong are cousins. Grandma Shengquan heard about this in the fields and went to find Shen Shengnong's wife.

This group of old women were cutting corn stalks in the field. After the corn stalks were cut down, they were bundled together and taken back to feed livestock. Aunt Shengquan and Shen Shengnong's wife were both doing this work in the same field.

Shen Shengnong's wife is a reasonable person, with only one flaw: because she had three daughters before, she dotes on her youngest son, Shen Peize, to an extreme degree. Even though their conditions are not good now, she will do everything she can to fulfill Shen Peize's wishes if he wants to eat something good. As a result, Shen Peize is now the fattest and fairest child in the village.