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

"They're using my grandparents' names to arrange marriages for me, but they just want to sell me off."

My maternal grandmother was afraid that they would sell me again like they sold Er Ya, so she asked Aunt Pang to find me a marriage partner.

Then they demanded a dowry of 500 yuan, and threatened to have my grandparents hang themselves at their doorstep on my wedding day if they refused.

To shut them up, my partner's family scraped together 500 yuan, along with the savings of my uncles.

I originally thought that since we'd already separated, they wouldn't be able to interfere so much, and I could just go through the motions and return the money later.

Who knew that Lin Dahe and Li Jinxiang would be so shameless as to force my grandfather to kneel before me and hand over five hundred yuan.

Lin Baoya's voice was slightly choked as she recounted the evil deeds of Lin Laoda's family.

However, without the acting skills, one really can't shed tears in a second; otherwise, one would definitely shed a few tears.

"And that's not all. Over the years, my parents and my second uncle's family have worked the most but eaten the least. They control all the grain in the house, and they won't even give us the fine grains if they get moldy."

I've lived with my uncle's family for so many years, and they've never given me a single grain of food. When I go back to the Lin family, I have to bring my own food rations with me. Even so, they still hid my food and used it to subsidize Lin Xiaoquan.

There are countless such incidents. I've decided that from this moment on, I can't tolerate this anymore. I will expose the evil deeds of Lin Dahe and Li Jinxiang to the world. We must root out these bad elements hiding among the people!

We must shatter their illusions of getting something for nothing and eradicate their dreams of exploiting the people. Everyone must educate them; otherwise, they are their accomplices.

After listing all the actions of the Lin family's eldest branch, Bao Ya took a breath and continued:

"The Chairman said that all reactionaries are paper tigers. We must overthrow the mountain that is pressing down on the people and eliminate all forms of exploitation."

The villagers didn't understand the meaning of these words, but upon hearing that it was the Chairman speaking, they immediately became solemn. Then Bao Ya led everyone in chanting slogans:

"Down with Lin Dahe, the Exploiter of Brothers"

"Down with Lin Dahe, the Exploiter of Brothers"

"Down with Li Jinxiang, who reaps without sowing!"

"Down with Li Jinxiang, who reaps without sowing!"

"Long live the proletariat!"

"Long live the proletariat!"

If we don't subdue that greedy couple, Boss Lin and Li Jinxiang, they'll keep causing trouble. This time, we'll definitely teach them a lesson they won't forget.

"Lin Baoya, I'll fuck your grandma!"

At this moment, Lin Xiaohong rushed out from outside the crowd, raising his fist to hit Lin Baoya.

"Go ahead, no one's home, do as you please!"

"Hahaha……"

Everyone burst into laughter.

Damn idiot, my grandma isn't your grandma. If you dare to do that, I'll definitely slap you and cheer.

"Lin Xiaohong, you're really something, you even dared to kiss your grandma who's so old."

"Lin Xiaohong, you didn't come so late, did you really go to do this?"

A group of men were laughing loudly, which almost ruined the already tense atmosphere. Lin Baoya quickly stopped them, as the important matter was not yet over.

"Tie him up. He's a lazy bum who has no skills whatsoever, yet he dreams of being a worker."

Before Lin Baoya could finish speaking, Simao led a few people to rush up, tied the man up, and just like Lin Dahe and the others, stuffed a stone in his mouth and carried him to the high platform.

Lin Xiaoquan had never been treated like this before. He struggled constantly. None of the girls in his family dared to challenge him. Except for Lin Baoya, he had beaten every single one of them.

"He shirks his responsibilities all day, hangs around the streets like a hooligan, and earns less work points than a seven or eight-year-old child. He still dreams of becoming a worker. Keep dreaming."

Even if a factory wants you, the brigade will record it truthfully in your file. I want to see which factory is blind enough to dare to hire you.

Lin Xiaoquan was indignant. He thought that if Lin Baoya didn't have eye sockets, her eyeballs would pop out and kill her.

"As you can see, these bad elements of the exploiting class are completely unrepentant. We must educate them to prevent them from retaliating. Okay, let's start with me."

As she spoke, Lin Baoya picked up a stick from the ground and started whipping the three people. When she got tired, the others followed suit.

Everyone used to know the rules of Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game), and some people would spit at them, while others would throw stones at them.

There were no rotten vegetable leaves left, and we still had some left at home to feed the chickens. A bunch of little kids were temporarily peeing and mixing mud on the roadside, and we threw it on them.

At first, Li Jinxiang and Lin Xiaohong were unconvinced, but later they also began to beg for mercy. Bao Ya ignored them and let everyone continue.

After going around in circles, all three of them were covered in bruises and had lost their earlier momentum, becoming deflated.

Lin Dahe already regretted it. Today, the villagers labeled them as bad elements, and their future days would probably be even more difficult. He should have known better than to have coveted that five hundred yuan.

"Alright, everyone calm down. Now I'm announcing the decision regarding these individuals. They need to reflect on their mistakes and recognize their errors. They must write profound self-criticisms; otherwise, they won't be allowed to leave."

Afterwards, the three of them, along with Lin Siya, were punished by having to carry manure for a month.

However, I'd like to give everyone a heads-up: the city is starting to crack down on these bad elements. If any family continues to exploit others like this, don't blame me for being ruthless; the whole family will be in trouble.

If you feel that the education in the village is not good enough, then invite the Revolutionary Committee to hold a meeting for everyone.

After Bao Ya finished speaking, she stepped off the stage, and the captain slowly walked onto the stage. He had been there the whole time and hadn't stopped Bao Ya.

When Grandma Su got home, she told him what Li Jinxiang had done. She felt that Lin Dahe and his wife had gone too far and deserved to be punished.

Later, everyone got excited and he didn't dare to interrupt. He never expected Bao Ya to make such a big deal out of it.

Other officials were also present, but they dared not speak easily, fearing that they would be implicated.

Public denunciation, I've heard that people in the city are doing this too. If you're not careful, you could get yourself implicated. Just slapping a label of "improper ideology" on someone could be a real problem.

Su Daqiang looked at the three miserable people on the ground, relieved that no one had died. He cleared his throat and began his final remarks: this mess had to be cleaned up.