Reborn in 1966

Chapter 86 Breaking Through

Besides shrubs, the southern ridge of Shenjia Village is covered with trees, some of which are fruit trees that are cared for by people. There are also many common poplar and locust trees. Over the years, some trees on the ridge have grown quite thick, but after the Great Leap Forward, there are not many very large timbers on the ridge. Most of them are only about the size of a bowl or even smaller.

From afar, Pei Yin heard several children shouting, "Don't harm the trees! Don't harm the trees! All the trees on this ridge belong to our Shenjia Village. You can't harm them!"

Peiyin was afraid that her third brother would be taken advantage of, so she quickly followed behind her sister. When they got closer, she saw that several children were arguing with several educated youths. These educated youths were not only from her own village, but also from other villages.

Tian Xiaomin, along with several children from the village, addressed the group of educated youth: "Don't you know that the trees on this ridge can't be cut down indiscriminately?"

Zheng Tonghui and Wang Si looked at each other without saying anything. A group of educated youth from another village said, "Kids, if you don't tell anyone, how will they know? We just cut some dry tree branches."

Tian Xiaomin said, "This Nanling Mountain belongs to our village. Everyone in our village has agreed that no one can cut down trees casually, and no one can cut branches randomly. If you want firewood, just pick it up from the ground."

After a long stalemate, a burly-looking educated youth said menacingly, "Kid, if you keep making trouble here, I'll beat you up."

Tian Xiaomin was invincible in the school, so why would he be afraid of such a small threat? He didn't take their threats seriously at all. But Tian Aiqin, who was on Tian Xiaomin's side, was not having it. She threw the basket in her hand aside, stood in front of Tian Xiaomin, and shouted, "You are not allowed to hit my brother! You are not allowed to hit my brother!"

Seeing his younger sister defend him like this, Tian Xiaomin's face was full of touching smiles. He took his sister's hand and said, "Little sister, it's okay. Your brother won't get beaten up. Don't worry."

The educated youth didn't dare to lay a hand on the village children. They were now farming in the village and were considered villagers, but some villagers didn't treat them as one of their own. In their eyes, the educated youth had taken away their grain and work points, and were people who were stealing food from their mouths. Some even looked at them with hatred.

The reason these educated youth came to the ridge to cut down trees today was actually because Wang Si and Zheng Tonghui arranged it.

Qi Xiangnan led several other male educated youths to the construction site. The two of them didn't work properly in the village either. In their view, they would have to go back to the city sooner or later. Working in the fields was so tiring and didn't earn much money. Their families often sent them food and drinks. All they had to do now was wait out the time, and they would go back when the time came.

As the weather grew colder, seeing the villagers gathering firewood, the two of them thought they should also get some. Even if they didn't burn it themselves, they could sell it in the city. They told a few educated youths from a neighboring village about it, and the other educated youths, hearing that it was a risk-free business, agreed. So, they took machetes and ropes and came to Nanling. They figured that since it was so early and everyone in the village was working in the fields, they could do it without anyone noticing. They could cut down the trees and take them directly to the city to sell. Who would know who cut them down? Besides, there were so many trees on Nanling; who would know if one or two were missing?

Unexpectedly, a few children stumbled upon this incident. When Tian Xiaomin saw them chopping down a poplar tree as thick as an arm with machetes, he immediately stopped them and told one of the children to hurry up and report to the village. "It's just a tree, is it really necessary?"

Wang Si was quite shrewd. He had planned to coax the children away first, and then continue with his group. It seemed he couldn't do much more today. But who knew that Tian Xiaomin was completely unmoved by any persuasion or cajoling. No amount of sweet talk worked. He had one thing in common: he wanted to stop immediately and go with him to the village to admit his mistake.

No matter what, they were still educated youth, sent to the countryside in response to Chairman Mao's call. If this was recorded in the village's files and affected their return to the city, it would be troublesome. So Wang Si kept the other educated youth from the neighboring village in check. You see, these other educated youth were the henchmen of the rebels back then. After they came, they did a lot of bad things in the village, such as stealing chickens and dogs. If he were tied to them, many things would become unclear in the future. Who knows if Wang Si was with them when they did bad things?

Wang Si always remembered the conversation her father had with her before she came. He said that sending them to the countryside was a last resort. He explained that there were simply not many job opportunities available for graduates like them. He told them to stay in the countryside and that they would bring them back when the right opportunity arose. He added that life in the countryside was just too tough.

After arriving, Wang Sicai discovered that the hardship was even greater than he had anticipated. He had gritted his teeth and persevered for the past few months. After writing to his father about this, his father replied, telling him to be patient and stay put. He said he was already working on it for him, and once he secured a job, he would immediately process the paperwork for him to return to the city.

Zheng Tonghui's family was much better off than mine. At the very least, Zheng Tonghui's father was a leader in a powerful department. What I knew, Zheng Tonghui must know, and what I didn't know, Zheng Tonghui might also know. After arriving, Wang Si had been following behind Zheng Tonghui. However, Zheng Tonghui wasn't a very bright person; he was very simple-minded. So, most of the time, it was Wang Si who guided Zheng Tonghui to do things. Like today's incident, although the initiative was proposed by Zheng Tonghui, it was Wang Si's idea. They wanted to get some firewood to sell in the city for money.

Wang Si realized things weren't going to end well and started to panic. He didn't know what would happen if the village found out.

Looking at the group of tall, burly educated youths, Pei Yin knew they were no pushovers. She wondered how they had managed to find each other. But considering that they had gathered firewood together, she figured they must have some other purpose in coming here to cut down trees.

While his mind was racing, Tian Xiaomin was overjoyed. His sister was now protecting him. Seeing someone about to attack him, his sister stood in front of him. His sister remembered all the good he had done for her these past few days, and she knew it when it mattered. His sister cared for him and wanted to be good to him.

Wang Si said to Tian Xiaomin and the others, "Classmates, we are really sorry. We didn't know that we couldn't just cut down the trees on the ridge. Please punish us however you want, we'll accept it, okay?"

Hearing Wang Si say this, a young intellectual from a neighboring village said anxiously, "Wang Si, you..."

Wang Si turned his head, winked at him, and then said to Tian Xiaomin, "Tian Xiaomin, we come from the city and don't know the rules here. When we spent the winter in the city, we burned firewood at home, so we thought that we could cut down the trees on this ridge as we pleased. Now we know, and we won't cut down trees indiscriminately anymore. Please let us go this time."

Overjoyed, Tian Xiaomin said, "Chairman Mao said that a good comrade is one who can admit his mistakes and correct them. So we'll let you off this time. But you must remember that the trees on this ridge cannot be cut down indiscriminately. Our village has this rule, and our village knows all the trees on the ridge. It takes several leaders from the brigade to decide which tree to cut down. Just be careful in the future."

Wang Si said gratefully, "Thank you, Tian Xiaomin. Shall we go now?"

Tian Xiaomin waved his hand and said with a smile, "Let's go, let's go, we need to hurry up and gather firewood too."

Pei Yin felt that Wang Si was a deep and inscrutable person, and she would have to be careful of him in the future. Her family's situation was somewhat special, and she didn't want to be tricked by him.

Several educated youths, carrying ropes and machetes, headed down the ridge towards the neighboring village. Peitian said to Tian Xiaomin, "Xiaomin, are we just going to let them go like this?"

Tian Xiaomin curled his lip and said, "What can we do if we don't release it? Besides, they only cut the tree a few times. I checked, the tree is fine. I'll find some weeds later to build a fence around the tree, and it will continue to grow next spring."

Peitian said, "Okay, I'll help you pick up some weeds later. Hey, Xiaomin, your sister is really brave. I thought that educated youth had a scary face, but your sister stood in front of you to protect you."

Tian Xiaomin said proudly, "This is my sister. I'm really good to my sister. Peitian, you're right. As long as you're good to your sister, she'll definitely be good to me. Look, it's only been a few days, and my sister already knows how to protect me."

Peitian nodded and said, "That's right. Look at my little sister, she's only a few years old. She has to share a piece of candy with me. I have to treat my sister even better in the future."

The two sister-obsessed girls chatted as they gathered weeds to build a fence around the sapling. Essentially, they used weeds to enclose the cut area, which would keep the tree warm and provide some protection.

Tian Xiaomin's younger sister, Tian Aiqin, followed behind her brother with her head down and a basket on her shoulder. She was still as taciturn as ever, and the fierce spirit she had shown when protecting her brother was gone. Pei Yin thought this little girl was quite interesting. The way she protected her brother just now was like a mother hen protecting her chicks. She looked weak, but you couldn't ignore her fearless and reckless fighting spirit.

The small basket wasn't full yet when the little boy they met halfway up the ridge led Secretary Tian up the ridge.

When Secretary Tian saw the village children carrying baskets to collect firewood, and there were even a few children about the same age as Pei Yin, he felt quite distressed. These little children had to work alongside the older children in their families. He was also a father himself, and if it weren't for the pressures of life, who would be willing to let such young children come here?

Secretary Tian sighed and called the children over. When Pei Yin saw the village elder arrive, she greeted Secretary Tian with a smile, "Hello, Grandpa!"