The 1960s: The Story of a Country Girl's Journey to the City

Then Bao Ya looked up at the Lin family and said, "Didn't the grain my aunt sent go missing? How come it's hidden in your cupboard? Is your house full of thieves?"

The news of Bao Ya losing grain had been broadcast in the village for several days, and even the village dogs knew about it. Now that it had been brought up in public, Old Man Lin blushed.

"The Lin family is shameless. They raised their child for so many years and didn't even say thank you. They even kept the food that was given to them. How can they be so inhuman?"

"With this much, Lin Dahe still wants to be a cadre? He should take a piss and look at himself in the mirror."

"He doesn't want to be a cadre; he just wants to take all the village's grain to his own house."

"Tsk tsk, wouldn't that make you a landlord?"

While the crowd was discussing this, Bao Ya was also busy. She had Aunt Pang take the grain bags, along with the grain inside and the cloth that Jiang Yuan had given her, and send them to the Su family's old house.

"Bao Ya, what do you want to do?"

When Granny Lin saw that Aunt Pang had taken the grain away, she became anxious and wanted to chase after her.

"Keep an eye on them. Their business isn't over yet. Don't let them get away."

Bao Ya said to the militiamen next to her, and the militiamen immediately blocked her way.

"I'm not eating at your house anymore. I'm not that stupid to trade my fine grains for your coarse food!"

"Why are you taking that fabric?"

Li Jinxiang couldn't hold back any longer. Seeing Aunt Pang take the things away, she wished she could chase after her immediately.

"That was a gift from the Jiang family, what's it to you? If you want it, have your two sons-in-law buy it for you, why are you stealing it from me!"

After saying that, she ignored what the Lin family members said and sat on the steps to count the money. When everyone saw Bao Ya take out so much money to count, they were curious about how much there was, so they spontaneously helped the militiamen stop the Lin family members.

Everyone watched Bao Ya count the money. After counting the money in the money box, she took out the money from the eldest son's family and started counting it. When Li Jinxiang realized that it was their family's money, she went even crazier and started cursing loudly.

Bao Ya ignored her and continued to count the items one by one.

The Lin family members all looked grim.

Old Man Lin and his wife, along with the eldest son's wife, resented Lin Baoya for rummaging through their belongings. The second and third sons' wives felt that their parents were too biased, giving the eldest son's wife so many things, while for them, all they did was urge them to work, and they weren't allowed to keep a single penny for themselves.

"There's 321 in this box, plus some coupons, and 65 here. Grandpa, we have so much money, why do you two and the eldest son's family eat white flour buns while we, the second and third sons' families, eat bran and wild vegetables? Aren't my father and second uncle your sons? There has to be a limit to your favoritism!"

"And Uncle, where did you get this money? Isn't all the family money in the coffers? You didn't get this money from something shady, did you?"

As soon as she said that, everyone immediately thought of speculation and profiteering, and their eyes were filled with contempt when they looked at Lin Dahe. Although they were poor, they had zero tolerance for crime.

Lin Xiaoquan was no longer calm. If his father had committed a crime, then he was finished too.

"Lin Baoya, stop talking nonsense! That's for my dad, it's none of your business!"

"You? Your job was paid for with public funds, and the money you earn also goes to the public. Why are you keeping it for yourself?"

Grandpa, my dad and second uncle have to hand over every penny they earn from odd jobs, so why can they keep it for themselves? Give me an explanation!

"Lin Baoya, what does our Lin family's business have to do with you? You little brat, you think you're so great?"

Lin Xiaohong also came out and started shouting. Before he could finish speaking, Lin Laosan stepped forward and punched him.

"You little bastard, how is my daughter not a member of the Lin family? I work hard to raise you bunch of little beasts, and you can't even support your own daughter. Now you dare to talk back to my daughter, you bastard, don't you even know if you're a member of the Lin family?"

"Third brother, what nonsense are you talking about!"

Lin Dahe also got anxious. In his eyes, everything in the Lin family belonged to the eldest branch of the family, and the second and third branches should work for them.

"Lin Dahe, don't think I don't know what you're up to. My second brother and I do all the work, and you get all the benefits. Now you want to trick my daughter into coming back and covet her dowry? You're dreaming! I'd rather my daughter change her surname than let your eldest son's family get a single benefit."

"Baoya, I'm so sorry. Tomorrow I'll take you to the commune to change your surname. From now on, you'll be your eldest uncle's daughter, and you'll have absolutely nothing to do with the Lin family!"

After saying this, Lin Laosan squatted on the ground and wailed loudly. Several aunties around him also wiped away tears. Everyone in the village knew about the Lin family's messy affairs, and they all criticized the Lin family for being unethical.

"Third brother, what's wrong with you?!"

Fang Mingda and Wang Xiao finished searching with their men but found nothing. Seeing the scene in the courtyard, they realized they had been tricked by the girl. They wanted to say something, but the courtyard was noisy and they couldn't get a word in edgewise, so they could only watch helplessly.

Secretary Yan understood what was happening and forced himself to come over, hoping to say a few polite words and take Fang Mingda and the others away while the Lin family was arguing, so that they wouldn't be held responsible later.

"Secretary Yan, I'm going to sue them!"

"What?"

Secretary Yan stared at Bao Ya as if she'd seen a ghost. This girl had really gone mad. First, she led people to search her own home, and now she wanted to sue her own family.

Regardless of what he was thinking, Bao Ya continued pointing at the Lin family members and saying:

"I'm going to sue my grandparents and the eldest branch of the Lin family. They exploited and enslaved us. They only cared about their own pleasure and didn't care about our lives. These things on the ground are evidence. They were taken from our daily food and drink."

"They only feed us bran and wild vegetables every day, and make us work non-stop. They eat white flour buns themselves, but they won't give us the white flour even if it goes bad. They want to become landlords and rich people and take the capitalist road."

Everyone thought it made sense.

"Yesterday, everyone in the Lin family who ate steamed buns had diarrhea. The flour must have gone bad."

The woman who was washing clothes by the river yesterday echoed this sentiment; she had gotten the inside scoop yesterday.

"The original landlords in the village didn't treat their farmhands like this."

"That's right. Look at the Lin family's children, none of them have done much farm work. The Lin family's second son's daughter has been cutting pig feed since she was little, and now she does farm work quite well. Even Bao Ya often goes to the mountains to collect herbs to earn work points."

"The fifth and sixth daughters do all the housework; I've never seen the fourth daughter do any work."

Aunt Hua from next door also chimed in with a bite. Ever since she ate that chicken, she'd become a die-hard fan of Lin Baoya.

Old Man Lin and the members of the Lin family's eldest branch grew increasingly alarmed as they listened. Bao Ya had gone mad; what good would it do her to sue them?

"Baoya, don't get excited, listen to Grandpa..."

Old Man Lin still held a sliver of hope, wanting to let the matter drop, but Lin Baoya gave him no chance.

"Grandpa, your feudal patriarchal style is a remnant of feudalism, and you should also receive education from the government!"

Secretary Yan, look, they completely fail to recognize their mistakes. We've dragged them to the commune, paraded them through the streets, and sent them to labor camps.

"Lin Baoya, what good will it do you if I go to a labor camp! Don't forget you're surnamed Lin too."