Although Zhengguo had many questions, he still did not ask them in the letter.
If Xu Lizhen is willing to tell him, he will naturally want to listen. If she is not willing, he will not force her. She will definitely be willing to tell him one day in the future.
As for the man who was crippled by Xu Lizhen, he was from the Linjia Village Production Brigade.
I had seen Xu Lizhen by the canal before and was immediately struck by her beauty. When I heard that she was a refugee from famine, I asked a matchmaker to propose marriage to her. However, Xu Lizhen was no longer in a state of famine and naturally would not settle for a second-rate man. So I rejected him immediately.
Later, the man saw that she was actually dating Zhengguo, and he hated her so much that he wanted to take her away at night. As long as she lost her innocence, she would definitely be willing to marry him.
But who would have thought that she was actually a hottie, and what was even more infuriating was that she was actually ruined by her.
He was already busy hiding such an embarrassing thing, so how could he dare to tell it out loud
So he had to seek medical help everywhere. Because his family didn't have enough money, he had to steal, and soon he was sent to the police station.
The punishment for thieves in that era was quite severe. They were sentenced to eight years in prison and sent directly to a labor camp.
Time flies, and soon it was 1963.
Just a few days into this year, new policies came out from above.
Wang Shouquan publicized the spirit of the meeting, "We must carry out the task assigned to us by the higher-ups: to report a socialist education campaign to clean up politics, the economy, ideology, and organizations. To identify corrupt officials at the grassroots level."
The village cadres looked bitter after hearing this. One scorekeeper slammed the table to vent his anger, "We work so hard and live in fear all day long. When did we become corrupt? I don't even dare to accept a cigarette offered to me. This scorekeeper is such a coward."
Everyone sighed after hearing this, but what could they do
Qian Minghua glanced at everyone and said, "Even if you are angry, don't talk nonsense. Don't forget my previous lesson. If the higher-ups tell us to do it, let's do it. It won't cost us anything anyway."
Everyone agreed. What else can we do? Let’s do it!
So the next day, we started to spread the word in the team that we were going to start an education campaign. The children didn’t even have to go to class, they just went to the meeting with the adults.
Qian Shulan was sitting in the threshing floor pushing a baby carriage, listening to Wang Shouquan standing there shouting at the top of his lungs. The members below were completely confused.
Not to mention that these illiterate farmers didn’t understand this, even Wang Shouquan himself didn’t know what these Four Cleanups were!
Qian Shulan frowned slightly. This must be the prelude to the Four Cleanups Movement!
Sure enough, not long after, another working group was sent down from above, consisting of three people in total.
The leader was a middle-aged man in his forties.
Wang Shouquan, Qian Minghua and Wang Ligui were in charge of the reception.
Wang Shouquan greeted them with a smile and was about to extend his hand to shake theirs, but the other party looked at the three of them with a stern face and said, "Bring out all the accounts of your production team. We need to do a reckoning."
Wang Shouquan and Qian Minghua looked at each other and realized that they were going to be investigated.
Thinking of the previous statement that corrupt officials would be exposed, the faces of the three people suddenly changed.
Wang Shouquan smiled slightly and raised his eyebrows and said, "Then let's go to the brigade warehouse to have a look. The accounting book is over there."
Seeing that they were very cooperative, the middle-aged man looked much better.
"What's your name?"
"My name is Gao Qinglin. Come on, stop trying to get close to me. I won't fall for it."
The smile on Wang Shouquan's face froze, and he frowned and winked at Qian Minghua.
Qian Minghua patted his back soothingly.
When they arrived at the brigade warehouse, Wang Ligui took out all the accounts.
Three people seemed like too many and they started working right away.
Seeing how serious they were, Wang Shouquan asked Wang Ligui to stay and said, "If there is anything they don't understand, you will be responsible for explaining it to them."
Wang Ligui agreed, and was also terrified about this matter.
If there is a problem with the accounts, he will be the first to be in trouble, so he has to be treated with care.
The arrival of the working group made Wang Shouquan nervous. He rode the team's bicycle to the commune to find Secretary Chen.
"Clearing accounts, clearing warehouses, clearing property, clearing work points?"
"Yes, this is a new instruction from above. No one can avoid it, not even you! As long as there is no problem with your accounts, nothing will happen. Don't worry."
Wang Shouquan thought that they seemed to have violated regulations several times before, and he didn't know whether these people could find out.
Wang Shouquan was not the only one who couldn't sleep. If there was a problem with the accounts, the accountant would be the first to be unlucky, Qian Minghua would be the second, and he would be the third.
There were stamps of his on them! He was so anxious for several days that he had several blisters on his mouth.
He Cuilan looked at her youngest son's listless appearance and was frowning when chatting with Qian Shulan.
"Tell me, why are these people so troublesome?"
"We were obviously doing fine, but they kept checking the accounts. I heard from the accountant that if there was anything unclear, they would ask Wang Ligui to explain it clearly. The accountant..."
As they were talking, Wang Ligui's wife Qi Dahua walked over with her head hung.
They were sitting at the entrance of the village. Although the weather was not very suitable for cooling off, they were all very angry because of the arrival of the working group. They didn't care whether the weather was cool or not.
"Dahua, did your Ligui go to the warehouse again?"
Speaking of Qi Dahua, she was even more resentful. Others could at least catch their breath, but their old man didn't even have a moment. He had to wait there at dawn, and if there was anything he didn't understand, he would ask him to explain it.
Wang Ligui himself was not a very educated person, he just learned from the former shopkeeper, so his account keeping was a bit messy. Moreover, it had been a long time, so he could not remember many things clearly.
So these days I have been racking my brains to think about the places he missed.
Qi Dahua slapped her thigh and kept complaining, "Even every penny of expenditure has to be clearly determined. It's really tiring."
The villagers didn't understand this either. Qi Dahua sighed, "Who can still remember things that happened a few years ago? Who has such a good brain?"
The others thought the same and comforted her, "Dahua, don't worry, the working group is just checking, our production team's accounts are clear, Ligui will be fine."
Qi Dahua nodded thoughtfully, "I hope so."
The few of them were chatting when Qian Minghua suddenly ran over, sweating profusely and anxiously, "Aunt, the working group asked you to bring the chicken farm's accounts over for them to check."
Hearing this, Qian Shulan immediately stood up, put the small stool she was sitting on on the handle of the stroller, and pushed the stroller away.
Qian Minghua saw that she was actually walking towards the village, and hurriedly called her, "Aunt, you're going the wrong way!"
Qian Shulan patted her shoulder bag and said, "I carry all the accounts with me."
Qian Minghua felt relieved when he saw his aunt smiling. He really didn't want to go to jail again because of this matter. That place was not a place for human beings to live.
As they walked, he complained to Qian Shulan, "Team Leader Gao scolded Uncle Li Gui so much. In front of so many people, Uncle Li Gui, who is old, blushed with embarrassment. I couldn't bear to watch it."
Qian Shulan patted her shoulder and said, "Don't worry! I remember all the accounts clearly. I learned how to keep accounts from our little donkey."
In her previous life, she studied accounting. In order to avoid being exposed, she had been avoiding accounting work since she came here. But since Little Donkey studied this major, she no longer had any scruples.
Her accounts were also recorded according to the customs of that era and were not conspicuous.
When they arrived at the working group and saw the accounting book she handed over, the three of them were slightly surprised.
Team leader Gao was even more surprised, "Have you learned it?"
Qian Shulan smiled and explained, "I have two children who are both studying accounting. There are not many people in our village who can read, so I am responsible for the accounting work of the pig farm and the chicken farm."
The three men didn't care about these things. As long as she was innocent, it didn't matter how many factories she worked for.
Team leader Gao flipped through the accounts she handed over several times.
All the receipts from the supply and marketing cooperatives and department stores are clipped together and numbered, so they don't look messy at all.
For those expenses that don't have receipts, she will also make a note of what the money was spent on.
Team leader Gao raised his eyebrows slightly, "Your memory of the accounts is no worse than those professionals."
Qian Minghua breathed a sigh of relief. Even the extremely strict Team Leader Gao couldn't find any flaws, which showed that his aunt was still pretty good.
Team leader Gao looked at the account book she recorded and said, "Your chicken farm has a lot of eggs."
Qian Shulan smiled and said, "Because our chicken farm feeds chickens with earthworms."
Team leader Gao became interested and asked her about this issue.
Qian Shulan's explanation was quite logical. Her chicken farm had no problems except that she had fed drugs to the chickens at the beginning. She was not afraid that he would find out anything.
"How come you don't get chickens infected with diseases when you raise so many chickens?" Team leader Gao seemed to be someone who understood agriculture.
Qian Shulan smiled and said, "The chicks we choose are very particular. They must be laid on the same day and then raised by hens... In short, they must be carefully raised."
Team Leader Gao listened thoughtfully.
Qian Shulan continued, "This method is adapted to local conditions and is not applicable to all places. So it still depends on the soil and water. Some places are suitable for growing apples, and some places are suitable for growing oranges. The local soil and water nurture the local people, and it's the same with raising chickens. It depends on the soil and water climate. Maybe in other places, the chicks won't be very healthy if they brood like this. But it's fine here."
Team Leader Gao found her words more and more reasonable. He turned his head to look at the messy account book next to him, which had several unclear notes.
Because it has been a long time, Wang Ligui can't remember it.
Team leader Gao could only report the information he had investigated truthfully, and by the way, he also praised the chicken farm in Wangjia Village.
After checking the accounts, they began to clear out the warehouse and the valuables, turning the warehouse upside down. However, they did not find any problems. The main reason was that no one wanted to be criticized for such a small amount of things!
After all this was done, the working group wanted to hold an educational activity, but they had no choice but to gather all members at the threshing ground for a meeting.
This kind of activity has steps, and the first step is to recall the past and think of the present.
Team leader Gao stood on the threshing floor with a stern face, braving the cold wind and looking at the members sitting below.
No one was willing to speak, so he started to call the roll.
The first one was actually He Cuilan. She stood up with shaking legs and asked stutteringly, "How... how did you say it?"
Team leader Gao was worried that she wouldn't be able to speak, so he began to remind her, "Just talk about the bitterness of the old society and the sweetness of the new society."
Oh! After hearing what he said, He Cuilan immediately understood. She held the corners of her clothes with both hands, climbed onto the platform made of four desks, and bravely shouted to the people below, "Before the founding of the People's Republic of China..."
This roar startled everyone and some people almost fell off their stools.
Team leader Gao frowned, "You don't have to shout so loudly, everyone can hear you."
He Cuilan immediately lowered her voice and began to complain with a bitter face, "Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, I still remember it, it was probably in 1959. Life was really hard back then. The only food we could eat in the canteen of our brigade was sweet potato flour mixed with rice bran..."
Before she could finish her story, Team Leader Gao shouted at her in a loud voice, "Hey, hey, hey, I asked you to talk about the hardships of the old society, but you are deaf!"
He Cuilan was frightened to death when he pointed at her, and her whole body was shaking.
Wang Liwei saw that his wife was so frightened that she was stunned. He quickly stood up to help her out and bowed to Team Leader Gao. "I'm sorry, Team Leader Gao, she is just an idiot and doesn't understand what we are saying. Let me tell you!"
Team leader Gao asked He Cuilan to go down and replaced her with Wang Liwei.
Wang Liwei gritted his teeth and began to speak, "I still remember that in 1954, there was a flood here. Everything was washed away by the flood, even the pipe I always carried with me. I ran after it. Oh my god, I saw many dead people along the way, men, women, young and old. I also saw..."
Team leader Gao was so angry that he jumped up and down. "What are you talking about! What are you talking about! I was talking about the hardships before the founding of the People's Republic of China. Was 1954 before the founding of the People's Republic of China?"
But someone whispered in the audience, "But 1954 was really hard. Our baby almost died."
Others also joined in, one talking about what their family had lost, another talking about how hard it was for them.
Seeing that the atmosphere was becoming increasingly uneasy, Team Leader Gao quickly clapped his hands and sent the group away.
Suddenly his eyes lit up and he pointed at an old lady and said, "You tell the story!" This person must have been oppressed by the landlord and must have a lot of blood and tears in her history.
Everyone looked in the direction he pointed, with some surprise on their faces. Who is this old lady? She is not from their production team at all.
The white-haired old lady was not afraid at all. She walked up tremblingly with a cane, stood on the stage and complained: "In the old society, we poor people lived a life worse than pigs and dogs! The commune took away all the things in our home. We could only eat in the canteen, and the soup was watery every day. The whole family had edema, and the soles of our feet were swollen when pressed!..."
President Gao was so anxious that he pulled her down, but the old lady was still excited. She slapped her thigh, sat down on the table, and cried at the top of her lungs, "My poor son, he starved to death in 1960! He didn't even weigh 60 kilograms when he died! He was so skinny that he was just skin and bones!" Her voice was so shrill that it made people cry!
But what kind of suffering is this complaint about? This is the suffering of the "new society"!
Qian Shulan was a little puzzled. Who was this person? He actually came all the way here to mess things up. She turned her head to ask the people next to her, and finally someone recognized this person. "This person is from the Qinghewan production team, which is 50 miles away from us. Half of the people in that village starved to death."
Qian Shulan sighed. This production team was very close to Dashuanzi's production team, so the situation should be similar.
The conversation could no longer continue, so Team Leader Gao moved on to the next topic: "Let's report the corrupt officials!"
The people below were silent for a while, and everyone lowered their heads, no longer having the liveliness they had just now.
Team leader Gao frowned slightly, looking at the several brigade cadres standing nearby, all with a scrutinizing look on their faces. "Members, Chairman M said that class struggle is everywhere and at all times. It is an irreconcilable, life-and-death struggle! We must eliminate these harmful termites to make our socialist road brighter. Members, raise your hands and bravely expose them."
The people below were silent again.
Team leader Gao had no choice but to shout again, but still no one was willing to stand up.
Team leader Gao was a little annoyed. He thought for a moment and said, "Don't worry! These people dare not retaliate against you."
The people below still did not make any move. Seeing that there was no hope for reporting the cadres, Team Leader Gao made the next best thing, "We can also report on each other! Is there anyone who is extravagant? This is also a problem. As long as you point it out, we will help him correct it. If he corrects his mistakes, he is still a good comrade."
Everyone opened their mouths wide. Qian Shulan was also stunned.
Extravagance? Does that count
But everyone is hungry, who can afford to waste money? Can they afford to waste money? This is pure nonsense!
In the end, Team Leader Gao's meeting was like a one-man show and ended hastily.
The author has something to say: This is a collection of information, not original to the author. It is very sad to read it.
There are only two updates today, and the next one will be at 20:00, muah!