Reborn in 1966

Chapter Nine: The Wedding

When the village secretary's wife saw her husband stand up as if to hit their daughter, she quickly stepped forward to stop him, saying, "Speak to your daughter properly. What if you scare her by yelling at her like this?"

The Party Secretary pointed at his wife, exasperated, and said, "You're also responsible for your daughter's behavior. You always give in to her. My comrade proposed marriage, and when she didn't want to, you didn't want to either. Now look what's happened! I've ended up with an enemy! You, you, you all... sigh..."

The Party Secretary's wife got angry when she heard her husband say that. She said, "You dare to talk about your comrade? Your comrade's child has a bad leg. Do you think I'd just stand by and watch my daughter jump into a fire pit?"

The Party Secretary said, "If Lingzi married into my comrade's family, she could immediately get a city household registration. Why would she have to suffer in the fields? You guys are all short-sighted."

The Party Secretary's wife was unhappy. Even a clay figure has some stubbornness, let alone the Party Secretary's daughter, who was the apple of her eye.

The Party Secretary's wife said angrily, "What? Is a city household registration more important than our daughter's happiness? Tian Baogen, I really didn't expect you to be this kind of person, letting our daughter marry a cripple just for a city household registration."

Tian Baogen said, "That child's leg was bad, but wasn't it because of the collective's interests that he got injured? You guys, what can I say to you? What's so good about Shen Shengqin? He's idle and lazy. I've never seen him work hard in the fields. He's obviously not reliable. What's so good about marrying your daughter to him?"

Tian Lingling said, "Brother Shengqin is a talented artist who can play musical instruments and perform songs. Why is he so unreliable? He's also a talented person if he does a good job in the propaganda team."

Seeing his daughter like this, Party Secretary Tian angrily said, "Even if she's talented, she's not your type. Don't even think about it." With that, he turned and left.

Tian Lingling sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and started sobbing. The Party Secretary's wife saw that the father and daughter were at odds, sighed, sat down next to her daughter, patted her shoulder, and said, "Lingzi, your father is doing this for your own good. The eldest brother's family from Shengqin's family was driven back from Beijing, and it's been several years now without any explanation. They'll probably have to stay in the village forever. With a rightist in your family, anyone can kick you when you leave home."

Tian Lingling turned around, looked at her mother, and said, "Mom, don't you know what kind of people the eldest brother and sister-in-law of the Shen family are? Look at how well-educated and polite their children are. Do you really think they are so inferior? Mom, my third grandfather said that no matter what, literate people are the only talented people. I think that even though teachers are now labeled as 'stinking intellectuals,' those educated people who are sent here for re-education will eventually be able to go back to their careers."

The "Third Grandfather" that Tian Lingling mentioned is the oldest elder in the Tian family, who is over seventy years old and has experienced many things. When he was an apprentice in the city, he followed his employer to many places. Back then, it was this Third Uncle of the Tian family who pointed out the right path for Tian Baogen to join the Eighth Route Army. This old man has unique insight, and the professors who came to the village have also benefited a lot from the old man's kindness.

When the Party Secretary's wife heard her daughter say this, she said worriedly, "Lingzi, look at the situation now. Who cares about studying? We were hoping that every member of our family would be educated so that your younger brother could study hard, get into university, and bring honor to the family. But now, the school has been suspended. People are looking at your family's class background first."

Tian Lingling said, "Mom, no matter what, I've taken a liking to Shen Shengqin. Please help me persuade my dad. There's nothing wrong with their family."

The Party Secretary's wife said, "Their family situation is complicated. There's also the Shen family member who studied in the provincial capital. We haven't seen him since Liberation. Some people say he took a boat from the city to Taiwan. Lingzi, we villagers don't care, but how many families around here have been criticized and struggled against for someone they haven't seen for so many years? You can't even imagine these things, but your father and I have to think of them for you."

Tian Lingling cried and said, "I don't care about any of this, Mom. Your daughter is just that stubborn. You and Dad can handle it." After saying that, she wiped away her tears and left her parents' room.

As soon as Tian Lingling entered her room in the west wing, her younger brother, Tian Aiguo, peeked into his sister's room.

Seeing that his sister's eyes were swollen from crying, Tian Aiguo said, "Sister, I heard what you said to Dad and Mom. If you ask me, I think the second brother of the Shen family is just so-so. I think the eldest brother of the Shen family is more reliable."

Tian Lingling rolled her eyes at her younger brother and said, "What do you know, you're just a kid."

Tian Aiguo said, "The eldest brother of the Shen family is a capable person. I could tell when I was in school with him. Whether it was his words or his actions, the eldest brother of the Shen family was always excellent."

Tian Lingling said, "I want to marry the second brother of the Shen family. Why are you always talking to me about the eldest brother of the Shen family?"

Tian Aiguo said, "Shen's second brother doesn't like to work. When you see him working in the production team, he doesn't do any work at all. The aunties and grandmas in the village all say that he has the body of a young lady but the life of a maid."

Tian Lingling said, "Go away, don't talk nonsense here. I just think that Brother Shen has a good temper. No one can compare to him, whether it's singing, playing the erhu or the flute."

Tian Aiguo said, "Singing and playing instruments can't grow any crops, so what good is it?"

Tian Lingling said, "Brother Shen also gets work points in the Workers' Propaganda Team. I just think Brother Shen is a good person. By the way, Aiguo, does your school still have classes after the New Year?"

Tian Aiguo sighed and said, "Who knows? The school is in complete chaos. Although I went to Beijing with them, I feel a bit empty inside. I feel like something is off, but I can't quite put my finger on it. So I thought I'd talk to someone about it."

Tian Lingling said, "If you think Brother Shen is capable, you can go and talk to him about it."

Tian Aiguo said, "I want to too. Didn't Dad repeatedly say that Brother Shen was a rightist and that I should have less contact with him? Sigh, Dad doesn't even think about it. If it weren't for Brother Shen teaching me for those two years, would I have been able to get into the county's high school?"

Tian Lingling said, "If you can't go openly, why don't you go secretly? You and Brother Shen used to be teacher and student, so why not treat it as visiting your teacher during the New Year? That's a good excuse, isn't it?"

Tian Aiguo nodded and said, "Yes, that's a good idea. Sister, please don't tell Dad and Mom about this."

Tian Lingling said, "I'm not going to tell Dad, he's an old feudal warlord!"

On the morning of the third day of the Lunar New Year, the eldest daughter of my second aunt, Aunt Qiong, brought her younger brother to visit her maternal grandparents.

Aunt Qiong's eldest son was about the same age as her own brother, both sixteen-year-old lads, while the second son was thirteen. Pei Yin's eldest and second eldest brothers were the best companions. Because Pei Yin, the fake child, was in the east wing, the kang (heated brick bed) in the room was always warm. The eldest brother, Pei Hua, would take his younger siblings to the woods around the village to collect firewood whenever they had free time. The family's woodpile was already quite large, but Shen's parents didn't care about the firewood. They just wanted to keep the house warm so that the children wouldn't get cold.

Grandma, Second Grandma, and Third Grandma took out their treasured peanuts and sweet potato chips for the children to eat, and so the children of all ages gathered around the kang table in the east wing, eating snacks and chatting.

Peijun and Peitian were talking to the second brother from Aunt Qiong's family, while Peihua was talking to the eldest brother.

Aunt Qiong's eldest brother is named Zhang Taiping, and her second brother is named Zhang Taihe. They should be of the "Tai" generation. At this time, people still named their children according to the family genealogy passed down from the older generation. However, it is estimated that many of them have changed their names, such as Wei Hong, Wei Dong, and Wen Ge, which are very characteristic of the times.

Aunt Qiong's family belonged to the landlord class, and with many children, they lived in poverty. Pei Yin could tell this by looking at her two older brothers' clothes; they were all adult clothes altered to be smaller. The second brother's clothes were noticeably more worn than the eldest brother's. In those days of scarcity, clothes were often passed down from the eldest child to the younger siblings.

Despite his pale complexion, Taiping's cousin was still a handsome young man who spoke quite politely. According to his father, Aunt Qiong had attended high school in the provincial capital with him. If it weren't for his second grandmother not wanting her daughter to go to university in Beijing, she would have gone to university in Beijing with his father. She got married a few years after returning home. At that time, the liberation had not yet taken place, and the Zhang family was a prominent family in the area.

Uncle Zhang was the eldest son in the family. In the local area, there are many customs regarding the eldest son's marriage. It is said that a woman can influence three generations of a family, and the eldest daughter-in-law can influence the eldest son, eldest grandson, and even great-grandson. Therefore, the Zhang family visited many families to find a wife for their eldest son and finally chose Aunt Qiong.

Aunt Qiong was well-educated and polite. As the eldest daughter in her family, and one of only two daughters, she was raised as half a son by her second grandparents. She had a cheerful and open-minded personality. Even if she wasn't particularly farsighted, her experience of studying in the provincial capital gave her a broader perspective than most girls.

Back then, the Zhang family went to great lengths to win over Aunt Qiong. However, not long after the marriage, the liberation came. Not only were the family's assets confiscated, but Aunt Qiong's two younger brothers, seeing things were going badly, took a portion of the family property and fled to Hong Kong. Aunt Qiong's family, being landlords with overseas connections, became the target of criticism and struggle sessions at all levels.

After the movement began, Second Grandma's heart was never at ease. Her eldest daughter's family was criticized and struggled against at every meeting, big or small. The most painful thing for a mother is when her child suffers. I heard Grandma tell my mother once that Second Grandma asked the production team for leave to visit Aunt Qiong. After returning, she cried all night. The next day, she carried the little food she had at home and walked more than 30 miles to Aunt Qiong's house. Later, Second Grandma told Grandma that Aunt Qiong's family had run out of food. Because of their bad class background, the production team did not give them any food in advance. The children in the family were lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) because they were hungry. The third son, Tai Nian, had already become so hungry that he could no longer speak.

Aunt Qiong's village was a commune seat, and a model commune at that, always at the forefront of any movement. Unlike Shenjia Village, where several elders were in charge and kept in check, the young and middle-aged people worked diligently in the fields. So, despite the scarcity of resources, the overall standard of living in Shenjia Village was quite good; at least they had more food than other places.

Aunt Qiong's village only put on a show, making people learn from Lei Feng and Dazhai, and people from dozens of miles around came to visit their village. You can imagine, all that energy was spent on makeup and cosmetics, who had the mind to work hard? So at the end of the year, the distributed grain was not much.