Newborn 1927

At this moment, Gao Huilan resembled a virtuous wife preparing to send her husband off to war, her heart filled with anxiety and unease. Seeing her like this, Yang Jiefang couldn't help but wonder: Should he give her a hug now? A goodbye kiss? He wondered if she would refuse. The thought of a goodbye kiss reminded him of Jiang Xiaojun, and that kiss at the gates of Yantai. Just then, a clear voice rang out: "Hey Yang, you've finally shown yourself..." Looking in the direction of the voice, he saw Jiang Xiaojun storming over, followed by Chu Gu.

Jiang Xiaojun pointed at Yang Jiefang and launched into a tirade: "I originally thought you were a fine young man with ideals and aspirations, which is why I gave you 'Call to Arms.' Who knew you would willingly degenerate into a bandit, not ashamed but proud? You call yourself a scholar, do you even know what propriety, righteousness, and a sense of shame are?" Yang Jiefang was speechless for a moment; even his insults were so refined, lacking any real impact. Seeing his smirking expression, Jiang Xiaojun became even angrier and continued: "If you had any conscience at all, you would have killed me, at least that would have preserved my reputation. What exactly do you intend to do by locking me up in this dilapidated courtyard?"

Since returning from Yantai, Yang Jiefang had been extremely busy and had no time to deal with this girl. He couldn't understand her current situation and couldn't help but look at Gao Huilan. Gao Huilan said, "Alright, Miss Jiang. If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have waited until now." Jiang Xiaojun sneered, "Then I should thank you? Thank you for sparing my life, thank you for your great kindness in bringing me to this bandit's den." Gao Huilan frowned. It was indeed a bandit's den, but she couldn't tolerate the sarcasm and ridicule from others.

Yang Jiefang quickly interjected, "Since you know this is a bandit's den, you should stay put. Who gave you the courage to act like a spoiled princess here?" Jiang Xiaojun retorted, "I am a spoiled princess, wherever I go; I don't need to be subservient to anyone. Look at you, a bandit pretending to be a scholar? You have no integrity or dignity whatsoever." Yang Jiefang had a headache. He didn't know if this girl was truly seeking death or if she was convinced that Yang Jiefang and the others wouldn't kill her, which was why she was so unrestrained.

Gao Huilan was thoroughly exasperated these past few days! For the first couple of days, Jiang Xiaojun was relatively quiet, and Gao Huilan had tried to chat with her, have a heart-to-heart talk, and resolve their conflict. But it seemed the two were natural enemies, unable to see eye to eye, and would inevitably start arguing after only a few sentences. Given the current situation, killing her was unbearable, but letting her go was definitely out of the question, as it might attract the attention of the soldiers. Helpless, Gao Huilan could only instruct Aunt Chu to keep an eye on her, as long as she didn't leave the courtyard.

Yang Jiefang had no choice but to calmly say, "Miss Jiang, I'm so sorry you've suffered these past few days! I understand you're resentful. However, I still hope we can have an honest talk! As you've seen, although we are bandits, we don't kill innocent people indiscriminately. How about this? As long as you promise to keep quiet about what you know, we'll let you go back, okay?" Jiang Xiaojun was slightly taken aback and asked doubtfully, "Really?" Yang Jiefang smiled and said, "Of course it's true. You see, you definitely won't join us as bandits, right? We don't want to kill you to silence you, so we'll have to let you go back in the end. Letting you go back is easy, but we don't want to cause trouble, and we don't want to bring disaster upon ourselves because of a moment of soft-heartedness. So, you must keep our secret!" Seeing that he was serious, Jiang Xiaojun also took him seriously and said, "Your affairs have nothing to do with me, and keeping your secret is nothing. But why didn't you say so sooner? Why didn't you let me go back sooner? Now... I can't go back now... Waaah..." She actually squatted on the ground and started crying.

Yang Jiefang asked in surprise, "Why can't you go back? Where do you live? We can take you home, okay?" Jiang Xiaojun covered her face with her sleeve, squatted on the ground, and cried loudly, saying between sobs, "Waaah... I want to go home... Waaah... I can't go back... Waaah..." Yang Jiefang was dumbfounded, looking at Gao Huilan and Aunt Chu, who were also confused and both shook their heads. Yang Jiefang could only wait patiently until Jiang Xiaojun stopped crying and slowly calmed down before asking, "You're perfectly fine, why can't you go back? Tell us what's wrong, and we'll figure something out together." Jiang Xiaojun raised her head, her eyes already red from crying, and said with red eyes, "Am I not your girlfriend? It's been so many days, how can I go back?" Yang Jiefang was startled. He couldn't say such a thing carelessly, with Gao Huilan and Aunt Chu standing there; he couldn't help but feel anxious and said, "You can't say things like that! When did you become my girlfriend?"

Gao Huilan suddenly realized and said, "She's definitely our girlfriend now. I overlooked that." Yang Jiefang was puzzled and asked, "Our girlfriend? Not my girlfriend? Wait, can you explain what a girlfriend is?" He suddenly realized that the girlfriend they were talking about seemed to be different from what he understood. Gao Huilan replied, "A girlfriend is a female hostage." Yang Jiefang understood that this girlfriend was indeed not what he thought, and said, "This doesn't count. We didn't intend to extort money." Gao Huilan said, "In fact, we did kidnap her and bring her up the mountain. So many days have passed; she might really not be able to go back." Seeing Yang Jiefang's puzzled look, Gao Huilan knew he hadn't been up the mountain long and didn't know the inside story, so she explained, "There's an unwritten rule in the underworld: a girlfriend can't stay overnight on the mountain." "Obtaining a hostage on the same day requires ransom and release before sunset. Because it's a quick kidnapping and redemption, it's called a 'quick ticket.' Of course, a 'quick ticket' doesn't necessarily mean a woman, but a woman must be a 'quick ticket.' With only one day allotted—kidnapping, sending a message, raising money, ransoming, and releasing the hostage—all this back and forth is wasted on the journey. In this rush, the hostage-taker can't raise much money. Releasing the hostage later yields little reward; not releasing them leaves them with nothing, a complete waste of effort. Generally, a woman wouldn't be kidnapped for money."

Yang Jiefang asked doubtfully, "What would happen if someone spent the night on the mountain?" Gao Huilan rolled her eyes at him and said, "Think about it. If a young woman or a married woman spends the night on the mountain, her chastity will be ruined. Once a woman loses her chastity, her master will often not want her anymore and will not redeem her."

Yang Jiefang then realized that people in this era were different from those in later generations; the concept of chastity was very strong. Who could say for sure that a perfectly innocent young woman would spend the night in a bandit's den? Just like Jiang Xiaojun now, who would believe she was still a virgin? When she said she couldn't go back, she meant she wouldn't be accepted by her family.

Jiang Xiaojun began, “I heard that a few years ago, a woman from the next village was kidnapped and held hostage. For some reason, they couldn’t ransom her that day. She was released a few days later. But that very night, her family secretly drowned her in a pond, claiming it was an accidental fall and that she hadn’t been kidnapped. The neighbors who knew the truth also helped cover it up, and that was the end of it.” Her tone was surprisingly calm, but Yang Jiefang was startled. He looked at Gao Huilan and asked, “Is it really that serious?” Gao Huilan nodded and said, “To protect the family’s reputation, this kind of thing is not uncommon.” Yang Jiefang angrily exclaimed, “This damned feudal ethics!” But his anger was of no use whatsoever.

Looking at Jiang Xiaojun, Yang Jiefang tentatively asked, "Miss Jiang, as you can see, we don't actually want to harm you. Do you think there's any other way?" Jiang Xiaojun shook her head and said, "My father was a scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, a very respected person in the area. He values ​​family tradition and reputation above all else. If he knew I'd been in a bandit's den for so long, even if he felt sorry for me, he wouldn't let me ruin the family's reputation." Gao Huilan interjected, "Don't even mention a scholar's family. My family is nobody. Every time I come to Qinglong Village, I tell people I'm going to my aunt's house. I can't let anyone know that my Gao family has ties with bandits." Yang Jiefang said, "Then could Miss Jiang use a similar excuse?" Jiang Xiaojun shook her head and said, "No, that won't work. I've been missing for so many days. My family must have searched all my relatives' homes. This can't be hidden from anyone, and I can't fool my father either."

Yang Jiefang then asked, "What if you went to a friend's house that none of them know?" Jiang Xiaojun smiled wryly, "I don't have such a friend." Yang Jiefang said, "You have to have one. You snuck out, so naturally you'd go somewhere they can't find you. So, it's normal that they can't find you if you go to a close friend's house that none of them know about. Does that make sense?" Jiang Xiaojun paused slightly, pondered for a moment, and said, "What you said makes sense. Maybe I can give it a try!"

Since the method works, we need to refine it. Yang Jiefang opened his mind and continued, "So what you need to do now is write a letter home to let your family know you're safe. In the letter, you also need to explain why you ran away from home and why you're writing home now. Of course, you also need to state at the end that you don't want to go home yet, and you'll naturally go back when you feel better, and ask your family not to look for you." Jiang Xiaojun's hope was rekindled, and she said, "Of course I know all that, I don't need you to teach me. But, you can help me deliver the letter, but you're not allowed to have any other ideas, and you're absolutely not allowed to peek at the contents of my letter!"

Gao Huilan immediately interjected, "That won't do! What if you reveal our secret in the letter?" Jiang Xiaojun wouldn't back down, saying, "Then I won't write the letter. I'd rather die here." Gao Huilan snapped, "Don't threaten me with death all the time! Want to die? It's easy! Believe me, I'll shoot you dead!" Jiang Xiaojun retorted, "Anyway, we can't go back. If you're so capable, kill me and see if I even flinch!" Gao Huilan countered, "This isn't entirely my fault. Who told you to keep threatening to report me to the authorities? Otherwise, would I have locked you up for so long?"

Seeing the two arguing more and more fiercely, Yang Jiefang quickly interjected, "She doesn't even dare to tell anyone that she's trapped in a bandit's den, how could she possibly reveal any secrets about us?" Gao Huilan suddenly realized what was happening and said, "I was so angry I lost my mind!" These past few days, the two had been bickering frequently, with Jiang Xiaojun often threatening to report Gao Huilan to the authorities. Gao Huilan had almost drawn her gun several times in anger; Jiang Xiaojun, however, was fearless and unafraid of her. Now that he understood and had grasped Jiang Xiaojun's weakness, he said, "I thought you were really not afraid of death, but it turns out you're afraid of ruining your family's reputation? That's easy to handle. It's true I'm a bandit; but if I say you're my accomplice, I wonder if the police will believe me?" "You—" Jiang Xiaojun's eyes widened as she stared at Gao Huilan, but she couldn't utter a word. Seeing Jiang Xiaojun's humiliation, Gao Huilan was very pleased and couldn't help but burst into laughter, saying, "You'd better behave yourself from now on. If you anger me, I'll put your portrait up at the gate of Yantai City so everyone knows you're my accomplice. Those stinking patrolmen can't find me, but I don't believe they can't find you." Jiang Xiaojun was defeated, stomped her foot hard, and gritted her teeth, saying, "You win—"

Jiang Xiaojun, fuming, caught sight of Yang Jiefang smirking nearby, which only fueled her anger. She stretched out her hand and shouted, "Where's that copy of *Call to Arms*? Give it back to me!" Yang Jiefang was speechless for a moment, then replied, "I bought that book with my own money, I didn't borrow it from you. Why should I give it back to you?" Jiang Xiaojun retorted sarcastically, "You, a bandit, want to read *Call to Arms*? You've probably read it to the point of being a dog!" Yang Jiefang was furious. This girl had truly never experienced the harsh realities of life! She couldn't understand her situation at all, and all she did was throw a spoiled princess tantrum. He didn't want to argue with her, but couldn't help retorting, "So what if they're bandits? Who says bandits can't read? Let me tell you, not only will I read, but I'll use 'Call to Arms' as a textbook and teach all the bandits in the entire village to read it." Jiang Xiaojun stared at Yang Jiefang incredulously, as if he were a monster, and asked, "You want to teach the bandits on the mountain to read? Are you out of your mind?" Yang Jiefang frowned and said, "What kind of look is that? I'm not afraid to tell you, there are already more than three hundred bandits in the entire village learning to read and write under my guidance. What, do you have a problem with that?" Jiang Xiaojun shook her head vigorously and said, "Teach bandits to read? That's truly a bizarre story!"

Yang Jiefang said solemnly, “Currently, China’s illiteracy rate has reached 99%. We educated people are the remaining 1%, the elite of this society. As the elite of society, should we only look down on the other 99%? Shouldn’t we bear some social responsibility?” Jiang Xiaojun was taken aback by the question and didn’t know how to answer for a moment. Yang Jiefang continued, “When Lu Xun wrote *Call to Arms*, he wanted to awaken the conscience of the Chinese people and save their souls. I use Lu Xun’s books as teaching materials to teach the bandits in the mountains to read, hoping to make these outlaws realize their mistakes and start anew. I think if Lu Xun knew, he would definitely support my actions. As for you, you spend your free time reading poetry collections, killing time, and pretending to be refined. What benefit do you, as a social elite, bring to the country and the people?”

Jiang Xiaojun lowered her head sadly and whispered, "I'm sorry!" Yang Jiefang was a little surprised that she actually admitted her mistake, so he stopped hurting her and continued, "Perfect timing. I'll be away for a few days, so you can borrow this book to read for now! I hope you can appreciate Mr. Lu Xun's good intentions." Jiang Xiaojun was overjoyed and asked, "Really?" Yang Jiefang nodded and said, "Let's make it clear! When I come back, you must return the book to me intact." Jiang Xiaojun nodded vigorously and said, "Don't worry! I will definitely take good care of it."