Back to 1978

Chapter 22: The True Taoist Deals with the False Believers

The one who greeted him was Feng Chunlai, a special public security commissioner from Zhongping Commune. He was 36 years old, wearing a white Dacron shirt and navy blue trousers, and riding a bicycle with most of the paint peeled off.

In 1978, there were no police stations in the rural areas of Bingyang County. There were only special police commissioners stationed by the county public security bureau at the commune level.

Generally, two special commissioners will be stationed in communities that are far away from the county seat and have inconvenient transportation.

In a place like Zhongping Commune, which had a high grain yield and was not far from the county seat, there was only one special commissioner, Feng Chunlai, who was not issued a uniform but only a Type 54 pistol.

Because of the extreme shortage of manpower, unless it was a major case that required a formal report to the superiors for support, Feng Chunlai would have to ask the militiamen of the Zhongping Brigade for assistance and cooperation for any trivial matter.

During the busy farming season, Xie Hushan and others would often be called by Lao Feng to help mediate disputes over water for irrigation between two production teams to avoid escalation of conflicts.

During the slack season, there were always some production team members who were itching to play games secretly. The production team leader's persuasion was ineffective, so he told Lao Feng, who would then bring the militia to criticize and educate those who gambled.

Come and play with me" was the secret code between Lao Feng and some militiamen including Xie Hushan, which meant that Lao Feng encountered something at night and needed the help of the militiamen.

"I'm busy. Go find someone else. Didn't you see that my fifth uncle is talking to me about the development plan of our team?" When Xie Hushan saw Lao Feng calling him to help in the evening, he thought that someone from another brigade was secretly gambling. The production team leader told Lao Feng about it, so he asked Lao Feng to take people to scare the guy and discipline him.

To be honest, it doesn’t matter whether Lao Feng takes people with him or not in this kind of situation. He will just criticize and educate them, and he will basically not arrest anyone and take them away.

Ma Laowu stood up and smiled at Feng Chunlai: "Xiao Feng, don't listen to Hu Saner's nonsense, go quickly, the commune leader is looking for you, it's a big deal! Don't waste time with them, what development plan can be more important than the commune's affairs?"

"Don't worry about Uncle Feng. He always makes a fool of us silly boys. Besides, he has things to do tonight. Uncle Wu, please tell me about the widow first. I like to hear it." Xie Hushan continued to say to Ma Laowu.

"Fifth Brother, I just heard from Secretary Han that you are now the most important person in Zhongping. What a guy, you let Hu Saner take a group of kids to the county government to cheat manure?" Feng Chunlai came over pushing his bicycle and greeted Ma Laowu with a smile:
"Thanks to you, all the children in our brigade's primary school have ridden in a bus. This is a good thing and not shameful. Don't be afraid. The commune didn't ask me to arrest you."

The smile on Ma Laowu's face froze. He opened his mouth, pointed at Feng Chunlai, stomped his feet and turned away: "Alas, Xiao Feng, you have also learned bad things, making fun of me, your fifth brother."

Feng Chunlai was short, thin, and had a baby face. He was very pleasing when he smiled. He often wandered around the fields in various villages during the busy farming season, always paying attention to possible conflicts that might arise among the production teams due to production materials. Therefore, he was familiar with almost all the production team leaders under Zhongping Commune.

But don't think that Lao Feng is harmless and a good guy just because he looks smiling. The commune's armed forces minister Zhang Cheng likes to brag about his glorious deeds when he joined the army in front of the militia, but every time Lao Feng appears, Zhang Cheng either shuts up or changes the subject.

At first, Xie Hushan and other militiamen didn't take it seriously. Later, when Zhang Cheng organized a militia training, Lao Feng came to join in the fun and said he wanted to teach the militiamen the skills of capturing the enemy with both hands. Zhang Cheng was startled and quickly drove him away.

Afterwards, the militiamen were puzzled as to why Zhang Cheng didn't let everyone learn a few moves from Lao Feng. Zhang Cheng then said that he was afraid that the young militiamen were at an age where they didn't know how to control their strength, and it would be easy for them to get into trouble after learning his skills.

Xie Hushan and his companions then realized that although Feng Chunlai looked cheerful, he was actually a smiling tiger, the ace prisoner capturer of the Army Special Service Company. On the battlefield in the past, he was ordered to ride alone to the enemy at night to capture the tongue, and he strangled an Indian soldier to death with his own hands.

In Zhang Cheng's words, why do you think the county public security bureau dared to let him manage such a large Zhongping Commune alone? Those who can become special commissioners who don't have to report before shooting are all carefully selected top talents who can stand on their own.

"Hu San'er, you've grown up? You dare to tell me you're busy?" Feng Chunlai saw Ma Laowu walking away, blew a breath with his fingers, flicked Xie Hushan's head, and said with a smile:
"Didn't you beg me to sever your master-disciple relationship with Lao Zhang, worship me as your master, and ask me to teach you a few moves?"

Xie Hushan covered his head and took a deep breath: "Hiss... I was young at that time, and I thought that if I trained myself well, I would have the opportunity to serve my country as a soldier. Who knew that the army would not allow only children from rural areas to join the army."

"You have to go even if you don't have time. I'm on duty at the commune tonight and I can't leave. You can take a few people from your silly boy commando team to help me. I've talked to Lao Zhang and Secretary Han, and they all agreed." Feng Chunlai deliberately lowered his voice mysteriously:
"The remnants of the secret society seem to have revived in our commune. We must pay attention to it. I came to you because I trust you can handle it."

When Xie Hushan heard about the Dao Sect, his head hurt and he looked at Feng Chunlai speechlessly:
"Let the militia from other teams go. I have more important things to do. The widow in the team is waiting for me to help sell wontons. Let's talk about it later. When my comrades heard that it was feudal superstition, they all backed off and thought it was a bit difficult to handle..."

"You have to lead the team. I think you can handle this..." Feng Chunlai took out a pack of Guanting cigarettes that he had just opened from his pocket and slapped it into Xie Hushan's hand: "Is it still difficult?" Xie Hushan looked around, put the cigarettes in his pocket, lowered his head, touched his nose and whispered:

"Some old women are unreasonable, don't listen to advice, and love to tease people. Last time, Daxi didn't pay attention to a word and almost got his face disfigured..."

Feng Chunlai took out half a pack of Zhan Dou brand cigarettes, which were rare in Zhongping, from his other pocket: "Lao Zhang snatched it from his comrades who came to visit him, and I snatched it back. There is still half a pack left. Can the difficulties be overcome?"

"We can overcome it and ensure the completion of the mission." Xie Hushan quickly put away the battle card, stood at attention and said.

In 2024, how could you see a public security comrade asking for help and even giving him cigarettes? Even if he was given a certain cash reward for assisting in an investigation or providing clues, it lacked human touch. Xie Hushan felt that it was not as interesting as the pack and a half of cigarettes that Lao Feng gave him.

"It's still the same old rules. Catch the thief and the stolen goods. At 12 o'clock at night, at the Old Immortal Cave on Chaoyang Mountain, we will mainly use persuasion and education." Feng Chunlai patted Xie Hushan on the shoulder:

"Don't escalate the conflict. If you do, don't come to me if you get harassed, and don't scare people."

After saying that, he got on his bike and rode away.

Xie Hushan sighed. Feng Chunlai was very capable. He could immediately detect any signs of lawlessness and disorder in Zhongping Commune.

The so-called remnants of Taoism are just there to fool silly boys. In fact, they are just superstitious middle-aged women or old ladies in the surrounding villages. They know that the country has been promoting against feudal superstition, but they always want to secretly burn incense and pray to gods, drink talisman water and eat incense ashes.

Moreover, they knew that they should not do this at home, so they made an appointment in the middle of the night to run to Chaoyang Mountain, which is three miles away and less than 60 meters above sea level, to burn the fire. There is an old fairy cave on the mountain. It is said that an old fairy practiced here in ancient times, and it has a fairy spirit.

In fact, there is no fairy air at all, it's just the smell of urine. When Xie Hushan was a child, he often climbed that small mound with his friends. On the top of the mountain there is a stone cave that is no more than 1.5 meters high, 2 meters wide, and no more than 4 meters deep. To call it a cave is an exaggeration.

There is nothing here except the mottled stone walls. I wonder what kind of immortal could be born in such a cramped and shabby cave.

Anyway, when they were young and playing in the mountains or cutting grass, they could not hold it anymore so they used the cave as a toilet. The cave was covered with dog urine moss, and no immortal jumped out to object. Of course, the immortal might also like the smell.

But if you like this taste, wouldn’t it be more enjoyable for me to practice in the cesspool of Team Three?
The reason why they are too lazy to go is that you cannot be hostile to these women who are burning incense. The general solution is that when they are kowtowing and burning incense, the militia will show up and catch them in the act, and then persuade and educate them. When they are caught in the act and are in the right, they will persuade these aunts, grandmas and grandmothers not to do such things again.

At the same time, we had to worry that they might accidentally fall while climbing the mountain late at night at their old age, so we had to endure the complaints and send these old ladies home safely.

Feng Chunlai was a cunning man. He knew that he had to take care of this kind of thing, because if he didn't, if three people were burned today, ten people would be burned tomorrow. But if he took care of it, it would be too formal for him to show up. He couldn't hold a gun with a stern face and scare a few old ladies, and then give them a heart attack.

Therefore, it would be best if the village militia came forward. They are all younger generations, and the other party would not make things difficult for these children because they are neighbors with the militia’s parents. In the end, they would follow the militia down the mountain and go home obediently.

Xie Hushan called out to Han Hongbing, who was weeding in the wheat stubble and sweet potato field in the distance, "Chief of Staff Han, is the Taoist priest back yet?"

"I'm back. I heard that I stayed in the commune clinic for two days." Han Hongbing stood up and asked, "What happened?"

"It's okay. I miss him. He's fine, so why is he still in the hospital?"

After saying that, Xie Hushan looked at the back of Old Feng who was walking back to the commune along the country road in the sunset, and said, "I'm not looking for trouble. If I let the little Taoist follow me, the real Taoist will have to deal with this group of fake believers."

(End of this chapter)