Newborn 1927

Yang Jiefang righted the ladder and said, "I'll go up and see what else is up there." He took the lantern from Zhao Changming. Zhao Changming then held the ladder steady again. Yang Jiefang climbed up to the attic and saw that the space wasn't large, but it was quite clean, perhaps because it was frequently wiped down. Two large wooden chests were placed on the floor, both locked. Yang Jiefang called out, "Brother Changming, can you check if Zhao Yinyuan has any keys?" Zhao Changming agreed and searched, but couldn't find any. Yang Jiefang remembered that Yan Donglai had searched the Zhao brothers and taken everything from them, including a set of keys that had been thrown aside. So he asked Zhao Changming to go to the front hall to find the keys. He hung the lantern on a hook to the side and pushed hard; the left chest wouldn't budge, while the right chest could be moved, but it was very heavy.

Zhao Changming quickly returned, followed by Zhao Changzhi and Hou Fei. Yang Jiefang took the key from Zhang Changming and quickly opened the right-hand box. Inside was indeed a box full of account books, stacks of IOUs, land deeds, and other documents. Without even looking closely, Yang Jiefang suppressed his excitement and immediately opened another box. Inside were cylindrical objects wrapped in red paper; if he wasn't mistaken, they should contain envelopes of silver dollars—something often seen in movies and TV dramas. Yang Jiefang casually tore one open, revealing a stack of gleaming silver dollars. Overjoyed, Yang Jiefang shouted, "Brothers, we're really rich this time! This box must have at least several thousand, even tens of thousands of silver dollars!" Zhao Changming stood on the stairs, looking at the neatly arranged envelopes of silver dollars in the box, and sighed, "They really are rich!"

Yang Jiefang said, "The boxes are too heavy; we can only move them down one by one. Tell the people below to bring things to pack them." He handed the silver dollars to Zhao Changming, who then passed them to Zhao Changzhi below. Hou Fei excitedly found a basket to hold the silver dollars, attracting many people. Each box contained fifty silver dollars, making it very heavy. Yang Jiefang counted them as he carried them; each layer had twenty boxes. After removing four layers, the bottom was covered with silver ingots. It was clear that the silver in the boxes represented generations of his family's savings, and now it was all gone. Passing the silver ingots one by one was too slow, so Yang Jiefang had a basket brought up to put them in before moving them down. The people below counted them one by one, as if afraid someone would embezzle them. Once all the silver was moved, stacks of account books and IOUs were passed down, and he instructed the people below to put them away for his inspection.

After the goods were moved, Yang Jiefang came down from the attic and, seeing the expectant looks in everyone's eyes, said, "Brothers, everyone, work hard and keep a close eye on the money! I'll discuss how to distribute it with you all tomorrow. Tonight, I need to take a good look at these account books; they're related to everyone's land ownership, much more important than these silver dollars!" Everyone agreed. Yang Jiefang continued, "Brother Changming, you should talk to everyone first. Tomorrow morning, I want to call a meeting of everyone in the village at the threshing ground. This is very important; we mustn't let anything go wrong!" Zhao Changming agreed, saying, "I'll arrange that. Everyone will guard this money together. If anyone dares to steal anything, don't blame me for turning against them!" This was addressed to the people of Zhao Family Village, and also a warning to the few people from Qinglong Village. Yan Donglai spoke up, "I agree. I believe Brother Yang can come up with a fair and reasonable plan for how to divide this money." Everyone agreed and worked together to move the silver dollars and ingots to the warehouse.

Zhao Yinyuan's body was also taken away. Yang Jiefang sat alone in his study, carefully examining the account books, IOUs, land deeds, and land sale contracts. Many people were involved, some of whom Yang Jiefang didn't know, and others were already deceased. As he reviewed the documents, Yang Jiefang summoned Zhao Changming and other relevant individuals to inquire about certain matters.

Before they knew it, night had fallen. Chen Ergou brought over a bowl of dog meat noodles. Since his transmigration, Yang Jiefang hadn't eaten a single meal of wheat flour, much less meat. He picked up the noodles, took a deep breath, and smelled the delicious aroma before immediately devouring them. After finishing, he patted his belly and said, "Don't keep all that wheat flour. Make it all into steamed buns, and invite the whole village over for breakfast tomorrow." Chen Ergou was overjoyed and said, "That's wonderful! How about some meat too?" Yang Jiefang thought for a moment and said, "They should have two pigs for the New Year, right? Slaughter them all, and invite everyone over for braised pork tomorrow!" Chen Ergou laughed, "It's like celebrating the New Year early!" Yang Jiefang smiled meaningfully, "Even more exciting than the New Year itself."

After eating noodles, Yang Jiefang separately summoned Zhao Changming and Yan Donglai to discuss the distribution of the money and valuables. Achieving absolute fairness was impossible; they could only strive for relative fairness. Both Zhao Changming and Yan Donglai offered their opinions, and Yang Jiefang, combining his own ideas, finalized the general principles.

Yang Jiefang then inquired about the preparations for tomorrow's meeting. Zhao Changming replied, "We've already gone to inform everyone. There were shots fired tonight, and everyone wants to know what happened. They'll definitely come tomorrow." Yang Jiefang added, "From now on, we need to arrange for security personnel to stand guard at the village entrance, and there should also be patrols in the village. No one is allowed to leave the village until the meeting is over tomorrow." Zhao Changming agreed, "I've already arranged that."

Yang Jiefang didn't reveal the meeting's content beforehand, preparing everything in his study alone. Later, when he was too tired to continue, he took a short nap at his desk.

As dawn broke, the sound of gongs echoed through the village, signaling a meeting. Farmers, being early risers, quickly got up and gathered at the threshing ground. Wang Dali and Chen Ergou, following Yang Jiefang's instructions, carried baskets of steamed buns to the threshing ground; they also carried buckets of cooked braised pork. Whenever someone arrived, Chen Ergou would give a shout, and he and Wang Dali would each take turns distributing buns and serving meat. The people of Zhao Family Village hadn't eaten breakfast, and they couldn't resist the temptation of the food. They all crowded around. Some even called out to their friends and family to come and eat. Soon, the threshing ground was packed with people, all squatting on the ground, munching on buns and meat, their faces beaming with smiles.

After everyone had almost finished eating, Yang Jiefang arrived at the threshing ground. Behind him, Zhao Changgui, holding a large knife, was escorting Zhao Jinyuan, who was bound hand and foot. Wang Sanlaizi and the other henchmen of Zhao Jinyuan's family were also escorted into the threshing ground by Zhao Changming and his security team. Sun Zhiyong, Yan Donglai, and other people from Qinglong Village also arrived and stood aside to watch the commotion.

Standing on the high platform, Yang Jiefang shouted, "Uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters-in-law of Zhao Family Village, I am Yang Jiefang. Do you all recognize me?" Immediately, someone replied, "Yes, yes, I'm the third son of the Yang family." Yang Jiefang continued, "Aren't these steamed buns and braised pork delicious?" Everyone answered, "Delicious!" "It's been so long since we've had meat, it's so good!" Yang Jiefang said with a smile, "The steamed buns and braised pork you just ate are from Master Zhao's family. They're preparing them for the New Year." As he spoke, he pointed to Zhao Jinyuan.

The previously jovial atmosphere fell silent as everyone stared wide-eyed at Zhao Jinyuan on the platform. Previously, Zhao Jinyuan had always stood on this high platform, issuing orders to the crowd. Now, even though he was bound, his lingering authority still instilled fear in many. Sun Zhiyong and Hou Fei, who had been watching the spectacle, exchanged a smile, then simultaneously shook their heads.

Yang Jiefang suddenly changed his tone and said loudly, "As everyone knows, my family was originally considered wealthy in Zhao Family Village. My parents were honest and kind people, but now our family is ruined, and all our land and property have fallen into the hands of Zhao Jinyuan. Many people know the reasons, but dare not come forward to uphold justice; those who don't know the reasons avoid us altogether. I've invited everyone here today to clarify the facts and give my family justice!" Then he turned to Wang Sanlaizi and said, "Don't you know the ins and outs of this matter? You explain it to everyone!"

At this moment, Wang Sanlaizi dared not offend Yang Jiefang. He stepped forward, craned his neck, and recounted the entire story of how Zhao Jinyuan's family had plotted against Yang Jiefang's family and seized their property. He was originally Zhao's trusted henchman, so his words carried more weight. Those who already knew some of the inside story echoed his sentiments. The audience was filled with indignation, each gritting their teeth.

The matter concerning Yang Jiefang's family was merely a prelude, not the focus of today's discussion, and Yang Jiefang didn't intend to pursue it further. After Wang Sanlaizi finished speaking, Yang Jiefang continued, "Master Zhao Jinyuan said that the reason his family schemed against my family was because my Yang family is an outsider and unworthy of owning the land of Zhao Family Village. Zhao Jinyuan, don't you agree?" Zhao Jinyuan suddenly shouted, "That's right, I said that. How can the land of Zhao Family Village fall into the hands of outsiders? It's better if it falls into our family's hands; we are protecting the land for our Zhao family." Most of the people below were surnamed Zhao, and quite a few actually echoed Zhao Jinyuan. They felt that although his methods were unethical, his intentions weren't bad. Yang Jiefang sneered inwardly, "This damned clan mentality is truly harmful! Today, I must shatter it."

Regardless of Zhao Jinyuan's desperate struggles, Yang Jiefang shouted, "Brother Zhao Changzhi, I heard that in your grandfather's generation, the Zhao family was related to Zhao Jinyuan's family." Zhao Changzhi, who was on the stage, immediately replied, "That's right! Back then, my family still owned land; now that my family is impoverished, they've long since disowned us." Yang Jiefang asked, "Then do you know how your family's land ended up in Zhao Jinyuan's family?" Zhao Changzhi naturally didn't know, and Zhao Jinyuan said, "That's because his grandfather was idle and squandered the family fortune." Zhao Changzhi immediately retorted, "You're talking nonsense! My grandfather wasn't that kind of person." He said this, but couldn't provide any factual evidence to refute it.

Wang Sanlaizi spoke again, "I know about this." Yang Jiefang was overjoyed and said, "Then tell the truth. If you tell the truth today, I'll release you." Wang Sanlaizi was delighted and immediately perked up, saying, "Everyone knows that my family has been servants to Master Zhao's family since my grandfather's generation. There's nothing about his family that I don't know. Hehe, let me tell you, Master Zhao's family is ruthless! They'll use any means to seize other people's land. Take Zhao Changzhi's grandfather, for example. He's quite ambitious, looking down on the meager harvest from the land, and only wanting to make a fortune. Master Zhao..." Old Master Zhao then urged him to go to Qingdao to do business. He had originally intended to do so, but hesitated due to insufficient capital. Old Master Zhao agreed to partner with Changzhi's grandfather, with a 60/40 investment but a 40/60 profit split. Changzhi's grandfather was naturally happy to see himself contributing less capital but receiving a larger share, but the business failed. Normally, if a business fails, everyone loses money. However, Old Master Zhao turned on him, denying the 60/40 investment and 40/60 profit split, claiming it was a loan. Now, regardless of profit or loss, he had to repay the loan with interest. Changzhi's grandfather was so angry he vomited blood, and was eventually forced to use his land as collateral.

Zhao Changzhi was furious. He rushed forward, grabbed Zhao Jinyuan by the collar, and shouted, "So this is how your family treats relatives?" Yang Jiefang interjected, "Brother Changzhi, here's your land deed and this land sale contract. Your grandfather was careful when he signed the contract; he wrote '60/40 investment, 40/60 profit sharing is absurd,' which proves that Wang Sanlaizi wasn't lying." Zhao Changzhi took the land deed and the sale contract. Although he was illiterate, he read them several times, then spat, "Are we outsiders too? You want to take our land? I spit on you..."