Chapter 22: Village Head Fan Holds a Trial

Now that the Senate had forbidden foot-binding, he had become its most resolute opponent. Yan Laowu, a “literary child,” had a “lotus fetish” and had been paying lip service to the anti-foot-binding policy. His wife’s feet were still an unresolved issue, and now he had started on his daughter. The moment Liu Yuanhu heard about it, he flew into a rage and, with a few militiamen, dragged Yan Laowu out.

Yun Suji watched everything clearly from the window. Seeing the old man trembling with fear, he felt some sympathy. He considered whether to step in and mediate, but then he thought about the abhorrence of foot-binding and felt that Yan Laowu had brought this upon himself. Stepping in would only hinder the village’s work. It was better to first see how the village cadres handled it.

Before Village Head Fan could speak, dozens of onlookers had gathered from all around. Yun Suji saw that they were all decently dressed and seemed to be in good spirits.

Village Head Fan cleared his throat and said, “The spirit of the Senate was conveyed at the last general meeting. Everyone knows it. And everyone has expressed their determination: to be the first foot-binding-free village in Qiongshan. Whoever’s daughter or wife doesn’t unbind her feet, the man of the house will be punished.”

The villagers all stood respectfully. As soon as Village Head Fan finished speaking, they all chimed in, “That’s right,” “Sure…”

Village Head Fan proudly puffed out his stomach and said, “Yan Laowu’s wife is still secretly binding her feet, and the village hasn’t even pursued the matter yet. Now he’s binding his daughter’s feet. He must be punished! A state has its laws, and a family has its rules. The Senate is the Emperor. If you dare to disobey what the Emperor says, isn’t that deceiving the monarch? That’s a capital offense.”

Yan Laowu and his wife’s legs went weak, and they knelt on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy, saying, “We won’t dare to bind feet again.”

Yun Suji was secretly amused. He thought this village head was quite good at borrowing the tiger’s might. This made him even more interested to see how the village head would pass judgment.

Village Head Fan waved his hand. “In that case, we’ll follow the old rules. Third Aunt, bind him up!”

A middle-aged woman squeezed out of the crowd. Her face was reluctant, and it was clear she was very unwilling. She came before Yan Laowu and said with a fawning smile, “Laowu, this is an official duty. Please bear with it…”

Liu Yuanhu said impatiently, “Hurry up, hurry up!” He pushed him down onto a long bench.

Yan Laowu probably hadn’t expected this. His face turned pale, then red, looking even worse than if he had been holding in a full bladder during a meeting. Seeing Third Aunt bend down to take off his shoes, he jumped up as if having a seizure, frantically trying to grab his shoes. Liu Yuanhu shouted, “Hold him down!” Several militiamen moved in together, grabbed Yan Laowu, and held him down firmly. His two shoes were also taken off.

Yun Suji was puzzled. He saw Third Aunt moving nimbly. She knelt on the ground, held one of Yan Laowu’s dirt-blackened feet, first placed his right foot on her knee, and applied some alum and wine between his toes. She pressed his five toes tightly together, then bent the arch of his foot forcefully like a bow, and immediately wrapped it with a cloth strip. After wrapping it twice, she took a needle and thread and sewed it tightly. As she wrapped, she sewed. Yan Laowu was held tightly by four militiamen, and his feet were held by two more, so he couldn’t move at all. When it was finished, his foot felt like it was being burned by charcoal, with waves of pain. In pain and shame, he began to wail.

Yun Suji watched, shocked. He had never expected the village head to have such a trick up his sleeve.

“Put these lotus shoes on him too. They’re very beautiful,” Village Head Fan said.

Third Aunt bowed. “Laowu, I’m sorry, this is an official duty.” She picked up the small shoes Yan Laowu’s wife had made and tried to put them on his feet—how could they possibly fit? Liu Yuanhu took out a knife, cut the back of the shoes, and forced them onto Yan Laowu’s “golden lotuses.”

Village Head Fan said, “Yan Laowu is at fault in this matter, and so is his wife. Yuanhu, give her forty strokes with the carrying pole! Don’t take off her pants. She’s a woman, let her keep her dignity.”

Liu Yuanhu acknowledged and had his men drag Yan Laowu’s wife to the ground. He beat her with a carrying pole, one stroke after another. Yan Laowu’s wife cried out for mercy, wailing that she “wouldn’t dare” do it again.

After the forty strokes, Liu Yuanhu had Third Aunt take off Yan Laowu’s wife’s shoes. Sure enough, her feet were still bound inside the large shoes, stuffed with cotton. The binding cloths were then removed.

“Yuanhu, get a foot-stock and put Yan Laowu in it by the stone mill. Lock him up for three days. Let everyone in the village see his small feet. You make others bind their feet, now you can have a taste of it yourself. Don’t just enjoy fondling them in the dark and ignore the lives of your daughter and wife. Am I right, everyone?”

Everyone said yes.

Village Head Fan then shouted at Yan Laowu’s wife, “Today, I was going to put both of your ‘golden lotuses’ in the stocks for display. But you still have a daughter and son at home waiting to be fed, so I’ll spare you this time. No more foot-binding! Take your daughter and go home.”

Yan Laowu’s wife, ignoring the burning pain in her buttocks, kowtowed and got up. Her daughter quickly came to help her, and the two of them limped away.

Yun Suji watched this “trial” with very mixed feelings. To be honest, his impression of Village Head Fan and Liu Yuanhu was not very good, but it seemed too simple to categorize it as “simple and crude.” Take this matter of foot-binding today; it had a certain peasant wisdom to it. The title of “advanced village” was well-deserved.

As he was pondering, Village Head Fan came in, bowing. “You’ve seen a joke, you’ve seen a joke. Without this, it’s hard to get things done.”

Yun Suji said, “It’s fine.” He then gave him the letter of introduction. Village Head Fan took it and read:

“This is to certify that Yun Suji, a senator and technical advisor of the Tiandihui, is going to Qiongshan to inspect and supervise grassroots agricultural work. Please provide assistance…”

After reading the letter, the village head’s legs went a little weak. “My goodness, it’s a Chief!”

He led Yun Suji into the inner room, said a few polite words, and then invited him to his home for tea. He said with a fawning smile, “Chief, I am from Laizhou. It was Chief Lü who saved my life and promoted me to this position, giving me land to farm. The Chief’s kindness is greater than heaven. You haven’t had lunch yet, have you? I’ll have someone prepare it right away!”

Yun Suji said, “Don’t be so formal. Let’s not rush to eat. Tell me about the situation in the village first.”

The village head still wanted to follow the formalities, but Yun Suji said, “This is the system. It cannot be broken casually!”

The village cadre, seeing his rustic appearance but unyielding speech, didn’t know how to deal with him for a moment and said, “Alright, Chief, please rest for a while. I’ll get you the village archives!”

He then went out of the office to find the village accountant. The village accountant was a refugee from Zhejiang, formerly a shop assistant. He was good with the abacus and a cunning, versatile man. He was the village head’s “advisor,” and the village head followed his advice.

He first showed the letter of introduction to the village accountant and then described how rustic this person was.

The village accountant said, “A few days ago, I heard Director Liu mention such a person. You can’t underestimate him! I heard from Director Liu that there are some things Director Liu has to consult with him about.”

The village head said, “Yes, yes! Now that you mention it, I remember. That time I went to Lin’gao County for a Tiandihui meeting to discuss scientific farming, the Chief held a meeting first. It seems he was there, wearing blue clothes. His face was just like that.”

The village accountant said, “I think we should entertain him well. Don’t offend him!”

The village head went out and came back to ask, “I invited him to my house for a meal, but he refused. He asked to see the archives. What should I do?”

The village accountant became impatient and said, “If the Chief wants to see the archives, just show them to him. Our records are all complete.”

“But how can I show this to the Chief now! There are dozens of different forms, and more than half of them haven’t been filled out.”

“Now is not the time for an inspection. Chief Yun is a cadre from the central government. What does he know… Just show him the completed ones and say some nice words. Let it pass,” the accountant said. “Has anyone from the county come?”

“Four guards came. They are all resting under the banyan tree outside the village office.”

“Then it’s fine. Go get the archives. I’ll go beat the gong and call the heads of each jia to meet the Chief. By the way, hurry and tell Liu Yuanhu to have his militia watch those old troublemakers and not let them come out and complain.”

Yun Suji waited for a while. The village head returned with a broad smile, opened the file cabinet in the side room, and took out the ledgers, stacking them on the table.

“This is not all of it. Which ones would you like to see, Chief?” the village head said with a fawning smile. “I’ll get them all for you.”

“No need.” Yun Suji was secretly amazed. Just these ledgers already filled a table, and it wasn’t even all of them! Leaving aside the bureaucratic style, given the actual level of the naturalized citizen cadres, he should be grateful to the cadre education for them not being used as toilet paper.

Yun Suji asked, “How many households are in this village, and where are they from? What’s the total population? How many laborers are there?”

The village head, seeing that Chief Yun had only casually flipped through the various books, was slightly relieved. Hearing him ask questions, he quickly stood up.

Yun Suji said, “Sit down and talk, sit down and talk.”

The village head said, “There are eighty-four households here, with a total of four hundred and thirty-one people in the village. Most are from Shandong. There are also some from Shanxi, Zhejiang, and Fujian. There are one hundred and ninety-two laborers.”

Yun Suji nodded. “You have a lot of laborers in this village.”

The village head said, “Chief, this village is mostly refugees, with many young adults and few elderly or children.”

He then asked some other questions. Fortunately, the Chief’s questions were all about paddy fields, dry land, yield per mu, water conservancy, moisture conservation, and pest control, which he could answer, and in an orderly manner, with data readily available. It was clear that Chief Yun was very satisfied.

Suddenly, there was a sound of gongs and drums outside. Chief Yun was startled. “What’s that for?”

The village head explained that it was to notify the heads of each jia to come for a meeting and greet the Chief.

Chief Yun laughed. “Don’t be so formal. I’ll eat something first to fill my stomach.”

The village head took the opportunity to ask, “What would you like for a simple meal, Chief? We have chicken, duck, fish, shrimp, and vegetables.”