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

Lin Baoya continued:

"Your kids are all grown up, you have jobs, and you've married, so of course you want to kick us out. You're causing trouble every day. Who's really preventing whom from living?"

I know you don't treat the second and third wives as human beings at all, but only as slaves and farmhands, bullying us every day..."

Lin Baoya's voice was loud and clear, and everyone present could hear it clearly.

Hearing this, Lin Dahe couldn't stand it anymore. If she continued, what would become of their family? It might even bring trouble upon them. So he hurriedly interrupted her.

"Bao Ya, how can you think like that? We're family..."

Before he could finish speaking, Su Daqiang cleared his throat and said to Old Man Lin:

"My dear in-laws, what do you think about this? If your eldest daughter-in-law really can't stand Bao Ya, we should take her back home. Don't keep tormenting the child like this. All these things are making us a laughing stock. With so many people in the family, conflicts are inevitable. If you can't live together, then this family should be divided. Otherwise, your Xiao Hong won't even have room to get married."

Old Man Lin, who was deep in thought, paused for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry the brigade leader had to laugh at me. The child is ignorant; I'll teach her more in the future. Let me think about the division of the family property some more."

He didn't say whether the child was Li Jinxiang or Lin Baoya. He seemed to have figured out the whole thing. The eldest son's wife got stuck in the latrine, not fell into the cesspool, but as an old man, he couldn't go into such detail in front of everyone.

"What about today's matter?" Su Daqiang asked again.

"Sigh, it's a family matter, why take it so seriously? Forget it, forget it."

Once Old Man Lin understood the situation, he decided not to pursue it any further, as doing so would only make him a laughingstock.

"No, why should we just let this go? This isn't over!"

Li Jinxiang was so angry that she felt like she had to rush up and beat Lin Baoya if Lin Dahe hadn't been holding her back.

"Yeah, why should we just let it go? Since nobody knows the answer, let's just call the police."

Lin Baoya also added fuel to the fire, saying that if they were going to make a scene, they should make it bigger and bigger, the kind that couldn't be contained.

"What, call the police? Our village has never called the police before."

In short, the crowd was in an uproar. Reporting it to the police was a serious matter. Conflicts in the village are usually resolved within the village itself; going through the authorities could lead to enmity.

Bao Ya looked at Lin Laoda and his wife with a half-smile, her confident demeanor making Li Jinxiang wonder if she had really framed her.

"My aunt has framed me like this, and I can't let this injustice go unpunished. My grandfather and uncle just let my aunt frame me like this; it seems they don't consider me family."

And the matter of Lin Siya pushing me into the water with the intent to murder me is still unresolved, which truly chills my heart! Let the police handle it all; those who deserve to go to jail should go to jail, and those who deserve to be punished should be punished. Let's not leave anyone out.

The Lin family members were in a daze, and the reason was something even the most clueless villagers could roughly understand.

Old Man Lin instantly understood the crux of the matter.

Other village officials were also in the crowd. Shi, the accountant who felt he had some influence, stepped forward when the brigade leader remained silent.

"Baoya, isn't reporting this to the police a bit of an overreaction? Besides, it's bad for our village's reputation. If someone really goes to jail, we probably won't be able to get any awards for being outstanding villagers for the next few years. You've always been a sensible child, look at this..."

"Uncle, is being advanced more important than human life? Did the people elect you as cadres just for honor and disregard the lives of the people?"

Besides, Lin Siya is your future daughter-in-law; you can't show favoritism.

And your son, Shi Chuanxiang, has already been sleeping with Siya in the cornfield. Even though he knows I'm already engaged, he still says ambiguous things to me, causing Siya to misunderstand. At best, this is a matter of conduct; at worst, it's harassment.

This matter is definitely related to your family. You'd better avoid suspicion, otherwise we'll have to replace our village accountant.

This afternoon, Bao Ya remembered why Lin Siya had pushed her into the river. She explained the reason for being pushed in a few words, and Accountant Shi's face darkened; he turned and left.

"What's the procedure? Report it to the police! Don't just stand there."

Bao Ya crossed her arms, raised her head, and looked at Mr. and Mrs. Lin with her chin down, looking confident and composed.

Lin Dahe and Li Jinxiang were a little dumbfounded when they saw this scene; it turned out that this was what was waiting for them.

"Bao Ya, you see we're family after all. Calling the police will only hurt our relationship."

Only Old Man Lin, with a heavy heart, discussed it with Bao Ya.

"Wounding harmony? I didn't want to be framed by you, so it's wounding harmony? Pushing me into the river to drown isn't wounding harmony? Put your hands on your consciences and think about what you've been doing while I've been recuperating at home these past few days. My grandma has been cursing and swearing all day long, her mouth is dirtier than shit, Li Jinxiang has also taken the time to torment me, and Lin Siya hasn't even said a word of apology. You call yourselves relatives? If you were my enemies, you could have killed me with a knife. Being with a bunch of beasts like you, I want to die with you every day."

As she spoke, Bao Ya's eyes swept over the Lin family members one by one.

"This matter must not be left unresolved today. Simao, take a few men to the commune to report to the police: the Lin family has a murderer!?"

"This... Baoya, my dear in-law, what do you think..."

Old Man Lin panicked upon hearing this. They were deliberately trying to escalate the situation and make things worse. If Lin Siya really got arrested, their family would definitely be affected in the village. He didn't care about his granddaughters; as long as they could get some dowry when they married, that was fine. But his grandsons, especially his eldest grandson in the city, might even lose their jobs.

"What kind of in-laws are we? My daughter's child is treated so badly in your family, we shouldn't be in-laws anymore."

Granny Su chimed in, saying that if her own daughter hadn't been so disappointing, she wouldn't have wanted to become in-laws with the Lin family.

Upon hearing Bao Ya's words, Old Man Lin broke out in a cold sweat and immediately changed his tune:

"Well, Baoya, this matter is settled without being discussed. We can't wait until you're better to talk about it. Look at you, child, so impatient. Grandpa has everything prepared. Old woman, hurry up and give Baoya the twenty yuan I prepared for her."

"What? Twenty yuan? Why don't you just rob me?" Old Lady Lin was about to speak when she saw Old Man Lin glaring at her fiercely. Knowing her temperament, Old Man Lin didn't dare let her speak, afraid that she would ruin things. This was clearly a case of taking out her anger on her eldest son's family.

Just as Granny Lin was about to go inside, she heard Bao Ya say, "You think you can buy my life for twenty yuan? I'm worthless. No wonder my grandma always calls me a money-loser. Forget it, I'd better call the police."

As she spoke, Bao Ya went to call Si Mao, and Old Man Lin panicked when he saw this. He gestured to his eldest son with his eyes.

Lin Dahe caught his father's look and quickly said, "Bao Ya, this was Siya's fault. I'll have her apologize to you. How much do you think is appropriate for your nutrition expenses? I'll sell everything I own to raise the money."

Bao Ya looked at him and chuckled, "It was given by my uncle? Hmm, that's really sincere. I've been feeling dizzy and my vision keeps going black. I'm also worried about whether this scar on the back of my head will come off. I was thinking of going to a hospital in the city to get it checked out. Since you're my uncle, I won't ask for a hundred. You can give me fifty."